17% of virtual energy tank for the leading Ferrari. That is going to be so, so close for Nicklas Nielsen! He had the door to fix. No further action on the #50 Ferrari. This is a major moment for the race. Thank you, Ben Edwards, for your commentary, as we hand over to Ben Constanduros and Alex Jacques. The #7 Toyota of Jose Maria Lopez has spun at the first chicane, the Dunlop esses! It was a rear brake lockup! Holy mackerel! Ferrari #50 needs a full service and/or a splash and a dash. They might get to the end in the rain. We'll have to wait and see what happens. The gap is 47 seconds after Jose Maria Lopez spun off. He is getting too flustered and making mistakes. Ferrari #50 will need to pit in 45 minutes.
Dennis Olsen third in GT3 in the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang. Bring it on. 53 minutes of racing left on the board before we see who is going to win. Ferrari are on course to possible back-to-back victories at Le Mans and Toyota trying to get back to victory lane. Fans are putting the brollies up. 52 minutes left on the board. The trophy room is full of emotions for the drivers. That is for sure. Cool Racing has spun again and here comes the Ferrari #50. Malthe Jakobsen, a spinner, as the Ferrari is for their last stop to get home.
Toyota #7 has taken the lead, and the Ferrari will now need to catch up with full battery and full energy. They did not take tires. They are keeping the wets on the car. The harder it rains the less fuel they need to use. Everyone needs to stop one more time including the leader, Jose Maria Lopez. Would I keep Lopez in or put Kobayashi in the car? I would probably keep Lopez in the car and it's heartbreak for the LMP3 champion, Malthe Jakobsen at Cool Racing in LMP2! He is dropping like a stone. Oliver Jarvis leads LMP2 currently. Pier Guidi and Nielsen at Ferrari are chasing down Lopez.
Ferrari will swap the #51 and the #50 to chase down the #7 Toyota and Pier Guidi goes deep! So, #51 is losing time. Nielsen will go by. 45 minutes left. The plot doth thicken. 322 kilometers an hour for #7, #51, and #6. Nicklas Nielsen is doing massive lift and coast. The gap is just over 19 seconds. The amount of usable energy needs to be dropped down to make it to the end. Nielsen has to get the #50 to the end. #51 does not have an answer to Toyota. Toyota going for their sixth Le Mans victory. Ferrari going for their 11th and second in a row. Jose Maria Lopez will take the Toyota to the finish.
Maybe Lopez will get new boots to apply the pressure to Ferrari. #51 is boxing to get an energy top up. Toyota will continue on the tires they've got. Ferrari #50 leads the race. 300 laps now on the board. Nicklas Nielsen and #50 are looking at the fuel burn rate. They need to find 20% more. Nicklas Nielsen not meeting the target 62 joules number. Nielsen is 20 kilometers an hour slower over the Toyota. Less than 40 minutes to go. Toyota believe Ferrari has to pit. The Toyota's are side by side, look. Lopez is being hassled by Buemi!
#8 needs to pit again! Oliver Jarvis is leading in the LMP2 class in the #22 United Autosport Oreca. Buemi goes by the sister car. Porsche #6 in the pit lane, in and out ith good proximity to the end. Cadillac #2 also in. Alex Palou at the controls. Cadillac Racing rolling the dice and taking tires. I think. Nope. No takers on tires. 36 minutes remaining. Nielsen leading and I wonder if he is hearing noises inside that car. In the GT3 class, there are a couple cars stopping. 3:55's are the best times we have seen on the wet tire.
Nicklas Nielsen, on the limit. The #86 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Daniel Serra, the GR Racing car, having mechanical troubles and he has parked it! Yellow flag is out. Oh my! This could be manna from heaven for Nielsen and Ferrari, a free or cheap pit stop. Ferrari on their fuel maps are doing maximum energy save. Half an hour to go. Lopez has gold front brakes on the #7 Toyota. The #88 Mustang is in the lane and now, the #7 Toyota is having power and turbo issues! Well, well, well. Lopez will have to dig deep. Sebastien Buemi is the only car keeping Ferrari in check at all. We have a yellow flag in sector one with no call yet.
