
As the this weekend's 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans approaches, qualifying is in full swing with Toyota and Porsche at one another's throat. The two teams have bounced back and forth to make it an unbelievably close contest, and now, Toyota has made a statement. Team driver Kamui Kobayashi just ran a 3:14.791 lap time at the circuit, setting an all-time record and showing how serious the Gazoo crew is for this year's race.
Thanks to a clear track ahead of him, Kobayashi was able to fly around without worrying about overtaking. This gave him the right of way to set the blistering lap time, one that's never been matched in either qualifying or an official race since the chicanes on Mulsanne Straight were introduced in 1989.
Twenty minutes prior to Toyota's lap, the No. 33 Eurasia Motorsport LMP2 car had crashed, which resulted in a red flag. Kobayashi was the first to be sent out once things had cleared up, therefore allowing him to route the 8.469-mile Circuit de la Sarthe unlike we've seen before.
As you can see, the team was pretty ecstatic back in the pits.
Toyota Gazoo will assuredly use this to put Porsche on note for what is to come. After last year's gut-wrenching loss at the 24 Hour race, the Japanese crew has had a taste for blood. The team's consistent showing throughout the 2017 WEC season has been a strong indicator, and now, it looks to reinforce it with this move.
There will be one more nighttime testing tomorrow, but it's doubtful that we will see this benchmark broken given the conditions.
MORE TO READ
Related
Why Would Porsche Leave LMP1?
With some recent rumors circulating that Porsche would leave LMP1, we discuss the various reasons this might be true, and try to refute them.
Related
Le Mans Is All About Watching This Driver Try to Repair the DeltaWing
The embodiment of Le Mans.
Related
Take a 360-Degree Ride Around Le Mans in a Porsche 919 LMP1 Race Car
It’s like you’re actually there…sort of.
Related
This 1,000-HP Toyota Prototype Could Have Been So Much More
At least its soundtrack lives on.
Related