In June 2021, exactly one manufacturer showed up to defend the top class at Le Mans. Toyota's GR010 Hybrid started the race as the only true factory Hypercar on the grid, racing mostly against its own sister car and a scattering of older LMP1 leftovers. Five years later, at this year's 94th running of the 24 Hours, the No. 7 Toyota crossed the line 10.913 seconds ahead of a BMW, in front of a Hypercar field carrying badges from Ferrari, Cadillac, Aston Martin, Alpine, Peugeot, Genesis and BMW itself.
That swing from one manufacturer to eight in five seasons is the story regulators wanted to write when they scrapped the old LMP1 formula. It worked, in the sense that Le Mans got its factory war back. It has also produced a class that, by 2026, is already shedding weight at the top end, with Porsche walking away from the very grid it helped fill.
