24h Le Mans
The #83 AF Corse team led by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Philip Hanson have fended off the pressure of the factory Ferrari AF Corse cars and seven other manufacturers to win the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the process have become the first customer team to win the legendary endurance race in 20 years.
The 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has come to an end. A thrilling contest with amazing on-track duels, tactical and strategic battles on the pit wall, with thousands around the circuit and millions at home watching history in the making as Ferrari took a hat-trick of wins at Le Mans - repeating the success they achieved 60 years ago in 1965.
The #83 AF Corse - bright yellow Ferrari 499P has shone brightly in multiple sessions throughout Le Mans week, but they did it when it mattered the most - on race day. Moving into the fight within the first few hours, the customer Ferrari team had to take on the might of the finest from Maranello and Porsche - going toe-to-toe twice around the clock.
While drama hit the rapid #51 car, the #83 stayed out of trouble to become the first customer team since Champion Racing in 2005 to take the biggest prize in sports car racing. Robert Kubica drove the car home to the delight of the passionate crowd, and as he took the chequered flag, the history didn’t stop with AF Corse and Ferrari. Kubica became the first Pole to ever win Le Mans outright. Teammate Yifei Ye became the first driver from China to win the great race, while British driver Philip Hanson in only his second drive in a Hypercar at Le Mans added another win for the British, now taking Great Britain to 46 wins over the last 93 years - the most successful country by driver wins.
Porsche Penske Motorsport were the only outfit to get close to the prancing horses and kept on the coattails all race long, which kept them in with a shout should a mistake come about. That came when the #51 parked itself in the gravel, and a superb job by Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and in particular Matt Campbell, who triple-stinted the tyres towards the end of the race, which gave Estre a chance of second place. Driving his heart out - the Frenchman brought the car home just 14 seconds behind the leader after 5,361 miles.
2023 winners - the #51 Ferrari AF Corse team had a disaster of a final four hours with a spin coming into the pitlane for Alessandro Pier Guidi dropping them out the lead before Antonio Giovinazzi radioed the team with 45 minutes left on the clock - trying to get to the bottom of a problem with the car. The message from the team - keep driving, keep pushing and destroy the tyres if you need to. This bold call paid off as they were able to fight and pass the sister #50 car to take the final spot on the podium.
Cadillac had high hopes coming into Le Mans this year, and the #12 Hertz Team JOTA effort managed pole position on Thursday evening, but couldn’t convert that single lap raw speed into efficient longer runs with the V8 car struggling to maximise the life of the tyres as well as getting them up to temperature quickly. With cooler conditions in the second half of the race - the golden Cadillac fought hard and smart and finished the race a credible fifth.
Recent legends - Toyota Gazoo Racing last won this event in 2022 and will have another year to wait until another trophy can be taken back to Japan. The GR010 - Hybrid was a long shot for the win, but that effort got a little more serious overnight when the #8 managed its fuel load and tyres to perfection to drag them into podium contention as the sun rose this morning. Disaster struck the team in black however, as less than four hours on the clock saw a wheel nut shear off on the front left. With a puncture as well, the car limped back to the pits, stayed in the garage for repairs and 17 minutes later was out again and raced to finish in a lowly 16th.
Having won the 2023 LMP2 class, the yellow and green Inter Europol Competition team were back on the top step in France. The #43 ORECA was embroiled in a titanic tussle with VDS Panis Racing in their number #48 version from yesterday evening when the pole sitter, the #29 TDS Racing outfit were to fall by the wayside early on in the race. The Polish #43 team picked up the baton, an honour they grabbed with both hands, but they weren't going to have it all their own way - as drivers Jakub Smiechowski, Tom Dillmann and Nick Yelloly had to fight for it as they were locked into a battle with the #48 throughout the night and into Sunday morning.
To try and get ahead, Panis Racing undercut the Inter Europol Competition squad and in the process were able to slash the deficit with each stint. There was only a handful of seconds between them until drama struck, with 32 minutes left on the clock. The #43 driven by Nick Yelloly was caught speeding in the pit lane and received a drive-through penalty. Yelloly, despite the drive-through, sensed an opportunity with a poor lap from Panis Racing - the British driver passed the #48 with 15 minutes left on the clock and raced to the flag given the Polish fans even more to cheer about!
The #9 Iron Lynx outfit were fighting tooth and nail with the #28 IDEC Sport car until 3 hours and 30 minutes were left on the clock, when the right rear wheel nut sheared off the back of the #28 ORECA, and helpless Job Van Uitert was a passenger, as the car went straight into the gravel trap at Chapelle corner on the descent from the Dunlop Bridge. Heartbreak for the whole team - so near, yet so far. The #9 Iron Lynx struggled on Sunday afternoon and were tactically passed by the #199 AO by TF car affectionately known as Spike. Not only did the crew in the purple car stand on the outright LMP2 podium - they also won the LMP2 Pro/AM category following a stellar job by PJ Hyett, Dane Cameron and Louis Deletraz throughout the 24 hours.
The #92 Manthey 1ST Phorm Porsche was the car to beat for the majority of the race in thr GT category. Superlatives are not enough to describe their dominance, as they held the lead of the class to the very end - with drivers Ryan Hardwick, Riccardo Pera and Richard Lietz etching their names into the history books.
In second, the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 had a quiet yet effective race - steering clear of trouble, and keeping their heads down. They couldn’t quite match their FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 class win last time out at Spa - but second here will help them in the championship chase.
#81 TF Sport with their yellow Corvette turned on the afterburners this afternoon to wrestle back the final podium spot from the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, a battle they enjoyed all morning long. Meawhile, the dominant #87 Akoddis ASP Lexus - the team and car that topped many of the sessions during the week will be pleased with fifth despite all their race dramas, but at the same time there will be some head scratching to do regarding the one that maybe got away!
Elsewhere, just ahead of the final hour mark, the sole remaining #59 United Autosports McLaren came to a grinding halt - almost a carbon copy of the issue the sister car faced last night. This time, the electric orange GT car stopped between Aranage and the Porsche Curves, bringing out a Full Course Yellow to recover the 720S safely.
1. #83 Ferrari 499P - AF Corse – Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson - 387 Laps
2. #6 Porsche 963 - Porsche Penske Motorsport – Kévin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor / Matt Campbell +14.084
3. #51 Ferrari 499P - Ferrari-AF Corse – Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi +28.487
4. #50 Ferrari 499P - Ferrari-AF Corse – Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina +29.666
5. #12 Cadillac V-Series.R - Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Will Stevens / Norman Nato / Alex Lynn +2:18.639
LMP2: #43 Oreca 07-Gibson #43 Inter Europol Competition – Jakub Smiechowski / Tom Dillmann / Nick Yelloly
LMGT3: #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 of Manthey 1ST Phorm – Ryan Hardwick / Riccardo Pera / Richard Lietz
#38 Sébastien Bourdais, Cadillac V Series - Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA. 03:26.063 (Lap 310)
