Race report
WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans 24 Hours: Ferrari survives late drama to score back-to-back wins
Ferrari outgunned Toyota and Porsche to claim its second consecutive victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours, despite both its factory cars running into trouble late in the race.
Rachit Thukral
Edited: Jun 19, 2024, 9:32 AM
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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 defending champions 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.
#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Nicklas Nielsen celebrates victory
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
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 most 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 #15 BMW of Dries Vanthoor 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 racing, with Toyota, Porsche and Ferrari all trading the top spot.
It wasn’t until the break of dawn that the race went back to green, with the complexion of the race 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 Frederic Makowiecki to take second, which became first 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 James Calado and Antonio 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 side of 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.
#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Sebastien Buemi
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
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 Frederic 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.
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 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 slow zone.
The #93 car also had to drive through the pitlane after Mikel 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.
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 armco 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 against the barrier. 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 as 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 of the afternoon 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.
#22 United Autosports Oreca 07 Gibson: Oliver Jarvis, Bijoy Garg, Nolan Siegel
Photo by: Shameem Fahath
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 Gurus 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 the play in the afternoon before the rain shook the order up again in LMP2.
Eventually, it was last year’s race-winning InterEuropol team that took second with Clemen Novalak, Jakub Smieschowski and Vladislav Lomko, as IDEC Sport trio de Gurus, 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 Francois Perrodo, Ben Barnicoat and Nicolas Varrone that had led at sunrise on Sunday.
#91 Manthey Ema Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3: Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring, Richard Lietz
Photo by: Shameem Fahath
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 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 was actually leading the class when Klaus Bachler was forced to bring the car to the garage with electrical problems.
Proton Competition took spots three and four 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 the sister entry.
All three McLaren 720S GT3 entries, including the pole-winning Inception Racing car, suffered a spate of issues on Sunday that left them out of the reckoning.
Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info
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4
Main Information Additional Data
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
24:01'55.856
26 2
Toyota Racing HYPERCAR
7 J. Lopez
K. Kobayashi
N. de Vries Toyota GR010 - Hybrid 311
+14.221
24:02'10.077
14.221 31 3
FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR
51 A. Pier Guidi
J. Calado
