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WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans

Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates

Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours.

#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa

The eagerly-anticipated centenary edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours is the first in which cars built to the new-for-2023 LMDh ruleset have been eligible to compete.

Toyota is seeking a sixth consecutive victory at the world's most famous endurance race, while Ferrari on its first factory effort in the top class in half a century and fellow returnee Porsche are gunning for their 10th and 20th victories respectively.

A field of 62 cars, including the Garage 56 NASCAR entry and 21 GTE Am machines on the category's Le Mans swansong, will take the start at the Circuit de la Sarthe at 4pm local time and race through the night.

Join us here for live updates throughout the race.

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Checkered flag
With that, it is time to wrap up the live coverage of the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours. Thank you very much for following along with us, we greatly appreciate it.

Congratulations to Ferrari and the #51 trio of Pier Guidi, Calado and Giovinazzi on victory at a simply epic Le Mans.

Race winners Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P

Race winners Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P

Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt

The champagne is sprayed, the Ferrari trio getting a good soaking of course, and history is made: Ferrari's first Le Mans 24 Hours win since 1965. A fitting way to mark the centenary anniversary of Le Mans.
Jochen Rindt rides on the front as the North American Racing Team celebrate victory with their Ferrari 250LM

Jochen Rindt rides on the front as the North American Racing Team celebrate victory with their Ferrari 250LM

Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / Motorsport Images

Calado, Giovinazzi and Pier Guidi have been overloaded with trophies and trinkets for their victory - they are struggling to juggle them all on the podium. Not that they'll care too much!
The Italian national anthem rings out to celebrate Ferrari's triumph. The best anthem going, in our slightly bias opinion.
The podium ceremony is under way, with the top three overall in the Hypercar class taking to the rostrum.
Fabio Scherer, who got his foot run over during a pitstop very early into the race, is in tears after winning the LMP2 class alongside Jakub Smiechowski and Albert Costa for the #34 Inter Europol squad. That's the surprise of the weekend, they've beaten some giants in its class.
The Le Mans podium presentation is being readied as the fans are released on to the track. Now the party can really begin!
The #51 Ferrari overall winners and the #34 Inter Europol LMP2 winners embrace in parc ferme and it is an eye-offending colour clash of red and green and yellow. Like a bag of Starburst sweets.
Breaking news

Here's the full race report on the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours: 

https://www.autosport.com/le-mans/news/le-mans-24-hours-ferrari-beats-toyota-in-race-of-attrition/10481619/

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi

Photo by: Marc Fleury

2023 Le Mans 24 Hours top five - GTE Am:

1. #33 Corvette
2. #25 ORT by TF Aston Martin
3. #86 GR Racing Porsche
4. #85 Iron Dames Porsche
5. #54 AF Corse Ferrari

A bitter end for Iron Dames, who contended for the podium - and even victory - for much of the race. But they will have to settle for fourth this time around.
There's celebration for Corvette at last - their drought ends as victory is sealed by Nicky Catsburg. And it will be all the sweeter for a squad that really had to hike the comeback trail after the wild first third of the race.
And the final ever Le Mans 24 Hours for GTE Am is won by the #33 Corvette. The American squad takes the win by 2m00.683s from the #25 ORT by TF Aston Martin, as the #86 GR Racing Porsche rounds out the class podium.
There's absolute jubilation at Inter Europol, as Fabio Scherer - literally hobbled by the Corvette in the pitlane earlier in the race - brings the car safely home to a sweet victory for the little Polish squad.

2023 Le Mans 24 Hours top five - LMP2:

1. #34 Inter Europol
2. #41 Team WRT
3. #30 Duqueine
4. #36 Alpine
5. #31 Team WRT

What an incredible show in LMP2 - the #34 Inter Europol wins by 21.015s from #41 Team WRT, as the #30 Duqueine completes the podium. The #34 squad went through the wringer over the final few hours but victory is theirs!

2023 Le Mans 24 Hours top five overall:

1. #51 Ferrari
2. #8 Toyota
3. #2 Cadillac
4. #3 Cadillac
5. #50 Ferrari

Hirakawa takes second for the #8 Toyota, potentially still thinking of what could have been, but Toyota's winning streak at Le Mans is over! The #2 Cadillac completes the podium with Bamber at the wheel.
Checkered flag
Ferrari wins the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours! Pier Guidi crosses the line in the #51 Ferrari to clinch victory along with Calado and Giovinazzi!
Pier Guidi is moments away from Le Mans 24 Hours history for Ferrari. He just needs to make the finish line now.
Final lap time!
The ailing #5 and #38 Porsches are limping around the final five minutes to make sure they get a classified finish. Any finish is better than no finish.
And why the late stop for Frijns? A cruel suspension issue is what robbed that Team WRT car of a likely third place. Looks like he'll have to make do with fifth in LMP2.
It is that weird period of the race where everyone gathers in the pits and watches the race in silence, counting down the minutes to the finish. Like a really tense New Year's Eve party.
Over in GTE Am, things looks sewn up as well. Corvette leads by two minutes over the ORT by TF Aston Martin. The GR Racing Porsche should be secure in third, with Frey's Iron Dames Porsche now 11 seconds back.
Pier Guidi is told to do 3m38s lap times to make sure he doesn't cross the line and need to do an extra lap at the end of the race. With enough margin in hand, it is doable without too much risk from Hirakawa.
With 10 minutes to go, dare we say it's settled in LMP2? Inter Europol leads Team WRT leads Duqueine, each holding double-digit gaps to their next rivals.
The #5 Porsche has made it back to the pits but might not be able to finish at all if it cannot get going again. The car remains eighth overall.
Twist in LMP2! Robin Frijns has come in for a late stop. That does indeed put Jani in third behind Scherer and Deletraz. Duqueine may yet celebrate a podium!
After the final pitstops and the added drama, Ferrari leads by 1m46s from Toyota, so it cost the #51 a full minute all things considered.
With 15 minutes to go, Frey is making a spirited response to being passed for third in GTE Am. But the gap is still around eight seconds, and now a slow zone will complicate matters.
Pit stop
The Toyota crew didn't look too excited when Ferrari had its pitstop trouble and this is probably why - Hirakawa makes a late splash and dash pitstop, as he wasn't set to make it to the finish without stopping. That balloons Ferrari's lead back up once again.
The gap between the leaders is down to 51s as the impact of that pitstop issue is fully felt - while elsewhere one of the Glickenhaus is in the gravel. So much late race drama!
Pit stop
The podium-sitting #2 Cadillac pits for the final time with Bamber at the wheel. No such troubles for him and he gets going.
They're now investigating the 'signalling method' for the lead #34 car in LMP2...yes, really! At least the on-track threats are fading in comparison to those from race control: Deletraz is 13s back now and failing to keep pace with Scherer. Meanwhile Jani's hopes of snatching third from Frijns also look to be receding - the gap has grown to 18 seconds.
That was a heart in mouth moment for Ferrari! Pier Guidi needed to go through a power cycle to get going again and has bled time to Hirakawa. The #51 Ferrari still leads, but its advantage has been cut down to 2m30s.
Pit stop
The #51 Ferrari is in for its final stop of the race... but it can't get going!
Pier Guidi continues to manage his advantage, now at 2m46s, but is probably feeling every bump and vibration inside his #51 Ferrari 499P and praying the worst doesn't happen.

By: Autosport Staff

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