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Le Mans 24 Hours: Kubica wins with Ferrari as Porsche spoils 1-2-3

Ferrari has won the 93rd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours with its satellite #83 entry, driven by Phil Hanson, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye.

The Italian constructor could have been the first marque to lock out the podium at Circuit de la Sarthe since factory Audi outfit Joest Racing took a 1-2-3 in 2012, but the sister #50 (Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen) and #51 (Calado-Giovinazzi-Pier Guidi) cars were eventually outpaced by the #6 Porsche (Campbell-Estre-Vanthoor) to take second.

The race largely was a four-way fight between those cars, which all finished within 30 seconds of one another, though other Hypercar competitors did occasionally join the fray.

Ferrari benefitted greatly from a mid-race safety car period that nullified its deficit following several mistakes, after which the Scuderia’s race execution improved, leaving little opportunity to competitors.

The Cadillac Jota cars started 1-2 on the grid after impressing in Hyperpole, but Sebastien Bourdais’ fears about their raceability related to a lack of top speed, proved well-founded.

It didn’t take more than a minute for Julien Andlauer (#5 Porsche) to take the lead at the expense of Will Stevens (#12 Cadillac) and Earl Bamber (#38 Cadillac).

Start action (Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo)

The Cadillac Jota cars still maintained second and third in the first hour of the race, but by the end of hour three they had plummeted out of the top 10, though their deficit was under 45 seconds.

Meanwhile, Porsche proved to be a serious contender for victory following the #6 car’s disqualification from qualifying due to being underweight. Kevin Estre scythed through the pack, going from 21st to fifth in an hour, then overtaking the Cadillacs for third.

Porsche’s Mathieu Jaminet (#5) lost the lead to Ferrari’s Antonio Fuoco (#50) two-and-a-half hours into the race, with the Italian outdragging his opponent at the exit of Mulsanne corner. Jaminet lost second to the sister #6 car when it was hindered by an LMGT3 car, then the #5 entry got a drive-through penalty for a slow-zone infringement.

Shortly after 8pm local time, the #51 Ferrari overtook the #6 Porsche, making it a Ferrari 1-2-3, but the Campbell-Estre-Vanthoor crew kept fighting and eventually took the lead back as the Scuderia made more and more mistakes.

The #51 car in particular suffered a left-front puncture in an incident with a Corvette that also led to a five-second penalty, then a 20-second stop-go penalty after malfunctioning brakes meant the car hit 73km/h instead of 60km/h at the pitlane speed trap.

Meanwhile, the #50 entry got a drive-through penalty for a yellow flag infringement. Two of the three Porsches also had to serve drive-through for slow-zone shenanigans, but crucially the dominant #6 was not one of them.

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, Matt Campbell (Photo by: Marc Fleury)

Cem Bolukbasi’s crash at Tertre Rouge at 3:12am, ending Nielsen Racing’s #24 LMP2 entry’s race, reshuffled the cards as it caused the only safety car period of the race. The #51 and #50 Ferraris were two minutes down on the #6 Porsche, but that gap evaporated in a matter of minutes.

The #8 Toyota subsequently took the lead, but it was rather short-lived as Ryo Hirakawa was overtaken by Ye (#83) at 4:51am.

Sixteen hours into the race, the #51 and #83 Ferraris were leading by close to two minutes, but yellow-flag breaches meant they both got drive-through penalties, amid team order drama as Kubica (#83) grew increasingly upset with not being allowed to attack Giovinazzi (#51).

The Scuderia eventually agreed to a swap, but Kubica wasn’t close enough to make the move anymore.

However, the #51’s advantage was squandered at 11:09am when Pier Guidi lost control on the kerb as he came into the pits, spinning into the gravel trap; he had been leading by some 30 seconds on top of the hour. The Italian veteran dropped down to third after his pitstop, behind the #83 and #50 sister cars, with a 26-second deficit on the lead.

