You would think that there is no possible consolation for Toyota after the manner in which they lost this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. But after seeing the team and their loyal fans erupt in cheers at their home race in Japan at the 6 Hours of Fuji, it seems like winning the FIA World Endurance Championship for drivers would go a long way in easing the pain!
The #5 TS050 Hybrid team that had the Le Mans win so cruelly snatched away from them due to mechanical failure registered the closest ever win since the WEC started in 2012. Just 1.439 seconds separated the winning Toyota - the marque's first WEC win since 2014 - from the #8 Audi driven by Lucas di Grassi, Loic Duval and Olivier Jarvis. In third place was the resurgent #1 Porsche team of Timo Berhnard, Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley that has taken three wins and a podium (including the result in Japan) since after Le Mans.
The championship leading #2 Porsche team of Neel Jani, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb remain on top of the points table but their lead has now been cut to just 23 points after they could only manage fifth place in the race behind the #6 Toyota of Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima.
The #2 Porsche team has been unable to finish on the podium in the four races after Le Mans, where it won and had scored a win and a second place in the two races prior to it. Just two races now remain in the 2016 season and with a maximum of 26 points on offer - if a team scores a pole position and wins the race - Porsche need to be on their toes if they are too see off the challenge of the #5 Toyota and the #8 Audi, which is a further 5.5 points adrift.
The #26 G-Drive Oreca-Nissan of Romain Rusinov, Will Stevens and Alex Brundle claimed the win in the LMP2 category while the LMGTE Pro class was won by the #67 Ford GT team of Andy Priaulx and Harry Ticknell. Stefane Mucke and Olivier Pla made it a Ford 1-2 while AF Corse Ferrari team took third and fourth.
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