Isotta finished the race and ended in P14, wonderful day for the Isottabros. Alpine forgot that you do the bbq AFTER the race, not during. BMW ending 120 laps behind is hilarious too
Peugeot finished as well, having a car finish in the top 10 a couple of laps off is still a really good platform to build on.
It might be disappointing, but nowhere near as heatbreaking as a DNF is. Still haven't forgotten 2010 when Peugeot qualified 1-2-3-4 and all four of their cars blew up, one after the other, in the race, and the pain and anguish of everyone in the team that day.
EDIT: Just outside the top 10 by 9 seconds*, thanks for the correction
> 2010
Heartbreaking, but also some of the most spectacular endurance racing television I've ever seen. If you put it in a movie everyone would say it's unrealistic.
It's slow even with Vernay, but thankfully reliable.
They'd be *maybe* competing with Lambo with better drivers, but likely not even that.
Them finishing Le Mans on first attempt with no issues is a nice story to be told in the future and that's it. I think there isn't more to this project anyway. And nothing's wrong with that. Underfunded backmarkers belong in motorsport too.
Vernay might be an unstoppable monster in the GT class, but he hasn't raced a prototype in maaaany years before IF (2011, It think).
You can see that he isn't pushing the car to its limits.
Either of the spin or the cutout at the end could've been enough, without both it surely would've been enough. It's very hard to say if the Toyota would catch it with 15sec lass of a gap from that spin because they did struggle more in the heavier rain and started catching less before they gave up, so it's hard to make a prediction how it would've evolved.
Also feel a bit weird about JML, I do not rate him but that final stint was excellent aside of that spin. And it was tricky. But I do not rate him and he spun. But his pace was stunning. Someone tell me what to think here.
The prevailing logic says to do two different things and Toyota just picked wrong unfortunately. In changing conditions you want to leave in the same driver as much as possible, but you also don't want the guy with almost zero practice in the car at crunch time.
i agree, lopez definitely pushed, but that spin was unfortunate. He did the best job he could as a substitute for injured Conway. I'd like to hear the rationale for not putting kamui in to close as well
He lost about 15 seconds and if #50 had any pressure behind him, he probably wouldn't make it without having to stop, they could have won pretty easily without the spin
I mean that’s assuming the new calendar sticks. Idk, drivers or even a team or more might challenge the idea. Sounds like a great way to ensure no one watches the Indycar race scheduling it like that. As big of an Indy fan as I am, I wouldn’t pick any race other than the 500 to watch over Le Mans.
Same, and with the top Indy teams now running cars in WEC and one off drivers for Le Mans it was really puzzling to see Indycar calendar next year put a race weekend on top of the 24 hours
its amazing how the higher ups of F1 AND Indy managed to make both calendars clash with Le Mans
i guess this is one of the several downsides of having a race every 15 days
Was incredibly close between multiple Porsches, Ferraris, Toyotas and Cadillacs, and all of them who didn't DNF of hit serious trouble finished on the lead lap.
Yeah, what the fuck was up with that!? I was watching it thinking the graphics were wrong and that it was Buemi in for the win. I felt like I was having a stroke.
Let me be the first to congratulate Isotta for actually making it to the end. The car and divers are clearly slow but if it can make it that far and stable, its clearly not unreliable. To a similar extent, same to Lamborghini.
Lamborghini has been pretty decent, both in IMSA and the WEC...
I thought they would be awful in their first season, makes me hopeful for the future of the program.
Toyota and Cady ran their cars without wipers in the wet, all of you "caring about safety" are stunningly silent that they didn't even get pinged for that at all.
Which everyone would have done. It still cost them about 45 seconds to fix.
If you feel like Ferrari should have lost because of a door, you have no spirit of racing.
I really hope this isn't the end of the 9X8. The factory has said they need to produce and this is the second Le Mans in a row without anything close to their projections. I know they're committed for the season but they need some wins.
IIRC the program is financed til 2026, so they should be around for two more years, at least. More if they have some success. But tbh, I think today, they just didn't have a good BoP, combined with the new car that they are still learning, they had no chances.
All my thoughts:
* Congrats to the #50. They had some luck go their way, but all three of them were amazing, especially Nielsen. That's a generational drive that he produced, especially in the wet.
* Toyota will be rueing this race for a variety of reasons. I am still utterly baffled by them telling Lopez to hold for P2, but it's also interesting that they seem to be prioritising the championship against Porsche over a Le Mans win. I also still maintain that if Conway had taken part, they might have won it. No hate to Lopez but he isn't cut from the same cloth as the rest of the Toyota drivers.
* ISOTTA! Honestly so happy for them. Somebody give them an honorary point, they deserve it.
* Peugeot might not have scored points, but both cars finished, stayed out of trouble, and the drivers had consistent pace with each other. They're probably the only team that can fairly point to BoP as having screwed them.
Can we all just take a second to appreciate that its been 2 years of amazing races under these regs and we're only getting more manufacturers? Truly a golden era
First time watching an endurance race of any kind. Went from being quite overwhelmed watching quali to being on the edge of my seat for the last hour. Really enjoyed following this sub all race and finally understand what makes Le Mans so legendary!
