Kamui Kobayashi has accepted blame for the conflict with Porsche’s Matt Campbell on the Fuji 6 Hours that successfully eliminated Toyota from rivalry within the World Endurance Championship drivers’ title race.
The Japanese informed Motorsport.com after the penultimate spherical of the 2024 WEC on Sunday that “the penalty got here to me, so clearly it was my fault”, in reference to the suspended drive-through awarded after the race to the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar he shared with Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries.
Kobayashi and Campbell have been battling over seventh place late in hour 5 at Fuji after they got here collectively on the left-hand Flip 3 that leads into the quick 100R nook.
Campbell had pulled alongside the Toyota into the braking zone for Flip 1 at the start of lap 163, bought the cutback on Kobayashi via Flip 2 and appeared to have sealed the transfer by the point they arrived at Flip 3.
Kobayashi hit Campbell as he tried to regain the place, with the vehicles making contact for a second time as they spun throughout the asphalt run-off. Each vehicles instantly returned to the pits the place they have been retired.
Toyota supplied an identical interpretation of the late incident, with its technical director David Floury commenting: “It was our fault: we’ve nothing to complain about. Clearly we have been too far behind and we made contact with the #5 Porsche — we have been a bit too aggressive.”
In the meantime, Campbell described Kobayashi as “clearly the one who was at fault”. He added: “I used to be utterly clear: that wasn’t a passing alternative from that far again and he simply hit me within the rear.”
#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki
Photograph by: Andreas Beil
The Australian rued the luck of Porsche Penske Motorsport’s #5 automotive crew at Fuji. Workforce-mate Frederic Makowiecki was hit up the rear by the the shopper AF Corse Ferrari 499P LMH when Robert Kubica locked up at the beginning of the second lap of the race.
Campbell prompt that he and Makowiecki, who shared the automotive with Michael Christensen, have been “harmless bystanders each instances”.
The non-score has left Kobayashi and de Vries 37 factors behind Fuji race winners Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer within the #6 Porsche 963 LMDh, with simply 39 up for grabs within the Bahrain 8 Hours on 2 November.
Kobayashi and de Vries had gone into the Fuji occasion solely 12 factors behind Estre, Vanthoor and Lotterer and tied in second place with the manufacturing unit Ferrari crew of Antonio Fucoo, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen.
Ninth place for the Ferrari trio means they’re now 35 factors behind the leaders forward of the Sakhir spherical.
Conway lies fourth within the Hypercar class championship as a result of he missed the Le Mans 24 Hours in June via harm.
