24 hours of Le Mans: Pechito López and his Toyota abandoned after a chain crash

There were only 103 laps that endured the Toyota No. 7, the car that the Argentine José María López shared with the Englishman Mike Conway and the Japanese Kamui Kobayashi in the traditional 24 hours of Le Mans. A chain crash at the traditional La Sarthe circuit marked the end of the adventure for one of the candidates to stay with the competition.

The car stopped on the track at midnight when it was driven by the Japanese Kamui Kobayashi and was rammed by another unit, which motivated the yellow flag until its removal.

Kobayashi took the wheel of the Toyota GR010 Hybrid after the 38 laps completed by the Argentine in 2 hours, 57 minutes and 49 seconds on the French track.

Britain's Mike Conway was in charge of driving during the first three hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which saw constant changes in the positions of the hypercar category.

The Cordoban was in action during one of the most difficult moments of the race, which is the most demanding and corresponds to the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).

"It has been one of the most difficult stints I have ever had. A lot of rain at times, a lot of incidents, a lot of yellow flags. The truth is that you have to survive, but that is already difficult," Lopez told official TV.

"We called the pits late. I had to do almost half a lap with slick tires in the rain. Thanks to that we were able to advance in the qualifier but the risks were many, "he added.

Asked about the 37 kilos that Toyota received in the minimum weight after a regulatory change, Lopez admitted: "We fall a lot in performance. Rubber suffers a lot. It's hard."

The #499 Ferrari 51P which held a comfortable lead of 47 seconds lost control at the first chicane of the Mulsanne straight and Nico Muller's #9 Peugeot 8X94 was in front ahead of the #50 Ferrari of Nicklas Nielsen.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans will end this Sunday at 11:00 in Argentina.