Race Control trying to make a decision. At the end of this race, Richard Lietz will have driven ten hours of this race. Penske Porsche #5 pits. According to the radar, we might need more wets and the #86 is giving it everything to get back but I think ti has given up the ghost. Michelin will equal Dunlop's record of wins for tire brands here at Le Mans. Thank you to all the marshals who help and volunteer. You deserve gratitude. Merci beaucoup! Without you, we couldn't go racing at all. We have a slow zone and Sebastien Buemi could pit for the final time. Double yellow at Marshal point four and there is more rain and this is big rain in the waning moments of this motor race.
Jose Maria Lopez skating around in the rain. New wets? This is like the Group C prototype days in the '80s. The gap is 37 seconds between Lopez and Nielsen. Action Express making our final pit stop. Porsche #6 in fourth place. So close to a moment every driver dreams of. These wet tires have been through the wringer and now they must channel water away. How much wet tire surface is there left? Lopez makes a slight mistake under pressure. Everyone is struggling to get to the end of this. Richard Lietz is leading GT3 by 42 seconds. 34 seconds between Ferrari and Toyota in Hypercar.
In LMP2 it is onl a separation of 15 seconds with fastest drivers outside the podium. Nielsen has less energy than Lopez does. 20 minutes remaining. Manage the car, under pressure. That is all he wants. Laurens Vanthoor is now catching Alessandro Pier Guidi for the final step on the podium. Jose Maria Lopez is told that Toyota does not think Ferrari will box. Lopez should protest and say, no, I am going to go for it! Porsche #5 goes off the road and back on. Under 30 seconds in the wet, one mistake, and it's all over, you rue the fact you didn't push.
Don't give up. This is the stuff that dreams are made of. Let me stay in a rhythm. Drive these laps like they mean nothing like a test day in a Formula Ford for the next 14 minutes. #51 Ferrari is holding on to a podium ahead of a Porsche. Stay away from the left-hand exit curb and find your favorite line down the Mulsanne straight. Inter Europol with a new driver, it will be interesting to see where they finish. United Autosport up by 17 seconds and goes off the road and recovers. Lopez is still digging but time is running out with only three or four laps on the board before the clock runs out.
The gap is good but it is going to be squeaky, squeaky on usable energy. The #33 DKR Engineering LMP2 Oreca of Lorents Horr and the #47 Fredric Vesti Cool Racing car off the roadas well. Alex Palou runs the #2 Cadillac a little bit wide. This is one of the most difficult Le Mans races I think I have seen on television. We are getting close to the penultimate lap of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2024. We sent four hours of time when the rain bucketed down and we were trundling around the circuit. Two laps to go.
Oliver Jarvis, Bijoy Garg, and Nolan Siegel are going to triumph in LMP2. Ferrari anticipate their moment. They fixed the passengers' side door and were off sequence. Two laps remaining. This is the final lap. The #50 Ferrari is quick and efficient. One lap to at Circuit de la Sarth for the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours. Ferrari going for two in a row. The work by Nicklas Nielsen has been flawless. The #50 is touring the Mulsanne straight for the last time. Jose Maria Lopez pushed it far but not far enough. AF Corse, Ferrari, so many lives are devoted to this team, this car.
5% energy left in the tank. Ferrari will take their second straight Le Mans victory. The clock has hit 24 hours. Miguel Molina can barely watch. But now, after Toyota have given it their all, now it is Ferrari, winning back-to-back! In 2024, it is car #50, Nicklas Nielsen, Miguel Molina, and Antonio Fuoco! Forza Ferrari! Ferrari win Le Mans again! Toyota in second and Porsche in third. In LMP2, it is the #22 United Autosport Oreca 07 of Oliver Jarvis, Bijoy Garg, and Nolan Siegel! Two American rookies on this team! Manthey EMA win GT3! The #91 Porsche 911 GT3R of Richard Lietz, Morris Schuring, and Yasser Shahin!
Overall/Hypercar: #50 Molina/Fuoco/Nielsen Ferrari - AF Corse Ferrari 499P
LMP2: #22 Jarvis/Garg/Siegel United Autosport Oreca 07
LMP2 Pro-Am: #183 Perrodo/Barnicoat/Varrone AF Corse Oreca 07
GT3: #91 Lietz/Schuring/Shahin Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
Ferrari wins Le Mans again! Their 11th overall win, at La Sarthe. Their second in a row. The first for Miguel Molina, Antonio Fuoco, and Nicklas Nielsen! We knew how strong Ferrari has been. Now Nicklas Nielsen, at the tender age of 27, he has won the Nurburgring 24 Hours, the Spa 24 Hours, and now, the Le Mans 24 Hours. The wet weather helped out the Ferrari which was close to running out of energy on the cool down lap. Just incredible. Fuoco, Molina, and Nielsen, are immortal!