As the #8 Toyota was definitively taken out of the fight for the podium positions – or top 10, for that matter – by a loose wheel following a pitstop, the #83 car pulled away with a 33-second advantage.

Yet, the #6 Porsche couldn’t be discounted, and Matt Campbell had a remarkable stint. The Australian driver caught up with Calado (#51) and swiftly overtook him on the Mulsanne straight, then passed the #50 Ferrari in the pits, with both moves occurring shortly before 2pm.

second place #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, Matt Campbell (Photo by: Alexander Trienitz)

Taking over from Campbell, Estre brought the gap to Kubica down to 10 seconds with just half an hour remaining on the clock, but was unable to make further inroads, though he still took second.

Giovinazzi and Fuoco battled all the way to the chequered flag for the last spot on the podium, with the former’s #51 car prevailing.

The #12 Cadillac (Lynn-Nato-Stevens) had a very solid race after all, taking fifth just two minutes away from victory, after a mostly trouble-free race. The sister #38 car can’t say as much, with a front-left puncture and a couple of driving errors by veteran Bourdais, who did set the fastest lap of the race with a 3m26.063s on lap 310.

The customer Cadillacs entered by Whelen and Wayne Taylor Racing both retired due to technical issues described as a loss of power.

The Alpines went largely unnoticed, except when Paul-Loup Chatin hit the #94 Peugeot at Mulsanne with the #35 car and Jules Gounon beached the #36 entry in the gravel at the same corner. That car also got two severe penalties for pitlane speeding.

Peugeot knew it was going to struggle after complaining about the Balance of Performance, but while the #93 car’s race took a turn for the worse as Paul Di Resta crashed in the first hour, the #94 entry was sometimes seen at the front early on, having opted for an alternate strategy with longer stints thanks to fuel-saving. It eventually finished 12th.

BMW suffered a horrid race with a mix of technical issues, penalties and driver errors, with both cars out of the top 15, while Aston Martin was very low-key – but for lack of actual speed, the Valkyries were consistent and largely stayed out of trouble, with its #009 car taking 13th.

LMP2: Inter Europol beats home favourites TDS Panis Racing

#43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 - Gibson: Jakub Smiechowski, Tom Dillmann, Nick Yelloly (Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo)

The LMP2 class went the way of Tom Dillmann, Jakub Smiechowski and Nick Yelloly in Inter Europol Competition’s #43 ORECA, which led for pretty much the last eight hours and survived a late-race drive-through penalty to win.

Oliver Gray, Esteban Masson and Franck Perera enjoyed a remarkably consistent race in VDS Panis Racing’s #48 entry and offered relentless competition to the winning car, but lost pace in the late stages of the race and failed to capitalise on their opponents’ penalty.

Third place and Pro/Am honours were taken by Dane Cameron, Louis Deletraz and P.J. Hyett for AO by TF, one lap down on the winning car, with the Swiss driver finally tasting success after losing LMP2 victory on the final lap in 2021 and finishing second in class or sub-class in the last three years.

TDS Racing’s #29 entry, which Mathias Beche had qualified on pole, finished down in fifth with no major issues other than a couple of penalties, but the Swiss still took second in the Pro/Am sub-class alongside team-mates Clement Novalak and Rodrigo Sales.

Fourth position went to the Iron Lynx – Proton #9 car, which started from the antepenultimate spot on the LMP2 grid and fought its way through the pack with drivers Maceo Capietto, Reshad de Gerus and Jonas Ried.

On top of Bolukbasi, there were only two further retirements in LMP2 – both IDEC Sport cars, due to losing wheels. Job van Uitert was travelling at high speed in the Porsche curves when it happened to him, but he escaped unharmed – though that #28 car lost a real shot at a podium finish as they were running in third.

