24 Hours of Le Mans 2019 Ferrari win - Ford quit
It all started with a remembrance of the 1969 victory of Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver with their #6 Gulf John Wyer Automotive Engineering Ford GT40. Ickx drove one lap of the legendary circuit 40’ before the start with Jackie on board of the then winning FORD GT40.
The second edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (and last race) of the Super Season (2018-2019) was one of the best in the GTE Pro category, with 17 cars and six manufacturers competing. A titanic six-way battle was on the cards with Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford and Porsche ready to “Go Like Hell” for the win. At the end only four led the dance at different stages: Aston Martin, Corvette, Porsche and Ferrari made for a very tight race.
James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi - the 2017 GTE World Champions - with Brazil’s Daniel Serra offered Ferrari a superb birthday present: another success, 70 years after its first victory ... quite a symbol. They took the chequered flag a full 49 seconds ahead of the #91 Porsche 911 RSR, itself 17.964 sec. ahead of sister car #93 and the Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK #67 (2:15.917 behind the #93).
While Porsche finished second and third, it left with the 2018-2019 Manufacturer’s World Championship and the Driver’s World Championship for the # 92 crew of Michael Christensen France Kevin Estre.
James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi - the 2017 GTE World Champions - with Daniel Serra offered Ferrari a superb birthday present: another success, 70 years after its first victory ... quite a symbol.
The three drivers held the lead during 137 laps of the 342 raced by the top 4 cars during the 24 hours, well supported by the AF Corse mechanics and strategists, who skillfully exploited the use of the safety cars and got the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo only staying 29’12 in the pits.
Ferrari had a livery change for the 27th category triumph for Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the third win for the AF Corse team after 2012 and 2014. The two AF Corse racing team 488 GTE EVOs had a shiny new logo on the roof: ‘1949-2019. 70ème anniversaire Première victoire au Mans’ and multicolour sun visors as a tribute to the World Champion Manufacturers title garnered by Ferrari in the previous FIA WEC campaign - its fifth out of a maximum possible of six.
Porsche was not able to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1979 winning Porsche 935 K3 Kremer Racing driven by Bill Whittington, Don Whittington, and Klaus Ludwig with a win, but still won the Manufacturer’s World Championship. The #91 Porsche 911 RSR, run by the company's European team, driven by Gianmaria Bruni, Richard Lietz and Fred Makowiecki ended P2 for 49 sec. Their efforts to claim P1 of the GTE-Pro race were more or less ruined by the timing and spacing of the safety cars 8 at Hour 20:35. AF Corse Ferrari #51, which was a few laps off-cycle on fuel, was a full safety car ahead of the rest of the GTE-Pro field, after which it was another safety car back to Porsches #91 and #93.
Do note that Porsche # 91 and # 92 replaced their red border with a golden one.
The #93 Porsche 911 RSR, representing Porsche’s American team, driven by Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet and Earl Bamaber completed the podium in the GTE Pro class. Note that the Porsche 911 RSR #93 et #94 from US GT Team were dressed in blue and red to recall the famous Brumos Racing liveries.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans 2019 was the last race of the four years FORD’s programme with the objective to return to Le Mans 50 years after Ford’s first win in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969. Ford has been the only one of the then-current GTE Pro manufacturers to have finished on the podium at the last three Le Mans but not for their last Le Mans, finishing 4th, 5th and 6th. The four cars were even finishing all together from 4th to 7th, but car #68 was disqualified.
The #67 crew of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell joined by Jonathan Bomarito was classified 4th after the disqualification of sister #68. It was the last car ending in the same lap as the winning Ferrari.
The red livery remembered the Ford GT40 that Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt drove to victory at Le Mans in 1967.
14:34, the last pit stop for the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Team at Le Mans.
The #69 Ford GT crew of Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Scott Dixon finished twice on the podium at Le Mans but didn’t achieve the same result for their last race with a Ford at Le Mans ending 5th. The design took from the Ford GT40 that came second in Ford’s glorious 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans in 1966.
13:39, Scott Dixon takes over from Richard Westbrook.
The #66 Ford GT raced by Stefan Mücke, Olivier Pla and Billy Johnson had a black livery that echoed that of the Ford GT40 of Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon that won Le Mans in 1966. They ended 6th.
13:46, penultimate pit stop for Ford GT #66.
The second IMSA Porsche (#94) driven by Olsen, Müller and Jaminet underwent a front bumper change at hour 08:05 ending 7th of the LM GTE class.
The Corvette #63 was third quickest in qualifying, and then Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen, and Mike Rockenfeller led extensively in the first half of the race.
Later on in the race, the #63 lost some three minutes on the pitlane during a safety car period but came back at P2 with a momentum to get the lead back during the third quarter of the race.
After 20hours45’ of race, Jan Magnussen, running second in GTE-Pro and still in a position where he could conceivably win the race, spun in the Porsche curves making miraculously light contact with the wall but still needed to go to the garage to have his #63 Corvette checked. Unfortunately, the car needed some repair and fell off the lead lap in GTE-Pro, and - with just three hours remaining in the race - out of contention. Corvette #63 returned to the track after 4 minutes in the garage, two laps behind the leaders.
At the end, they finished 8th, 5 laps behind the winning Ferrari.
The #92 crew of Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre had a torrid Le Mans outing because of a failing exhaust during hour 13 after being on the forefront during the first half of the race.
Associated to Laurens Vanthoor for this race, they still managed to end 9th, thereby clinching the Driver’s World Championship by marking 15 points that put them out of reach for sister team Bruni and Lietz.
Antonio Felix Da Costa managed to get his #82 BMW at a promising 5th best time in qualifications. Still they struggled all race long with suspension issues and a thorough lack of pace ending 10th for the last race of the BMW M8 GTE in the WEC.
The #68 Ford GT was Ford’s most recent Le Mans winner, taking the chequered flag first in the 2016 race. Dirk Müller (GER), Joey Hand (USA) and Sébastien Bourdais (FRA) will race in the same colours as when it won Le Mans in 2016.
The other Corvette (#64), shared by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Marcel Fassler, never got to bloom as it crashed out of the race after only six hours, when Fassler tried to pass a slow-moving GTE-Am Porsche on the inside in the Porsche Curves just as that Porsche started moving towards the inside line. The Porsche hit the Corvette and sent it spinning into the wall ending its race on the spot.
Ford had a fifth GT on the grid, with the Keating Motorsports car, hoping to win the GTLM AM category. The 80th Anniversary for Wynn’s. The team was using the same livery design as the four factory Fords combined with the striking colours of its title sponsor, Wynn’s. The driver line-up for the #85 Ford GT was Ben Keating (US), Jeroen Bleekemolen (NETH) and Felipe Fraga (BRA).
Ford GT has been one of the most iconic GT cars of the modern era. The GTE/GTLM programme has been a memorable one during its years spent racing in the FIA WEC and IMSA winning a slew of races:
2016: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship 3 x GTLM victories, FIA World Endurance Championship 3 x GTE Pro victories, including Le Mans 24 Hours GTE Pro win.
2017: FIA World Endurance Championship 2 x GTE Pro victories, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship 2 x GTLM victories, including Rolex 24 Hours
2018: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship 5 x GTLM victories, Including Rolex 24 Hours & 6 Hours at The Glen
2018/19: FIA World Endurance Championship 1 x GTE Pro victory
2019: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship 3 x GTLM victories
