The leading car and other safety cars are mean racing machines and the figureheads of Race Control at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. They are part of the family of official cars which manufacturers have sought to supply ever since the inaugural edition in 1923. This feature looks back at some of the cars – and drivers – that have fulfilled this key role.

24H Le Mans

24 Heures du Mans

After a roller coaster of a first season for the 963 last year, Porsche Penske Motorsport was looking to get a grip on the situation in 2024. With decisive wins and decent reliability, the German carmaker showed significant progress while still facing certain major challenges.

Porsche&rsquo;s 2024 season got off to a flying start with a resounding victory at the Rolex 24 at&nbsp;Daytona in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The success infused the marque&#39;s upcoming foray into the FIA World Endurance Championship with optimism, confirmed at the opening round 1812 km of Qatar&nbsp;when&nbsp;the #6 Porsche 963 shared by&nbsp;K&eacute;vin Estre/Andr&eacute; Lotterer/Laurens Vanthoor reached the top step on the podium.

Consistency was the name of the game at&nbsp;the 6 Hours of Imola, with second and third places snatched by the two official cars.&nbsp;These&nbsp;performances transformed&nbsp;Porsche Penske Motorsport into a favourite to win the 24 Hours with&nbsp;one of three factory&nbsp;prototypes. Roger Penske&#39;s team was&nbsp;hoping for a triumphant return to the biggest endurance race in the world.

<h2>Dashed Hopes at Le Mans</h2>

Despite the #6 Porsche 963 clinching the Hyperpole, Le Mans proved much more challenging than expected. Questionable tyre strategy and a top speed lower than Ferrari and Toyota&nbsp;hampered Porsche&#39;s ambitions.

The&nbsp;#6 finished fourth, the&nbsp;#5 sixth and the&nbsp;#4 was forced to retire after an incident. The outcome, though respectable, was bittersweet.&nbsp;Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh:&nbsp;We were so close to big success. That said, we must admit that we weren&rsquo;t entirely without error today.&nbsp;Kevin Estre:&nbsp;That&rsquo;s not the result we were aiming for. While we fought our way back up the order, in the end&nbsp;we couldn&rsquo;t find the pace we needed to be in contention for overall victory. We must keep learning and come back stronger next year

After the disappointment of the 24 Hours, Porsche Penske Motorsport bounced back with solid outcomes. At the&nbsp;6 Hours of S&atilde;o Paulo, the two&nbsp;Porsches made it to the second and third steps on the podium. The #6&#39;s win at the&nbsp;6 Hours of&nbsp;Fuji underscored the team&#39;s progress, marking a turning point in the season. Porsche headed into the&nbsp;Bapco Energies 8 Hours of&nbsp;Bahrain, final race of the championship, leading the Manufacturer&nbsp;standings. However,&nbsp;TOYOTA GAZOO&nbsp;Racing walked away with that&nbsp;title, but&nbsp;Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor&nbsp;scored the Drivers&#39; trophy, a stunning result demonstrating&nbsp;the increasing power of the programme.

<h2>One Clear&nbsp;Goal in 2025</h2>

Thomas Laudenbach, Porsche Motorsport Vice President:&nbsp;Compared to 2023, we made significant improvements in all areas. We brought the Porsche 963 and the entire programme to the top within a short period of time.&nbsp;Despite this, the 2024 results remained a bit of a letdown. Victory at the 24 Hours, the key to glory for Porsche, was&nbsp;missing.

In 2025, the German constructor&nbsp;will focus on one crucial objective: bringing home its&nbsp;20th Le Mans win. With at least two factory cars confirmed&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/porsche-reshuffles-lineups-for-2025-59081" target="_blank">returning seasoned driver line-ups</a>, the&nbsp;marque&nbsp;intends to capitalise on its gains while correcting its weaknesses.

Though&nbsp;2024 didn&#39;t quite live up to the hype, it nevertheless marked an important milestone for Porsche in the&nbsp;FIA WEC. With two clear wins against fierce competitors, as well as the Drivers&#39; title, the carmaker set the stage for the upcoming 2025 season. Will Porsche achieve&nbsp;its ultimate goal of winning the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le Mans next year?

<div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JN5Vdg2_1NE?si=-BCAGT_gW1zgHv8B" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>

&nbsp;

FIA WEC – A positive 2024 season for Porsche Penske Motorsport

The 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship season saw Ferrari AF Corse consolidate its status as a serious candidate for victory in the Hypercar class. Despite a second successive win in the championship’s showcase event – the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the Maranello-based carmaker had to settle for third place in the manufacturers’ standings.

At the dawn of 2024, Ferrari AF Corse was determined to prove that the iconic manufacturer&rsquo;s triumphant return to the top class of endurance &ndash; climaxed by its 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary win &ndash; was no flash in the pan. With its pair of Ferrari 499Ps, plus a third running in its customer AF Corse&rsquo;s colours, the team hoped to be in the mix for the FIA WEC Hypercar manufacturers&rsquo; and drivers&rsquo; championship titles.

