What a way to go! And below is Vanhoolandt’s superb report on this epic Le Mans, class by class.
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
On June 10-11 2023, the 24 Hours of Le Mans celebrated their 100th anniversary this year (but it was the 91st edition). It was necessary that this unique edition be so celebrated and that indeed was the case.
Thanks to new regulation, the top category of prototypes, called Hypercar, witnessed the return of the major manufacturers who had deserted the Sarthe classic as the cars complying with the previous regulations were too expensive to design and develop.
This has allowed the return of brands that have marked the history of the race such as Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot and Porsche and the arrival next year of Alpine, BMW and Lamborghini. Toyota had remained faithful to the 24 hours during this transition period between the two regulations, which allowed it to impose itself over the last five years. It was one of the favorites this year and therefore had a lot to lose if it failed. This is what happened, the Japanese brand being the victim of the loss of a car early in the race following an accident, and also of a late change of equivalence between the different cars, the controversial ‘Balance of Performance’.