Le Mans 24 Hours: Ferrari survives late drama to score back-to-back wins

Nickas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina took the chequered flag in the #50 Ferrari 499P with a 14s margin over the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID of Nyck de Vries, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez, as the #51 Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi rounded out the podium.

There was drama in the penultimate hour as the right-side door of the #50 Ferrari began flapping rapidly, prompting race control to show a black and orange flag. Nielsen was forced to bring the car back into the pits just six laps into the stint, but was able to hold the net lead over the #7 Toyota.

Nielsen’s run to the finish was made easier by Lopez spinning at the Dunlop Curve and briefly stopping on track, a mistake that ended any remaining chance of Toyota adding to its five wins at Le Mans.

Ferrari had looked rapid from the get go in the 92nd running of Le Mans, with all three 499Ps - including the AF Corse-entered customer entry - charging to the front in the opening hour.

The #50 factory car and the #83 customer entry elected to stay out when rain hit the track briefly on Saturday evening, a decision that put the two 499Ps well clear of the rest of the field as the remaining cars - including the #51 Ferrari - had to return to the pits to switch back to slicks.

The race was neutralised for the first time after night fell at La Sarthe, when the #20 BMW of Robin Frijns crashed at the end of Mulsanne after contact with the #83 Ferrari then driven by Robert Kubica.

It took the best part of two hours for the marshals to replace the barriers, with the action resuming just past midnight. Another safety car period followed in the early hours of the morning, as rain and fog made the track unsafe for green-flag racing, with Toyota, Porsche and Ferrari all trading top spot.

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Jose Maria Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck De Vries

Photo by: Shameem Fahath

It wasn’t until the break of dawn that the race went back to green, with the complexion of the contest changing virtually every hour as a number of manufacturers enjoyed stints at the front.

The #50 Ferrari made major headways in the 18th hour before the final rain shower, as Fuoco overtook the #83 Ferrari and the #5 Porsche of Makowiecki to take second, when an out of sync #2 Cadillac stopped to switch to wet tyres.

Pier Guidi managed to hang on to the final spot of the podium in the #51 Ferrari he shared with Calado and Giovinazzi despite coming under serious pressure from the #6 Porsche 963 driven by Laurens Vanthoor.

Pier Guidi was hit with a five-second time penalty for colliding with the #8 Toyota of Brendon Hartley in the penultimate hour, an incident that left Hartley facing the wrong way on the track at the Mulsanne corner.

Pre-race favourite Porsche had to settle for fourth position, with Vanthoor finishing just 1.1s behind Pier Guidi in the #6 963 LMDh he shared with Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer.

The #6 Porsche had moved into the front in the 18th hour after pitting under a slow zone, which was ironically caused by Felipe Nasr crashing the sister #4 entry into Indianapolis. However, the #6 had to make its next pitstop under a safety car - brought by the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3’s shunt at the same turn - which dropped the trio back down the order.

The #8 Toyota delayed by the incident with Pier Guidi ended up fifth, Sebastien Buemi bringing the car he shares with Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa to the finish line ahead of the #5 Porsche of Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen and Makowiecki.

Cadillac emerged as a surprise contender for victory on Sunday afternoon, as a well-timed pitstop before the last safety car put the #2 V-Series.R of Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber and Alex Palou in the lead - albeit out of sync on pitstops with its immediate rivals.

#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki

Photo by: Shameem Fahath

However, any advantage the factory Chip Ganassi crew could potentially derive from their pit strategy was negated when rain hit the track in the final three hours, which put the entire Hypercar field on wet tyres at roughly the same time.

Two-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou eventually brought the #2 Caddy to seventh at the finish, ahead of the two customer Jota Porsches.

The #12 Jota Porsche, which was rebuilt around a new chassis in record time after a crash in FP2 on Wednesday, finished eighth ahead of the #38 car.

Peugeot endured another troubled outing with the new 9X8 2024 that made its debut in the Imola round of the World Endurance Championship, with the car struggling for pace in all conditions.

Stoffel Vandoorne, Paul di Resta and Loic Duval finished 11th in the best of the two factory cars from the French manufacturer, three laps down on the winning Toyota, after picking up a drive-through penalty for overtaking under the safety car.

The #93 car also had to drive through the pitlane after Mikkel Jensen was deemed responsible for a collision with the #95 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 car. That, combined with a crash for Nico Muller under the safety car, left him, Jensen and Jean-Eric Vergne down in 12th place in the final reckoning, a lap adrift of the sister car.