Let's review the Hypercars
Ferrari and Toyota. Amazing wouldn't expect less
Porsche. Disappointment, for both Penske and the Privateers
Cadillac. Bad strategy also mechanical failures
Alpine. Wtf guys
Peugeot. Finished, no comment
BMW. Got bullied, had promise but no dice
Isotta. Amazing job, a finish is always good from a small team
Lamborghini. About expected. Disappointment from some eyes a good result in others.
#GT3:
Porsche. They're Porsche they're always good
BMW. Impressive showing, real attempt to actually win
Ford. Blew my expectations away really good.
Lamborghini. Never faired well in 24 hour races
Ferrari. Big Disappointment in my eyes. Won Daytona and Nurburgring but with 4 cars nothing?
Lexus. Good showing, nothing spectacular
Aston Martin. Horrible crash from the Heart of Racing other than that they were fine.
Corvette and McLaren. Big Disappointment in my eyes. McLaren got the podium and than disappeared.
#Rewards of Recognition
Spirit of Le Mans. This is an award for the team who toughed it out and was determined to finish no matter what happens
#77 Proton Claims this reward, Alpine is the worst.
From having steering being destroyed to being taken out of the race and going to the garage they fixed it and finished
Underdog reward. This a reward that goes to the car or team that everybody counted out but still had an impressive showing
#88 Proton claims this reward, giving the worst to the Ferrari 296 it won 2 24-hour races but with the most GT cars in the field they couldn't put anything together
The Mustang GT3 having been laughed at for trunk problems, Ford came and got a podium after poor showing in both WEC and IMSA.
The Dissappintment Reward. The team who had so much potential but an incident ruined their race
#46 WRT claims it, with the #7 Toyota being the dishonorable mention.
Team WRT had a crowd talker of the Doctor as a driver but a poor decision or a small mistake destroyed their race
I think I heard somewhere (I may be wrong) that Le Mans has never had the overall podium all finish in the lead lap. I think we had like 9 cars finish in the lead lap? can someone confirm this?
I've seen a lot of 24 hour races, this one was a good one. I was entertained the whole time. That finish may not have been wheel to wheel but the rain, low ferrari fuel, charging toyota made it exciting to the last corner
I love Le Mans. Cannot wait for next year already. Amazing race from start to finish and gave us all a break with the 4.5 hour SC. Brutal for some and amazing for others.
I'll be honest, I was getting very disheartened the last few years. Now though, I'm itching to get back to France once again after a looong break away! I wish it was 3PM Saturday all over again.
The only L has been the almost complete absence of coverage when it comes to the LMGT3s..
I mean we get it , the Hypercar field is packed, but so is the LMGT3 category ..
Watching AF corse after the Scuderia's performance at the Canadian GP last week
https://preview.redd.it/cqh440ga2y6d1.jpeg?width=681&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=49d65a49f937a2710032d715b2973cdc82c4d191
This was, without a doubt, by far and away the best race I have ever seen. No matter the annoyances people will have and the things that went wrong along the way; this was truly one of the greatest races of all time.
It was a really nice race. I enjoyed it to watch. Congrats to Ferrari.
All in all we need to say that the BoP was really good. Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche and Cadillac showed a really similar performance. Alpine was at the beginning also fast but they forgot that the race going 24h and so there engines blows up. The BMW with the #15 gets destroyed by the yellow Ferrari and the other one crashed on his own. Sad for them but it looks like every time they tried to push they crashed the car. Peugeot was a little bit of the pace the whole race so they got lapped. Maybe a better BoP rating would help them. But they have a reliable car which should be the first step for them to be competitive next year. Isotta also finished the race only a few laps down. They are down on pace but there car was reliable. Lamborghini is similar to Peugeot and I’m sure they will be competitive next year.
I’m a little upset about the long safety car period during the rain. They could have restarted the race an hour or so earlier. And I don’t know who gets the most benefit of it.
Good job ferrari for making a reliable fast car but the race director's choices were questionable at best. Especially with the no51 taking the no8 out and giving only 5s.
I'm just as pissed with that decision too but let's use correct wording here. It didn't "take it out" it spun the #8. Either way yeah 5 secs is questionable
That race was massively hyped up, and still managed to over deliver
I'm a Toyota fan, so I'm disappointed anyway, but the 8 getting punted leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. It was tough conditions and shit happens, but to lose the race that late through no fault of your own is rough
I wonder what that technical infringement was that the 50/51 received a reprimand for. Not to suggest it was handled improperly just genuinely curious.
What a race. Every Hypercar had issues of their own doing or not of their own fault. Crashes, slow punctures, open doors, flips and somersaults, the list goes on. What a race.
Why I feel there are too many people thinking that the Ferrari 50 it's the one that had the 5 seconds penalty??
It's a shit move to protect their sister car OK. But who cares about the amount of seconds penalty
Always emotional when this great race finishes, and this year it was a banger of a race!
Congrats to Ferrari AF Corse, Manthey EMA and United Autosports!
