Ferrari Wins Its Third Straight Le Mans After Robert Kubica's Heroic Final Stint
Robert Kubica's career has included a promising early stint in Formula 1, one long recovery from a harrowing rally crash, and another triumphant return to F1. All pale in comparison to what he accomplished today, driving AF Corse's yellow No. 83 Ferrari to the overall win over a heroic hours-long stint with multiple tire changes.
The three AF Corse-run Ferraris flexed their muscles early, charging up to a 1-2-3 running order in the evening. Overnight troubles pushed all three cars down the order, but the race's lone safety car overnight erased the small gaps opened by the mistakes. Ferrari's trio surged back into the same positions within hours of the restart, and the No. 51 that had led much of the race even recovered from a spin on the way into the pit lane to retain a spot in the top three
From there, it looked like smooth sailing. Matt Campbell changed that with an exceptional stint in the No. 6 Porsche, which had been running fourth at the time. Campbell gained half of his minute gap to the leaders back when the leading No. 51 Ferrari spun, and he then charged past both that car and the sister no. 50 entry on track. Only the No. 83 remained, and a tire change on the last stop left that car within just eight seconds of the quick Porsche.
Those faster tires made the difference, and Robert Kubica steadily rebuilt the lead to 14 seconds in the closing stint. That was enough to secure the win over the No. 6 Porsche, leaving the No. 50 and No. 51 Ferrari to battle among themselves for the final spot on the overall podium. The No. 51 entry won that battle by a margin of just over one second.
Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Phil Hanson become the seventh, eighth, and ninth drivers to secure overall wins for Ferrari in the past three 24 Hours of Le Mans races. The achievement also means that every single 499 P entry has won the race overall, and that every single driver currently on the team's WEC Hypercar roster has accomplished the honor.
All three drivers are first-time winners of the race. Both Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye are the first drivers from their home countries, China and Poland, to ever win Le Mans overall. Since the No. 83 AF Corse 499 P is technically entered as a customer car, the Ferrari also becomes a rare privateer overall winner in the ultimate race for factory sports car operations
In LMP2, a late speeding penalty seemed like it would doom Inter Europol Competition's trio of Nick Yelloly, Tom Dillmann, and Jakub Smiechowski. The VDS Panis car that team was fighting for the lead suddenly sloweds in the final half hour of the race, opening the door for the Inter Europol car to take the class win. AO by TF's entry completed the podium, winning the LMP2 pro/am subclass.
While both prototype classes saw major battles late, the fight for the win in the LM GT3 category was less competitive. Richard Lietz led the charge for Manthey's 1st Phorm-branded 911 GT3 Cup program, bringing home a comfortable win with co-drivers Ryan Hardwick Riccardo Pera. Vista AF Corse's Ferrari 296 and TF Sport's Corvette Z06 GT3.R also scored podium finishes in the race's sole GT3 class.
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