Sebastien Buemi says he was unable to forget the dramatic finale to the 2016 running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, moments before the No. 8 Toyota crew claimed victory at this year's event.
Buemi, along with Kazuki Nakajima and Anthony Davidson, were poised to take the win two years ago until a loss of power in the final five minutes caused the car to halt, in one of the most dramatic moments in the event's history.
Toyota, having missed out again in 2017, was the overwhelming favourite this year, and the No. 8 crew of Buemi, Nakajima and Fernando Alonso edged the No. 7 team to win, finally ending the Japanese marque's jinx at the race.
Buemi, though, said the cruel finale to the 2016 event played on his mind until the chequered flag was waved.
“This is definitely the biggest win of my career,” said Buemi, the 2015/16 Formula E champion.
“I struggle to realise it right now because in the last few laps I couldn't forget 2016. To finally see the car crossing the line was really special.
“All the preparation that goes into this day from everyone in the team, when you finally win it, it is something really big so I will enjoy this.”
Nakajima, victorious on his seventh attempt at Le Mans, added: “It's great to be here finally; it has been a long time. I am almost speechless.
“I had great team-mates and Toyota gave us a very strong car. We finished the race without any issue on both cars so I feel we all deserved to win the race.
“To win this race has been a big dream for all of Toyota since 1985. There have been many people involved in this project so I am proud to be here to represent all that effort.”
Alonso, now having completed two parts in his quest for motorsport’s ‘Triple Crown’, also revelled in the win, achieved in his first start at the event.
“It has been amazing,” he said. “We know how important and iconic Le Mans is in the world of motorsport and as a team we achieved an amazing result.
“Every moment was a reminder of how tough and long this race is, anything can happen so we tried to execute our race and stay calm. Happily everything worked well.
“The race was hard because the two cars were very close, within one minute after 23 hours, so it was tough competitive but fair and very sporting.
“We wanted a one-two and we achieved that so I am very happy.”
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