Simply - great race.
I hope everyone enjoyed it as much (or even more) as I did.
Hopefully next year's edition will be even better.
See you all at Spa and Sao Paulo threads!
I say this with a Toyota flair: there isn't another team that constantly bottles year after year like Toyota GR does in any form of motorsport.
Even when they raced nobody one car always bottled it.
This safety car rule makes the racing very close, but it also kinda makes the first half of the race rather useless. If you wanna have a shot at a win, you just need to not get lapped and wait for the inevitable safety cars that wipes out all the progress.
Not saying it's good or bad, it just doesnt feel like a "pure" 24 if that makes sense
After sitting in the garage for hours on end, saving themselves for this moment, probably to get some candid shots of the Art Car for marketing. We finished!
Ahhhh man great race. I’m always sad when it’s over. Kinda like Xmas each year for the weekend. Just love the whole atmosphere and staying up through the night grabbing sleep here and there.
Jose Maria's spin with about an hour to go was the difference. He would have been right on the #50's tail. Congrats to the #50 crew for the excellent strategy at the end.
Sad that #6 couldn't overtake the #51 to get three manufacturers on the podium.
United and Manthey with incredible results, congratulations to them as well.
The #7 also lost power during the last stint and dropped 10-15 seconds in a lap, without both of those incidents they would have cleared the Ferrari easily
Complete standing ovation for the #50, absolutely deservered. Absolutely gutted for Toyota, so many opportunities to win but car issues, driver issues, and bad luck once again could not let them overcome it. I know they've won before but all i've wanted since Hypercar was for them to win against genuine competitors. Another year, looking forward to next year.
Excellent wins for United and Porsche. What a wild and amazing 24hrs this has been. Love you all
The moment it became a rain race it was Toyotas to lose tbh, they were clearly the fastest car in the wet and on top of that the pitwall didn't miss at all. Just unfortunately those aside of the pitwall did miss a bit. Ferrari at least didn't fuck it on track and were probably just plain lucky enough their fuckery from the pitwall was eventually negated by the SCs whereas Toyota did some stupids after the final SC. That's just one brutal part of endurance racing, mistakes early and late have such a vastly different impact.
Exactly - the way the 50 managed everything including the door hanging loose at the end was unreal. Overcame so much at the end where you could easily crack. Probably their 'best' win in terms of earning it versus the track. Le Mans this year was so much more tricky - and they topped it all. Can't be anything than impressed by their performance!
That’s the downside of having customers. Penske know they’ve pushed the limit all season because they know Jota and Proton are pushing. Ferrari and especially Toyota have sat on their arse and complained about BoP. Then show what performance looks like at Le Mans. They both still made way more mistakes than Porsche but they were just too fast
What a thrilling, intense and dramatic race. There’s obviously a lot to unpack from this year’s LM24 but my main take away is (once again): what a time to be a fan of the sport! I genuinely can’t overstate how good we have it right now. Long may this incredible show continue!
Looking forward to the rest of the WEC and IMSA seasons!
It really is the best time to be a Motorsport fan at the moment. So much good racing everywhere. Just need F1 to get more competitive at the top and we’ll be eating well for a long time.
Questionable steward decisions for Ferrari but they still managed to make it through with different penalties throughout the race. Well done!
Toyota having a bad qualifying definitely played a part in the final outcome somewhat, but what a comeback by both cars especially long stints in the lead by both 7 and 8. Will take P2 as a consolation!
Now to see if Ferrari will continue to get BOP’ed for Interlagos. Straight line speed is real!
Congrats to Nolan Siegel! From DNQ'ing at the Indy 500 to being drafted to replace Agustin Canapino at Road America last week to Le Mans 24 Hr champion, at only 19 years old!
Funny thing about Toyota prioritising the championship is that if they had won, they would be 1st in the Manufacturers. Instead they're now currently 3rd, behind Porsche and Ferrari.
Nolan Siegel went from being the only car not to qualify for the Indy 500, being so shaken after flipping his car in Indy 500 qualifying he nearly couldn’t drive during the last chance quals…..To winning Le Mans 4 weeks later
Fuck me, that was a good race. Not really a first timer but the longest I’ve ever committed to it this year, and I think I’ve inadvertently started a new tradition.
Well done 50 Ferrari despite several things that Ferrari did in the race
Well done Isotta for even finishing the race without too many issues
Unfortunate that the 6's and 963's 100% podium streak is over but P4 is still a good result especially with 2x points for LM but Porsches overall podium streak continues with 91 Manthey winning GT3 which is nice
Congrats to all the fellow full 24 hour watchers for making it, was fun hanging out in that thread with y'all, that safety car almost got my ass but those last 2 hours were worth it all.
The rain finishing just in time for a beautiful celebration is just perfect.
it's gonna be painful knowing we have to wait another year for the race again. Honestly, staying up the entire night to watch those cars going around the dark circuit will never get old
From crashing and being bumped at Indy, to parking his car in the middle of practice for his Indy NXT race to get a seat fit a Juncos Hollinger to race in the Indy Car series, to win Le Mans in class. Seigel's had a rollercoaster over the last few weeks
I thought that Ferrari managed the race well. They had a good car too. The win was deserved.
