White-hot fight for 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours falls to Ferrari

An unprecedented nine cars on the lead lap at the finish. Just 14sec between the winner and runner-up. Just 1.1sec between third and fourth. Yes, it’s safe to say the 92nd Le Mans 24 Hours proved a worthy sequel to the 100th anniversary edition, as Ferrari once again pulled off a narrow defeat of Toyota to prevail for an 11th time.

Fine margins dictated the order as two Ferraris, both Toyotas, two Penske-run Porsches, a pair of customer 963s and a Cadillac kept it lit until the chequered flag. Nicklas Nielsen thought “everything was lost” when a flapping right-hand door forced an emergency stop, which left his Ferrari on a marginal fuel strategy in the Dane’s final stint. His 499P was down to just 2% of its energy when he crossed the line at 4pm to claim a victory shared with Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina.

Had José Maria Lopéz not spun in the 23rd hour, and hadn’t been grappling with a power issue on his Toyota GR010, might his No7 entry have overcome the 14sec deficit that defined defeat? Nielsen’s fuel-saving efforts were aided by the return of rain that contributed to more than six of the 24 hours running behind a safety car – the only aspect that undermined an otherwise great race. For Lopéz the whole experience was bitter-sweet. Demoted this year to a Lexus in LMGT3, the Argentinian was called back to share Toyota’s Hypercar with the man who replaced him, Nyck de Vries, and team principal Kamui Kobayashi when Mike Conway broke ribs and a collar bone in a cycling accident the week preceding the race. In a car that only started 23rd and last in class, following a Kobayashi crash in qualifying, Lopéz was an unlikely star.

Then there was the sister No8 Toyota, which had a greater claim on this being a race that “slipped away”, in the words of Brendon Hartley. It was the Kiwi who was tipped into a spin at Mulsanne Corner by 2023 winner Alessandro Pier Guidi. The Italian’s 5sec penalty was scant punishment for an incident that probably cost Hartley, Sébastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa the victory. Instead they finished fifth as Pier Guidi survived a dash to the flag to beat Laurens Vanthoor’s pole position-winning Porsche to the podium. Fourth and sixth for the Penske Porsches, plus an 8-9 for Jota, must go down as a failure for the marque in its chase for 20 Le Mans wins. Yet Vanthoor was just 37.8sec away from a win.

As for Jota, its heroic build of a fresh car, to spare Callum Ilott’s blushes after his Wednesday crash is now the stuff of Le Mans legend. This was a classic to remember.