{"id":34639,"date":"2025-06-18T10:57:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T14:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=34639"},"modified":"2025-06-18T11:16:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T15:16:45","slug":"motown-at-le-mans-ferrari-denies-porsche-penske-cadillac-posts-fastest-lap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/motown-at-le-mans-ferrari-denies-porsche-penske-cadillac-posts-fastest-lap","title":{"rendered":"Motown at Le Mans: Ferrari denies Porsche Penske, Cadillac posts fastest lap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Le Mans, France<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 It was Detroit vs. Everybody in Le Mans, France.<\/p>\n

Motown challenger Cadillac\u2019s V-Series.R Hypercar led the packed, international field to green at the world\u2019s biggest sportscar event, the 93rd annual 24 Hours of Le Mans, but at the checkered flag it was European legends Ferrari and Porsche battling for the win.<\/p>\n

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Le Mans, France – #12 and #38 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars lead the race start from pole. Alastair Staley \/ Drew Gibson Photography, Cadillac<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Ferrari has dominated the World Endurance Championship\u2019s top-tier Hypercar class in Europe this year and the Italian marque continued that run with an impressive Le Mans showing, taking three of the top four spots. Only the second-place Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar was a match for the Ferrari 499P\u2019s pace, but in the end the Italian make denied Porsche its 20th Le Mans \u2014 and Detroit racing legend Roger Penske his first Le Mans win, one of the few trophies that has eluded him.<\/p>\n

Cadillac\u2019s V8-powered Team JOTA dynamic duo finished fourth and seventh after the fourth-placed, #50 Ferrari was disqualified post-race for a wing infraction..<\/p>\n

Detroit also brought the V-8 thunder in the production-based LMGT3 class, but Porsche and Ferrari were not to be denied there as well. The #92 Porsche 911 GT3 topped the class while the #21 Ferrari 296 was runner-up. The #81 TF Sport Chevy Corvette Z06 filled out the podium with a strong third-place finish.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n
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The overall winning #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P Hypercar with drivers Phil Hanson (Great Britain), Robert Kubica (Poland), and Yifei Ye (China) ride down pit lane toward the podium with the checkered flag as fans mob the car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France, on Sunday June 15, 2025. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAmazing result,\u201d said #81 Corvette driver Charlie Eastwood. \u201cNot one thing went wrong. Every pit stop was perfect, not a single scratch on the car for 24 hours. We didn\u2019t have the pace (of the Porsche-Ferrari) but we ended up on the podium because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Motown muscle brought an unprecedented entry to France with Cadillac fielding four cars (two of which failed to finish) in the 62-car field. Three Corvettes and two Ford Mustangs joined the LMGT3 class.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the most competitive Le Mans I\u2019ve seen,\u201d said five-time Le Mans champion Oliver Gavin, who has raced here for Corvette 18 times since 2000. \u201cThe competition in the Hypercar class between manufacturers is unprecedented.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hypercar<\/p>\n

Hypercar and overall first place winners #83 AF Corse drivers Phil Hanson (GBR), Robert Kubica (POL), and Yifei Ye (CHN) hold up their trophies at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France on June 15, 2025.<\/em><\/div>\n

Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n

The competitive hype attracted a Le Mans record 350,000 people \u2014 one of the biggest motorsports events in the world, rivaling the Indy 500\u2019s attendance \u2014 to this small French city. They witnessed a war between a who\u2019s who of world performance brands \u2014 including Cadillac, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, BMW, Aston Martin, Porsche, Peugeot and Alpine.<\/p>\n

Race start at 4 p.m. Saturday portended anything but a Ferrari runaway. Or a challenge from the #6 Porsche.<\/p>\n

Cadillac had locked out the front row with a brilliant qualifying effort on Thursday from the #12 and #38 Team JOTA pair. Alex Lynn put the #12 V-Series.R on pole with a 3.23.2 lap around the 8.5-mile circuit for Cadillac. The Le Mans pole was a first for Caddy \u2014 75 years after the brand first raced here in 1950. Teammate Earl Bamber was second-fastest \u2014 just a tenth of a second slower \u2014 nipping the #4 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar.<\/p>\n