A. Giovinazzi Ferrari 499P 311
+36.730
24:02'32.586
22.509 28 4
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
6 K. Estre
A. Lotterer
L. Vanthoor Porsche 963 311
+37.897
24:02'33.753
1.167 28 5
Toyota Racing HYPERCAR
8 S. Buemi
B. Hartley
R. Hirakawa Toyota GR010 - Hybrid 311
+1'02.824
24:02'58.680
24.927 28 6
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
5 M. Campbell
M. Christensen
F. Makowiecki Porsche 963 311
+1'45.654
24:03'41.510
42.830 24 7
CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR
2 E. Bamber
A. Lynn
A. Palou Cadillac V-Series.R 311
+2'34.468
24:04'30.324
48.814 27 8
HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR
12 W. Stevens
N. Nato
C. Ilott Porsche 963 311
+3'02.691
24:04'58.547
28.223 27 9
HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR
38 O. Rasmussen
P. Hanson
J. Button Porsche 963 311
+3'36.756
24:05'32.612
34.065 31 10
Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR
63 M. Bortolotti
D. Kvyat
E. Mortara Lamborghini SC63 309
+2 Laps
24:04'05.323
2 Laps 25 11
PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR
94 S. Vandoorne
P. di Resta
L. Duval Peugeot 9X8 2024 309
+2 Laps
24:04'14.073
8.750 31 12
PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR
93 J. Vergne
M. Jensen
N. Müller Peugeot 9X8 2024 309
+2 Laps
24:04'31.774
17.701 29 13
Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR
19 R. Grosjean
A. Caldarelli
M. Cairoli Lamborghini SC63 309
+2 Laps
24:04'53.605
21.831 27 14
Isotta Fraschini HYPERCAR
11
C. Bennett
J. Vernay
A. Serravalle Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 Competizione LMH 302
+9 Laps
24:02'15.874
7 Laps 29 15
United Autosports LMP2
22 O. Jarvis
B. Garg
N. Siegel
Oreca 07 297
+14 Laps
24:05'21.890
5 Laps 30 16
INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION LMP2
34 J. Smiechowski
V. Lomko
C. Novalak Oreca 07 297
+14 Laps
24:05'40.541
18.651 30 17
IDEC SPORT LMP2
28 P. Lafargue
J. Van Uitert
R. de Gerus Oreca 07 297
+14 Laps
24:05'55.112
14.571 31 18
AF Corse LMP2
183 F. Perrodo
B. Barnicoat
N. Varrone
Oreca 07 297
+14 Laps
24:05'56.926
1.814 29 19
VECTOR SPORT LMP2
10 R. Cullen
P. Pilet
S. Richelmi Oreca 07 297
+14 Laps
24:06'01.039
4.113 31 20
AO by TF LMP2
14 P. Hyett
L. Deletraz
A. Quinn
Oreca 07 295
+16 Laps
24:02'27.538
2 Laps 28 21
DKR Engineering LMP2
33 A. Mattschull
R. Binder
L. Hörr Oreca 07 295
+16 Laps
24:04'52.960
2'25.422 31 22
Algarve Pro Racing Team LMP2
25 M. Kaiser
O. Caldwell
R. De Angelis Oreca 07 294
+17 Laps
24:04'03.049
1 Lap 30 23
PANIS RACING LMP2
65 R. Sales
M. Beche
S. Huffaker Oreca 07 293
+18 Laps
24:03'11.820
1 Lap 35 24
Cool Racing LMP2
47
N. Rao
M. Bell
F. Vesti Oreca 07 291
+20 Laps
24:04'01.725
2 Laps 30 25
NIELSEN RACING LMP2
24 F. Scherer
D. Heinemeier Hansson
K. Simpson Oreca 07 291
+20 Laps
24:04'43.625
41.900 30 26
Cool Racing LMP2
37
L. Fluxá
M. Jakobsen
R. Miyata Oreca 07 289
+22 Laps
24:04'52.088
2 Laps 29 27
Manthey EMA LMGT3
91
Y. Shahin
M. Schuring
R. Lietz Porsche 911 GT3 R 281
+30 Laps
24:05'50.230
8 Laps 28 28
TEAM WRT LMGT3
31
D. Leung
S. Gelael
A. Farfus BMW M4 GT3 280
+31 Laps
24:02'00.179
1 Lap 27 29
Whelen Cadillac Racing HYPERCAR
311 P. Derani
J. Aitken
F. Drugovich Cadillac V-Series.R 280
+31 Laps
24:04'30.420
2'30.241 25 30
Proton Competition LMGT3
88 G. Roda
M. Pedersen
D. Olsen Ford Mustang GT3 280
+31 Laps
24:04'55.845
25.425 29 31
Proton Competition LMGT3
44 J. Hartshorne
B. Tuck
C. Mies Ford Mustang GT3 280
+31 Laps
24:05'54.591
58.746 28 32
IRON DAMES LMGT3
85 S. Bovy
M. Gatting
R. Frey Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 279
+32 Laps
24:01'55.953
1 Lap 26 33
Vista AF Corse LMGT3
55 F. Heriau
S. Mann
A. Rovera Ferrari 296 GT3 279
+32 Laps
24:03'41.797
1'45.844 30 34
AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3
78
A. Robin
T. Boguslavskiy
K. van der Linde Lexus RC F GT3 279
+32 Laps
24:04'12.131
