Toyota vs Porsche

Lore & Background

The 92nd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans took place on 15–16 June 2024. The overall victory was achieved by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen in a Ferrari 499P from Ferrari AF Corse, completing 311 laps. It was Ferrari's second consecutive win and the Italian marque's 11th overall victory. Kévin Estre, André Lotterer, and Laurens Vanthoor's Porsche 963 from Porsche Penske Motorsport started from pole position. Nyck de Vries, Kamui Kobayashi, and José María López finished second in a Toyota GR010 Hybrid. The sister Ferrari AF Corse team of James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Alessandro Pier Guidi were third. A record number of nine cars finished on the lead lap.

In Their Own Story

The air at Le Mans is thick with the smell of high-octane fuel and rain-slicked tarmac as night falls on the Mulsanne Straight. A Porsche 919 Hybrid, glowing in its white and green livery, streaks past under the floodlights, its hybrid system humming a low-frequency note. Moments later, a Toyota TS050, painted in bold red and blue, surges from behind, closing the gap with surgical precision. In the pit lane, crews move like clockwork, swapping tires while engineers watch data streams that could decide the fate of decades-long rivalries. The tension is palpable; one mistake, one mechanical fault, and a lifetime of engineering effort evaporates in seconds.

Reader's Guide

The race featured three classes: Le Mans Hypercar (Hypercar), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), and Le Mans Grand Touring Car (LMGT3). In LMP2, United Autosports's Bijoy Garg, Oliver Jarvis, and Nolan Siegel won in an Oreca 07-Gibson, leading the last two hours. In LMGT3, the Manthey EMA team of Richard Lietz, Morris Schuring, and Yasser Shahin won in a Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) by one lap. The race drew 329,000 spectators. A test day was held on 9 June 2024.

Did You Know?

• The 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans was the fourth round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship.
• Ferrari's victory was its second consecutive win at Le Mans and its 11th overall.
• A record nine cars finished on the lead lap in 2024.
• The LMGT3 category replaced the LMGTE Am class for the 2024 race.