Lamborghini was the best of the newcomers in the Hypercar class after a solid if unremarkable run for the Iron Lynx-run factory squad at Le Mans. The Italian marque never had the pace to bother its more established factory rivals, but its two SC63s ran without any major hiccups - save for a couple of spins in the fourth hour.

#94 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Stoffel Vandoorne, Paul Di Resta, Loic Duval

Photo by: Marc Fleury

The #63 Lamborghini entered for the full WEC season finished ahead of the Peugeot in 10th with Mirko Bortolotti, Daniil Kvyat and Edoardo Mortara, while the sister #19 car brought over from IMSA and driven by Romain Grosjean, Andrea Caldarelli and Matteo Cairoli ended up in 13th place.

Isotta Fraschini was the only other new manufacturer to be classified, after Jean-Karl Vernay, Carl Wattana Bennett and Antonio Serravalle managed to take the #11 Tipo6-C to 14th place.

Both BMW and Alpine were out of the running before midnight on Saturday, despite having shown promising pace in the lead-up to the race.

Engine failures were to blame for Alpine’s double retirement at Le Mans, with Ferdinand Habsburg parking the #35 A424 LMDh at Arnage in the fifth hour and Nicolas Lapierre pulling the sister car shortly after into the garage.

BMW’s troubles began in the opening hour itself as Marco Wittmann went off at the Esses and immediately put the #15 M Hybrid V8 on the back foot. Team-mate Dries Vanthoor was trying to recover from the early setback when he had a coming together with the #83 AF Corse Ferrari of Kubica at the end of Mulsanne at night, with the impact sending him head-on into the barriers.

By this point, the #20 BMW was already in the garage after Robin Frijns ran over the kerbs at the Ford Chicane and sustained what appeared to be terminal damage. BMW was eventually able to get the car repaired to send team-mate Sheldon van der Linde back on track in the final hour, but the car was not classified after it failed to complete the required 70% distance.

The #83 customer Ferrari that led a major portion of the race on Saturday and was well in contention in the early hours but eventually retired with technical issues in the 20th hour, with TV images showing plumes of smoke coming out of the front.

The #3 Cadillac and the #4 Porsche were among the six Hypercar entries to not be classified.

#91 Manthey Ema Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3: Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring, Richard Lietz

Photo by: Marc Fleury

Porsche triumphs in new-for-2024 LMGT3 class

Porsche scored yet another WEC win in the LMGT3 class as Richard Lietz, Yasser Shahin and Morris Schuring took top honours in the #91 Manthey EMA 911 GT3 R.

The victory in the production-based class boiled down to a straight fight between the Manthey Porsche and the #31 WRT BMW M4 of Augusto Farfus, Sean Gelael and Darren Leung in the closing stages, as a number of leading contenders dropped out due to a variety of reasons.

Gelael managed to grab the lead of the race when rain returned on track with just over two hours to go, but factory Porsche driver Lietz had little trouble getting past his silver-rated rival on the run to Indianapolis to lead the #91 crew to the first-ever LMGT3 victory at Le Mans.

The sister #92 Manthey PureRxcing entry was also in the victory battle for much of the enduro and had led the class shortly before Klaus Bachler was forced to bring the car to the garage with gearbox problems.

Proton Competition took spots third and fourth with its pair of Ford Mustang GT3s, the #88 car of Dennis Olsen, Giorgio Roda and Mikkel Pedersen finishing ahead of Christopher Mies, Ben Tuck and John Hartshorne in an invitational sister entry.

All three McLaren 720S GT3s suffered a spate of issues on Sunday that left them out of the reckoning. The pole-winning Inception Racing car was the only one to make the finish, after mechanical gremlins struck down the United Autosports cars, but was delayed by damage to radiators picked up when Brendan Iribe clouted the barriers.

#22 United Autosports Oreca 07: Gibson: Oliver Jarvis, Bijoy Garg, Nolan Siegel

Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt

United takes unlikely LMP2 win

The LMP2 honours went to the #22 United Autosports ORECA of Oliver Jarvis, Bijoy Garg and Nolan Siegel, with Siegel grabbing the lead from the #28 IDEC Sport driver Reshad de Gerus in the 22nd hour.

The IDEC Sport team and the #34 InterEuropol Oreca had previously enjoyed a long battle on Sunday, with the #10 Vector also in play in the afternoon before the rain shook the order up again in LMP2.

Eventually, it was last year’s race-winning Inter Europol team that took second with Clement Novalak, Jakub Smiechowski and Vladislav Lomko, as IDEC Sport trio de Gerus, Job Van Uitert dropped to third in class.

