Toyota says it has received an apology from LMP2 driver Vincent Capillaire for the incident that indirectly caused the leading #7 car to retire from this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
The #7 TS050 HYBRID driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Stephane Sarrazin held a comfortable lead in the 10th hour of the race before stopping out on track with a clutch problem.
Conway had pitted during a caution period before handing over to Kobayashi, who was forced to wait at the end of the pitlane waiting for the safety car and the drivers following it to go by.
Kobayashi mistook Capillaire for a marshal waving him through the pits and started to pull away, but was quickly instructed by Toyota to stop once more.
That process overheated the car’s clutch, with Kobayashi coming to a stop on the start/finish straight on the first racing lap after the safety car period had ended and failing to recover the car to the pits.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Toyota said it had accepted an apology from Capillaire for his actions.
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It read: “Toyota Gazoo Racing can confirm it has received an apology from Vincent Capillaire regarding his actions during the Le Mans 24 Hours.
“We have fully accepted his apology and acknowledge that his sporting gesture was never intended to cause any negative consequences for our #7 car.
“We remain on good terms with Vincent and we consider the matter is now closed.”
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