Pechito López gets into the Toyota at the head of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

A few hours before the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, José María Pechito López is already leading the number 7 Toyota leading the Hypercar race. And it didn’t take long for the Cordovan to do the fastest lap as the participants approached the three hour race. Sebastien Buemi, on the other hand, is his escort, with the number 8 Toyota.

The Cordovan driver, who was the one who replaced Coway after 35 laps, dreams of winning the legendary race again, after taking off his backpack of winning it for the first time last year, equaling a score that only an Argentine had: Froilán González since 1954.

“I feel calmer because we don’t carry that backpack from previous years, in which we lost by making a good performance and deserving more. This is a very long race, in which you have to deal with different types of problems. Personally, I have the pressure to have a good race and get to the end with a chance to fight, “Pechito said in the preview.

The Toyota GR010 Hybrid number 7 started from the front row but behind the Toyota number 8, which took pole with the New Zealander Brendon Hartley at the wheel but also with the Swiss Sebastien Buemi and the Japanese Ryo Hirakawa.

However, he resigned from the privilege of placing in an entrance to the pits before the first hour of shooting, with the Swiss Sebastian Buemi in charge, and was relegated from the world championship trio in 2020 and 2021, consisting of López, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi, precisely the one in charge of driving the car in the standings.

Surely, as usual, Pechito López will take care of the night driving. “It really doesn’t change much for me, in the last few years I’ve been driving at night and I’ve been able to make a difference. In any case, you have to be the best in the moment that touches you,” he said taking note, warning that “everything has to be connected to time “.

The 90th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, valid for the third date of the FIA ​​WEC 2022 (World Endurance Championship), was launched by the president and director of the competition, Patrick Pouyanné, with 62 cars on the track.

The race, which can be followed 24 hours a day by Star ++ and also on YouTube with the on-board camera of Toyota number 7, will end this Sunday at 11, when it will be known whether Pechito López and his teammates will be able to revalidate the title. , as well as Toyota, the great dominator of the World Endurance Championship.

In 2021, Pechito López’s team was able to take revenge on their third consecutive participation in Le Mans, where they were one step away from glory in previous editions. After scoring much of the test in 2019, a bad strategy by the team relegated them to second on the podium and in 2020 the car ran into turbo issues and qualified in third after dominating the group.