Le Mans 2023 | 8 talking points

1. Ferrari vs Toyota at Le Mans

The build-up was dominated by Toyota’s understandably cool response to a Balance of Performance change, announced by surprise just nine days before the race. While Ferrari’s 499P gained 24kg, the GR010 Hybrid’s extra 37kg vexed Toyota’s bosses – including the main man, Akio Toyoda, who made a cheeky reference to the move in the official ACO press conference the day before the race.

But if the tweak was designed to spice up the race, you’d have to say it worked. From the moment basketball star LeBron James dropped the Tricolore at 4pm on Saturday the action was incessant and frenetic.

Amazingly, all five of the big car makers – Ferrari, Toyota, Cadillac, Porsche and Peugeot – took turns at the front of the field, as a series of thrilling dogfights kept the 300,000-strong crown enthralled. But this race will be best remembered for the epic battle between the #51 Ferrari and the #8 Toyota that raged pretty much all race, but most specifically from the 11^th hour once this crazy race finally started to take some shape we could make sense of.

Come Sunday morning it appeared the Ferrari, driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and Briton James Calado, had the crucial edge as front floor damage to the Toyota robbed it of crucial downforce. A change of nose didn’t solve the problem and the extra time the pitstop took cost the #8 the lead.

The Ferrari opened a gap of nearly a minute, but in the 19th-hour trouble restarting the 499P from a pitstop handed the lead back to Sébastien Buemi, who was sharing with Kiwi Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa. An inspired Pier Guidi charged onto Buemi’s tail to pass on the Mulsanne after the Swiss had found himself balked by traffic.

The gap between the pair ebbed and flowed amid further slow zone interruptions until the race entered its closing stages. 

2. Hirakawa drops the ball for Toyota

Toyota chose to give Hirakawa, it’s most inexperienced driver, responsibility for chasing the Ferrari for the victory. He was around 10 seconds behind the 499P when, with an hour and a quarter to go, it all went horribly wrong for the Japanese.

Hirakawa lost control under braking at Arnage, turned left into the barrier and caused damage to the front and rear of the GR010 Hybrid. The 29-year-old made it back to the pits for rapid repairs and returned to the circuit still safe in second place – but with all realistic hope of victory now gone. The defeat was bitter for Toyota.

Pier Guidi was given the honour of delivering the historic victory. More trouble restarting from the final pitstop with little more than 20 minutes to go caused Ferrari hearts to flutter. But the Italian calmly pulled away after a pause to begin his final stint to victory.

3. History for Ferrari – and Calado

This win is undoubtedly of huge significance to all who love motorsport. It marked the 10^th win for Ferrari at Le Mans, exactly 50 years since it last sent a works team to win the great race. And it was also the first overall Le Mans victory for the Prancing Horse since Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory won in a NART 250 LM way back in 1965.

There is also some remarkable history for 33-year-old Calado to consider, when he gets a quiet moment. He is only the second British racing driver to win Le Mans overall for Ferrari, achieving a feat even the great John Surtees couldn’t quite manage. The other British winner? Peter Mitchell-Thomson, also known as Lord Selsdon of Croydon, who shared Ferrari’s first Le Mans win with Luigi Chinetti way back in 1949. Except for Mitchell-Thomson only drove a single stint in the 166 MM, for less than an hour, as Chinetti stepped up for one of the great Le Mans performances. Calado worked a tad harder for his win on Sunday.

4. Cadillac flies the stars ’n stripes at Le Mans

American automotive giant Cadillac was another making a big return to Le Mans in this new Hypercar era, and the commitment paid off as the blue #2 Chip Ganassi Racing entry driven by Kiwi Earl Bamber and Brits Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook enjoyed a relatively trouble-free run to score a podium – ensuring a trio of different makes in the top three.

Its sister #3 entry had a more troubled race after Sébastien Bourdais was a victim of a rear-end collision in one of Le Mans’ so-called ‘slow zone’ cautions, then team-mate Scott Dixon was among a number of cars to be caught out by a sudden deluge at the Porsche Curves on Saturday evening. 

But despite its battle scars, the car they shared with Renger van der Zande climbed back into contention to finish fourth.

The third Caddy, run by Action Express, barely featured at all as Briton Jack Aitken lost control in treacherous conditions on the opening lap and nosed his V-Series.R into the barrier on the exit of the Mulsanne’s first chicane. The repairs lost the car 16 laps, the heartbroken Aitken suffering another off around Sunday lunchtime.

5. Porsche overshadowed and disappointed

Porsche’s hopes of a record-extending 20^th Le Mans win briefly looked a possibility as all three Penske-run cars mixed it with the Toyotas and Ferraris early on. But its return to the top class ended in anti-climax. A fuel pressure problem forced out the #75 963 which had briefly led at half-distance, while the other two Penske cars hit trouble.

The #5 driven by Dane Cameron, Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowiecki looked set to salvage sixth place, only for Christensen to slow in the final half-hour. He was classified an underwhelming ninth.

6. Jota's Chinese ace stars – then crashes

The most impressive Porsche performance was delivered by British customer team Jota. Following an early safety car interruption that lasted an hour and half because of inconsistent weather conditions, rising star Yifei Ye stormed to the front – the Hertz-sponsored car making a clean break as incredible dices continued to play out behind him. 

But the Chinese driver then overcooked it and spoilt his great work with a side-on crash in the Porsche Curves. Ye managed to make it back to the pits for repairs, but the incident lost Jota four laps and pushed it out of contention. Further incidents forced the team to be logged among the 21 retirements in a race of high attrition.

7. Peugeot better than expected

One of the biggest surprises was the form of Peugeot’s innovative 9X8, which had struggled for pace and reliability in the World Endurance Championship rounds prior to Le Mans. But at La Sarthe the car was fully in the mix, the #94 entry assuming the lead on two occasions, only for American Gustavo Menezes to crash heavily at the first chicane on the Mulsanne while out front in the 12^th hour. The shunt resulted in heavy front-end damage. 

Its sister #93 entry was on the backfoot from the fourth hour when Jean-Eric Vergne slid off at Mulsanne corner while circulating behind the safety car. But he and his teammates Paul di Resta and Mikkel Jensen put in a fine recovery and looked set to score a respectable fifth until a lengthy garage visit in the 22^nd hour scuppered their prospects. The car dropped to eighth, behind the two Glickenhaus 007s. 

8. Button’s Garage 56 NASCAR Camaro captures hearts

Final word to the fan-favourite ‘Garage 56’ NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro that rumbled to a strong (and noisy) performance driven by 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button, seven-time NASCAR king Jimmie Johnson and 2010 Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller. The Camaro qualified and raced among the GTE Am frontrunners, only for late troubles to send the big car to the Hendrick Motorsports garage. Still, the result wasn’t really the point of this incongruous novelty entry. The three drivers had a blast as they left the fans’ ears ringing thanks to the din made by the glorious small-block Chevy V8.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images