Historic: Miguel Molina wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Ferrari in a dramatic race to the finish!

Dramatic Unbelievable. Amazing. Historic! The 24 Hours of Le Mans 2024 They have all the ingredients to be one of the best races in the history of the legendary French event. Tight until the end, full of emotions, tension, uncertainty and with 4 different brands fighting since the night for victory. An Oscar movie with an unexpected script twist all the time decided at the last moments. And in that context, Ferrari achieved a great victory with Catalan Miguel Molina and his teammates Nicklas Nielsen and Antonio Fuoco (Ferrari 499p #50) after a finale where everything happened perfectly. and where it seemed that bad luck might strike Molina again at La Sarthe. But no one can take away his glory with a painful result.

The Ferrari #50 won and the podium could be even more memorable for Spain, because Palouwith the cadillac #2 fought for him very quickly, an absolute display despite his little experience in his debut in this race. Finally, Palou was 7th and after the #7 Toyota, which was second, the #51 Ferrari finished. Two Ferraris on the podium. There is no match for those in red.

[+] This is how we experienced Miguel Molina’s victory at the 24h of Le Mans

Miguel (February 17, 1989, Lloret de Mar) He became the third Spanish driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the main category after the achievements of Marc Gené in 2009 with Peugeot and in 2018 and 2019 by Fernando Alonso. Historical. And he achieved this after a major scare due to the unexpected failure of a door that did not close, which caused a cold sweat to accumulate throughout the Ferrari staff. When everything seemed to indicate that Ferrari was on its way to victory.

With just over an hour and a half to go, glory would elude Molina, who had to enter the pits even if it could cost him the lead and a possible mismatch in strategy and refueling to reach the end of the race with options. A year earlier, a stone damaged the radiator of the Girona native’s Ferrari after he took pole position and showed the speed to win. A year later, a door, perhaps a piece worth a few euros, could once again leave him without his dream. But finally, after great tension, Miguel Molina achieved this by winning with his teammates in Ferrari #50. But in many last tenses.

The Ferrari was out of power, he came to the reserve in the last lap. And he managed to reach the finish line ‘in extremis’, with the #7 Toyota pushing behind. suffering

so, Ferrari achieved its second victory in two consecutive years after successfully returning to the top Le Mans class last year after a 50-year absence. A madness for the whole of Maranello and Italy, where in these difficult years in F1, the WEC team saves the pride and honor of the Italians in the heroics. At the start of the race, Ferrari believed that Porsche was the favorite. And even though the German company was in the fight, like Palou’s Cadillac (which ended up on the podium in third position), Le Mans ruled them out. Ferrari won a big race.

A suspense film with rain as the star

They call it the ‘race of races’. And the 24 Hours of Le Mans by 2024 they lived up to that name. A madness that serves as the best example of the great growth of Endurance World Cupa championship in which they participated until 9 official signatures in the Hypercar class (top category) and where equality is highest. It was one of the tightest Le Mans in history. Definitely. And finally, after a fantastic final day, the #50 Ferrari won.

At Le Mans you can never take anything for granted. In addition to the driving mistakes that can occur in La Sarthe, the complication of getting the mechanics to the maximum without suffering reliability failures, the constant dubbing with more than 40 cars from other categories that run slower than the highest classes (Hypercar), there are We had to add the uncertainty of a rain that appeared in some sections of the race, changing everything from one moment to the next.

After a good start to the race for Molina’s Ferrari #50, which rose from 4th place at the start with Nielsen at the wheel to the lead, a penalty for a dangerous pit lane exit during a pit stop complicating things for him. The rain came to warn of its presence two hours into the race and there, a strategic error by Ferrari damaged both of its cars. Like that The race was very much in front of the Ferrari of the AF Corse satellite teamwith Robert Kubica between his pilots and the Chinese Yifei Ye, grew up in Le Mans. That success story has written itself. Hard work, knowing how to get up, dedication, talent and dreams. But there is much, much left, and at Le Mans things change from one moment to the next. Happened.

overnight, Heavy and prolonged rain hit the event. Therefore, there is a ‘Safey Car’ from 3.40 am to 8.10 am. And in the morning, the sun seems to have come to stay, taking the best place for the show to come. What seemed like a well-thought-out test for Kubica’s AF Corse 83 turned into a fierce battle between several brands after Toyota and Palou’s Cadillac joined the party. thanks to its good performance in the wet.

