(Le Mans) Ferrari made a resounding comeback after a 50-year absence from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, ending Toyota’s five-year hegemony after a thrilling race to the finish.
A century after the first race on muddy roads in 1923, the 91e edition has kept all its promises with the return of several historic manufacturers and real competition in all categories.
In Hypercar, the queen race, the Ferrari N.51, driven by the Italians Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi and the Briton James Calado, won at 4 p.m. (10 a.m. Eastern time) ahead of the Toyota N. 8, victorious last year (Sébastien Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa, Brendon Hartley) and the Cadillac N.2 (Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Richard Westbrook), relegated to two laps.
If the five main teams – Ferrari, Toyota, Cadillac, Peugeot and Porsche – took turns at the forefront in the first hours, the race turned into a thrilling duel between the Ferrari and the Toyota during the night.
The two cars rarely had a gap of more than 20 seconds and regularly changed position, often at the mercy of the pitstops they made at the same time until midday.
The Toyota spent part of the night in front and took advantage of an electronic problem from the Ferrari in the middle of the morning to get back to sea. But each time, the Ferrari came back, thanks to its burst of speed or more efficient pit stops. She thus took control shortly before 11 a.m. (5 a.m. Eastern time) never to let go.
Long in its wake, the Toyota lost a lot of time when Hirakawa, the least experienced of its three drivers, missed braking before hitting a barrier.
But the Ferrari’s last pit stop 20 minutes from the finish almost reshuffled the cards: the car failed to restart, seeing its lead dwindle to less than a minute before setting off again, to the great relief of his team.
Attendance record
It is a disappointment on the other hand for the Japanese brand, which was the favorite after its victories in previous years and in the first three rounds this year of the WEC, the World Endurance Car Championship (Sebring, Portimao and Spa).
Especially since his N.7 car, winner in 2021, had to abandon after a collision around midnight (6 p.m. Eastern time).
Behind, Cadillac, which hoisted its N.2 on the podium and its N.3, with Sébastien Bourdais at the wheel, in fourth place, carried out a very good operation, while the Ferrari N.50, which started in the lead position, finished fifth.
On the other hand, disappointment also for Porsche, which was aiming for a 20e coronation, but lost ground too quickly on Saturday evening. The Peugeots also played for a time at the forefront before falling victim to a series of incidents which relegated them to 8e and 11e squares.
The fight was also close to the end in the LMP2 category (more standardized and slower prototypes), where Inter Europol Competition won with a 21-second lead.
In LMGTE Am (driven by amateurs associated with professionals), the Chevrolet of Corvette Racing won, while only nine of the 21 cars entered in this category finished the race, including five on the same lap.
The Porsche 911 of the 100% female crew of the Iron Dames, long in battle with the very first, failed at the foot of the podium due to a technical problem in the last hour.
In total, more than a third of the 62 cars entered did not finish, victims of a series of collisions and incidents, but also of a violent downpour which transformed part of the track into an ice rink on Saturday in late afternoon.
Despite the pessimistic weather forecast, at least for Saturday, the public crowded around the circuit. Some 300,000 people from all over the world were expected, a record attendance when the event had been sold out since the end of 2022.
“Between television and that, it’s really two worlds,” said Charles-David Rosa-Matton, a 30-year-old Canadian installed at the exit of the Mulsanne bend, as the howl of the engines and the slam of the increasing speeds on the fly tore through the surrounding forest.