1998 24 Hours of Le Mans
With full-blown race entries of homologated road versions being de rigueur in 1998, Toyota sought revenge GT-One
Former protagonist Thierry Boutsen had been recruited alongside Ralf Kelleners and Geoff Leeds and had been leading the sports car blue riband event for five hours until a gearbox failure dropped the crew own to seventh.
Their sister car had led the previous three hours before a rain-enduced crash forced them into retirement – handing the lead back to Lees, Boutsen and Kelleners when Porsche also faltered. Gearbox eventually resurfaced only for the team to be cruelly bedevilled by perfectly symbiotic pit-stops. Having lead for nearly half the race, the GT-One’s gearbox finally cried enough with two hours left on the clock.