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Ferrari have toppled Toyota to win the centenary running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, which is known as one of the most iconic sports car races in the world. The Italian manufacturer returned to the hallowed grounds of the Circuit de la Sarthe after 50 long years to achieve victory in a convincing fashion.
The new hyperclass category was introduced to allow competitors from the sports car series, IMSA, in the United States of America to take part in Le Mans. It also gave a platform to the automakers to show their street car technology, which Ferrari grabbed with both hands.
During the 24 hours race on the 13.626 km long circuit, the opening hours brought about a four-way battle between Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche, and Peugeot for the win at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Sometime later, the fight for the lead came down to Ferrari and Toyota as the other two teams fell away drastically.
The #51 Ferrari car, driven by Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado, and Alessandro Pier Guidi had to face a lot of pitfalls to keep the #8 Toyota car, driven by Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa behind in second place. It included chaotic weather, moments off-track, technical scares, and long Safety Car periods, before the Maranello based carmaker won the Le Mans 24 Hours race by a big margin of around three minutes.
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The third place on the podium went to the #2 Cadillac car of Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook. Their teammates in the #3 car, including Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, and Scott Dixon got fourth place in the race. Meanwhile, the pole-sitting #50 Ferrari car of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen finished in fifth place at Le Mans.