LMGT3: Manthey Porsche prevails

#92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3: Ryan Hardwick, Riccardo Pera, Richard Lietz (Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo)

In a much more attritional race, Ryan Hardwick, Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera prevailed in Manthey’s #92 Porsche; their main competitors, Team WRT’s #46 BMW driven by Valentino Rossi, Ahmad Al Harthy and Kelvin van der Linde, retired shortly before the midway point after van der Linde went off at the Porsche curves.

It still was five different constructors in the top five, with Vista AF Corse’s #21 Ferrari (Heriau-Mann-Rovera) and TF Sport’s #81 Corvette (Andrade-Eastwood-van Rompuy) making up the podium ahead of Heart of Racing’s polesitting #27 Aston Martin and Akkodis ASP Team’s #87 Lexus.

Other brands had a tougher race, with United Autosports’ McLarens both retiring after suffering from alternator and drivetrain problems.

2025 Le Mans 24 Hours - Race results

   
1
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4
   
   
1
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2
   
Cla Team # Drivers Car Laps Time Interval Pits Retirement Points
1
AF Corse HYPERCAR
83 Poland R. Kubica China Y. Yifei United Kingdom P. Hanson Ferrari 499P 387

-

  32    
2
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
6 France K. Estre Belgium L. Vanthoor Australia M. Campbell Porsche 963 387

+14.084

14.084

14.084 31    
3
FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR
51 Italy A. Pier Guidi United Kingdom J. Calado Italy A. Giovinazzi Ferrari 499P 387

+28.487

28.487

14.403 35    
4
FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR
50 Italy A. Fuoco Denmark N. Nielsen Spain M. Molina Ferrari 499P 387

+29.666

29.666

1.179 33    
5
Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR
12 United Kingdom W. Stevens France N. Nato United Kingdom A. Lynn Cadillac V-Series.R 387

+2'18.639

2'18.639

1'48.973 33    
6
Toyota Racing HYPERCAR
7 United Kingdom M. Conway Japan K. Kobayashi Netherlands N. de Vries Toyota GR010 - Hybrid 386

1 lap

  33    
7
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
5 France J. Andlauer Denmark M. Christensen France M. Jaminet Porsche 963 386

+1 Lap

36.877

36.877 34    
8
Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR
38 New Zealand E. Bamber France S. Bourdais United Kingdom J. Button Cadillac V-Series.R 386

+1 Lap

1'21.548

44.671 34    
9
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
4 Brazil F. Nasr United Kingdom N. Tandy Germany P. Wehrlein Porsche 963 386

+1 Lap

2'19.973

58.425 32    
10
Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR
35 France P. Chatin Austria F. Habsburg France C. Milesi Alpine A424 385

2 laps

  33    
11
Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR
36 Germany M. Schumacher France F. Makowiecki France J. Gounon Alpine A424 384

3 laps

  34    
12
PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR
94 France L. Duval Denmark M. Jakobsen Belgium S. Vandoorne Peugeot 9X8 384

+3 Laps

41.045

41.045 31    
13
Aston Martin THOR Team HYPERCAR
009 Spain A. Riberas Denmark M. Sorensen Canada R. De Angelis Aston Martin Valkyrie 383

4 laps

  33    
14
Proton Competition HYPERCAR
99 Switzerland N. Jani Chile N. Pino
N. Varrone
Porsche 963 383

+4 Laps

1'13.288

1'13.288 32    
15
Aston Martin THOR Team HYPERCAR
007 United Kingdom H. Tincknell United Kingdom T. Gamble United Kingdom R. Gunn Aston Martin Valkyrie 381

6 laps

  33    
16
Toyota Racing HYPERCAR
8 Switzerland S. Buemi New Zealand B. Hartley Japan R. Hirakawa Toyota GR010 - Hybrid 380

7 laps

  31    
17
PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR
93 United Kingdom P. di Resta Denmark M. Jensen France J. Vergne Peugeot 9X8 379

8 laps

  33    
18
BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR
20 Germany R. Rast Netherlands R. Frijns South Africa S. Van Der Linde BMW M Hybrid V8 375

