{"id":32886,"date":"2024-06-24T09:27:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T13:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=32886"},"modified":"2024-06-24T09:27:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T13:27:34","slug":"detroit-at-le-mans-ferrari-denies-penske-but-mustang-wows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/detroit-at-le-mans-ferrari-denies-penske-but-mustang-wows","title":{"rendered":"Detroit at Le Mans: Ferrari denies Penske, but Mustang wows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Le Mans, France<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Detroit racing brands descended on the 24 Hours of Le Mans to take on the world\u2019s elite, but came up just shy of their quest Sunday for the most coveted trophy in international auto racing.<\/p>\n

In appalling, wet conditions, Ferrari denied Roger Penske his first Le Mans victory in the top, Hypercar class, but Ford Mustang made an impressive Le Mans debut in the GT3 class, finishing 3rd and 4th behind Porsche and BMW competitors. Ferrari\u2019s Hypercar win also denied Penske\u2019s partner, Porsche, its 20th Le Mans victory, but the team made big strides over its 2023 Hypercar debut with a high 4th place finish the best of its three entries.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The sweet stand of success: The #88 Proton Competition team of Giorgio Roda, Mikkel Pedersen and Dennis Olsen savor their third-place finish in the GT3 class on the podium with Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News<\/em><\/figure>\n

Cadillac also entered three cars in the Hypercar category and ran at the front of the field for long stretches \u2014 eventually dropping to seventh at race end. Chevy Corvette, in its GT3 debut, finished 11th and 15th.<\/p>\n

Despite the weather, the 92nd running of Le Mans attracted a massive, sellout crowd of 329,000 people \u2014 energized by the close competition between the world\u2019s most accomplished performance brands \u2014 over the two-day race for sportscar glory. In addition to Penske\u2019s quest for Le Mans immortality, Cadillac and Ford used the race to publicize new products on offer to European customers: the Ford Mustang GTD and Cadillac Lyriq\/Optiq electric cars.<\/p>\n

If Penske didn\u2019t get the chance to climb the Le Mans podium, Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. did \u2014 celebrating with his team of third-place drivers in the #88 Mustang GT3.<\/p>\n

\"Detroit<\/p>\n

Detroit front row: GM CEO Mary Barra and Roger Penske hang out together by the pole-sitting Porsche Penske on the grid of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The #3 Cadillac qualified next to the Porsche. Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n

The Mustang was the surprise of the race, challenging the favored Porsche, BMW and pole-sitting McLaren teams for the win. Early contender #77 Mustang fell by the wayside, but the #88 and #44 cars took up the baton and battled all night long through rainy conditions that got so difficult that the pace car was deployed under the yellow flag for three hours because the 8.5-mile track got so dicey.<\/p>\n

Both the Mustangs and Cadillacs featured naturally-aspirated V-8s, and their distinctive, Motown tune could be heard around the track around the clock.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n
The #88 Mustang finished a strong third during a rain-soaked 24 Hours of Le Mans. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Cadillac continued to prove that it belongs in international racing after futile efforts at Le Mans in 1950 and 2001-03. The #3 Cadillac qualified on the front row and led the field to green alongside the #6 Porsche Penske at 4 p.m. Saturday. In the infield, meanwhile, European fans swarmed the Cadillac display that featured the brand’s first EVs available in Europe.<\/p>\n

For the second year in a row, Cadillac was a contender for the podium in the field of 23 Hypercars \u2014 faltering only as conditions made for tricky judgment calls on when to switch from dry to wet tires. With a veteran sportscar driver lineup complemented by IndyCar aces Alex Palou and Scott Dixon, the Caddys consistently challenged for the lead in the early hours and led 61 of 311 laps.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n
The #2 Cadillac was a contender for much of the race before finishing seventh. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News<\/em><\/figure>\n

Palou himself led multiple laps in the #2 Cadillac into Sunday afternoon before dropping to 7th<\/sup>\u00a0at the finish.<\/p>\n

“It was a lot of fun till the end just because of that hope of trying to get the win but failing at the end,\u201d Palou said. \u201cIt was a great experience the first time doing Le Mans with Cadillac. It was actually the first time I drove in the rain at night. It was a first time for many things this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The #311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, was not so lucky, clouting the wall in the treacherous conditions. And the #3 car suffered an oil leak and had to retire.<\/p>\n

The TF Sport Corvette team was more resilient, soldiering to the end in 11th and 15th place in the GT3 class.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m happy to get to the end of the race,\u201d said driver Charlie Eastwood of the #81 Corvette. \u201cIt threw close to everything at us, especially with the weather and conditions. There were a lot of tricky stints. There wasn\u2019t a single stint in full dry conditions, which I can\u2019t believe in a 24-hour race.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe #81 Corvette Z06 finished 11th in the GT3 class. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News<\/em><\/figure>\n

Porsche Penske improve mightily on its disappointing 2023 debut by qualifying on pole and finishing 4th and 6th. Roger Penske\u2019s first Le Mams win have to wait another year, however \u2014 as will Porsche\u2019s quest for a 20th Le Mans.<\/p>\n

\u201cA very rainy 24 Hours of Le Mans has come to an end,\u201d said Team Penske’s Jonathan Diuguid, managing director of Porsche Penske Motorsport. \u201cWe really wanted to challenge Ferrari and Toyota for victory. The best position for our #6 is fourth place. We had set ourselves higher goals. Still, things went much better than last year.”<\/p>\n

Ferrari made its own history with the #50 team of Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina bringing home the Italian brand\u2019s 40th Le Mans victory with a 14-second win over Toyota.<\/p>\n

The #6 Porsche put on the best show in the final stages as it closed on the third-place #51 Ferrari, bidding for a podium finish. The Ferrari held off the Porsche Penske sportscar for third after Porsche ace Laurens Vanthoor whittled the gap to just over a second.<\/p>\n

With common, international racing rules and expanding foreign market opportunities, all four Detroit brands will be back for 2025.<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Le Mans, France\u00a0\u2014 Detroit racing brands descended on the 24 Hours of Le Mans to take on the world\u2019s elite, but came up just shy of their quest Sunday for the most coveted trophy in international auto racing. In appalling, wet conditions, Ferrari denied Roger Penske his first Le Mans victory in the top, Hypercar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32886"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32887,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32886\/revisions\/32887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}