A late off for the #10 Vector ORECA contributed to Patrick Pilet, Ryan Cullen and Stephane Richelmi dropping to fifth behind the #183 AF Corse entry of Francois Perrodo, Ben Barnicoat and Nicolas Varrone that had led at sunrise on Sunday.

2024 Le Mans 24 Hours: Full result

1 - 2
Cla	Team	#	Drivers	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Retirement	Points
1	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	50	A. Fuoco M. Molina N. Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	311	-		26
2	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	7	J. Lopez K. Kobayashi N. de Vries	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	311	+14.221 14.221	14.221	31
3	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	51	A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	311	+36.730 36.730	22.509	28
4	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	6	K. Estre A. Lotterer L. Vanthoor	Porsche 963	311	+37.897 37.897	1.167	28
5	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	8	S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	311	+1'02.824 1'02.824	24.927	28
6	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	5	M. Campbell M. Christensen F. Makowiecki	Porsche 963	311	+1'45.654 1'45.654	42.830	24
7	CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR	2	E. Bamber A. Lynn A. Palou	Cadillac V-Series.R	311	+2'34.468 2'34.468	48.814	27
8	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	12	W. Stevens N. Nato C. Ilott	Porsche 963	311	+3'02.691 3'02.691	28.223	27
9	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	38	O. Rasmussen P. Hanson J. Button	Porsche 963	311	+3'36.756 3'36.756	34.065	31
10	Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR	63	M. Bortolotti D. Kvyat E. Mortara	Lamborghini SC63	309	2 laps		25
11	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	94	S. Vandoorne P. di Resta L. Duval	Peugeot 9X8 2024	309	+2 Laps 2'18.217	2'18.217	31
12	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	93	J. Vergne M. Jensen N. Müller	Peugeot 9X8 2024	309	+2 Laps 2'35.918	17.701	29
13	Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR	19	R. Grosjean A. Caldarelli M. Cairoli	Lamborghini SC63	309	+2 Laps 2'57.749	21.831	27
14	Isotta Fraschini HYPERCAR	11	C. Bennett J. Vernay A. Serravalle	Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 Competizione LMH	302	9 laps		29
15	United Autosports LMP2	22	O. Jarvis B. Garg N. Siegel	Oreca 07	297	14 laps		30
16	INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION LMP2	34	J. Smiechowski V. Lomko C. Novalak	Oreca 07	297	+14 Laps 3'44.685	3'44.685	30
17	IDEC SPORT LMP2	28	P. Lafargue J. Van Uitert R. de Gerus	Oreca 07	297	+14 Laps 3'59.256	14.571	31
18	AF Corse LMP2	183	F. Perrodo B. Barnicoat N. Varrone	Oreca 07	297	+14 Laps 4'01.070	1.814	29
19	VECTOR SPORT LMP2	10	R. Cullen P. Pilet S. Richelmi	Oreca 07	297	+14 Laps 4'05.183	4.113	31
20	AO by TF LMP2	14	P. Hyett L. Deletraz A. Quinn	Oreca 07	295	16 laps		28
21	DKR Engineering LMP2	33	A. Mattschull R. Binder L. Hörr	Oreca 07	295	+16 Laps 2'57.104	2'57.104	31
22	Algarve Pro Racing Team LMP2	25	M. Kaiser O. Caldwell R. De Angelis	Oreca 07	294	17 laps		30
23	PANIS RACING LMP2	65	R. Sales M. Beche S. Huffaker	Oreca 07	293	18 laps		35
24	Cool Racing LMP2	47	N. Rao M. Bell F. Vesti	Oreca 07	291	20 laps		30
25	NIELSEN RACING LMP2	24	F. Scherer D. Heinemeier Hansson K. Simpson	Oreca 07	291	+20 Laps 2'47.769	2'47.769	30
26	Cool Racing LMP2	37	L. Fluxá M. Jakobsen R. Miyata	Oreca 07	289	22 laps		29
27	Manthey EMA LMGT3	91	Y. Shahin M. Schuring R. Lietz	Porsche 911 GT3 R	281	30 laps		28
28	TEAM WRT LMGT3	31	D. Leung S. Gelael A. Farfus	BMW M4 GT3	280	31 laps		27
29	Whelen Cadillac Racing HYPERCAR	311	P. Derani J. Aitken F. Drugovich	Cadillac V-Series.R	280	+31 Laps 2'34.564	2'34.564	25
30	Proton Competition LMGT3	88	G. Roda M. Pedersen D. Olsen	Ford Mustang GT3	280	+31 Laps 2'59.989	25.425	29
