2024 Le Mans 24 Hours: More Le Mans glory for Ferrari and Michelin!
This year's Le Mans 24 Hours – which boasted a mouthwatering entry of 23 Hypercars run by nine different manufacturers – lived up every bit to its promise, providing the 329,000 spectators with one of the closest and most intense competitions in the event's history. The win ultimately landed in the hands of the #50 Ferrari of Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen, but Cadillac, Porsche and Toyota all led at different moments. And the podium finishers were blanketed by just 36 seconds after 311 laps/4,237 kilometers. Second and third were the #7 Toyota (+14s) and #51 Ferrari (+36s) who secured the 25th all-Michelin podium at Circuit de la Sarthe. The French brand also extended its record-breaking unbeaten run in the race to 27 consecutive victories!
The 92nd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours had it all: on-track drama, breath-taking passes, emotion, mixed conditions and, most of all, suspense until the very end.
History books will clinically record Ferrari's second Le Mans victory in a row with Michelin, this time with its #50 car. But that won't tell the entire story of the 2024 race which saw the winning 499P Hypercar prototype cross the line by a margin of just 14.221 seconds, with the barest minimum of energy in its 'tank' after a battle of nerves that kept fans on their toes throughout.
Compared with 2023, the win was effectively much harder work for the Italian brand, as Toyota, Porsche and Cadillac all spent spells in front. Either of them might have pulled off the victory had things unfolded just a little differently...
Perhaps the biggest influence on Sunday's outcome was the role played by the repeated heavy showers that swept over Circuit de la Sarthe, compelling the teams to continuously revise their game-plans and tire strategies.
Toyota suffered most from ill-luck perhaps when its #8 challenger (5th at the flag) was clipped into a time-consuming spin by a rival prototype while looking strong with two hours remaining. Meanwhile, the #7 sister car of Lopez/Kobayashi/de Vries seemed to spend the race losing ground for different reasons before fighting its way back up the leaderboard. The trio's combativity was eventually rewarded with second place, while the weekend's best race-lap fell to Kobayashi who clocked a 3m28.756s on Lap 254.
Safety Car interruptions totaled 6 hours and 54 minutes in all – more than a quarter of the duration! Many of them were attributable to the mixed weather which necessitated some important strategy calls by the teams.
The combination of rain, cool temperatures on Sunday and slightly warmer conditions early on meant that Michelin's soft and medium slicks and the MICHELIN Pilot Sport Wet (which contains 45 percent renewable/recycled raw materials) played an integral part in how the race unfolded, with the wet seen running in the dry and the slicks performing in the rain!
In addition to its performance, versatility and consistency, the MICHELIN Pilot Sport Endurance range's hallmark longevity made an active contribution to the spectacle by enabling the teams to multi-stint. This year's durability record was posted by the #12 Porsche which successfully completed 530 kilometers (39 laps) on the same set of four medium slicks.
Michelin has now won the Le Mans 24 Hours 33 times, which is just one victory short of the record by a single tire manufacturer.
Next round of the 2024 FIA WEC: 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, Brazil (July 14).