Ferrari has gone back-to-back at Le Mans with a thrilling victory over Toyota Gazoo Racing in the 2024 edition of the famed race.
The #50 Ferrari 499P of Nickas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina took the chequered flag ahead of the #7 Toyota Gr010 of Nyck De Vries, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez.
The victory was anything but simple for the Italian outfit, who were forced to stop in the 23rd hour when the right door began flapping. Nielsen was forced to return to the pits to have it addressed just six laps into his stint but re-emerged with the net lead over the #7 Toyota.
Lopez, a late addition to the #7 lineup after Mike Conway was injured in a cycling incident two weeks ago, was caught out by the conditions as rain descended on the venue, with a spin and stall at Dunlop Curve in the final hours proving the difference and ending Toyota’s chances of a famous victory.
The 2023 Le Mans-winning #51 Ferrari of James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi held off a late challenge from the pole-sitting #6 Porsche Penske 963 to complete the podium.
Brendon Hartley and #8 Toyota Gazoo racing teammates Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa were fifth after a spin in the penultimate hour, with Hartley at the wheel, dropping them from contention.
The team led large portions of the race but were left facing the wrong way at the Mulsanne corner following contact from the #51 Ferrari. The #51 team received a 5-second penalty for the incident.
Cadillac Racing’s Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Alex Palou were seventh and were also contenders on an alternative pit strategy. The team led at points into the final three hours until rain hit the track.
Scott Dixon’s Cadillac Racing entry, shared with Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande, retired in the 18th hour with a terminal oil leak.
The #3 team had battled through a drive-through penalty for speeding under yellow, a trip through the gravel for Bourdais and contact with the wall for van der Zande to remain an outside chance for victory until it slowed to crawl with Dixon at the wheel.
Through 24 hours of racing, albeit with a large portion of the night behind the Safety Car, nine of the 23-strong Hypercar field finished on the lead lap, with four manufacturers in with a chance right until the final hour.
The #50 and #83 AF Corse customer Ferrari made significant gains when rain on Saturday evening saw the field stop en masse for wet tyres. The two remained out on slicks and made further ground when conditions quickly cleared, and teams promptly returned to the pits to change back to slicks.
The race’s first Safety Car came as night fell when the #15 BMW Hypercars’ race ended early following contact from Robert Kubica in the #83 Ferrari on Mulsanne.
Dries Vanthoor, at the wheel of the BMW, suffered a mild concussion from the high-speed incident, while AF Corse received a 30-second penalty for the contact.
Action resumed after a two-hour Safety Car period to allow for barrier repairs.
The race was soon back under caution as intense rain and fog descended on Le Mans in the early hours of the morning.
The longest-ever Safety Car period at Le Mans followed, with racing not resuming until four and a half hours later at the break of dawn.
As teams stopped for fuel and service during the interruption, the lead cycled between Toyota, Porsche and Ferrari.
Once on-track proceedings resumed, the lead continued to change, with Cadillac emerging as a contender and spending time at the front on their alternate strategy.
Rain in the 18th hour and a strong stint from Fuoco favoured the #50 Ferrari as it passed the #83 customer and #5 Porsche.
The #4 Penske Porsche crashed out at Indianapolis shortly after, and their sister car, the #6, took the lead when it stopped while a slow zone was activated.
However, a heavy crash for Heart of Racing’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3 cost Porsche as their next stop came during the race’s third and final Safety Car, which dropped them down the order.
Through it all, the #8 Toyota remained in contention until Guidi collided with Hartley at Mulsanne. This left the Kiwi facing the wrong way and needing direction from marshalls as to when he could rejoin in traffic on a blind corner.
The incident dropped the team down the order, and they finished fifth, ahead of the #5 Porsche of Australian Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowiecki.
The #12 Jota Porsche of Callum Ilott, Norman Nato and Will Stevens finished eighth, behind Cadillac, following a remarkable rebuild of their chassis after a heavy crash in practice. The team completed the project, which they indicated would usually take three weeks, in two days ahead of the race.
The #12 led home their #38 sister car, driven by 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button, Phil Hanson, and Oliver Rasmussen.
Lamborghini’s first run at Le Mans in the SC63 Hypercars came with a top-ten finish for the #63 Iron Lynx factory-backed effort of Mirko Bortolotti, Daniil Kvyat and Edoardo Mortara. The team ultimately didn’t have the pace to challenge its more established rivals but ran a mostly tidy 24 Hours for a good haul of WEC points.
Peugeot struggled for pace all race, with the #94 of Paul di Resta, Loic Duval and Stoffel Vandoorne leading home the #93 sister car of Mikkel Jensen, Nico Muller and Jean-Eric Vergne for 11th.
The second Lamborghini Iron Lynx entry was 13th, ahead of the sole Isotta Fraschini, which achieved its goal of completing all 24 hours, albeit nine laps off the pace of the winners.
Engine failures for both Alpines ended their race before midnight on Saturday.
In LMP2, United Autosports were victorious, with Oliver Jarvis sharing the drive of the #22 Oreca 07 with American rookies Oliver Jarvis and Nolan Siegel. Le Mans victory is yet another accolade in a break-through year for Siegel, who has won races in Indy NXT and made his IndyCar debut.
While Porsche didn’t succeed in the Hypercar class, they did in LMGT3, with Australian Yasser Shahin, Richard Lietz and Morris Schuring emerging victorious.
Shahin, whose family own The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia, Lietz and Schuring shared a Porsche 991 GT3 R (992) for the win, leading home the #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 and #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3.
With double points on offer at Le Mans, the results have shaken up the World Endurance Championship standings.
Porsche’s Andre Lotterert, Kevin Estre and Vanthoor continue to lead off the back of their fourth-placed finish, but victory for the #50 has elevated the team to second, just nine points adrift.
The first of the Toyotas, the #7, is third, a further eight points behind.
Hartley’s reigning champion #8 Toyota team are eighth in the standings, 55 points behind the leading #6 Porsche.
Bamber and Lynn are 13th, taking a good haul of 13 points from Le Mans to climb from 21st.
The World Endurance Championship returns with the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo in Brazil on July 12-14, the fifth of eight rounds.