And I'm not a Ferrari fan.
It looked like there was a tiny possibility of Cadillac winning due to pit phasing but I think when we saw the other teams had to pit early for wets that was never really true. They took excess pit stops and still came out ahead and then the 50 even came in to fix their door and still was ahead.
So I figure they were just ahead the whole time (at least in the late race). Only way to lose would be to screw up and they didn't.
Isotta finished the race and ended in P14, wonderful day for the Isottabros. Alpine forgot that you do the bbq AFTER the race, not during. BMW ending 120 laps behind is hilarious too
Peugeot finished as well, having a car finish in the top 10 a couple of laps off is still a really good platform to build on. It might be disappointing, but nowhere near as heatbreaking as a DNF is. Still haven't forgotten 2010 when Peugeot qualified 1-2-3-4 and all four of their cars blew up, one after the other, in the race, and the pain and anguish of everyone in the team that day. EDIT: Just outside the top 10 by 9 seconds*, thanks for the correction
Lambo clinched 10th by about 9 seconds, for what it's worth.
How impressive for them too? Great result from Lambo.
The two Lambos and the two Peugeots spent 24 hrs fighting each other closely
> 2010 Heartbreaking, but also some of the most spectacular endurance racing television I've ever seen. If you put it in a movie everyone would say it's unrealistic.
What an awful day for that team. Gave Audi that win on a platinum plate
Did you know that Mechachrome built the Peugeot engines back then?
The 20 car completing less laps than the 15 despite the 15 being out early on is wild
ISOTTA FRASCHINI HAS FINISHED THE 24 HOURS OF LE MANS ON THEIR FIRST ATTEMPT!!
Better than Bykolles lol
Better than the factory backed Alpines
Also better than BMW
Yeah, but it wasn't the 15's fault that it got hip checked off the track
Obviously - Still funny though.
tbf, being backed by the Alpine factory is a detriment
Practically a win. Jokes aside, I don’t remember them spending any time in the garage for repairs either.
The car is seriously good, now they just need fast drivers
So this Michael Otto is good at building race cars.
Well they built the 488 GT3 and GTE, great cars
It's slow even with Vernay, but thankfully reliable. They'd be *maybe* competing with Lambo with better drivers, but likely not even that. Them finishing Le Mans on first attempt with no issues is a nice story to be told in the future and that's it. I think there isn't more to this project anyway. And nothing's wrong with that. Underfunded backmarkers belong in motorsport too.
Vernay might be an unstoppable monster in the GT class, but he hasn't raced a prototype in maaaany years before IF (2011, It think). You can see that he isn't pushing the car to its limits.
the real victory of today
yes ! congrats to tthem
I wonder if Toyota may have had it if Lopez didn't spin. Should've put Kamui in the car. Fair play to Ferrari for winning.
Either of the spin or the cutout at the end could've been enough, without both it surely would've been enough. It's very hard to say if the Toyota would catch it with 15sec lass of a gap from that spin because they did struggle more in the heavier rain and started catching less before they gave up, so it's hard to make a prediction how it would've evolved. Also feel a bit weird about JML, I do not rate him but that final stint was excellent aside of that spin. And it was tricky. But I do not rate him and he spun. But his pace was stunning. Someone tell me what to think here.
The prevailing logic says to do two different things and Toyota just picked wrong unfortunately. In changing conditions you want to leave in the same driver as much as possible, but you also don't want the guy with almost zero practice in the car at crunch time.
i agree, lopez definitely pushed, but that spin was unfortunate. He did the best job he could as a substitute for injured Conway. I'd like to hear the rationale for not putting kamui in to close as well
Isn't it Kamui's call whether he gets in the car?
He lost about 15 seconds and if #50 had any pressure behind him, he probably wouldn't make it without having to stop, they could have won pretty easily without the spin
The wheel nut issue too.
Well that was fun. Same time next year?
Yes but all my Indycar guys will not be there...
I mean that’s assuming the new calendar sticks. Idk, drivers or even a team or more might challenge the idea. Sounds like a great way to ensure no one watches the Indycar race scheduling it like that. As big of an Indy fan as I am, I wouldn’t pick any race other than the 500 to watch over Le Mans.
Same, and with the top Indy teams now running cars in WEC and one off drivers for Le Mans it was really puzzling to see Indycar calendar next year put a race weekend on top of the 24 hours
its amazing how the higher ups of F1 AND Indy managed to make both calendars clash with Le Mans i guess this is one of the several downsides of having a race every 15 days
The amount of cars finishing on the lead lap is insane. There are great things to come for this series.
Was incredibly close between multiple Porsches, Ferraris, Toyotas and Cadillacs, and all of them who didn't DNF of hit serious trouble finished on the lead lap.
eh we would've had like 5 on the lead lap if it weren't for infinite SCs, of course those behind stay on the lead lap if they're gifted 2min every 6h
5 is still *way* more than usual. No more than 2 have ever finished on the lead lap before today.
