Which class did Ferrari win at Le Mans 24 hours?

IN 1949 Luigi Chinetti and Lord Selsdon in a Ferrari 166 MM barchetta handed Ferrari its first 24 Hours of Le Mans victory. Since then the “Scuderia” has chalked up eight more overall wins, as well as 26 class wins, in the legendary endurance race. Those class wins stats have just risen one more.

At the 2019 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans the Ferrari 488 GTE fielded by AF Corse — and driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Daniel Serra — scored the 27th class victory for Ferrari as the car topped the GTE-Pro class. This marked the first time the 488 GTE won in GTE-Pro.

The Ferrari and AF Corse teams’ last podium finish in Le Mans was in 2014. Toni Vilander, Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni, driving a 488 GTE, scored this in the GTE-Am class.

This year the No. 71 and No. 51 AF Corse 488 GTEs gained ground from the start, with the No. 51 car soon coming close to the leaders. Calado even led the class for a few laps four hours into the race,and battled constantly with three Porsches and a Chevrolet.

As evening fell the No. 71 suffered some setbacks, including a penalty and an unlucky pit stop. Amechanical issue forced the Ferrari to retire shortly after 10 hours of racing.

The No. 51 benefitted from sound strategic planning, and in the final three hours looked set to win the race. It crossed the line 60 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

Meanwhile, the Ferrari 488 GTEs of the three teams racing in the GTE-Am division — JMWMotorsport, Scuderia Corsa/WeatherTech Racing and Clearwater Racing — continuously challenged the other teams during the entire race. At the checkered flag, JMW Motorsport, the class winner 2017, earned a podium finish.