24 Hours of Le Mans 2024 - Hypercars

Ferrari, BMW and Toyota Hypercars at the famous Le Mans Dunlop Bridge.

 It was good to be back at Le Mans for the 24 Hours meeting, having missed out last year.  With nine manufacturers entering 23 hypercars, it was difficult to miss again in 2024.  With the race day tickets sold out, it was thus that I got to see practice and qualifying at Le Mans for the first time.   It proved a worthwhile experience.

For me Le Mans was a very social experience as i accompanied Gareth and Richard from Tuesday night through to Friday morning, and they proved very good company.  To top that I met two olds friends, Peter and Nigel who I spend two great hours with on Thursday afternoon.   For the days we were there , the weather was good, which is not what those at the race itself experienced.  Despite this, I still took over 2,000 photos, the best of which you see in this blogpost.

One of the advantages of going on the practice days it that you get free entry to the grandstands - we took advantage of that in the Goodyear and Raccordement grandstands, from which I took a num ber of photos.

Some highlights of the meeting for me were:

Seeing the two night time acclimatisation sessions from the Dunlop Grandstand.   Here the Isotta leads a BMW.

Seeing Kévin Estre take fastest time late into Thursday's Hyperpole seession in the Porsche 963 after Senastien Bourdais decided to sit it our after setting a fast time for Cadillac.

It was great to see some of the teams, including Cadillac, had there drivers out meeting the crowd and signing autographs. Here we have Alex Palou, Scott Dixon and Pipo Derani.

All 23 of the Hypercars that competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2024 are shown below in the order of success.  All of the pictures were taken during free practice, qualifying or hyperpole.

1st. No.50  AF Corse, FERRARI 499P, A. FUOCO / M. MOLINA / N. NIELSEN

Ferrari repeated last year's centenary win and now have eleven wins in total.  A different driver line-up to last year's winners.   A tough race against Toyota in difficult conditions but they came out on top.

The winning Ferrari enters the Virage de Raccordement in free practice on Thursday.

The Ferrari bumping over the kerbs in Dunlop Chicane during Wednesday's Qualifying.

The Ferrari in Tertre Rouge on Wednesday.

The Ferrari leads a Jota Porsche through the Esses on Wednesday.

2nd. No.7  Toyota Gazoo Racing, TOYOTA GR-010 - HYBRID , J. LOPEZ / K. KOBAYASHI / N. DE VRIES

Lopez replaced Mike Conway following the latter having a bicycle accident.  Since last year the Toyota s have changed their colour scheme from white to black.  Toyota also finished second to Ferrari last year but with the other car.  This year they were again the biggest challenge to Ferrari.

The second placed Toyota leads the Whelan Cadillac through the Ford Chicane.

The Toyota exits the Dunlop Chicane in Wednesday's Qualifying.

The Toyota in Tertre Rouge on Wednesday.

3rd. No.51 AF Corse, FERRARI 499P, A. PIER GUIDI / J. CALADO / A. GIOVINAZZI

A strong contender but suffered a penalyty after causing one of the Toyotas to spin.

The third placed Ferrari in the Forest Esses on Wednesday afternoon.

The Ferrari in the Dunlop Chicane during qualifying.

Ferrari leads two of the Porsche Penske Motorsport cars through the Ford Chicane.

4th. No.6 Porsche Penske Motorsport, PORSCHE 963, K. ESTRE / A. LOTTERER / L. VANTHOOR

This car took the Hyperpole but didn't quite have the pace of the Ferraris or Toyotas in the race.

Porsche in Tertre Rouge on Wednesday.

Porsche leads Alpine through the Dunlop Chicane during Wednesday's Qualifying.

The Porsche in the Dunlop Chicane during Wednesday's free practice just after 10pm.

5th. No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing, TOYOTA GR-010 - HYBRID, S. BUEMI / B. HARTLEY / R. HIRAKAWA 

This was the lead Toyota and real contender until it was sent into the gravel by the 51 Ferrari.

The fifth placed Toyota goes off into the sand trap during Thursday's free practice as it enters the pits.

The Toyota in the Ford Chicane on Thursday.

The Toyota entering the start finish straight.

6th. No.5 Porsche Penske Motorsport, PORSCHE 963, M. CAMPBELL / M. CHRISTENSEN / F. MAKOWIECKI

Featured well in the early battles but in a tight race had to settle for sixth.

The sixth placed Porsche enters the Dunlop chicane.  Long distance shot from the grandstand at the end of the start finish straight.

The Porsche in the Ford chicane on Thursday.

The Porsche exiting the Dunlop Chicane during Wednesday's qualifying.

The Porsche exiting the Forest Esses on Wednesday.

7th. No.2 Cadillac Racing, CADILLAC V-SERIES.R, E. BAMBER / A. LYNN / A. PALOU

Looked in contention at times due to being out of sync on the pitstops but suffered from tyre troubles in the mixed conditions.

The seventh placed Cadillac entering Raccordement on Thursday.

The Cadillac at night on Wednesday free practice.

The Cadillac in the Dunlop Chicane.

8th. No.12 Hertz Team Jota, PORSCHE 963, W. STEVENS / N. NATO / C. ILOTT 

They were the first of the privateer entries.  It was a tough weekend as they had to rebuild the car after an accident in Wednesday night practice, but there was some reward for that in the end.

The 8th placed Porsche in the Dunlop Chicane in Wednesday qualifying.

The Porsche in Tertre Rouge on Wednesday.

The Porsche exiting the Esses.