So, with about 5 hours left in the race, the event turned into an all-out battle with different strategies that made the doubts maximum when looking for a favorite. When some stopped, Palou’s Cadillac took the lead, who in his Le Mans debut set a blistering pace in the latter part of the race. And when it was Cadillac’s turn to stop, the #50 Ferrari, with the #83 satellite Ferrari close behind, took the lead. Of course, that group included two Toyotas, tucked into a handkerchief, and the Porsche 6.

But there are still some surprises in the most decisive moments. With only two hours left it started to rain. At that moment, as Miguel Molina completely ignited the possibility of winning his first 24 Hours of Le Mans in the top category, the Catalan had an important advantage. In the wet, Miguel was flying and gained 20 seconds on his pursuer, a #51 Ferrari pending investigation (5 seconds fell to him) after destroying a large portion of the options for the #8 Toyota of Brendon Hartley.

Pier Guidi he closed the door They are too aggressive and stick together. Maybe if that hadn’t happened, the #8 Toyota might have won. But it happened. It’s Le Mans. And later, Pier Guidi again defended himself against another Toyota, the #7 driven by a ‘Pechito’ López who a few days ago thought he would not be able to run, as he joined at the last minute due to Conway’s injury.

a cursed door

And there, in a moment of maximum tension, with the #7 Toyota of the Argentine going all out to try to reduce the 25-second margin that separated him from Molina in the wet, a dramatic moment came for the ambition of Molina and the #50 Ferrari . Molina’s door is broken! It never closed! Race Direction warned the team that they had to close the door or go into the pits. If not, a penalty will be imposed that will prevent him from fighting to succeed.

Molina tried to fix it from inside the car but was unable to. The tension is intense. His dream of Le Mans may have escaped him through a simple door, just one year after being left without a victory due to a rock that damaged the radiator. He had to enter the pits and thus give the lead of the interim test to the #7 Toyota. The cards in the deck are dealt again. But he did it by changing his approach and taking advantage of it to add fuel.

Toyota-Ferrari

So, the final hour of the race was reached with everything at stake. Any detail can decide success. After the pit stop, the Ferrari of Miguel Molina, with his teammate Nielsen at the wheel, led the race against the #7 Toyota of López, the #51 Ferrari, who lost by 5 seconds, the #6 Porsche, the # 6 Toyoya 8 and the Cadillac, brand that passed the baton to Palou, who put him in the car to perform the last stint of the last hour because he was the fastest driver despite his little experience in the car because his main commitment was IndyCar. Six cars with options, with a semi-wet circuit and very delicate conditions. And 4 different brands. crazy But in the end, the battle was between the #7 Toyota and the #50 Ferrari.

‘Pechito’ López pushed through the rain with devastating speed, but he was 30 seconds behind and made a small mistake by going too far in one of the corners. I have to push and the main doubt is in the strategy. How many more times does the Ferrari have to stop? The theory says that the ‘Pechito’ needs another stop, like the Ferrari 5, the Porsche and the Cadillac. Meanwhile, there is the question of whether #50 should stop again. And there, the rain can help Ferrari because of the lower speed and lower consumption on the track.

Another theater coup: failure of ‘Pechito’

But there is more. With an hour remaining, ‘Pechito’ López spun as he was the strongest attacker in the rain and gave wings to Miguel Molina. After the stops, in that failure, with the Toyota 49 seconds behind the Ferrari, victory could have been decided by seconds but the #50 Ferrari was the favourite. Pechito lost 18 seconds on that mistake that could have been decisive. It could cost a title for Ferrari.

With 49 minutes remaining, Ferrari #50 stopped and they will try not to refuel again. And with 41 to go, López’s #7 Toyota entered. After the stop, Molina’s car was in the lead with only 7 seconds ahead. The #7 Toyota had to push and the question was whether the #50 Ferrari could get to the end without stopping again and whether the ‘Pechito’ could catch up with the Ferrari at a frenetic pace in the wet. But finally, he did it. Not without a few more final scares.

Nielsen, who was in charge of conducting the final relay on a wet track, slipped on one of the curves and touched the wall. But it stayed there. The rain added spice to it, increasing its potency. And despite that, Nielsen, Molina’s partner, held firm. Victory went to Ferrari. History.