Initially, Ferrari opted for stability &ndash; renewing its faith in the 2023 driver line-ups: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen in the #50, and Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi in the #51. From the opening rounds of the season, the team showed it was competitive with two Top Five finishes before reaching the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the championship&rsquo;s headline event.

<h2>Retaining the 24 Hours of Mans crown</h2>

The #50 499P overcame the atrocious weather conditions to bring Ferrari its 11th outright win in the iconic French race. &ldquo;We are extremely proud of this success for the whole team. It&rsquo;s a key moment in our season,&rdquo; said&nbsp; Antonello Coletta, Head of the Ferrari endurance programme.

Despite the win, the firm continued development work after Le Mans. Significant improvements were made to the 499P, especially its brake cooling ducts and aero package, in time for the 6 Hours of S&atilde;o Paulo. The upgrades, combined with a better understanding of the car, enabled the team to show increasingly competitive race pace. 
The second high point of the season came at Lone Star Le Mans where the #83 499P &ndash; entered by AF Corse as a customer car &ndash; topped the podium. However, all ambitions of the title vanished in Bahrain, leaving the Prancing Horse in third place in the manufacturers&rsquo; championship table.

&nbsp;

Nonetheless, with two wins, five podiums overall and a second place in the drivers&rsquo; championship for Fuoco, Molina and Nielsen, the 2024 season was ultimately a promising one for Ferrari AF Corse. As Ferdinando Cannizzo, Head of Endurance Race Cars, points out: &ldquo;Compared to 12 months ago, our progress [...] is clear. We are satisfied with having recorded significant improvements over last year, aware that there are more steps to take to compete for titles.&rdquo; While the championship titles remained out of reach, the season allowed the manufacturer to lay down a solid platform for the future. Coletta remains confident: &ldquo;We saw confirmation of our cars&rsquo; and crew&#39;s improved competitiveness. We now have a solid foundation to build upon for the 2025 season.&rdquo;

With an improved technical basis and line-ups bolstered by the experience gained over he last two seasons, Ferrari AF Corse is in better shape than ever to&nbsp;challenge for the championhip titles in 2025.&nbsp;

Ferrari AF Corse aware of having “more steps to take to compete for titles”

The entry list for the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season has been revealed. The grid will feature 36 cars with an even split between the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes. This new season promises to be one of the most competitive and diverse ever, as it will involve no fewer than 13 major manufacturers!

Eight emblematic marques will compete in Hypercar, the top class of the FIA WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. They are Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot, Porsche and Toyota. Endurance fans are looking forward to seeing the return of Aston Martin with its two-car Valkyrie entry. The British manufacturer has joined forces with the Heart Of Racing team and has already announced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/aston-martin-announces-the-first-two-drivers-for-its-valkyrie-amr-lmh-59156" target="_blank">the names of two drivers</a>. Two Cadillac V-Series.R hypercars will also be on the grid, but now in the colours of Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA. The British outfit &ndash; winner of the 2024 FIA World Cup for Hypercar teams with a private Porsche 963 &ndash; is changing course for 2025 by forming a partnership with the American carmaker. Ferrari is continuing with its triple 499P strategy, two of which will be fielded by Ferrari AF Corse and the third by AF Corse. No change for Toyota Gazoo Racing! The reigning Hypercar manufacturers&rsquo; title holder will defend its crown with two GR010 Hybrids driven by the line-ups that performed so brilliantly in 2024.

The LMGT3 class, introduced in 2024, continues to develop and promises a thrilling second season. Nine marques will compete in the class with a field comprising customer GT3s built by Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lexus, Mercedes-AMG, McLaren and Porsche. Mercedes-AMG is making its FIA WEC d&eacute;but with two cars entered by Italian team Iron Lynx. Another notable newcomer is the Racing Spirit of L&eacute;man outfit who will field an Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 and include American Derek DeBoer in its driver line-up. 
The Iron Dames team will again be present to continue breaking down barriers and inspire the next generation of women in motorsport. After striking a deal with Manthey Racing, the Iron Dames are reverting to Porsche after a season with Lamborghini. The #85 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 will be driven by the all-female trio of&nbsp; C&eacute;lia Martin, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting. As for Manthey Racing, the German team will be back as Manthey 1st&nbsp;Phorm to defend the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGT3 Teams won in 2024 and has announced that Ryan Hardwick and Richard Lietz will drive the #92 Porsche.&nbsp;

The 2025 season will begin with the Official Prologue on 21-22 February in Qatar, before hostilities commence with the Qatar 1812 Km on 28 February. The highlight of the season will undoubtedly be the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans, held from 11 to 15 June.

Check out <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/fiawec-prod/assets/ressources/2024/2025_FIA_WEC_Season_Provisional%20Entry%20List_v1.pdf" target="_blank">the full provisional entry list for the 2025 FIA WEC season</a>.

Find out more about the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fiawec.com/en/">FIA World Endurance Championship</a>.

2025 FIA WEC: 36 cars from 13 major manufacturers shape up for an enthralling season!

Smells are a big part of the creation of lifelong memories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for both competitors and spectators. Every sector of the circuit, every in-race development carry with them their own unique scents. Here is an olfactory journey through the different smells that bolster the greatest endurance race in the world.

