Hartley takes second at Le Mans


 

best of the Kiwis: former Formula 1 driver Brendon Hartley has taken second overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, helping the factory Toyota team to a 1-2 result in the process. The 2021 race is the first to feature the new Hypercars’ class for hybrid drivetrains.

Driving the team’s #8 GR010 hypercar with Sebastien Buemi and Satoru Nakajima, he led for a significant period of the race but the car carried damage from the race start. With Buemi at the wheel, it was hit and spun, then later had to stop and reset its power system, rejoining dead last.

The Hartley-Buemi-Nakajima car carved its way back to the front and then hit the lead with 33 per cent of the race done. In the closing four hours of the race it was slowed by recurring fuel pickup problems that forced the team to run with shorter driving stints.

Buemi also lost a minute when the car cut out, trying to reset the car on the side of the road.

They finished two laps behind the #7 GR010 of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez.

Other Kiwis had mixed results. Earl Bamber’s race ended when the Porsche 911 RSR he shared with Laurens Vanthoor and American Cooper MacNeil crashed out with MacNeil at the wheel after 232 laps. Its chassis was damaged too badly to continue.

Jaxon Evans’ first Le Mans netted him 31st overall and fifth in the LMGTE AM class.

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