Ferrari dominates Le Mans 24hr race to score third consecutive win

► Maranello’s 3^rd outright win in a row
► Ex-F1 star Robert Kubica takes his maiden Le Mans 24hr win
► No.50 Ferrari disqualified from 4th after failing post-race checks

Despite a late scare from Kevin Estre’s hard-charging Porsche 963, Ferrari took a convincing win in the 93^rd running of the world’s most famous race. The number 83 (driven by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson) 499P made it three wins on the trot for Maranello and maintains its 100% record at the 24hr race in the Hypercar era.

Following a disappointing qualifying session that saw Ferrari starting way down in 7^th, 11^th and 13^th, suggestions that the Italian team may have been hiding its true pace were quickly circulated. And despite the number 5 Porsche Penske Motorsport car taking the lead from the pole-sitting Cadillac on lap 1, it was the number 50 Ferrari that soon stormed to the head of the field.

It didn’t take long for the 51 and AF Corse 83 to catch up and following an inter-manufacturer battle the former came out on top as the race descended into nightfall. The no.6 Porsche (disqualified from qualifying due to a weight infringement) kept the Ferraris under pressure for much of the race – helped enourmously by a monster first stint from Kevin Estre.

A pit-lane entry spin from Alessandro Pier Guidi in the number 51 put paid to the 2023 winning squad’s chance of a second triumph and promoted the yellow AF Corse privateer team into the race lead that they held until the chequered flag.  

It marks the completion of a remarkable hat-trick of wins for the 499P that now means all three teams and nine drivers have scored an outright Le Mans win in the Ferrari hypercar. This being achieved during an era of exceptional competition in the fastest class. However, there was drama after the race as on Monday evening the number 50 Ferrari 499P was disqualified from the results have failed rear wing technical regulations during post-race checks.

Elsewhere, Cadillac delivered a respectable fifth place finish with the number five car while BMW saw late failures relegate them to the back of the field despite running strongly for most of the race. Meanwhile, the Inter Europol Competition team won the LMP2 class with Manthey 1^st Phorm delivering another Porsche 911 victory in GT3.