Ferrari teams take first and third, with Toyota Gazoo in second.
LEMANS, France—Last year, the AF Corse Ferrari Team won the centenary 24 Hours of Lemans race. On Sunday in wet conditions, the team of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen gave the Scuderia their second win at this French classic by taking a 17-second victory over the Toyota Gazoo squad of Jose Maria Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nyck de Vries, The second Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi finished third.
Ferrari started the race strongly, with all three entries at the top of the grid, challenging the Penske Porsches and Toyotas, while Toyota led in the early morning hours.
An exchange of pit stops gave Ferrari a long period of being upfront following a safety car around mid-morning when the Heart of Racing Team’s Daniel Mancinelli overturned his Aston Martin at the Porsche curves, sending the cars slowing for more than 30 minutes.
Following that incident, many teams began to retire from the race, and 21 cars left the grid in this 24-hour race. Ferrari’s number 83 entry was the only team from the Scuderia to become one of those victims when Robert Schwartzmann pulled his number 83 into the garage with the engine smoking.
At 1300 hours, Nielsen took the lead as Pier Luigi and Lopez battled for the second and third positions, and Nielsen began to pull away from both drivers. An exchange of pit stops with one hour to go sent all the top three into fuel and tire changes, and Lopez, then Nielsen, took the lead.
A final rain shower slowed the top drivers down to the point where passing would be possible but challenging. Nielsen began to slow as Lopez started to close in on the Dane. But Nielsen himself went on to take the victory, giving the Scuderia another win. This proved last season’s win was no fluke, and now it gives Ferrari more points for the World Endurance Championship.
The other two classes had the lead for most of the race besides the hypercar class. United Autosports Oliver Jarvis, Bijoy Garg, and Nolan Siegel took the victory in the LMP 2 class, ahead of the Inter Europol Competition Squad. Third went to the French IDEC Sport team. In the GT3 class, the Manthey EMA Team, with Yassar Sharin, Morris Schurring, and Richard Lietz, won, with the WRT team number 31, finishing in second. The Proton competition Ford Mustang took their first podium in any WEC event by finishing in third.
The Lemans event was the last competition in Europe this season, and the LMP division was the only time it will be held this season. Round five of the World Endurance Championship will take place on July 14 at the famous Interlagos Circuit in Brazil.
