24h Le Mans
Ferrari, Aston Martin, Ford and Porsche, the four manufacturers fielding full-season entries in the LM GTE Pro class of the World Endurance Championship, have all won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The exceptional quartet have shared no fewer than 32 overall victories since World War II. Ferrari set the ball rolling in 1949.
A little history – After a ten-year hiatus due to the war, the 24 Hours of Le Mans returned to the international motorsport calendar in June 1949. Like many other competitions at the time, this seventeenth edition of the Le Mans race featured several cars that had survived from the pre-war era. With some exceptions, however. A marque founded barely two years earlier by Enzo Ferrari, the former Alfa Romeo sporting director, was one of them. Luigi Chinetti, who already had two Le Mans victories in 1932 and 1934 to his name, took the chequered flag after more than 22 hours at the wheel to ensure that Ferrari’s début appearance was a winning one.
Ferrari and Le Mans, intertwined legends – From this point, the history of Ferrari and the 24 Hours of Le Mans remained inextricably linked. With nine wins in sixteen years, including a remarkable series of six consecutive victories from 1960 to 1965, the Italian marque’s legend was forged at the Circuit de la Sarthe, much more so than in Formula One, created in 1950. Although Enzo Ferrari withdrew from the iconic French marathon at the end of 1973 to focus on regaining the F1 crown, the Ferrari chapter of the Le Mans history books was not closed. Since the inception of the World Endurance Championship in 2012, the marque has become the powerhouse of the LM GTE classes.
Ferrari and the LM GTE Pro class: an Italian star – The Ferrari 458 Italia made its track début in 2011, two years after the road version was unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show. It quickly became a leading light at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with two class wins in LM GTE Pro (2012 and 2014) and two more in LM GTE Am (2015 and 2016). Ferrari is also behind one of the outstanding newcomers to the 2016 endurance season, the 488 GTE, well placed to scoop the FIA World Endurance Cup for GT Manufacturers. Meanwhile, the 458 Italia, on the verge of taking the FIA Endurance Trophy in LM GTE Am, is still going strong.
Overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans: 9 (1949, 1954, 1958, 1960–65)
LM GTE Pro class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2012: 2 (2012 and 2014)
Photo: Will Ferrari take the FIA World Endurance Cup for GT Manufacturers in the 488 GTE’s first season? The 6 Hours of Bahrain will provide the answer on Saturday 19 November.