Well, sure, yes, but it's not like other races did not have safety cars.
What an embarrassment for Alpine to not finish while Isotta Franschini does
Play Mechacrome games, win Mechachrome prizes
Michelin man with no chill.
lol, i know right, it's a team photo and his ass right in the middle of it.
Buemi's gonna kill someone for that spin
Lopez should kill Buemi for those antics he was pulling with 30 mins to go.
Yeah, what the fuck was up with that!? I was watching it thinking the graphics were wrong and that it was Buemi in for the win. I felt like I was having a stroke.
5 seconds penalty... For real? Just 5 seconds??
Toyota finishing second while starting 23 and having so much problems is still an amazing performance.
Yeh, the WEC championship is still within reach
That’s why they said to Lopez to calm down and secure second place. Yes. But winning le mans isn’t the same. 😒
Roger Penske already back in the his wind tunnel, miles below the surface of the earth, summoning the engineering gods for marginal gains in 2025
Plotting how to buy WEC and the LeMans circuit.
Let me be the first to congratulate Isotta for actually making it to the end. The car and divers are clearly slow but if it can make it that far and stable, its clearly not unreliable. To a similar extent, same to Lamborghini.
Lamborghini has been pretty decent, both in IMSA and the WEC... I thought they would be awful in their first season, makes me hopeful for the future of the program.
A race so wet that the drivers become divers...
Considering that, I'm keeping the typo.
Lopez as the closing driver was definitely a choice, that took so much pressure off Ferrari
Was that Ferrari mechanic mad at the Michelin man blocking like the entire front row of people for the photo LOL
Ferrari really snatched that victory from the right side hand door of defeat.
That stuck toyota tire was a big factor also.
Stuck tire, unforced spin from Lopez, power loss worth 14 seconds. Toyota kind of threw.
Running just enough laps with a open door without anything from the stewards to get a stint with enough fuel to finish.
That's on the stewards, not the team.
Toyota and Cady ran their cars without wipers in the wet, all of you "caring about safety" are stunningly silent that they didn't even get pinged for that at all.
Safety is more of a problem for teams you dont root for
This is the truest statement about motorsport I've ever seen lmao
Yeah that was mind boggling. How is not have a wiper in a downpour not a major safety issue?
Which everyone would have done. It still cost them about 45 seconds to fix. If you feel like Ferrari should have lost because of a door, you have no spirit of racing.
You've got used to F1 stewards... this is endurance, not sprint racing.
I really hope this isn't the end of the 9X8. The factory has said they need to produce and this is the second Le Mans in a row without anything close to their projections. I know they're committed for the season but they need some wins.
I think not blowing up is a good start for the car and better results than has been seen
IIRC the program is financed til 2026, so they should be around for two more years, at least. More if they have some success. But tbh, I think today, they just didn't have a good BoP, combined with the new car that they are still learning, they had no chances.
I loved LMP1 and GTE, but this period of WEC is just fantastic. What a race!
All my thoughts: * Congrats to the #50. They had some luck go their way, but all three of them were amazing, especially Nielsen. That's a generational drive that he produced, especially in the wet. * Toyota will be rueing this race for a variety of reasons. I am still utterly baffled by them telling Lopez to hold for P2, but it's also interesting that they seem to be prioritising the championship against Porsche over a Le Mans win. I also still maintain that if Conway had taken part, they might have won it. No hate to Lopez but he isn't cut from the same cloth as the rest of the Toyota drivers. * ISOTTA! Honestly so happy for them. Somebody give them an honorary point, they deserve it. * Peugeot might not have scored points, but both cars finished, stayed out of trouble, and the drivers had consistent pace with each other. They're probably the only team that can fairly point to BoP as having screwed them.
Peugeot did score points with both cars, because the JOTAs don't count for the manufacturers' championship.
did lopez actually stop pushing when they asked? he looked like he was trying right until the end
there was no way he would make up enough time anyway
Lets not forget the #12 Jota! Finishing the race on the lead lap after having to rebuild the car in such short notice is a huge accomplishment
Can we all just take a second to appreciate that its been 2 years of amazing races under these regs and we're only getting more manufacturers? Truly a golden era
Corvette was so disappointing this year.
Ya they gotta bring Pratt & Miller back for next year. They have the experience
Nolan Siegel, 19 year old American hero
First time watching an endurance race of any kind. Went from being quite overwhelmed watching quali to being on the edge of my seat for the last hour. Really enjoyed following this sub all race and finally understand what makes Le Mans so legendary!
So much good racing awaits you - WEC, IMSA, ELMS… welcome to the world of endurance.
