Le Mans 24h: #8 Toyota has long stop to cure brake issue
Seven hours into the Le Mans 24 Hours, the #8 Toyota of Kazuki Nakajima, Brendon Hartley and Sebastien Buemi has suffered a first blow, losing a lap on the #7 sister car due to a brake change.

The cards in the 88th edition of the race were reshuffled by two consecutive safety car periods, one for a crashed GTE Am Ferrari in Porsche Curves and one for a big accident for the #30 Duqueine Oreca of Tristan Gommedy at the first Mulsanne chicane.
With lengthy repairs needed to the barriers, Toyota used the long interruption the change the front right brakes on the #8 TS050 Hybrid. The brakes had been causing overheating problems all race, prompting the team to try and clean the brake ducts during the pitstop.
That appeared not to have solved the issue, so just before the seven-hour mark Toyota decided to perform a full front right brake change.
“We will take the chance under safety car to bring the #8 into the box to properly fix the brake cooling issue,” a Toyota spokesperson confirmed.
That briefly dropped the #8 car back behind the first #1 Rebellion of Norman Nato, a full lap plus two minutes behind the leading #7 car driven by Jose Maria Lopez.
The second safety car caused more disruptions, as LMP2 frontrunner Gabriel Aubry ground to a halt in the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca. The Frenchman slowed coming out of Arnage and finally parked his car at Porsche Curves.
Oliver Jarvis also came to a stop in the #16 G-Drive by Algarve Oreca, but managed to restart and reach the pits.
Before the second safety car, Bruno Spengler spun in the #4 ByKolles after his rear wing appeared to fall off in the Esses. Spengler also made it back to the pits. where the LMP1 privateer team, which had already lost eight laps due to an early alternator problem, is attempting to fix the damage.
Jean-Eric Vergne led the LMP2 class at the restart in the #26 G-Drive Oreca.
James Calado kept his GTE Pro lead in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, with the #75 Iron Lynx Ferrari of Andrea Piccini controlling the GTE Am class.

Previous article
Le Mans 24h, H4: Toyota strengthens 1-2 lead
Next article
Le Mans 24h, H8: #7 Toyota leads into the night

About this article
Series | Le Mans , WEC |
Event | 24 Hours of Le Mans |
Author | Filip Cleeren |
Le Mans 24h: #8 Toyota has long stop to cure brake issue
Trending
Why Ferrari is ending its 50-year top-flight sportscar racing exile
Making a return to top-flight sportscar racing after 50 years away, Ferrari will enter the Le Mans Hypercar ranks in 2023. The Italian marque denies the link with Formula 1's new cost cap that frees up resources, but it's certainly no coincidence...
Oliver Gavin's Corvette Racing highlights
Oliver Gavin has stepped down from the full-time Corvette Racing line-up after a stellar career with the team spanning nearly 20 years. He looks back on a stint that encompassed, among other successes, five Le Mans 24 Hours victories.
How Tandy joined an exclusive club of endurance legends
Victory at last year's Spa 24 Hours meant Nick Tandy had completed the unofficial sextuple crown of the world's six biggest endurance races, becoming the first Briton to do so. Ahead of his fresh start with Corvette Racing, he explains how he did it…
The cherished curios kept by motorsport's professionals at home
Keeping trophies and momentos of key triumphs is par for the course for motorsport professionals, but what are the most cherished souvenirs picked up by the drivers and engineers who have seen and done it all?
The Porsche icon that forged sportscar racing's greatest era
Porsche is returning to the top class of Le Mans with an LMDh prototype that it hopes will write its next successful chapter in sportscar racing. But it will have to go some to emulate its 956/962, a car which defines the Group C age more than any other.
How Tom Kristensen forged his ‘Mr Le Mans’ legend
He is synonymous with success at the Circuit de la Sarthe, but Tom Kristensen's sportscar legacy amounts to much more than his record-breaking nine Le Mans wins, as the most successful driver ever at Sebring and a world champion to boot…
Why Audi’s shock return promises a new age for sportscars
OPINION: The news that Audi will return to Le Mans means we'll at last get to see the fight promised in 2012 against Peugeot and Toyota. It also gives LMDh a tangible form, which could open the floodgates for more like-minded marques to follow suit…
The eternal debate revived after the 2019/20 WEC season
It may have been missed amid the clamour over Lewis Hamilton's seventh F1 title, but Britain had another world champion crowned last weekend. Mike Conway's WEC crown raises an old conundrum - does title glory make up for the pain of Le Mans defeat?