Infotainment Factory: Ferrari wins most famous race on centenary

Ferrari has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans exactly half a century after it last contested the race.

On the 100th anniversary of the most famous endurance race, arguably the most iconic manufacturer in motorsport ended a 57-year winless drought at the French circuit.

Although the Scuderia has had a presence at Circuit de la Sarthe for almost as long as the race has existed, 2023 marked the first time in 50 years Ferrari has contested the top class.

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Ferrari last featured in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 1973 when it was known as the World Sports Car Championship.

The Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi drives during the 100th anniversary 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Then, it was the Ferrari 312PB. Now, it's the 499P that has continued the marque's lineage at Le Mans.

England's James Calado with Italian duo Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi prevailed in the No.51 car by more than a minute, beating the No.8 by Toyota driven by New Zealand's Brendon Hartley, Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi, and Japan's Ryo Hirakawa.

It ended a drought dating back to 1965 when American duo Masten Gregory and Ed Hugus won in a Ferrari 250 LM alongside Jochen Rindt, who went on to win the F1 world championship in 1970 posthumously.

After 22 hours and 15 minutes of racing, the defining moment came when Hirakawa made a mistake at 90-degree d'Arnage.

On approach to the turn, Hirakawa locked the tyres up, lost control of the TS050 Hybrid, and careered into the Armco barrier.

At the time, the No.8 was just 30 seconds in arrears of the race leader, though that gap blew out to more than three minutes.

Try and he might, Hirakawa couldn't bridge the gap and from there all Ferrari had to do was keep its leading car clean.

The final two hours were largely trouble-free for the men in red, notwithstanding a brief electrical issue in its final pit stop.

It marked the culmination of nearly a decade's work for Calado and Pier Guidi, who twice won the GTE class in 2019 and 2021 with AF Corse.

This year, Ferrari enlisted AF Corse to run its Hypercar program, netting its first win in the toughest race just four events into the season.

The race was eventful from start to finish when the No.311 Cadillac driven by Jack Aitken crashed on the opening lap, dropping them out of contention almost immediately.

That set the tone for a chaotic race, which was littered with incidents and more than 20 retirements in the 62-car field.

Of the top class cars, Toyota arguably had the most high-profile exit when the No.7 car was hit.

Shortly thereafter, it cried no more in the middle of the night, ending any hope for Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and Jose Maria Lopez.

Porsche had a troubled return with its trio of 963 prototypes. Both Penske-run cars befell issues while the privateer Jota-run car went from last to first before crashing out of the lead.

Peugeot showed promise with its pair of 9X8 prototypes and led at times, but like the Porsches, encountered trouble.

With the loudest car on track, Cadillac Racing were the quiet achievers. New Zealand's Earl Bamber with Britain's Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook completed the podium in their V-Series.R prototype, a lap down.

The other Cadillac racing entry of Scott Dixon, Sebastien Bourdais, and Renger van der Zande were fourth while the other Ferrari that started on pole led by Antonio Fuocco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen finished fifth.

In the LMP2 class, it was Albert Costa, Fabio Scherer, and Jakub Smiechowski claimed victory.

Australia's James Allen finished 10th in class but won the Pro-Am subdivision for Algarve Pro Racing with Colin Braun and George Kurtz.

In the final ever 24 Hours of Le Mans with GTE-Am, Corvette Racing won with Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg, and Nicolas Varrone.

The FIA World Endurance Championship continues on July 9 with the 6 Hours of Monza.

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