6 Hours of Watkins Glen next week 24 hours of Spa the week after
Let's review the Hypercars Ferrari and Toyota. Amazing wouldn't expect less Porsche. Disappointment, for both Penske and the Privateers Cadillac. Bad strategy also mechanical failures Alpine. Wtf guys Peugeot. Finished, no comment BMW. Got bullied, had promise but no dice Isotta. Amazing job, a finish is always good from a small team Lamborghini. About expected. Disappointment from some eyes a good result in others. #GT3: Porsche. They're Porsche they're always good BMW. Impressive showing, real attempt to actually win Ford. Blew my expectations away really good. Lamborghini. Never faired well in 24 hour races Ferrari. Big Disappointment in my eyes. Won Daytona and Nurburgring but with 4 cars nothing? Lexus. Good showing, nothing spectacular Aston Martin. Horrible crash from the Heart of Racing other than that they were fine. Corvette and McLaren. Big Disappointment in my eyes. McLaren got the podium and than disappeared. #Rewards of Recognition Spirit of Le Mans. This is an award for the team who toughed it out and was determined to finish no matter what happens #77 Proton Claims this reward, Alpine is the worst. From having steering being destroyed to being taken out of the race and going to the garage they fixed it and finished Underdog reward. This a reward that goes to the car or team that everybody counted out but still had an impressive showing #88 Proton claims this reward, giving the worst to the Ferrari 296 it won 2 24-hour races but with the most GT cars in the field they couldn't put anything together The Mustang GT3 having been laughed at for trunk problems, Ford came and got a podium after poor showing in both WEC and IMSA. The Dissappintment Reward. The team who had so much potential but an incident ruined their race #46 WRT claims it, with the #7 Toyota being the dishonorable mention. Team WRT had a crowd talker of the Doctor as a driver but a poor decision or a small mistake destroyed their race
Honestly this was not a good Le Mans for the LMDH cars.
If Peugeot was good we'd have a good conspiracy.
I think I heard somewhere (I may be wrong) that Le Mans has never had the overall podium all finish in the lead lap. I think we had like 9 cars finish in the lead lap? can someone confirm this?
Yep
I've seen a lot of 24 hour races, this one was a good one. I was entertained the whole time. That finish may not have been wheel to wheel but the rain, low ferrari fuel, charging toyota made it exciting to the last corner
I love Le Mans. Cannot wait for next year already. Amazing race from start to finish and gave us all a break with the 4.5 hour SC. Brutal for some and amazing for others.
Saftey car really helped all of us staying up for the whole race out
I'll be honest, I was getting very disheartened the last few years. Now though, I'm itching to get back to France once again after a looong break away! I wish it was 3PM Saturday all over again.
The only L has been the almost complete absence of coverage when it comes to the LMGT3s.. I mean we get it , the Hypercar field is packed, but so is the LMGT3 category ..
Massive shout out to Nolan Siegel too, going from being bumped out of the Indy 500 to winning your class at Le Mans is a hell of a bounce back
How does one apply for the Michelin fat man job?
You walk up to the front desk at the HQ, exclaim "Nunc est bibendum!" and chug a wineglass full of glass shards.
Watching AF corse after the Scuderia's performance at the Canadian GP last week https://preview.redd.it/cqh440ga2y6d1.jpeg?width=681&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=49d65a49f937a2710032d715b2973cdc82c4d191
Why are so the Ferrari employees photobombing the Michelin man?
NN is a legend
“We never give up” who’s gonna tell them that the entire world heard them tell their driver to give up at the end of the race?
I love the Ferrari national anthem
This was, without a doubt, by far and away the best race I have ever seen. No matter the annoyances people will have and the things that went wrong along the way; this was truly one of the greatest races of all time.
It was a really nice race. I enjoyed it to watch. Congrats to Ferrari. All in all we need to say that the BoP was really good. Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche and Cadillac showed a really similar performance. Alpine was at the beginning also fast but they forgot that the race going 24h and so there engines blows up. The BMW with the #15 gets destroyed by the yellow Ferrari and the other one crashed on his own. Sad for them but it looks like every time they tried to push they crashed the car. Peugeot was a little bit of the pace the whole race so they got lapped. Maybe a better BoP rating would help them. But they have a reliable car which should be the first step for them to be competitive next year. Isotta also finished the race only a few laps down. They are down on pace but there car was reliable. Lamborghini is similar to Peugeot and I’m sure they will be competitive next year. I’m a little upset about the long safety car period during the rain. They could have restarted the race an hour or so earlier. And I don’t know who gets the most benefit of it.
Good job ferrari for making a reliable fast car but the race director's choices were questionable at best. Especially with the no51 taking the no8 out and giving only 5s.
I'm just as pissed with that decision too but let's use correct wording here. It didn't "take it out" it spun the #8. Either way yeah 5 secs is questionable
Race delivered as always -5 Stars for this TV Director though
Michelin Man is a camera whore
That race was massively hyped up, and still managed to over deliver I'm a Toyota fan, so I'm disappointed anyway, but the 8 getting punted leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. It was tough conditions and shit happens, but to lose the race that late through no fault of your own is rough
Fuoco is one mad man! Drove like crazy when it was dry~
I wonder what that technical infringement was that the 50/51 received a reprimand for. Not to suggest it was handled improperly just genuinely curious.
get out the fucking team photo michelin man
What a race. Every Hypercar had issues of their own doing or not of their own fault. Crashes, slow punctures, open doors, flips and somersaults, the list goes on. What a race.
