Ferrari triumphs in 24 hours of Le Mans, British winners in LMP2

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le mans report 2024 with ferrari taking victory
16 June at 15:04
Last update 16 June at 15:58
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  • Ludo van Denderen

Ferrari has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the premier hypercar class just as it did in 2023. The #50 car of Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina just beat the #7 Toyota in a rain-soaked race. Nyck de Vries, Jose Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi were just 14 seconds short after the 24-hour race. The #51 Ferrari finished third. In the LMP2 class, there were British winners as the United Autosports team and Brit Oliver Jarvis crossed the line first.

More than five hours of the safety car procedure lasted into the night, so the race basically started from scratch around 8:00 am. On Sunday, an extremely exciting battle unfolded with the various constructors Ferrari, Cadillac, Porsche and Toyota alternating in the lead. In the end - when rain fell again two hours before the end - it turned out to be a direct battle between the #50 and the #51 Ferrari and the #8 Toyota.

However, all three of these cars were involved in incidents in the closing stages. For instance, frontrunner #50 Ferrari (with Nicklas Nielsen behind the wheel) had a door that kept opening while driving, after which the Italians were forced by race control to make an extra pit stop to fix the problem - which of course cost them a lot of time and the lead. Meanwhile, it was the #51 Ferrari that made a very opportunistic overtaking attempt on the #Toyota of Brendon Hartley, which was pushed around in the process. For that, the Ferrari received a five-second time penalty.

Toyota and Ferrari neck-and-neck in the closing stages

As a result of all the fuss at the front, the #7 Toyota of Jose Maria Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries - in the hypercars last to start the race - was even able to drive to the lead. Yet after a pit stop, Lopez lost the lead position again to the #50 Ferrari. In the final hour - as the rain continued to fall - the Argentinian experienced a slide in his pursuit of the Ferrari, losing several precious seconds. However, this Toyota did get into first place once more after a pit stop by the Ferrari, but the Japanese had to give it up after their own stop.

In an exhilarating final half-hour, Lopez did make up some of his deficit to Ferrari driver Nielsen, but the #5 Ferrari just saved it. Indeed, Nielsen really had just enough fuel left to finish the race. The moment the Dane got the finishing flag, there was an explosion of joy at Ferrari, which took overall overall overall victory at Le Mans, just like in '23.

British glory in the LMP2 class

In British news in Le Mans, the LMP2 class was won by British team United Autosports. There was a British driver behind the wheel as they crossed the line in first place, with Oliver Jarvis having the honour of taking his car to victory, alongside Indycar driver Nolan Siegal.

In the hypercar class, it was P8 and P9 for both British Hertz Team Jota cars, with Will Stevens and Callum Illot being a part of the eighth-placed team, and 2009 World Champion Jenson Button being a part of the #38 car that took 9th place. In the GT3 class, Porsche took victory, and there was disappointment for Valentino Rossi and his team, as they crashed from a leading position during the tricky wet conditions at night. 

This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy

Hypercars results

LMP2 results

GT3 results