LM24 Hour 24: Kubica marathon stint clinches victory

Robert Kubica, Ye Yifei and Philip Hanson have given Ferrari its third consecutive win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving the privately entered yellow No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P. It is the 12th all-time Le Mans victory for the Prancing Horse.

All three Ferrari 499Ps dominated large stretches of the race, but it was the yellow No. 83 car that emerged victorious after two straight wins for the full factory cars. With only minor mistakes against its ledger, the No. 83 team was perfect down the stretch, all the way to its final pit stop for fuel and two tires, and Kubica's closing stint.

It was the first Le Mans win for all three drivers – and a milestone for Kubica and Ye, the first drivers from Poland and China, respectively, to win the race overall.

The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Matt Campbell finished a close second after starting last in the Hypercar class. But in the end, they missed out on a bit for a historic endurance Triple Crown for Porsche, Penske and driver Vanthoor – who'd won the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Sebring 12 Hours earlier this year – by just 14 seconds.

The two factory Ferraris finished third and fourth, with the No. 51 (Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi) ahead of the No. 50 (Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen).

Provisionally, the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R rounds out the overall top five, completing 385 laps.

LMP2 took two massive swings in the final hour: After a pit lane speeding penalty seemingly cost them the win, the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA 07-Gibson of Kuba Smiechkowski, Tom Dillmann, and Nick Yelloly retook the lead and the win with just 20 minutes left.

The No. 48 VDS Panis Racing ORECA (Oliver Gray/Esteban Masson/Franck Perera) took the lead after Yelloly served a drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding, but a mechanical problem led Masson to hemorrhage time severely, and Yelloly passed Masson for the lead with ease.

LMP2 Pro/Am honors went to "Spike the LMP2 Dragon" – the No. 199 AO by TF ORECA driven by PJ Hyett, Dane Cameron and Louis Deletraz. The Pro/Am trio was third out of all LMP2 cars.

Manthey Racing won LMGT3 for the second consecutive year with a commanding performance from the No. 92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 LMGT3 R driven by first-time winners Ryan Hardwick and Riccardo Pera – and Richard Lietz, who collected his sixth Le Mans major class win and second in a row.

HOUR 24 CLASSIFICATION

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