9th. No.38 Hertz Team Jota, PORSCHE 963, O. RASMUSSEN / P. HANSON / J. BUTTON

Jensen Button and his teammates only finished ninth but were still on the lead lap!

The 9th placed Porsche in the Ford Chicane on Thursday.

Porsches in the Dunlop Chicane.

The Porsche in Tertre Rouge on Wednesday.

10th. No.63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx, LAMBORGHINI SC63, M. BORTOLOTTI / D. KVYAT / E. MORTARA

A good first Le Mans for Lamborghini Iron Lynx as they had this car finish in the top ten and only two laps down.

The tenth placed Lamborghini leads an LMP2 car through the Dunlop Chicane.

The Lamborghini in Tertre Rouge.

The Lamborghini exiting the Esses.

11th. No.94 Peugeot Total Energies, PEUGEOT 9X8, S. VANDOORNE / P. DI RESTA / L. DUVAL

The 11th placed Peugeot entering Raccordement on Thursdaty.

The Peugeot in the Dunlop Chicane.

The Peugeot in the Forest Esses.

12th. No.93 Peugeot Total Energies, PEUGEOT 9X8, J. VERGNE / M. JENSEN / N. MÜLLER

The 12th placed Peugeot entering the Dunlop Chicane with sand traps on each side.

The Peugeot in the Dunlop Chicane in Qualifying.

The Peugeot in Tertre Rouge on Wednesday.

13th. No.19 Lamborghini Iron Lynx, LAMBORGHINI SC63, R. GROSJEAN / A. CALDARELLI / M. CAIROLI

The 13th placed Lamborghini on Thursday night heading up to the Dunlop Bridge.

The Lamborghini exiting the Forest Esses.

The Lamborghini in the Forest Esses.

14th. No.11 Isotta Fraschini, Isotta Fraschini Tipo6-C, C. BENNETT / J. VERNAY / A. SERRAVALLE

They finished and they at least beat all of the LMP2 cars.  

The 14th placed Isotta Fraschini in the Ford Chicane.

Isotta Fraschini in the Dunlop Chicane.

Isotta Fraschini in Tertre Rouge.

29th. No.311 Whelen Cadillac Racing, CADILLAC V-SERIES.R, L. DERANI / J. AITKEN / F. DRUGOVICH 

15th in class, the Whelen Cadillac is seen here in the Ford Chicane.

The Whelen Cadillac entering Raccordement.

The Whelen Cadillac at night in the Dunlop Chicane.

45th. No.99 Proton Competition, PORSCHE 963, N. JANI / H. TINCKNELL / J. ANDLAUER

They had a difficult day with lots of issues but made it to the finish.

The Porsche in the first turn (Dunlop Curve).

The Porsche in the Dunlop Chicane during Qualifying.

The Porsche in the Esses.

Not Classified, No.20 BMW M Team WRT, BMW M-Hybrid V8, S.VAN DER LINDE, R.FRIJNS, R.RAST

 

This car hit the barriers at the final chicane early in the race and thus was never a contender.

An arty photo of the arty BMW.

The BMW art car entering the pits.

BMW at night.

DNF, No.83 AF Corse, FERRARI 499P, R.KUBICA, R.SHWARTZMAN, Y.YE

Eventually went out with an electronics fire in the pits having led the race but also causing a crash with one of the BMWs.

The Ferrari entering Raccordement.

The Ferrari in the Ford Chicane.

The Ferrari at night.

DNF, No.3, Cadillac Racing,  CADILLAC V-SERIES.R, S.BOUDAIS, S.DIXON, R.VAN DER ZANDE

Was on the front row of the grid but quickly dropped behind the Ferraris.   They then had a trip through the gravel, a amazing escape exiting the esses when they hit the wall, a drive through penalty and ultimately an oil leak put them out.

The Cadillac leads a Lamborghini through the Ford Chicane.

The Cadillac in Tertre Rouge on Wednesday.

The Cadillac in the Forest Esses.

DNF. No.4 Porsche Penske Motorsport, PORSCHE 963, M. JAMINET, F. NASR, N. TANDY 

Crashed out at the Porsche curves on Sunday morning.

The Porsche in Thursday's night time session.

The Porsche leading an LMP2 car through the Porsche Chicane.

The Porsche in the Esses.

DNF, No.15 BMW M Team WRT, BMW M-Hybrid V8, D. VANTHOOR, R. MARCIELLO, M. WITTMANN

This car was taken out by Kubica's Ferrari after 102 laps and lost it's front end. BMW were upset by the relatively small penalty Kubica received.

The BMW really attacking the Ford Chicane on Thursday.

The BMW on opposite lock through the Forest Esses.

DNF. No.36 Alpine Endurance Team, ALPINE A424, N. LAPIERRE, M. SCHUMACHER, M. VAXIVIERE 

This car had an engine warning early on and retired after 88 laps.

The Alpine at Tertre Rouge.

Alpine in the Forest Esses.

Alpine in the Esses.

DNF. No.35 Alpine Endurance Team, ALPINE A424, P. CHATIN, F. HABSBURG, C. MILESI

An early engine failure after 75 laps meant this was the first of the Alpines out.  A Le Mans to forget and disappointing having been sixth on the grid.

Alpine in the first corner (Dunlop Curve)

Alpine in the Ford Chicane.

Alpine in the Dunlop Chicane during Qualifying.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web à condition de créditer le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com, et de fournir un lien vers cette page.

Hypercars at night, Porsche overtaking a Lamborghini as they approach the Dunlop Bridge.