Ferrari breaks a 58-year fast in Le Mans

On the return of the Italian team to the strongest competition, just in time for the 100th anniversary of the first edition of the legendary race, the trio Guidi, Calado, and Giovinazzi broke the fast that had lasted since 1965. when Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt, the only posthumous Formula 1 World champion, took Ferrari to the podium’s top step.

Guido was honored to cross the finish line as the winner, one minute and 21 seconds ahead of the best Toyota crew of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryō Hirakawa. Cadillac drivers Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber, and Lillard Westbrook were on the bottom step of the podium, a lap behind Ferrari. This year’s edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans provided a lot of excitement, and from the start, it was clear that Ferrari and Toyota would fight for the victory, but also that the Italian team had a much better rhythm. This came to the fore in the second half, after Guidi’s outing in the first Mulsanne chicane on Saturday night, when the advantage was around a minute.

The road to victory was not easy since then, as there was a pit stop problem during the 19th hour of the race when Toyota returned to the game. The gap dropped to about a second, but everything was resolved when Hirakawa lost control in the penultimate hour but managed to get back into the race, albeit without a chance of victory. Ferrari “turned off” 23 minutes before the end of the race, but the advantage was so great that the triumph was not in question even then.

The third-place Cadillac crew had a relatively quiet race, except for Wesbrook’s overnight spin. The same cannot be said for the other Cadillac in the colors of Chip Ganassi Racing, as Sebastien Bourdet was hit from behind at one point in the Dunlop chicane and a few hours later had a similar incident on another part of the track. However, in the end, Burdet, Renger van der Zande, and Scott Dixon were fourth, three laps behind the winner, ahead of the other Ferrari crew who started from the crew but dropped out of contention when the showers arrived at Le Mans during the evening. The remaining teams in the hypercar competition – Peugeot and Porsche had a race to forget. Ferrari’s win also ended Toyota’s streak, which has been unstoppable at the legendary race since 2018.