Ferrari won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the second year in a row!

The bright colors of Le Mans in the final stage of the 24-hour race were clearly muted by the gray veil of persistent rain, but the weather could hardly spoil the impression of the thriller we had watched over the past 24 hours.

One of the important factors for success in endurance racing is the correct tactics of pit stops, the number of which at Le Mans is more than two dozen. Some have their tires replaced, some have refueling, some have one rider replace another, and all this happens in any combination depending on the situation.

50 minutes before the finish, Nicklas Nielsen in the No. 50 Ferrari was in the lead, but went to his next refueling, and Jose Maria Lopez, a Toyota driver, took the lead again, but only temporarily as he also had visitors. to the pits.

After his 31st pit stop, the Argentinian returned to the track in third place, some 40 seconds behind Nielsen, and ten seconds ahead of Lopez was his teammate Sebastien Buemi in the No. 8 Toyota. However, the gap between the two Japanese hypercars was widening before our eyes – there were suggestions that there were problems with the No. 7 car, as it was no coincidence that it pitted far more often than the rest of the top five hypercars.

For comparison, the leading Ferrari crew made 26 pit stops, Toyota No. 8 – 28. By the way, Buemi went to the last pit stop only 25 minutes before the finish. It was clear he wasn’t pretending to win.

At the same time, Alessandro Pier Guidi, driving Ferrari No. 51, rose to third position. Behind him, less than three seconds later, was Porsche driver Laurent Vantour, who was obviously prepared to take every opportunity to get ahead of his opponent, especially since all kinds of surprises were possible on a water-filled track.

The gap between Ferrari and Porsche became smaller every lap and fifteen minutes before the finish it was barely more than a second.

The Toyota team strongly advised Lopez not to take any risks and not try to overtake Nielsen in the lead, especially as it was not clear whether he would have to stop by again for refueling, or whether there would still be enough fuel to to get to the leadership. the finish line.

The fact is that one of Nielsen’s previous refuelings was unplanned: it took place before the estimated lap, when the door of the Ferrari No. 50 opened while the car was moving, and the race management ordered the team to fill it up as quickly as possible to solve. .

With just a few minutes to go, Nielsen stayed on track and Lopez remained 27 seconds behind.

In the closing laps Nielsen slowed down noticeably and the interval between the cars was reduced to 20 seconds, but the Dane remained in the lead and the Ferrari fans in the stands cheered him more and more, believing that nothing could stop their car from winning endangered. favorite team.

However, a stern expression remained on the faces of everyone in the Ferrari and Toyota pits, which could be explained not only by the accumulated fatigue, but also by tense anticipation, as if surprises were still possible.

But soon people in red uniforms rushed to hug each other, and someone couldn’t hold back tears because Nicklas Nielsen crossed the finish line first! Ferrari won Le Mans for the second year in a row, and it was very difficult, but it tasted even better!

And for Nielsen this was the first achievement in the main class of Le Mans, although he already won this marathon in 2021 in the GTE Am category. But winning the general classification is a much more important success! On the way to the podium, Niklas received a Ferrari flag from someone and it was clear that there was simply no happier person in the world. Only his crewmates Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina could contradict this.