![]() Toyota Gazoo Racing (Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa), Hypercar +1:21.793ģ. Ferrari AF Corse (James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi), Hypercar - 342 lapsĢ. Hirakawa was given the order to chase down the Ferrari in the final two hours, but a driving error put him into the barriers and relieved the pressure on Pier Guidi who took the flag.Ĭompleting the podium were Englishmen Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook, who shared their Cadillac with New Zealander Earl Bamber.ġ. However, they were not able to keep pace with the Ferrari, and admitted that they were over-driving the car trying to keep up. The sister car of Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Hirakawa had picked up damage and engine temperatures were going high, but the team was able to repair the car at the next stop. ![]() The Japanese manufacturer lost the No 7 car during Saturday night when Kamui Kobayashi slowed for an accident ahead and was hit from behind by two cars. I have won it twice with GT, but there is something different about winning it outright, and I am so happy to be part of it.” Toyota let Le Mans grip slipįerrari’s victory, during the Centenary of the first running of the race, prevented Toyota from matching the Italian brand’s run of six straight wins between 19. The amount of people here, the red around the circuit is really something special and I feel very appreciative of being part of this programme. I have never been so stressed in all my life. I didn’t expect to win, and from the first lap the car was superb. I wanted to learn from it, finish the race, and a podium would have been a bonus. “The approach from our side was to run with low risk. When I am sitting down and having a beer I will realise what we have done. “It is emotional, but it has not yet sunk in. “It is what we work for all our lives, to get these amazing moments,” said the English former GP2 driver after the race. For Calado, the 33-year-old becomes the second Briton to have won Le Mans for Ferrari, following on from Peter Mitchell-Thompson, who drove to victory in Ferrari’s first win in 1949. The three drivers brought their Ferrari home more than a minute ahead of the Toyota to score a famous win. Calado makes history as British winner for Ferrari 74 years on The team had time to reset the system for the second time, as the chasing Toyota of Ryo Hirakawa had crashed into the guardrail, losing valuable time repairing both front and rear-end damage. The car had the speed during the cooler temperatures of the night-time running to close up to and pass the No 8 Toyota ahead, and stayed there despite two slow pit stops where the car refused to fire up, including a heart-stopping final pit stop with 20 minutes remaining. The team moved the front of the grid around mid-distance, after Pier Guidi had spun into the gravel in avoidance of an accident in front of him on Saturday evening. High rear tyre wear at each of the hot races were also a feature of the car that was expected to take it out of the running for the win, but ultimately those fears proved to be unfounded. However, there were questions about the reliability of the new car after the failure of the hybrid system at Portimao in April. Ferrari silence reliability questionsįerrari knew that they had the pace over one lap and it was no surprise to see the two 499Ps on the front row after qualifying in France. Ferrari took a conservative approach to the first 12 hours, preferring to protect the car in difficult driving conditions, and then attacked in the second half of the race. Several drivers were caught out by sudden showers that swept only part of the circuit, leading to accidents that took out some of the front runners in each of the classes. Yet after basketball star LeBron James waved the French Tricolor to send the cars on their way 100 years after the first running of the Le Mans 24 hours, Ferrari hardly put a foot - or a wheel - out of place despite changeable weather conditions on Saturday night causing havoc for many competitors. It was an unexpected result for the team given that the car only tested for the first time last July, that this was the first time that Ferrari had raced at Le Mans as a factory in the top prototype class since 1973, and that Toyota, which had won every Le Mans since 2018, arrived at Le Mans having also dominated the first three races of the FIA World Endurance Championship with its GR010. Sharing his No 51 Ferrari 499P with his long-time team-mate Alessandro Pier Guidi and former Grand Prix driver Antonio Giovanizzi, the crew held off the pre-race favourites Toyota to take Ferrari’s first win at the race since 1965. Ferrari made a triumphant return to Le Mans as Britain’s James Calado led the team to victory in the Centenary edition of the 24 Hours. ![]()
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