LE MANS, FRENCH REPUBLIC — The No. 8 Toyota has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times in a row, finishing ahead of the No. 7 car in another strong performance in the classic endurance race on Sunday.
Brendan Hartley of New Zealand had won the pole position and was behind the wheel of Toyota Gazoo's No. 8 when the race concluded in sunny and warm conditions, with colleagues Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa watching from the team garage.
Buemi, a Swiss driver, has won the race four times, while Hartley claimed his third victory and second for Toyota after winning the event for the first time with Porsche in 2017. Both had brief stints in Formula One.
Dane Tom Kristensen is the current holder of the position.
Hirakawa won for the first time, joining Kazuki Nakajima (3 victories) and Kamui Kobayashi (1) as champions of the illustrious event, initially run in 1923.
At the Circuit de la Sarthe in northeastern France, Jose Maria Lopez of Argentina was a few minutes behind Toyota's No. 7.
Lopez was joined by Kobayashi and British driver Mike Conway, his teammates when the No. 7 won last year, demonstrating how Toyota has broken Audi and Porsche's stronghold.
After a quiet night, Toyota had a rare glitch when the No. 8 punctured with Buemi at the wheel at about 7:30 a.m., then Lopez stalled and required an electrical reset 15 minutes later, costing one lap.
Ryan Briscoe finished the race in third place, five circuits behind the victors, in the Glickenhaus 007 car.
American At 16 years, 188 days, Josh Pierson became the youngest driver to compete, just a few days younger than fellow 16-year-old Matt McMurry was in 2014.
Pierson finished sixth in the LM P2 category after driving 97 laps for the United Autosports USA team in an Oreca 07 with Oliver Jarvis and Alex Lynn.
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