The 24 Hours of Le Mans, which takes place at the Circuit de la Sarthe in France, is the most famous endurance race in motor racing. This iconic venue is where Ferrari has taken 29 class wins and 10 overall victories – with the most recent one in 2023.
However, an arguably more storied circuit is Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. A favourite among Formula One drivers, the track is widely regarded as the most beautiful circuit in the world, featuring 20 turns spread over 7.004km of tarmac in a valley.
Its most legendary corner is Eau Rouge, where cars race up a sweeping hill at insane speeds, with the bravest drivers taking it flat out.
FERRARI IN WEC
The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps was Round 3 of FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Over 88,000 fans passed through the gates on 10 and 11 May 2024.
The FIA WEC features races that last from six hours to 24 hours. The Championship takes place over eight rounds, with races held across the Middle East, Europe, South America, North America, and Asia. The WEC also provides manufacturers the opportunity to test-bed and advance their road car designs and technologies.
In a WEC race, two classes of cars – Hypercar and LMGT3 – race simultaneously. The Hypercar can either be a specialised prototype or based on road cars. Nineteen manufacturers in this class must adhere to a minimum weight of 1,030kg and a maximum combined output of 671bhp (500kW) from either a combustion or hybrid engine.
Car number 50 qualified first, but was sent to be back of the grid for being slightly underweight.
The LMGT3 is, as its name suggests, GT3 cars for private drivers and teams. The LMGT3 class is based around FIA’s existing GT3 regulations. For the 2024 season, 18 teams are vying for the championship. The difference between the two categories of cars is about 20 seconds per lap at Spa-Francorchamps. Within ten laps, the Hypercars will be lapping the LMGT3 back markers.
At the time of writing, Ferrari’s two AF Corse teams, fielding the 499P Hypercars, are fourth and ninth in the manufacturer standings. Car number 50 is driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen.
Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi piloted the number 51 sister car. Giovinazzi won last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in front of 325,000 spectators.
Car number 83 from the independent AF Corse team is piloted by Robert Kubica, YiFei Ye, and Robert Shwartzman.
A third and independent AF Corse team is in seventh position. Car number 83 is piloted by ex-F1 driver Robert Kubica, YiFei Ye, and F1 reserve driver Robert Shwartzman.
Car number 50 qualified first at Spa-Francorchamps, but it received a penalty for being slightly underweight after a part was changed. Race officials demoted it to last on the grid on race day.
Car number 51 could have finished first, but a combination of factors that included a lengthy race extension resulted in it finishing third.
FERRARI AT THE 6 HOURS OF SPA
AF Corse’s number 83 started in ninth and number 51 in 11th. Despite the odds, Ferrari’s perfect race strategy had car number 51 in the lead and car number 50 in second place, with one hour and 45 minutes to go before the chequered flag.
Unfortunately for Ferrari, a massive crash involving two Hypercars caused the race to be red flagged.
When the race restarted after a lengthy pause, during which the crash barriers were mended, officials extended the race by an hour and 45 minutes. It came as a surprise, as many expected Ferrari to be declared the winners after the clock had ticked past the six-hour mark.
The move by the officials disadvantaged the Prancing Horses, whose perfect strategy would have seen them taking a 1-2 finish. When the race ended at twilight, the number 50 car was third and the number 51 car finished fourth (it had to pit again after the race restarted). The number 83 car was eighth.
Ferrari’s Head of Endurance Race Cars Ferdinando Cannizzo said, “Today was a positive day for us, despite the result. As far as the race performance is concerned, we did nothing wrong, setting a perfect strategy. We took the cars, which started at the back of the grid, all the way to the top of the leaderboard, and we were leading the race securely, so much so that we had the three Ferrari 499Ps in the top four positions.”
“Unfortunately, an accident at that point led to a red flag, but we consider the decision to extend the race beyond six hours questionable. We feel a lot of regret because we believe the outcome should have been different,” he added.
With Round 4 at the prestigious Le Mans on 15 and 16 June 2024, Ferrari hopes to replicate, if not better, last year’s Le Mans victory.
This story was first published on Sgcarmart.