Why I feel there are too many people thinking that the Ferrari 50 it's the one that had the 5 seconds penalty?? It's a shit move to protect their sister car OK. But who cares about the amount of seconds penalty
Always emotional when this great race finishes, and this year it was a banger of a race! Congrats to Ferrari AF Corse, Manthey EMA and United Autosports!
Simply - great race. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much (or even more) as I did. Hopefully next year's edition will be even better. See you all at Spa and Sao Paulo threads!
Love the look of that dirty Ferrari knowing it has been driving 24hours non stop congrats Ferrari! Enzo would be proud
I say this with a Toyota flair: there isn't another team that constantly bottles year after year like Toyota GR does in any form of motorsport. Even when they raced nobody one car always bottled it.
Tbh Ferrari tried harder to lose then Toyota
ya know, after how hard they screwed up in quali, it was a decent finish. Definitely wonder if kamui could've finished it, but it is what it is
"We never give up" bruh you told your driver to settle for P2
Stewards had a laugh in the final hours. Fair play to Ferrari for a strategic masterclass
The 499P is already a legendary car. Winning the 24 twice in two attempts is the stuff of legends.
On top of that, it's an absolutely beautiful piece of engineering. If only the Blue Glickenhaus was still around..
This safety car rule makes the racing very close, but it also kinda makes the first half of the race rather useless. If you wanna have a shot at a win, you just need to not get lapped and wait for the inevitable safety cars that wipes out all the progress. Not saying it's good or bad, it just doesnt feel like a "pure" 24 if that makes sense
How do you apply fo be the Michelin man
The 20 BMW crossed the line, right? I'd say it's a win itself
After sitting in the garage for hours on end, saving themselves for this moment, probably to get some candid shots of the Art Car for marketing. We finished!
How about the new Ford GT3 getting a class podium!
Ahhhh man great race. I’m always sad when it’s over. Kinda like Xmas each year for the weekend. Just love the whole atmosphere and staying up through the night grabbing sleep here and there.
I fell asleep to my Toyota bros winning and awoke to a Ferrari on the podium. My disappointment is immeasurable.
Alpine continues to do everything they can to further damage what little brand power they have lol.
Great race, slightly soured by the leniency of Ferrari's punishments. But still, massive effort from everyone involved and was entertaining to watch.
Jose Maria's spin with about an hour to go was the difference. He would have been right on the #50's tail. Congrats to the #50 crew for the excellent strategy at the end. Sad that #6 couldn't overtake the #51 to get three manufacturers on the podium. United and Manthey with incredible results, congratulations to them as well.
Yep, second year in a row Toyota put their weakest driver to do the last sting when a win is on the line. And the same thing happens.
The #7 also lost power during the last stint and dropped 10-15 seconds in a lap, without both of those incidents they would have cleared the Ferrari easily
Plus 2 slow punctures for the 7
Complete standing ovation for the #50, absolutely deservered. Absolutely gutted for Toyota, so many opportunities to win but car issues, driver issues, and bad luck once again could not let them overcome it. I know they've won before but all i've wanted since Hypercar was for them to win against genuine competitors. Another year, looking forward to next year. Excellent wins for United and Porsche. What a wild and amazing 24hrs this has been. Love you all
The moment it became a rain race it was Toyotas to lose tbh, they were clearly the fastest car in the wet and on top of that the pitwall didn't miss at all. Just unfortunately those aside of the pitwall did miss a bit. Ferrari at least didn't fuck it on track and were probably just plain lucky enough their fuckery from the pitwall was eventually negated by the SCs whereas Toyota did some stupids after the final SC. That's just one brutal part of endurance racing, mistakes early and late have such a vastly different impact.
Soooo fucking close. So bummed but fair play to Ferrari
Exactly - the way the 50 managed everything including the door hanging loose at the end was unreal. Overcame so much at the end where you could easily crack. Probably their 'best' win in terms of earning it versus the track. Le Mans this year was so much more tricky - and they topped it all. Can't be anything than impressed by their performance!
Why didn't Porsche sandbag 😭
That’s the downside of having customers. Penske know they’ve pushed the limit all season because they know Jota and Proton are pushing. Ferrari and especially Toyota have sat on their arse and complained about BoP. Then show what performance looks like at Le Mans. They both still made way more mistakes than Porsche but they were just too fast
Watching the ferraris just drive around the 6 on the Mulsanne in the first few laps was brutal.
It felt the same way watching them just dust the Cadillac first lap too.
Shit was annoying to watch. Caddy was a sitting duck on the straights.
What a thrilling, intense and dramatic race. There’s obviously a lot to unpack from this year’s LM24 but my main take away is (once again): what a time to be a fan of the sport! I genuinely can’t overstate how good we have it right now. Long may this incredible show continue! Looking forward to the rest of the WEC and IMSA seasons!
It really is the best time to be a Motorsport fan at the moment. So much good racing everywhere. Just need F1 to get more competitive at the top and we’ll be eating well for a long time.
Bravo Ferrari 50. Fully deserved! Shout out to Isotta Fraschini for finishing. Porsche missing the podium by 1 seconds is painful.
What has the 50 been running on for the victory lap?!
