Toyota has found the reason why the #5 TS050 Hybrid of Nakajima, Davidson and Buemi stopped on the start/finish straight of Le Mans just five minutes early on the penultimate lap. The issue was caused by the airline between one of the turbo’s and the intercooler.
When this issue occurred, the control system did try to compensate for the sudden loss of power but failed. Toyota Gazoo Racing emphasizes that this issue is completely unrelated to the engine issues suffered by both the #5 and #6 car during the 6hrs of Spa, a month earlier.
The cause of the issue has yet to be identified as research continues.
It is however not caused by slowing down to create a finish that was nice for all the pictures. The car slowed down because of the issue, not to look good on photo’s.
News source: http://toyotagazooracing.com/jp/wec/release/2016/0623-01.html
Rick Kiewiet Photography 