30.334 31 35
Spirit of Race LMGT3
155 J. Laursen
C. Laursen
J. Taylor Ferrari 296 GT3 279
+32 Laps
24:04'40.609
28.478 28 36
D'Station Racing LMGT3
777 S. Hoshino
E. Bastard
M. Sorensen Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 279
+32 Laps
24:05'55.786
1'15.177 28 37
AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3
87 T. Kimura
E. Masson
J. Hawksworth Lexus RC F GT3 279
+32 Laps
24:06'24.548
28.762 28 38
TF Sport LMGT3
82 H. Koizumi
S. Baud
D. Juncadella Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 278
+33 Laps
24:03'59.352
1 Lap 28 39
GR RACING LMGT3
86 M. Wainwright
D. Serra
R. Pera Ferrari 296 GT3 278
+33 Laps
24:04'37.912
38.560 30 40
INCEPTION RACING LMGT3
70 B. Iribe
O. Millroy
F. Schandorff McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 275
+36 Laps
24:05'30.195
3 Laps 29 41
Manthey PureRxcing LMGT3
92
A. Malykhin
J. Sturm
K. Bachler Porsche 911 GT3 R 273
+38 Laps
24:02'03.825
2 Laps 31 42
UNITED AUTOSPORTS USA LMP2
23 B. Keating
F. Albuquerque
B. Hanley Oreca 07 272
+39 Laps
24:02'19.572
1 Lap 31 43
TF Sport LMGT3
81 T. Van Rompuy
R. Andrade
C. Eastwood Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 267
+44 Laps
24:05'42.545
5 Laps 29 44
IRON LYNX LMGT3
60 C. Schiavoni
M. Cressoni
F. Perera
Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 258
+53 Laps
24:05'11.290
9 Laps 27 45
Proton Competition HYPERCAR
99 N. Jani
H. Tincknell
J. Andlauer Porsche 963 251
+60 Laps
24:05'35.985
7 Laps 24 46
Proton Competition LMGT3
77 R. Hardwick
Z. Robichon
B. Barker Ford Mustang GT3 227
+84 Laps
24:05'56.410
24 Laps 23
AF Corse HYPERCAR
83 R. Kubica
R. Shwartzman
Y. Yifei Ferrari 499P 248
+63 Laps
19:59'07.922
21 Retirement
CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR
3 S. Bourdais
R. van der Zande
S. Dixon Cadillac V-Series.R 223
+88 Laps
18:20'58.055
25 Laps 22 Retirement
United Autosports LMGT3
59 J. Cottingham N. Costa G. Saucy McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 220
+91 Laps
19:40'37.969
3 Laps 23 Retirement
United Autosports LMGT3
95 H. Hamaguchi N. Pino
M. Sato McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 212
+99 Laps
19:07'00.816
8 Laps 21 Retirement
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
4 M. Jaminet
F. Nasr
N. Tandy Porsche 963 211
+100 Laps
17:12'11.091
1 Lap 24 Retirement
Heart of Racing Team LMGT3
27 I. James
D. Mancinelli
A. Riberas Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 196
+115 Laps
17:31'56.738
15 Laps 17 Retirement
Crowdstrike Racing by APR LMP2
45 G. Kurtz
C. Braun
N. Catsburg Oreca 07 149
+162 Laps
11:03'58.405
47 Laps 16 Retirement
DUQUEINE TEAM LMP2
30 J. Falb
J. Allen
J. Simmenauer Oreca 07 112
+199 Laps
8:25'05.860
37 Laps 14 Retirement
JMW Motorsport LMGT3
66 G. Petrobelli
L. ten Voorde
S. Yoluc Ferrari 296 GT3 112
+199 Laps
8:58'58.762
33'52.902 14 Retirement
TEAM WRT LMGT3
46 A. Al Harthy
V. Rossi
M. Martin BMW M4 GT3 109
+202 Laps
8:41'04.707
3 Laps 10 Retirement
BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR
15 D. Vanthoor
R. Marciello
M. Wittmann BMW M Hybrid V8 102
+209 Laps
6:31'36.419
7 Laps 10 Retirement
BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR
20 S. Van Der Linde
R. Frijns
R. Rast BMW M Hybrid V8 96
+215 Laps
24:04'37.781
6 Laps 10 Retirement
Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR
36 N. Lapierre
M. Schumacher
M. Vaxiviere Alpine A424 88
+223 Laps
5:32'33.079
8 Laps 10 Retirement
Proton Competition LMP2
9 J. Ried
M. Capietto
B. Viscaal Oreca 07 86
+225 Laps
5:41'06.181
2 Laps 10 Retirement
Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR
35 P. Chatin
F. Habsburg
C. Milesi Alpine A424 75
+236 Laps
4:42'52.956
11 Laps 8 Retirement
Vista AF Corse LMGT3
54 T. Flohr
F. Castellacci
D. Rigon Ferrari 296 GT3 30
+281 Laps
2:08'26.769
45 Laps 3 Retirement View full results
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