Attending the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans in person is to immerse oneself in a world full of&nbsp;sensations. Along with sight and hearing, smell is a&nbsp;sense that allows memories to take root. The permeating aromas indicate heatwaves, failed engines, brakes used to the extreme and&nbsp;celebratory&nbsp;moments, as well as the fresh local&nbsp;air.

<h2>A Symphony of Scents in Pit Lane</h2>

Kenji Concy, Ferrari AF Corse mechanic, spends long hours in the #51 Ferrari 499P garage. Here he describes with&nbsp;precision the smells that always surround him: What I perceive&nbsp;the most is&nbsp;heated&nbsp;rubber. And also petrol, but that one is more faint. The odor of hot&nbsp;brakes is omnipresent especially during refuellings. And then there is the smell of early morning, with the fresh and&nbsp;humid air thatcontrasts with the pasta dishes or croissants delivered to the back of the garage.

Certain&nbsp;smells are also valuable&nbsp;indicators, like an unusual oil odor signalling a serious problem. If we notice the smell of oil, it means the car has a problem. I would go so far as to say if it&#39;s in the air, it&#39;s already too late.&nbsp;The mechanic&nbsp;(responsible for tyre changes during pit stops)&nbsp;notes, however, that mechanical wear does not really have an olfactory signature. The cars are equipped with parts manufacturered to withstand the demands of a 24-hour race.

<h2>Memories anchored by Smells</h2>

Scents help fans create unforgettable memories. Maxime, who was only four when she attended her first&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans, associates the odor of a flat tyre&nbsp;with a critical moment.&nbsp;It makes me think of the 2017 battle in LMGTE Pro between the #97 Aston Martin Vantage and #63&nbsp;Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. It was in the last laps of the race and one of the American&nbsp;GT&#39;s tyres exploded.

Another fan, Lucas, associates the race&nbsp;with poutine, a Quebec dish he originally tasted at&nbsp;the circuit.&nbsp;The smell of&nbsp;poutine immediately makes me think of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.&nbsp;Sarah, a first-time spectator in 2022, remembers comfort-food&nbsp;churros during rain downpours.

<h2>From the Paddock to the Grandstands: Smells that Bring Fans Together</h2>

Each sector of the circuit brings with it its own special aromas. Maxime believes&nbsp;the food vendors definitely&nbsp;contribute to&nbsp;a festive atmosphere.&nbsp;You&nbsp;feel&nbsp;the buzz of activity&nbsp;and that the event is really kicking off.&nbsp;In the&nbsp;paddock, the smell of meals cooked for the teams mixes with that of new tyres, a particular scent that future car mechanic&nbsp;Mattias&nbsp;loves.&nbsp;Like when you go to a mountain tyre workshop.&nbsp;For Sarah, the wooded areas around the Mulsanne and Indianapolis corners&nbsp;are reminiscent of the Landes forests.&nbsp;The smell of pines and freshly cut grass mowed before Test Day add a rustic touch.

<h2>Adrenaline Through the Nose</h2>

Smells amp up the intensity of the race. Maxime agrees that some, like burnt rubber or hard braking, amplify the tension.&nbsp;If I detect a suspicious odor, right away I want to know which car is concerned and how that&nbsp;will affect the race. Mattias says that even natural elements, like&nbsp;humidity announcing rain, add a dramatic dimension.&nbsp;When you pick up on that kind of&nbsp;smell, you&nbsp;know everything can change.

Lucas tops off this study with an excellent conclusion: there is nothing like the scent&nbsp;of Champagne raining down on the&nbsp;podium. It&#39;s the last major smell&nbsp;memory we&nbsp;take with us.

The smells at the 24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans are no small detail, they tell the whole story. They capture the race&#39;s&nbsp;energy and&nbsp;humanity, whether it&#39;s the smell of overheated tires or&nbsp;brakes that underscore&nbsp;mechanical efforts, the food aromas that bring people together&nbsp;or the fresh air of the forest,&nbsp;each fragrance is a piece of the puzzle that fuels the spirit of&nbsp;this legendary event.

&nbsp;

Smell sense fuels the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

24 Heures du Mans 2018

<div>
<script charset="utf-8" data-zindex="1000000" id="asp-embed-script" src="https://spark.adobe.com/page-embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<a class="asp-embed-link" href="https://spark.adobe.com/page/ynnH2dfk0xhJu/" target="_blank"><img alt="Safety Car" border="0" src="https://spark.adobe.com/page/ynnH2dfk0xhJu/embed.jpg?buster=1527261226850" style="width:100%" /></a></div>

&nbsp;

24H LE MANS

Safety Cars: Leading the way at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (Feature)

Related News

FIA WEC – A positive 2024 season for Porsche Penske Motorsport

Ferrari AF Corse aware of having “more steps to take to compete for titles”

2025 FIA WEC: 36 cars from 13 major manufacturers shape up for an enthralling season!

Smell sense fuels the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Major Partner

PREMIUM partners

OFFICIAL partners