12 laps

  32    
19
INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION LMP2
43 Poland J. Smiechowski France T. Dillmann United Kingdom N. Yelloly Oreca 07 367

20 laps

  36    
20
VDS Panis Racing LMP2
48
O. Gray
E. Masson
France F. Perera
Oreca 07 367

+20 Laps

1'55.753

1'55.753 33    
21
AO by TF LMP2
199 United States P. Hyett United States D. Cameron Switzerland L. Deletraz Oreca 07 366

21 laps

  36    
22
Iron Lynx - Proton LMP2
9 Germany J. Ried
M. Capietto
France R. de Gerus
Oreca 07 365

22 laps

  36    
23
TDS Racing LMP2
29 United States R. Sales Switzerland M. Beche France C. Novalak Oreca 07 365

+22 Laps

2'40.910

2'40.910 34    
24
Proton Competition LMP2
11 Italy G. Roda Austria R. Binder Netherlands B. Viscaal Oreca 07 365

+22 Laps

3'06.238

25.328 34    
25
United Autosports LMP2
22 Netherlands R. van der Zande Brazil P. Fittipaldi Denmark D. Heinemeier Hansson Oreca 07 364

23 laps

  34    
26
Algarve Pro Racing Team LMP2
25 Liechtenstein M. Kaiser
L. Fluxá
France T. Pourchaire
Oreca 07 364

+23 Laps

22.709

22.709 37    
27
AF Corse LMP2
183 France F. Perrodo France M. Vaxiviere Portugal A. Felix da Costa Oreca 07 364

+23 Laps

58.204

35.495 37    
28
INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION LMP2
34 United States N. Boulle France J. Simmenauer Italy L. Ghiotto Oreca 07 363

24 laps

  35    
29
United Autosports LMP2
23 Brazil D. Schneider United Kingdom O. Jarvis United Kingdom B. Hanley Oreca 07 363

+24 Laps

3'00.743

3'00.743 33    
30
RLR MSport LMP2
16
M. Jensen
Ireland R. Cullen France P. Pilet
Oreca 07 362

25 laps

  34    
31
Algarve Pro Racing Team LMP2
45 United States G. Kurtz Netherlands N. Catsburg
A. Quinn
Oreca 07 362

+25 Laps

1'11.613

1'11.613 38    
32
BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR
15 Belgium D. Vanthoor Italy R. Marciello Denmark K. Magnussen BMW M Hybrid V8 361

26 laps

  32    
33
CLX Pure Rxcing LMP2
37
A. Malykhin
United Kingdom T. Blomqvist France T. Vautier
Oreca 07 358

29 laps

  35    
34
Manthey 1st Phorm LMGT3
92 United States R. Hardwick Italy R. Pera Austria R. Lietz Porsche 911 GT3 R 341

46 laps

  34    
35
Vista AF Corse LMGT3
21 France F. Heriau France S. Mann Italy A. Rovera Ferrari 296 GT3 341

+46 Laps

33.259

33.259 34    
36
TF Sport LMGT3
81 Belgium T. Rompuy Portugal R. Andrade Ireland C. Eastwood Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 341

+46 Laps

1'11.710

38.451 34    
37
Heart of Racing Team LMGT3
27 United Kingdom I. James Italy M. Drudi Canada Z. Robichon Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 341

+46 Laps

2'15.122

1'03.412 35    
38
AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3
87
R. Umbrarescu
Argentina J. Lopez Austria C. Schmid
Lexus RC F GT3 340

47 laps

  35    
39
Manthey LMGT3
90
A. Au
L. Hartog
Austria K. Bachler
Porsche 911 GT3 R 340

+47 Laps

2'19.262

2'19.262 34    
40
TF Sport LMGT3
33 United States B. Keating United Kingdom J. Edgar Spain D. Juncadella Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 339

