Toyota Wins 24 Hours of Le Mans in Hypercar Battle

Toyota won the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Sunday, prevailing in a hypercar battle with BMW and Cadillac in the 94th edition of the race. BMW started from pole position and Cadillac led until the final quarter, but Toyota crossed the line first with Kamui Kobayashi of Japan at the wheel of the number seven car. It was the Japanese manufacturer's first overall win since 2022.

It was Kobayashi's second Le Mans triumph after his victory with Toyota in 2021. The former Formula One driver shared the win with Mike Conway of Britain and Nyck de Vries of the Netherlands.

Second place went to the BMW number 20 car of Sheldon van der Linde of South Africa, Rene Rast of Germany and Robin Frijns of the Netherlands. Toyota's number eight car finished third, shared by Ryo Hirakawa of Japan, Sebastien Buemi of Switzerland and Brendon Hartley of New Zealand.

The race, which started on Saturday with 62 cars and 186 drivers, was flagged away by Mark Cavendish, the legendary Tour de France sprinter.

(reuters, im)