The 2024, or the 92nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, was a cracker. There were plenty of heartbreaks, heartwarming moments and a 2nd triumph in 2 years for the Ferrari squad. We did a forecast (which was horrible – by the way, yet that meant an unpredictable race). Here’s a full review of the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Winners of the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans
The entire spotlight of this year’s race fell on Ferrari. The Prancing Horse clinched its 11th overall victory, further solidifying their status as a brand with racing gods on their side. They weren’t the favourites, far from it. Most bookmakers favoured Porsche Penske and Toyota Gazoo above the Italian team. Some even put Cadillac ahead of the 10-time winner factory team.
Both #51 and #50 Ferrari 499P were terrific, with the latter claiming the top step of the podium and the #51 finishing 3rd. An international trio of experienced and fast talent drove the #50 winning Ferrari AF Corse car.
- Italian Antonio Fuoco, with 3rd place finish in 2022 and 2023,
- Spaniard Miguel Molina, with great DTM and WEC experience & European LMGTE winner
- A 2nd time Le Mans winner (the first one came in 2021, competing in the GTE Am category), Dane Nicklas Nielsen (he crossed the finish line)
The winning car completed 311 laps and finished just 14 seconds ahead of #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing and 36.7 seconds in front of last year’s top car, the #51 Ferrari. It’s the closest finish in 13 years!
After last year’s centenary success, the win in 2024 was the 2nd one for the Ferrari 499P chassis and the F163 in-house engine. This achievement was particularly notable as the Italian squad balanced everything perfectly, even whilst being the slight underdog at the bookmakers.
- Excellent strategy
- Impeccable reliability
- Tremendous driver composure
- Capitalisation on rivals’ mistakes
Toyota Gazoo Racing, a formidable force in previous editions, finished second. Winner in 2021, Kamui Kobayashi, with co-drivers Jose Maria Lopez and Nyck de Vries, was so close but fell just short. Porsche Penske left France disappointed, as the pre-race favourites only managed a fourth and sixth finish.
Winners in other categories
- LMP2 – United Autosports (UK), #22 Oreca 07
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- Bijoy Garg (USA)
- Oliver Jarvis (UK)
- Nolan Siegel (USA)
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- LMP2 (Pro-Am) – AF Corse (Italy), #183 Oreca 07
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- Ben Barnicoat (UK)
- Francois Perrodo (France)
- Nicolas Varrone (Argentina)
- LMGT3 – Manthey EMA (Germany), #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
- Richard Lietz (Austria)
- Morris Schuring (the Netherlands)
- Yasser Shahin (Australia)
Biggest Disappointments and Stories From the Race
Le Mans 2024 Disappointments
Each year, you can pick out at least a few disappointments. Teams like Cadillac had a really good car but only managed to bag the 7th spot in the final classification. Toyota, too, had eyes on the prize and crossed the checkered flag in the 2nd and 5th positions.
Yet there are probably 3 main contenders for this undesirable prize
- Lamborghini Iron Lynx
- Peugeot TotalEnergies
- Alpine Endurance Team
Lamborghini
Lamborghini came to WEC with high hopes. Yet, the Lamborghini Iron Lynx team only managed to finish 13th, 12th and now 10th in Le Mans, respectively. The team boss, Andrea Piccini, was quoted saying, “It would be arrogant to think that we can fight for the podium”. Yet, the disappointment is mainly because the fans of such a high-profile brand and Audi/VW backing expected something more.
Peugeot
French teams rarely shy away from innovation. So, when Peugeot showed no spoiler hypercar design, everyone thought they were either up to something special or that it was all just an overrated experiment. In their first year of WEC with the 9X8, they finished 4th, and it seemed like an excellent trial run for a strong 2023. However, the French team did even worse and finished 5th in total standings, with cars #93 and #94 finishing 6th and 9th in Le Mans, respectively.
This year proved to be a step down with 11th and 12th finishes. With top driver talent, the answer is clear – the 2024 spec of the 9X8 is just not it. Yet, Olivier Jansonnie, team boss seems confident the team has what it takes to win.
Alpine
Alpine fans and engineers just can’t seem to catch a break this year. Whether it’s an abysmal campaign in F1 or the arrival at Le Mans 24 hours, everything seems to go wrong for the French outfit. Both of their cars were set to compete with the Cadillac, Lamborghini, BMW M, and Hertz. Yet, both of their A424 cars suffered consecutive technical failures in hours 5 and 6 of the race, ending their efforts prematurely.