Toyota ends Ferrari’s Le Mans streak after race-long battle

Toyota wrested back control of Le Mans in a finish that felt like a reset for endurance racing’s balance of power. Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries drove the No. 7 Toyota to victory in the 94th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans at Circuit de la Sarthe, beating BMW by 10.913 seconds after 381 laps and 24:03:01.030 of racing.

The result ended Ferrari’s hold on the event after the Italian manufacturer had won the previous three editions. Ferrari’s No. 51 finished fifth, a sharp reversal in a race where Hypercar manufacturers traded the lead through the day and night and every small mistake carried heavy cost. Toyota’s No. 8 finished third, only 9.504 seconds behind BMW’s runner-up, underlining how narrow the margin was at the front.

BMW had arrived with pole position after Cadillac’s No. 38 lost the top qualifying spot for a pit-lane infringement, with Dries Vanthoor, Kevin Magnussen and Raffaele Marciello set to start from the front in the No. 15 BMW. But the race itself punished pace without durability. Cadillac’s No. 38 suffered a power-steering problem, made two pit stops and dropped down the order before retirement, while BMW’s pole-sitting No. 15 also retired. In a 24-hour race, those setbacks mattered as much as outright speed.

Toyota’s sixth overall Le Mans victory was also a comeback. Its last win came in 2022, and Kobayashi’s latest triumph was his second at the race after his 2021 success. For Toyota, the result restored momentum after three years without the overall crown and reinforced the brand’s grip on global endurance racing prestige.

The scale of the event matched the stakes. FIA World Endurance Championship officials said the race drew a record-breaking crowd, and 62 cars with 186 drivers took part. Tour de France sprint record-holder Mark Cavendish gave the ceremonial start at 16:00 on Saturday, June 13, adding a rare crossover moment to a race that now looks less like a settled dynasty than a fierce contest for manufacturer status. Toyota’s win showed that Ferrari’s recent streak could be broken, and that in modern Le Mans, reliability and execution still decide the biggest prize in racing.