With that, it is time to wrap up the live coverage of the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours. Thank you very much for following along with us, we greatly appreciate it.
Congratulations to Ferrari and the #51 trio of Pier Guidi, Calado and Giovinazzi on victory at a simply epic Le Mans.
Race winners Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P
The champagne is sprayed, the Ferrari trio getting a good soaking of course, and history is made: Ferrari's first Le Mans 24 Hours win since 1965. A fitting way to mark the centenary anniversary of Le Mans.
Jochen Rindt rides on the front as the North American Racing Team celebrate victory with their Ferrari 250LM
Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / Motorsport Images
Calado, Giovinazzi and Pier Guidi have been overloaded with trophies and trinkets for their victory - they are struggling to juggle them all on the podium. Not that they'll care too much!
Fabio Scherer, who got his foot run over during a pitstop very early into the race, is in tears after winning the LMP2 class alongside Jakub Smiechowski and Albert Costa for the #34 Inter Europol squad. That's the surprise of the weekend, they've beaten some giants in its class.
The #51 Ferrari overall winners and the #34 Inter Europol LMP2 winners embrace in parc ferme and it is an eye-offending colour clash of red and green and yellow. Like a bag of Starburst sweets.
A bitter end for Iron Dames, who contended for the podium - and even victory - for much of the race. But they will have to settle for fourth this time around.
There's celebration for Corvette at last - their drought ends as victory is sealed by Nicky Catsburg. And it will be all the sweeter for a squad that really had to hike the comeback trail after the wild first third of the race.
And the final ever Le Mans 24 Hours for GTE Am is won by the #33 Corvette. The American squad takes the win by 2m00.683s from the #25 ORT by TF Aston Martin, as the #86 GR Racing Porsche rounds out the class podium.
There's absolute jubilation at Inter Europol, as Fabio Scherer - literally hobbled by the Corvette in the pitlane earlier in the race - brings the car safely home to a sweet victory for the little Polish squad.
What an incredible show in LMP2 - the #34 Inter Europol wins by 21.015s from #41 Team WRT, as the #30 Duqueine completes the podium. The #34 squad went through the wringer over the final few hours but victory is theirs!
Hirakawa takes second for the #8 Toyota, potentially still thinking of what could have been, but Toyota's winning streak at Le Mans is over! The #2 Cadillac completes the podium with Bamber at the wheel.
The ailing #5 and #38 Porsches are limping around the final five minutes to make sure they get a classified finish. Any finish is better than no finish.
And why the late stop for Frijns? A cruel suspension issue is what robbed that Team WRT car of a likely third place. Looks like he'll have to make do with fifth in LMP2.
It is that weird period of the race where everyone gathers in the pits and watches the race in silence, counting down the minutes to the finish. Like a really tense New Year's Eve party.
Over in GTE Am, things looks sewn up as well. Corvette leads by two minutes over the ORT by TF Aston Martin. The GR Racing Porsche should be secure in third, with Frey's Iron Dames Porsche now 11 seconds back.
Pier Guidi is told to do 3m38s lap times to make sure he doesn't cross the line and need to do an extra lap at the end of the race. With enough margin in hand, it is doable without too much risk from Hirakawa.
With 10 minutes to go, dare we say it's settled in LMP2? Inter Europol leads Team WRT leads Duqueine, each holding double-digit gaps to their next rivals.
Twist in LMP2! Robin Frijns has come in for a late stop. That does indeed put Jani in third behind Scherer and Deletraz. Duqueine may yet celebrate a podium!
With 15 minutes to go, Frey is making a spirited response to being passed for third in GTE Am. But the gap is still around eight seconds, and now a slow zone will complicate matters.
The Toyota crew didn't look too excited when Ferrari had its pitstop trouble and this is probably why - Hirakawa makes a late splash and dash pitstop, as he wasn't set to make it to the finish without stopping. That balloons Ferrari's lead back up once again.
The gap between the leaders is down to 51s as the impact of that pitstop issue is fully felt - while elsewhere one of the Glickenhaus is in the gravel. So much late race drama!
They're now investigating the 'signalling method' for the lead #34 car in LMP2...yes, really! At least the on-track threats are fading in comparison to those from race control: Deletraz is 13s back now and failing to keep pace with Scherer. Meanwhile Jani's hopes of snatching third from Frijns also look to be receding - the gap has grown to 18 seconds.
That was a heart in mouth moment for Ferrari! Pier Guidi needed to go through a power cycle to get going again and has bled time to Hirakawa. The #51 Ferrari still leads, but its advantage has been cut down to 2m30s.
Pier Guidi continues to manage his advantage, now at 2m46s, but is probably feeling every bump and vibration inside his #51 Ferrari 499P and praying the worst doesn't happen.