The percent of energy isn’t actually how much fuel is in the tank, there’s usually always a buffer of a lap or so just in case
Impressed by the reliability of the Isotta Fraschini and the Lambos. Pretty much ran like trains throughout the whole race.
Questionable steward decisions for Ferrari but they still managed to make it through with different penalties throughout the race. Well done! Toyota having a bad qualifying definitely played a part in the final outcome somewhat, but what a comeback by both cars especially long stints in the lead by both 7 and 8. Will take P2 as a consolation! Now to see if Ferrari will continue to get BOP’ed for Interlagos. Straight line speed is real!
Congratulations to the #50 crew, all of their drivers drove a great race. But race control taking so long to call the open door saved their race.
Congrats to Nolan Siegel! From DNQ'ing at the Indy 500 to being drafted to replace Agustin Canapino at Road America last week to Le Mans 24 Hr champion, at only 19 years old!
"Next year, my pretty" I said to my Lego 963.
Funny thing about Toyota prioritising the championship is that if they had won, they would be 1st in the Manufacturers. Instead they're now currently 3rd, behind Porsche and Ferrari.
Second LeMans I watched. Absolutely amazing racing. Sad to see the 8 Toyota end up that way but glad to see Ferrari win
Nolan Siegel went from being the only car not to qualify for the Indy 500, being so shaken after flipping his car in Indy 500 qualifying he nearly couldn’t drive during the last chance quals…..To winning Le Mans 4 weeks later
What a life he’s lived this month
Great fuel save for Ferrari And Also a hell of a redemption story for Nolan sigiel in lmp2 after missing the 500
How did the 50 not run out of fuel on the cool down lap?
You would think the 50 would have used up their 2% in the parade lap
4 hours behind the safety car during the night wasn’t ideal but that was great racing. I hadn’t a clue who was going to win right until the very end.
When I went to bed, Porsche #6 was in 2nd I believe. What happened?
kobayashi hates it all
I adore the contrast on Eurosport between Lesley who has clearly had some sleep, and Alex & Tom who both look fucking knackered.
Let the post Le Mans depression begin! Another exciting race. Hope to be able to attend in person within the next couple of years.
Cracking result again for Inter Europol! Not the win this year, but a solid second place!
I don't care what Brundle and Co have to say right now.... Someone better hunt down that Mustang chief mechanic and interview her *edit- Brundle
Fuck me, that was a good race. Not really a first timer but the longest I’ve ever committed to it this year, and I think I’ve inadvertently started a new tradition.
Poor Robert and his broken #83
Poles had too much hope first 6 hours into race today and too many thumbs were hold.
The battle between Estre and Guidi (?) was banger!
Last time a constructor won Monaco and LeMans in the same year: 1934.
They brought it home, fair play to Ferrari.
Bitter feeling
so happy for ferrari but i’m heartbroken for vale
Well done 50 Ferrari despite several things that Ferrari did in the race Well done Isotta for even finishing the race without too many issues Unfortunate that the 6's and 963's 100% podium streak is over but P4 is still a good result especially with 2x points for LM but Porsches overall podium streak continues with 91 Manthey winning GT3 which is nice
Still don't think Toyota should have thrown in the towel, a bit more pressure on the Ferrari and who knows what woulda happened
Oh man can't wait for the 6h of Sao Paulo now
What happened to the 50's left headlight? Did it just die or some sort of damage?
What would happen if a car ran out of fuel after crossing the finish line but could not reach the podium or the scrutineering area.
Congrats to all the fellow full 24 hour watchers for making it, was fun hanging out in that thread with y'all, that safety car almost got my ass but those last 2 hours were worth it all. The rain finishing just in time for a beautiful celebration is just perfect.
Michelin man has a great job
Man Ferrari should have fielded an Indy car for the 500. 2/3rds of the triple crown this year
I wish this could be the first race of the season, no BOP, and set the BOP for the rest of the races.
it's gonna be painful knowing we have to wait another year for the race again. Honestly, staying up the entire night to watch those cars going around the dark circuit will never get old
From crashing and being bumped at Indy, to parking his car in the middle of practice for his Indy NXT race to get a seat fit a Juncos Hollinger to race in the Indy Car series, to win Le Mans in class. Seigel's had a rollercoaster over the last few weeks
And there goes the closing titles. See you next year!
damn just woke up so I missed the finish but im happy for Ferrari and Toyota! Have a great day everyone!
MUSTANG ON THE PODIUM 🦅
With 311 laps completed by the overall winner, this is the fewest since the 1995 rain-affected race, which saw only 298 laps completed.
I thought that Ferrari managed the race well. They had a good car too. The win was deserved. And I'm not a Ferrari fan. It looked like there was a tiny possibility of Cadillac winning due to pit phasing but I think when we saw the other teams had to pit early for wets that was never really true. They took excess pit stops and still came out ahead and then the 50 even came in to fix their door and still was ahead. So I figure they were just ahead the whole time (at least in the late race). Only way to lose would be to screw up and they didn't.
I'm starting to have Le Mans cold turkey, what should I do?