Ferrari wins the 24 hours of Le Mans, their third in a row

Ferrari stamped their dominance at the 24 hours of Le Mans clinching their third consecutive victory. The number 83 privateer AF Corse Ferrari 499P driven by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson finished just 14 seconds ahead of the number 6 Porsche Penske 963 LMDh driven by Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell. A further 14 seconds adrift was the number 51 factory Ferrari 499P driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi. 1.1 seconds behind was the sister number 51 Ferrari driven by Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina. The factory Ferrari 499Ps ran into technical troubles in the last two hours preventing a podium lock out, and were told to hold station towards the end.

Robert Kubica's iconic comeback

Former F1 star Robert Kubica scripted a fairy-tale comeback after the devastating rally accident that not only ended his F1 career but was also life-threatening. 15 years ago Kubica had signed a pre-agreement to drive for the Ferrari F1 team in 2012 which was cancelled after the Andora Rally crash in early 2011 that led to multiple fractures and partial amputation of his right forearm. The win at Le Mans makes Kubica only the second living driver after Fernando Alonso to win in Formula 1 and the Le Mans 24 hours.

The first from China to win Le Mans

It was also a historic first for drivers from Poland and China, to stand on the top step of the podium at Le Mans. Also, Ferrari now gets to keep the Le Mans trophy forever, a right granted to the teams who win three consecutive editions.

How the rivals fared

As for the other teams, Cadillac had taken pole position but only managed to finish fifth with Alex Lynn, Will Stevens and Norman Nato driving the number 12 Jota V-Series R. Toyota put on a lacklustre performance, settling for P6, a far cry from their past dominance.

Porsche triumphs and Ferrari follows in LMGT3

In LMGT3 victory went to Porsche with Richard Lietz, Ryan Hardwick and Riccardo Pera taking the number 92 Manthey Porsche 911 R to victory ahead of the Ferrari 296 GT3 driven by Francois Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera. The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3 R driven by Tom van Rompuy, Rui Andrade and Charlie Eastwood took third.

Ferrari extends championship lead

Ferrari now leads the manufacturers’ standings in the World Endurance Championship with 202 points, a lead of 101 points over Toyota.