Tears of joy from the drivers, putting their hearts into this, a decision of victory by 14 seconds. Unbelievable. Le Mans has something special up its sleeve and it sure did! Every man, woman, and machine has been tested. That was one of the toughest races we have ever been through in history. This is an absolutely incredible moment. Of the 62 cars that started the race, 46 finished. We lost 16 cars compared to 22 last year. Action Express, despite losing bodywork, our boys made it home! The sister Ferrari #51 get a third-place position. In GT3, Richard Lietz is a legend of GT racing and Porsche, but Morris Schuring and Yasser Shahin are debutants at Le Mans, and they've won!
I am very happy the last rain shower ended before the race. This evening it will be time to party! Toyota were so close to getting another victory again this year. Toyota did everything possible. They will be back. I wonder. Cadillac, Porsche, BMW, Lamborghini, Alpine, Isotta Fraschini, Peugeot, all of them will also be back to contend next year, and we will see Aston Martin joining the prorotype ranks in Hypercar next year. What a motor race. What a motor race.
The gates open and the crowd pours onto the track to see their heroes on the podium. Ferrari celebrates a victory separated by only 14 seconds in a wet, dry, wet, dry mixed conditions race. Get well soon, Mike Conway, who missed the race this year due to injury with a broken collarbone, at Toyota. At any rate. Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen, and Antonio Fuoco, are champions at Le Mans this year. Ferrari wins Le Mans again, number 11. Porsche, Toyota, and others are very strong. The Ferrari 499P works wonders around Le Mans. The only change were the headlights.
The teams are stepping onto the podium. Last year's Le Mans winners, come back, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Alessandro Pier Guidi finish second. But their teammates feel the elation of victory. Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen, and Miguel Molina! Your winners of the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans. At the place where champagne was first sprayed in celebration, we do it again. The Ferrari team did everything they needed to do to earn the prize. Cadillac, Porsche, Toyota, and others gave everything they had as well. A fabulous race it was indeed. When has Le Mans been disappointing? I don't believe it ever has. Ferrari have gone back-to-back in 2023 and 2024. Ferrari delivered with just 2% of energy left in the tank/
Here comes the GT3 podium. Manthey EMA Porsche the winners. Team WRT BMW in second, and Proton Competition in third place. Yasser Shahin, the Australian who wins with Morris Schuring and Richard Lietz, he has also stood on the podium at the Bathurst 12 Hours at Mount Panorama in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. Giorgio Roda, Dennis Olsen, and Mikkel Pedersen, the Ford Mustang GT3 finishes third. BMW second with Augusto Farfus, Darren Leung (2023 British GT champion), and Sean Gelael. A great podium in GT3, partnering businessmen who have the desire, and professional drivers alike.
IDEC Sport, Inter Europol, and United Autosport are your podium finishers in LMP2. Paul Lafargue from France, Job van Uitert from Holland, and Reshad De Gerus from France in third. Second, Inter Europol Competition, Jakub "Kuba" Smiechowski, Vladislav Lomko, and Clement Novalak, and the winners, United Autosport, Oliver Jarvis, Bijoy Garg, and Nolan Siegel! What a month for Nolan Siegel. He may not have made it at Indianapolis. But he made it to Le Mans he won! A wonderful LMP2 race!
So many moments from this race especially in the Hypercar category. I think Ferrari were chosen when they put in the management and effort to fix the door towards the end of the race. Le Mans chose them. They made their day out of it. The next event that we will see in WEC is the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo in Brazil at the Interlagos circuit that returns to the schedule after many years away. I will bring that race to you when I can. We will see you in Brazil. AF Corse has built their team with Ferrari and made the brand strong. The Tifosi, should be proud. Forza Ferrari! We'll see you at Le Mans, for the 93rd running, in 2025. We'll see you next month, for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo in Brazil, as well. Au revoir, from Le Mans, in France. Bye bye, everyone. Take care.
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