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Ferrari flying at Le Mans

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: June 16, 2024

Ferrari has enjoyed a dream start to the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hour with a commanding 1-2 after two hours of race.

The #50 Ferrari currently steered by Nicklas Nielsen is just a second clear of the #83 which has Robert Kubica at the wheel in the 92nd running of the French endurance race classic.

They are a comfortable 27s up the road of their nearest rival Will Stevens in the Team Jota Porsche, which sits fractionally ahead of the factory #5 Penske machine of M Christensen.

Nielsen has not held the lead for long however, having only passed Kubica to snatch the lead in the final minutes of the second hour.

The Ferraris surged ahead by electing to stay out on slicks instead of boxing during a shower and unlike at Imola it has proven to be a masterstroke.

Kubica rose from starting spot 12th all the way to the lead briefly, while Toyota’s Sebastian Buemi pitted from second. 

Matt Campbell’s #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport machine sits just outside the top 10 in 13th with Andrea Lotterer driving, two and half minutes off the pace.

All three Ferrari LMH cars made great getaways off the line with Nicklas surging from fourth to second behind pole sitting Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor.

The Danish driver then turned his attention to the lead and got a great run on Vanthoor and snatched P1 going into Indianapolis and controlled the following two hours from there.

The #51 Ferrari of Antonio Giovinazzi initially fell to fourth, but soon reeled in both the Cadillac of Sebastien Bourdais and Vanthoor on Lap 2 to establish a 1-2 for the Prancing Horse.

Kubica started 12th but quickly made ground to rise to seventh in the first hour, whilst a smart tyre change to stick on slicks paid off as he surged all the way to the lead in the second hour, only for Nielsen to sneak past.

The first Hypercar to trip up was the BMW of Marco Wittman, who spun the #15 from seventh and touched the barriers.

United Autosports LMP2 entry led by Keating also got beached at the Dunlop Chicane.

With rain already arriving early, it will be interesting to see if the elements have a greater effect as the 24 Hours of Le Mans builds momentum.

Photo by JEP / LAT Images

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Podcast: SVG goes back to back

Shane van Gisbergen has gone back-to-back with a win in Sonoma, while his antipodean mates – Will Brown and Cam Waters – had mixed debuts in the NASCAR Cup Series… but both showed enough to stay on the radar or the US teams looking for the next Giz?

Plus, we’ve got all the latest news on Supercars, F1, IndyCar, and whatever else came to our minds at the time. We also look at the Darwin Supercars and the hypercars at Le Mans for the 24-hour race.

Listen to our latest episode on your podcast app of choice or here

    

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