2023-06-11 16:30:18
After 50 years of absence from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Italian team has made a resounding comeback by ending Toyota’s five-year hegemony, after a breathless race to the end.
Published on : Modified :
A century after the first race on muddy roads in 1923, the 91st 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 4:00 p.m. 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.
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If the top five stables — Ferrari, ToyotaCadillac, Peugeot and Porsche — took turns at the forefront in the early hours, the race turned overnight into a thrilling duel between the Ferrari and the Toyota.
The two cars rarely had a gap of more than 20 seconds and regularly changed position, often at the mercy of pit stops which they carried out 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 over the controls shortly before 11:00 a.m. to never let them 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 Ferrari’s final pit stop 20 minutes from the finish nearly reshuffled the cards: the car failed to restart, seeing its lead dwindle to less than a minute before heading off again, much to the relief of his team.
Record d’affluence
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 car endurance championship (Sebring, Portimao and Spa).
Especially since his car N.7, winner in 2021, had to abandon after a collision around midnight.
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 pole position, finished fifth.
On the other hand, disappointment also for Porsche, which was aiming for a 20th 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 8th and 11th places.
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 late Saturday. 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 this, it’s really two worlds said Charles-David Rosa-Matton, a 30-year-old Canadian installed at the exit of the Mulsanne corner, as the roar of the engines and the clatter of the gears going up on the fly tore through the surrounding forest.
(With AFP)
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