Ferrari secured consecutive victories by surpassing Toyota in the weather-affected 24 Hours of Le Mans on Sunday. The trio of Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco, and Miguel Molina, driving car number 50, clinched the win 14 seconds ahead of the team of Nyck de Vries, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez in car number 7.
The No. 51 Ferrari, piloted by Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi, achieved a top-three placement in the latest edition of the world’s most renowned sports car race. Challenging weather conditions, such as rain and fog, called for the safety car’s deployment in the early morning, with Ferrari competing for the lead against rivals Toyota and Porsche. As the dawn neared, the race resumed under green flag conditions, with several teams battling for the lead.
With under six hours remaining, the No. 50 Ferrari made its move just before another downpour, with Fuoco advancing up the grid. Following this, Nielsen faced additional late drama when a loose door required an unexpected pit stop, but he still clinched the victory. Cadillac was also a contender, but regrettably, they had to withdraw as the rain and tire problems started to affect their performance.
Porsche achieved another victory in the WEC’s LMGT3 class as Richard Lietz, Yasser Shahin, and Morris Schuring secured top honors in the #91 Manthey EMA 911 GT3 R. The win in this production-based class came down to a direct contest between the Manthey Porsche and the #31 WRT team of Augusto Farfus, Sean Gelael, and Darren Leung in the final stages, with several frontrunners withdrawing for various reasons.
Gelael seized the lead of the race when rain resumed on the track with just over two hours remaining, but Porsche factory driver Lietz easily overtook his silver-rated opponent on the way to Indianapolis, steering the #91 team to an unprecedented LMGT3 victory at Le Mans. The #92 sister car from Manthey PureRacing was a contender for victory throughout the endurance race and was leading its class when Klaus Bachler had to pit due to electrical issues.
Proton Competition secured third and fourth places with its Ford Mustang GT3s, with the #88 car driven by Dennis Olsen, Giorgio Roda, and Mikkel Pedersen finishing ahead of the sister car piloted by Christopher Mies, Ben Tuck, and John Hartshorne. Meanwhile, all three McLaren 720S GT3 entries, including the pole-winning Inception Racing vehicle, encountered a series of issues on Sunday, which eliminated them from contention.
Here is the complete list of the top 20 in the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans.
1. #50 FERRARI AF CORSE [Hypercar class winners] (A. Fuoco, M. Molina, N. Nielsen)
2. #7 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING (J. Lopez, K. Kobayashi, N. de Vries)
3. #51 FERRARI AF CORSE (A. Pier Guidi, J. Calado, A. Giovinazzi)
4. #6 PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT (K. Estre, A. Lotterer, L. Vanthoor)
5. #8 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING (S. Buemi, B. Hartley, R. Hirakawa)
6. #5 PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT (M. Campbell, M. Christensen, F. Makowiecki)
7. #2 CADILLAC RACING (E. Bamber, A. Lynn, A. Palou)
8. #12 HERTZ TEAM JOTA (W. Stevens, N. Nato, C. Ilott)
9. #38 HERTZ TEAM JOTA (O. Rasmussen, P. Hanson, J. Button)
10. #63 LAMBORGHINI IRON LYNX (M. Bortolotti, D. Kvyat, E. Mortara)
11. #94 PEUGUEOT TOTALENERGIES (S. Vandoorne, P. di Resta, L. Duval)
12. #93 PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES (J. Vergne, M. Jensen, N. Müller)
13. #19 LAMBORGHINI IRON LYNX (R. Grosjean, A. Caldarelli, M. Cairoli)
14. #11 ISOTTA FRASCHINI (C. Bennett, J. Vernay, A. Serravalle)
15. #22 UNITED AUTOSPORTS [LMP2 class winners] (O. Jarvis, B. Garg, N. Siegel)
16. #34 INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION (J. Smiechowski, V. Lomko, C. Novalak)
17. #28 IDEC SPORT (P. Lafargue, J. Van Uitert, R. de Gerus)
18. #183 AF CORSE (F. Perrodo, B. Barnicoat, N. Varrone)
19. #10 VECTOR SPORT (R. Cullen, P. Pilet, S. Richelmi)
20. #14 AO BY TF (P. Hyett, L. Deletraz, A. Quinn)
