Ferrari wins 2023 Le Mans 24 hours as Toyota streak ends
Ferrari 499P makes historic win on 24 Hours of Le Mans debut
Toyota Gazoo Racing entered the Centenary edition of the Le Mans 24 hours as the strong favorite, but instead has to accept second place as an Italian squad took the victory: Ferrari AF Corse.
The 24 hour race is part of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and commemorates 100 years since the first one that was held in 1923. Unlike the previous editions where the top spots are separated by several laps, the 2023 running saw a very close race between Toyota Gazoo Racing and Ferrari AF Corse, with the cars trading the lead all throughout the 24 hours.
After 342 laps completed, it was the #51 Ferrari 499P driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi (ITA) together with James Calado (GBR) and former F1 driver Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA) that took the top spot in the Hypercar class and the overall win for Ferrari AF Corse.
This is the first time that a Ferrari has claimed the overall win at Le Mans since 1965. This also marks the return of Ferrari to the top class at Le Mans, beating Toyota Gazoo Racing works racing team which had been undefeated for 5 years at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
The #51 499P of Ferrari AF Corse outpaced their nearest rival in the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid which was 1 minute and 21.793 seconds adrift. The #8 car was actually trading the lead with the #51 on track and in the pits, but a mistake by Ryo Hirakawa (JPN) under braking resulted in a spin into the barrier and a lengthy pit stop. Despite the issues that the #51 Ferrari was experiencing during the pitstop restarts, the mistake by the Japanese driver was enough to give them a comfortable gap to win.
The 2023 edition also saw the return of Cadillac which came in third with the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R followed closely in fourth by the #3 Cadillac V-Series.R. The #50 Ferrari 499P came in fifth place; it was actually the favorite for the win after claiming pole position, but problems mid way through the event saw it drop back and finished 5 laps behind the lead car. The #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid retired mid way through the race.
Unlike in Formula One, the AF Corse isn’t a full Ferrari works team though they do run as a de facto Ferrari team in sportscar racing. AF Corse already has many class wins in the LMGTE divisions of endurance racing, and 2023 marks their first foray into the top flight of WEC, and thus their first overall win.
In the LMP2 class, it was the #34 Oreca of Poland-based Inter Europol Competition that secured the class win with only a 53.819-second lead over the #41 Oreca of Team WRT.
In the LM GTE Am class, it was the #33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Corvette Racing that took the class win, holding off the TF Sport Aston Martin and GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19. Unfortunately, the all-female Iron Dames team, who had been fighting in the top three, missed out on a historic podium spot.
Perhaps the other standout from the Centenary race is the Chevrolet Camaro NASCAR Cup Car that was driven by Jimmie Johnson (USA), Mike Rockenfeller (GER) and 2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button (GBR). While not competing in any class, it was most notable for impressing fans with the sight (and sound) of a NASCAR Cup Car on the Circuit de la Sarthe.