31	Proton Competition LMGT3	44	J. Hartshorne B. Tuck C. Mies	Ford Mustang GT3	280	+31 Laps 3'58.735	58.746	28
32	IRON DAMES LMGT3	85	S. Bovy M. Gatting R. Frey	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	279	32 laps		26
33	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	55	F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera	Ferrari 296 GT3	279	+32 Laps 1'45.941	1'45.941	30
34	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	78	A. Robin T. Boguslavskiy K. van der Linde	Lexus RC F GT3	279	+32 Laps 2'16.275	30.334	31
35	Spirit of Race LMGT3	155	J. Laursen C. Laursen J. Taylor	Ferrari 296 GT3	279	+32 Laps 2'44.753	28.478	28
36	D'Station Racing LMGT3	777	S. Hoshino E. Bastard M. Sorensen	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	279	+32 Laps 3'59.930	1'15.177	28
37	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	87	T. Kimura E. Masson J. Hawksworth	Lexus RC F GT3	279	+32 Laps 4'28.692	28.762	28
38	TF Sport LMGT3	82	H. Koizumi S. Baud D. Juncadella	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	278	33 laps		28
39	GR RACING LMGT3	86	M. Wainwright D. Serra R. Pera	Ferrari 296 GT3	278	+33 Laps 2'42.056	2'42.056	30
40	INCEPTION RACING LMGT3	70	B. Iribe O. Millroy F. Schandorff	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	275	36 laps		29
41	Manthey PureRxcing LMGT3	92	A. Malykhin J. Sturm K. Bachler	Porsche 911 GT3 R	273	38 laps		31
42	UNITED AUTOSPORTS USA LMP2	23	B. Keating F. Albuquerque B. Hanley	Oreca 07	272	39 laps		31
43	TF Sport LMGT3	81	T. Van Rompuy R. Andrade C. Eastwood	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	267	44 laps		29
44	IRON LYNX LMGT3	60	C. Schiavoni M. Cressoni F. Perera	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	258	53 laps		27
45	Proton Competition HYPERCAR	99	N. Jani H. Tincknell J. Andlauer	Porsche 963	251	60 laps		24
46	Proton Competition LMGT3	77	R. Hardwick Z. Robichon B. Barker	Ford Mustang GT3	227	84 laps		23
47	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	20	S. Van Der Linde R. Frijns R. Rast	BMW M Hybrid V8	96	215 laps		10
48	AF Corse HYPERCAR	83	R. Kubica R. Shwartzman Y. Yifei	Ferrari 499P	248	63 laps		21	Retirement
49	CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR	3	S. Bourdais R. van der Zande S. Dixon	Cadillac V-Series.R	223	88 laps		22	Retirement
50	United Autosports LMGT3	59	J. Cottingham N. Costa G. Saucy	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	220	91 laps		23	Retirement
51	United Autosports LMGT3	95	H. Hamaguchi N. Pino M. Sato	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	212	99 laps		21	Retirement
52	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	4	M. Jaminet F. Nasr N. Tandy	Porsche 963	211	100 laps		24	Retirement
53	Heart of Racing Team LMGT3	27	I. James D. Mancinelli A. Riberas	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	196	115 laps		17	Retirement
54	Crowdstrike Racing by APR LMP2	45	G. Kurtz C. Braun N. Catsburg	Oreca 07	149	162 laps		16	Retirement
55	JMW Motorsport LMGT3	66	G. Petrobelli L. ten Voorde S. Yoluc	Ferrari 296 GT3	112	199 laps		14	Retirement
56	DUQUEINE TEAM LMP2	30	J. Falb J. Allen J. Simmenauer	Oreca 07	112	0.000		14	Retirement
57	TEAM WRT LMGT3	46	A. Al Harthy V. Rossi M. Martin	BMW M4 GT3	109	202 laps		10	Retirement
58	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	15	D. Vanthoor R. Marciello M. Wittmann	BMW M Hybrid V8	102	209 laps		10	Retirement
59	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	36	N. Lapierre M. Schumacher M. Vaxiviere	Alpine A424	88	223 laps		10	Retirement
60	Proton Competition LMP2	9	J. Ried M. Capietto B. Viscaal	Oreca 07	86	225 laps		10	Retirement
61	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	35	P. Chatin F. Habsburg C. Milesi	Alpine A424	75	236 laps		8	Retirement
62	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	54	T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon	Ferrari 296 GT3	30	281 laps		3	Retirement
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