48 laps

  34    
41
Kessel Racing LMGT3
57 Japan T. Kimura Brazil D. Serra United Kingdom C. Stevenson Ferrari 296 GT3 339

+48 Laps

20.361

20.361 37    
42
Proton Competition LMGT3
77 Portugal B. Sousa United Kingdom B. Tuck United Kingdom B. Barker Ford Mustang GT3 338

49 laps

  33    
43
AWA LMGT3
13 Canada O. Fidani Germany L. Kern United Kingdom M. Bell Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 338

+49 Laps

2.721

2.721 39    
44
RICHARD MILLE AF CORSE LMGT3
150 Brazil C. Toledo France L. Wadoux
R. Agostini
Ferrari 296 GT3 338

+49 Laps

1'32.330

1'29.609 35    
45
IRON LYNX LMGT3
61 Australia M. Berry Netherlands L. Hodenius Belgium M. Martin Mercedes AMG GT3 337

50 laps

  35    
46
Racing Spirit of Leman LMGT3
10 United States D. DeBoer France V. Hasse-Clot Brazil D. Barrichello Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 336

51 laps

  35    
47
Ziggo Sport Tempesta LMGT3
193
J. Hui
C. Froggatt
United States E. Cheever
Ferrari 296 GT3 335

52 laps

  35    
48
IRON LYNX LMGT3
63 Australia S. Grove
B. Grove
Germany L. Stolz
Mercedes AMG GT3 334

53 laps

  35    
49
IRON DAMES LMGT3
85 France C. Martin Switzerland R. Frey Belgium S. Bovy Porsche 911 GT3 R 334

+53 Laps

44.756

44.756 32    
50
United Autosports LMGT3
59
J. Cottingham
Switzerland G. Saucy France S. Baud
McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 314

72 laps

  33    
51
IDEC SPORT LMP2
28 France P. Lafargue Netherlands J. Van Uitert Spain S. Alvarez Oreca 07 308

78 laps

  28    
52
AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3
78
A. Robin
United Kingdom J. Hawksworth Germany F. Gehrsitz
Lexus RC F GT3 268

118 laps

  26    
53
Cadillac Whelen HYPERCAR
311 United Kingdom J. Aitken Brazil F. Drugovich Denmark F. Vesti Cadillac V-Series.R 247

139 laps

  22    
54
IDEC SPORT LMP2
18 United Kingdom J. Chadwick
M. Jaubert
Germany A. Lotterer
Oreca 07 206

180 laps

  19    
55
Vista AF Corse LMGT3
54 Switzerland T. Flohr Italy F. Castellacci Italy D. Rigon Ferrari 296 GT3 192

194 laps

  19    
56
Cadillac WTR HYPERCAR
101 United States R. Taylor United States J. Taylor Portugal F. Albuquerque Cadillac V-Series.R 189

197 laps

  17    
57
NIELSEN RACING LMP2
24
N. Rao
Turkey C. Bolukbasi United States C. Braun
Oreca 07 170

216 laps

  16    
58
The Bend Team WRT LMGT3
31 Australia Y. Shahin Russian Federation T. Boguslavskiy Brazil A. Farfus BMW M4 GT3 168

218 laps

  18    
59
TEAM WRT LMGT3
46 United Kingdom A. Al Harthy Italy V. Rossi South Africa K. van der Linde BMW M4 GT3 156

230 laps

  16    
60
United Autosports LMGT3
95 United Kingdom D. Leung Indonesia S. Gelael Japan M. Sato McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 80

306 laps

  7    
61
IRON LYNX LMGT3
60
A. Gilbert
L. Nicolas Hanafin
Spain F. Rueda
Mercedes AMG GT3 57

329 laps

  8    
62
Proton Competition LMGT3
88 Italy S. Gattuso Italy G. Levorato Norway D. Olsen Ford Mustang GT3 46

340 laps

  4    
In this article
Ben Vinel
WEC
Le Mans
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