Sometimes, the story writes itself. On the face of it, a strange Le Mans. No major wrecks. Just one Safety Car in 24 hours of racing, and just a handful of Full Course Yellows. A Hypercar distance record, the second fastest race on average speed since the series moved on from LMP1… and yet, you’ve probably read the headlines. Robert Kubica, spearheading the timing sheets and the lap counter, led the AF Corse “privateer” Ferrari to glory, their third Le Mans win in a row, and with Ye Yifei and Phil Hanson in tow, Poland and China’s first overall winners, period.
RJ O’Connell, Cam Buckley, Dre Harrison and returning guest Ryan Erik King all break down a polarising Le Mans. Despite just the second closest ever finish on time, it was a Le Mans that Ferrari never really felt like they could lose, given they were in 1-2-3 vicegrip on the standings for a good 12 hours of the race, with only the #6 Porsche of Estre, Vanthoor and Campbell truly posing a threat. Was this good for the sport? Hard to say with the ACO seemingly missing the boat and leaning strongly in Ferrari’s favour. But was that fair?
There’s also analysis on the LMP2 class as Inter Europol win their second class victory in three years via a shocking race-winning pass with jkust 25 minutes left, and Manthey winning in LMGT3 for Richard Leitz’ sixth class win.
