The Spanish Albert Costa triumphs in the LMP2 category
MADRID, 11 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Ferrari, with the number 51 car of Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado, has won the centenary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans after leading an intense battle with Toyota, which was aiming for its sixth consecutive victory, only resolved in the last hour of the race.
Half a century after competing for the last time in the World Endurance Championship, the ‘Scuderia’ returned in style to add its tenth victory at Le Mans, all in an edition with the presence of rain and numerous incidents that gave emotion to the event . Thus, the #51 Ferrari lifted the trophy ahead of the #8 Toyota, while the #2 Cadillac completed the centenary edition podium.
The victory was resolved in the last hour of the race, when the number 51 Ferrari led with less than ten seconds ahead of the number 8 Toyota; The Japanese team opted to remove the New Zealander Brendon Hartley from the car to seat the Japanese Ryo Hirakawa, who shortly after crashed into the wall and made Toyota lose all its options.
The number 50 Ferrari, with the Spanish Miguel Molina at the wheel, was left out of the fight at dawn after a stone broke the ERS cooling system, while the number 7 Toyota had no options either due to an accident with a Ferrari of GT at midnight.
In LMP2, the ‘silver’ category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Spanish Albert Costa, together with the Pole Jakub Smiechowski and the Swiss Fabio Scherer, took the victory at the wheel of the Inter Europol car number 34.
The Catalan team started thirteenth after a poor qualifying, but knew how to keep up and do a great job to position itself in the final hours with almost a minute of rent over their rivals.