The 39th annual Nürburgring 24h race is in the books, and for Gazoo Racing and their #87 & #88 Lexus LFAs, it’s a case of “what could have been”.
From the start, the #87 LFA struggled to keep its pace from the qualifying rounds, falling to 46th place before an engine fire took the car (and drivers Takayuki Kinoshita, Andre Lotterer & Juichi Wakisaka) out of the race for over ten hours.
The dedicated Gazoo team didn’t quit though, managing to make the necessary repairs and returning to the track. Final result: 83 laps, 151st overall, and 8th in the SP8 class.
The #88 LFA, with its team of Akira Iida, Hiroaki Ishiura & Kazuya Oshima, fared much better — at one point climbing to 20th overall — until a collision in the pit lane and two hours of repairs derailed any hope of a top twenty finish. Final result: 133 laps, 42nd overall, and 3rd in SP8 class.
While it would be easy to curse bad luck, that’s what makes endurance racing so difficult, and especially this race — there’s a lot of time for things to go wrong. That both LFAs suffered serious damage and both finished the race is something to be proud of — congratulations to everyone on both Gazoo Racing teams for your perseverance and dedication!
(Be sure to check out Lexus Europe’s coverage from the race as well — plenty of great pictures to go through.)
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