Same place, same track: twelve months after Ferrari’s historic victory at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, following its return to the top competition 50 years after its last participation, Ferrari triumphed again at Le Mans in the 2024 edition of the Sarthe classic. The Maranello team, in the 101st edition of the 24 Hours, achieved a historic and unexpected repeat in the world’s most famous endurance race, with the only difference being that this year it was car number 50 that won, not number 51, as this time the victory went to the crew of Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen.
A hard-fought, challenging victory, where the difference was made by a differentiated strategy, first with the arrival of rain in the early hours of the race and then due to an emergency stop to fix a defective door, which allowed car number 50 to finish the race (also thanks to the final rain) with one less stop compared to rivals like Toyota number 7, which was ultimately forced to concede despite being the fastest car on track in the wet conditions towards the end of the race.
A victory that, along with the Monaco Grand Prix win in Formula 1, makes the Scuderia the only team capable of such a double since 1934, and it was commented on by Italian journalist and Ferrari insider Leo Turrini in his blog “Profondo Rosso.” The well-known motorsport expert, in addition to expressing his joy for the achievement and its historical significance, unequivocally praised the work of President John Elkann for believing in and supporting the Le Mans project. A project that led the Scuderia to fight and beat some of the most famous manufacturers in the world.
“Le Mans is Le Mans, 24 hours of intrigue and passion, rain and doors that don’t close, unsafe releases and blah blah blah. Who cares. […] A Ferrari fan knows what Le Mans represents in the history of the Lady in Red. And so this repeat victory, this time with car number 50, has the value and flavor of a novel. Nielsen, Fuoco, and Molina, the drivers, beat Toyota, Porsche, Cadillac, BMW, Lamborghini, Peugeot, Isotta Fraschini… Let’s give John Elkann what belongs to John Elkann.” – the Italian journalist pointed out.
A project that, when launched, was thought to be just a diversion from the poor results in F1, while the present is saying the opposite: the hypercar project has solid foundations and fully coexists with the activities in the Circus, on which Elkann and Piero Ferrari are working tirelessly, as evidenced by the hiring of Lewis Hamilton and the attempt to recruit Adrian Newey to replicate the feats of the Endurance World Championship in the top automotive series.
“When the president decided, together with Piero Ferrari, to bring the Prancing Horse back to the top category, the Hypercar, not a few thought it was a diversion, a commercial operation, a distraction (from F1) for the masses. No, instead. Also because in the meantime the president and Piero have taken Hamilton, and they are trying to bring Newey onboard.” – Leo Turrini concluded.
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