In 2018 and 2019, when the Toyota Gazoo Racing team competed at 24 Hours of Le Mans, they emerged victorious. With the 2020 edition of the storied racing competition coming up, a rather obvious question loomed: could they make it 3 in a row? After a physically and technically draining race, the answer proved to be yes — solidifying the team’s place in racing history.
AutoBlog’s report on the race notes that the winning team — Toyota Gazoo No.8 — featured several repeat champions. Following their team’s win, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima became 3-time winners. Brendon Hartley, who replaced Fernando Alonso, was the third driver on the team. It was also a repeat win for him: he had previously driven as part of the Porsche team that won in 2017.
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Toyota Gazoo No.8 won the race by a total of 5 laps. Finishing second was the Rebellion No.1 team, which included drivers Gustavo Menezes and Bruno Senna — the latter being the nephew of racing legend Ayrton Senna. A little further down the standings, that pattern repeated itself: Toyota Gazoo No.7 finished third, while Rebellion No.3 finished fourth overall.
The eventual third-place finishers began the race in pole position, but an engine problem which took half an hour to resolve was a decisive factor in the event’s final standings.
Unlike previous years, when over 250,000 spectators took in the race, this year’s edition played out before empty stands — another surreal sign of 2020’s status quo.
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