Toyota heads into the 90th edition of the French endurance classic on the back of four successive race victories, with the #7 crew of Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway leading a 1-2 finish for the Japanese manufacturer last year in the new GR010 Hybrid LMH car.
In fact, such was Toyota’s dominance in the first year of the Hypercar class that it swept all six rounds of the WEC, leaving both Glickenhaus and Alpine as also-rans for much of the season.
However, the three manufacturers have appeared much closer in the second year of the LMH regulations cycle so far, with Alpine scoring a maiden win with its A480-Gibson in the Sebring 1000 Miles and Glickenhaus clinching an overall podium in the same event.
Balance of Performance changes have played a part in equalising the order at the front of the field, with the two Toyotas not allowed to use the four-wheel drive system until they hit 190km/h in dry conditions - a substantial 70km/h increase over last year.
Moreover, Glickenhaus has slowly ironed out the reliability problems it experienced with its non-hybrid 007 LMH car, while the Alpine has also largely made up for the fuel tank capacity shortfall it faced with its grandfathered LMP1 car last year.
While Toyota remains the outright favourite for yet another triumph at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Lopez says the Japanese marque will have its work cut out to stave off a challenge from its much-improved rivals.
“I think it's going to be much more of a fight this year,” the 39-year-old told Motorsport.com’s Latin American edition.
“Glickenhaus last year was fast maybe in one lap and [in this year’s test day] you see they are fast in a full stint.
“Alpine won the first race [at Sebring] very easily, they were competitive at Spa, they are ahead in the championship by a good margin and they are doing well.
“What we know is that our car always fits better at Le Mans because it is a car that is designed and with the aerodynamics and everything that it always has here we manage to have a very good performance.
“In the test we were all very close and there is always that question mark of how much the rest have really shown.
“We as Toyota, as a big constructor that we are, always work being as clear as possible, showing what we have and from our side what was seen is what we have and at least it was enough to be ahead in the test but we believe that it will be a very difficult race and much more fought than it has been in other years.”
The crew of the #7 Toyota claimed their first win at Le Mans in 2021 after years of misfortune, including a bizarre incident in 2017 when Kobayashi suffered a burnt out clutch after mistaking a thumbs up from an LMP2 driver as a marshal’s signal to exit the pitlane.
The first three of Toyota’s Le Mans triumphs in the LMP1 era were all with the #8 car, initially shared by Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima before Alonso was replaced in 2020 by former Porsche driver Brendon Hartley.
Lopez admitted that his maiden Le Mans victory last year has taken some weight off his shoulders, but that he remains as hungry as ever to add another win to his tally.
“It feels different in the sense that I don't feel the backpack or the weight that I felt all the other years, especially when we had missed the win a couple of times," he said.
“You know that the bullets are running out and you have tried many times, like many well-known drivers, who raced 10, 15 times here and they never were able to win.
“So it was a little bit like taking off the weight of having achieved the victory, but in the sense of work, hours of dedication, preparation, they are the same and the desire to win the race is always the same as well. It doesn't matter if you've won, it's a race that you always want to win if they ask you.
“Every time you come here you know how difficult it is, you have to take it easy, work and prepare as much as you can and then hope that the race goes your way in the sense that everything goes more or less well.”
