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How the 'moral winners' lost Le Mans

For 23 hours of the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours, the #7 Toyota looked to be completely in control of the race. This is the full story of both why it had the edge and why it ended up defeated

Gary Watkins Jun 17, 2019, 1:29 PM

The Toyota Le Mans 24 Hours curse struck again. Only this time it didn't prevent the Japanese manufacturer from winning the race. Nor completing a predictable one-two.

But it did mean that the moral winners last weekend, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez, lost out to Sebastien Buemi, Fernando Alonso and Kazuki Nakajima.

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Author Gary Watkins

Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.