“The approach from our side was to run with low risk. I wanted to learn from it, finish the race, and a podium would have been a bonus. I didn’t expect to win, and from the first lap the car was superb. The last hour was super tense. I have never been so stressed in all my life. The amount of people here, the red around the circuit is really something special and I feel very appreciative of being part of this programme. I have won it twice with GT, but there is something different about winning it outright, and I am so happy to be part of it.”
Toyota let Le Mans grip slip
Ferrari’s victory, during the Centenary of the first running of the race, prevented Toyota from matching the Italian brand’s run of six straight wins between 1960 and 1965. The Japanese manufacturer lost the No 7 car during Saturday night when Kamui Kobayashi slowed for an accident ahead and was hit from behind by two cars.
The sister car of Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Hirakawa had picked up damage and engine temperatures were going high, but the team was able to repair the car at the next stop. However, they were not able to keep pace with the Ferrari, and admitted that they were over-driving the car trying to keep up.
Hirakawa was given the order to chase down the Ferrari in the final two hours, but a driving error put him into the barriers and relieved the pressure on Pier Guidi who took the flag.
Completing the podium were Englishmen Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook, who shared their Cadillac with New Zealander Earl Bamber.
2023 Le Mans 24 Hours results
Overall classification
1. Ferrari AF Corse (James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi), Hypercar – 342 laps
2. Toyota Gazoo Racing (Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa), Hypercar +1:21.793
3. Cadillac Racing (Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Richard Westbrook), Hypercar + 1 lap
4. Cadillac Racing (Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, Scott Dixon), Hypercar + 2 laps
5. Ferrari AF Corse (Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen), Hypercar + 5 laps
6. Glickenhaus Racing (Romain Dumas, Olivier Pla, Ryan Briscoe), Hypercar + 7 laps
7. Glickenhaus Racing (Nathanael Berthon, Esteban Gutierrez, Franck Mailleux), Hypercar + 9 laps
8. Peugeot TotalEnergies (Paul Di Resta, Mikkel Jensen, Jean-Eric Vergne), Hypercar + 12 laps
9. Porsche Penske Motorsport (Dane Cameron, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki), Hypercar + 13 laps
10. Inter Europol Competition (Albert Costa, Fabio Scherer, Jakub Smiechowski), LMP2 + 14 laps
LMP2 results
1. Inter Europol Competition (Albert Costa, Fabio Scherer, Jakub Smiechowski) + 14 laps
2. Team WRT (Rui Andrade, Louis Deletraz, Robert Kubica) + 14 laps
3. Duqueine Team (Neel Jani, Rene Binder, Nicolas Pino) + 15 laps
4. Alpine Elf Team (Matthieu Vaxiviere, Julien Canal, Charles Milesi) + 15 laps
5. Team WRT (Sean Galael, Ferdinand Habsburg, Robin Frijns) + 15 laps
6. IDEC Sport (Paul-Loup Chatin, Laurents Horr, Paul Lafargue) + 15 laps
7. Vector Sport (Gabriel Aubry, Ryan Cullen, Matthias Kaiser) + 17 laps
8. United Autosports (Tom Blomqvist, Oliver Jarvis, Josh Pierson) + 19 laps
9. Alpine Elf Team (Olli Caldwell, Andre Negrao, Memo Rojas) + 20 laps
10. Algarve Pro Racing (James Allen, Colin Braun, George Kurtz) + 20 laps
GTE Am results
1. Corvette Racing (Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating, Nicholas Verrone) + 29 laps
2. Ort by TF (Ahmad Al Harthy, Michael Dinan, Charles Eastwood) +30 laps
3. GR Racing (Benjamin Barker, Roccardo Pera, Michael Wainwright) +30 laps
4. Iron Dames (Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting) +30 laps
5. AF Corse (Francesco Castellacci, Thomas Flohr, Davide Rigon) +30 laps
6. Northwest AMR (Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli, Alex Riberas) +32 laps
7. Project 1 – AO (Matteo Cairoli, PJ Hyett, Gunnas Jeannette) +33 laps
8. Walkenhorst Motorsport (Andrew Haryanto, Chandler Hull, Jeff Segal) +35 laps
9. Kessel Racing (Kei Cozzolino, Yorikatsu Tsujiko, Naoki Yokomizo) +39 laps
10. Kessel Racing (Scott Huffaker, Takeshi Kimura, Daniel Serra) +88 laps
