#51 Ferrari took the FIA WEC Le Mans 24 Hours win in lead Hypercar category as the podium saw three different manufacturers.
HYPERCAR: Winner – No.51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P
Ferrari has ended a 58-year-long wait for the 24 Hours of Le Mans victory on the centenary of the French endurance classic. #51 499P of Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi came out on top in an action-packed edition of the race that was round four of this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship season.
Ferrari secured its 10th overall Le Mans victory upon its first appearance in top class since 1973 and first win since 1965. In the closing stages, the race was on between the chasing #8 Toyota Gazoo GR010 Hybrid driven by Ryo Hirakawa and Giovinazzi who was in the lead. Hirakawa, however, buried his chances following a spin under braking for the Arnage Corner.
Both front and rear ends were damaged resulting in an unscheduled pit stop for new bodywork sections and the Japanese driver re-joined just under a lap down on the leading 499P. Pier Guidi, who took over the #51 car from Giovinazzi, was able to race to the chequered flag with a winning margin of 1m27.056s.
That came despite a heart-stopping moment at the final pit-stop when the car initially refused to start. Calado and Pier Guidi add the overall and Hypercar win to their 2019 and 2021 LMGTE Pro wins, while Giovinazzi becomes the first driver since Fernando Alonso in 2018 to win Le Mans at first attempt.
Toyota Gazoo Racing had to settle for second place with the #8 car of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Hirakawa Ferrari also ended Toyota’s victory streak of five wins which spans from 2018 to 2022. Cadillac Racing claimed a third and a fourth-place finish as the #2 V Series.R of Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber and Richard Westbrook heads home the #3 car of Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais and Scott Dixon.
The second Ferrari AF Corse 499P, driven by Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina rounded out the top five. Glickenhaus Racing maintained its 100% finishing record at Le Mans as #708 and #709 claimed sixth and seventh positions.
- Ferrari score sensational win at Le Mans upon their first appearance in top class since 1973 and its 10th overall
- Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi win after mighty battle to take the Prancing Horse’s 10th win at La Sarthe and its first since 1965
- In the closing stages the race was on between the chasing No.8 Toyota Gazoo GR010 Hybrid Hypercar driven by Ryo Hirakawa and leader Antonio Giovinazzi when Hirakawa spun under braking for Arnage Corner
- Front and rear damage ensured an unscheduled pit stop for new bodywork sections and the Japanese driver re-joined just under a lap down on the Ferrari 499P
- Alessandro Pier Guidi was able to race to the chequered flag with a winning margin of 1m27.056s
- That came despite a heart-stopping moment at the final pit-stop when the car initially refused to start!
- Calado and Pier Guidi add the overall and Hypercar win to their 2019 and 2021 LMGTE Pro wins, while Giovinazzi becomes the first driver since Fernando Alonso in 2018 to win Le Mans at his first attempt
- Toyota Gazoo Racing have to settle for second places with the No.8 car of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Hirakawa
- It breaks Toyota’s victory streak of five wins which spans from 2018 to 2022.
- Cadillac Racing claim a third and fourth place finish as the No.2 Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber and Richard Westbrook crewed V Series.R heads home the No.2 car of Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais and Scott Dixon
- They head home the second Ferrari AF Corse 499P, driven by Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina, who almost catch the Porsche for fifth in the closing stages
- Glickenhaus Racing maintain their 100% finishing record at Le Mans as No.708 and No.709 claim sixth and seventh positions
- The highest Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 finisher is the No.93 car of Paul di Resta, Jean-Eric Vergne and Mikkel Jensen in eighth place
- Porsche takes ninth with the No.5 963 of Michael Christensen, Dane Cameron and Frederic Makowiecki
- The delayed No.311 Action Express Cadillac takes 10th in Hypercar ahead of the No.6 Porsche Penske and No.94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8.
- The final classified finisher is the Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 which takes a distant 13th after spending most of final hours in pits
- The Floyd Vanwall, No.75 Porsche Penske and No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing entries all fail to finish
LMP2: Winner – No.34 Inter Europol Competition
- Amazing final hour battle between the long-time leading No.34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca-Gibson driven by Fabio Scherer and the No.41 Team WRT car of Louis Deletraz thrills the massive Le Mans crowd.
- The fight is settled when Scherer is able to hold off Deletraz’s attack despite the gap coming down to just nine seconds in the final moments of the race
- Inter Eurpol Competition therefore become the first Polish team to win in WEC, after achieving their first podium only last time out in Spa
- Robin Frijns had hunted down the No.30 Duqueine Racing entry in the final hour to look as though he would grab a double podium for the Team WRT squad.
- However, Duqueine’s Neel Jani ensured that he and teammates Rene Binder and Nicolas Pino took the French teams best ever Le Mans result in LMP2 at Le Mans
- No.36 Alpine ELF Team trio of Charles Milesi, Julien Canal and Matthieu Vaxiviere take fourth ahead of the No.31 Team WRT car of Frijns, Ferdinand Habsburg and Rui Andrade who have to settle for fifth
- IDEC Sport round out the top six with Paul Loup Chatin, Laurents Horr and Paul Lafargue at wheel of ‘Delage’ tribute car
LMGTE AM: Winner – No.33 Corvette Racing
- Corvette Racing take first ever LMGTE Am victory at Le Mans as Ben Keating, Nicolas Varrone and Nicky Catsburg toast hard-earned win after difficult start to the race
- The pole winning car struggled with a damper problem in first portion of race but came through to win and extend their large WEC points lead at the same time
- Keating takes second consecutive Le Mans LMGTE Am win, while Varrone becomes only second Argentinian to taste victory at La Sarthe
- The No.33 Corvette becomes the first GTE Am polesitter to even finish on the LM podium
- ORT by TF Sport take runners-up position after late battle with the Iron Dames Porsche sees Charlie Eastwood make move on Rahel Frey’s Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR-19 on the Mulsanne late on in race
- Eastwood celebrates with teammates Ahmed Al Harthy and Michael Dinan
- The final rung on the podium goes to the GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Mike Wainwright, Riccardo Pera and Ben Barker who go one better after finishing fourth in 2022
- Iron Dames trio of Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy take fourth ahead of the No.54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Davide Rigon
- Northwest AMR Aston Martin’s Ian James, Alex Riberas and Daniel Mancinelli complete the top six positions
INNOVATION
- Hendrick Motorsports take popular finish with new generation Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 NASCAR after largely faultless display from Jenson Button, Jimmy Johnson and Mike Rockenfeller. All-American project finishes 39th overall the second-best Innovation category result
Here’s full WEC Le Mans 24 Hours results: http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/
[Note: The story is as per press release]
More to come