Toyota Gazoo Racing took victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the 6 hours of Monza with the #7 car driven by Mike Conway Komui Kobayashi and Jose Lopez.

Securing an impressive second place was the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari 499P Hypercar, piloted by Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen, and Miguel Molina. They put up a fierce fight and demonstrated their capabilities throughout the race.

The No. 93 Peugeot 9X8, driven by Jean-Eric Vergne, Paul Di Resta, and Mikkel Jensen, secured a well-deserved third place, running at the front for much of the race.

FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP MONZA: PREVIEW | QUALIFYING | RACE

HYPERCAR

The race started with Mike Conway in the No.7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar leading the way, followed by Miguel Molina in the No.50 Ferrari AF Corse 499 Hypercar and Mikkel Jensen in the No.93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8.

Chaos ensued almost immediately when Sebastian Buemi in the #8 Toyota collided with Antonio Giovinazzu in the #51 Ferrari into the first chicane. The Ferrari was spun around in front of the massed ranks of the Tifosi and as the field scattered around it there was no option but to restart at the back of the pack.

Buemi was also penalized for the incident, and he was forced to serve a 60-second stop-and-go penalty. This dropped the points leader back to the rear of the Hypercar field and a lap down.

 

After the start the first hour of the race was relatively uneventful, with the #7 Toyota and #50 Ferrari leading the way. However, the safety car was deployed shortly before the end of the hour after a crash involving several cars.

When the safety car was withdrawn, Jensen in the Peugeot made a sensational move to overtake Conway and take the lead. Conway was unable to respond and dropped back to third place.

The Hypercar category was effectively split at this point, with several cars pitting under the safety car to go off-strategy. This included the Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963, which inherited the lead when the leaders pitted just after the first hour.

The lead changed hands several times in the second hour of the race, with the Hertz Team Jota Porsche, the No.6 Porsche Penske and the No.51 Ferrari all taking turns at the front.

After two hours of racing, Kevin Estre in the No.6 Porsche Penske was in the lead, ahead of the No.51 AF Corse, Hertz Team Jota Porsche and the similar Proton Competition Porsche 963 Hypercar.

The No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Jose-Maria Lopez and Mike Conway led the race for most of the third and fourth hours. Lopez overtook the No.50 Ferrari AF Corse of Nicklas Nielsen in the third hour to take the lead, and then opened up a 45-second lead over the sister Ferrari.

However, the No.51 Ferrari of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi jumped the sister Ferrari just before the fifth hour arrived. Calado put in a strong stint and was able to close the gap to Lopez and Conway.

Finishing in fourth position was the No.5 Porsche Penske of Felipe Nasr and Earl Bamber. The No.93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 of Paul di Resta and Mikkel Jensen was in fifth place, followed by the No.6 Porsche Penske of Dane Cameron and Timo Bernhard in sixth place.

The No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Brendon Hartley and Sebastien Buemi following their early incident were able to recover to seventh place.

 

The No.99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 of Neel Jani and Michael Christensen led briefly during the pit stop cycle-throughs at the end of the third hour, but they were unable to maintain their lead.

Glickenhaus Racing were running well in ninth place, with Oliver Pla, Nathanael Berthon and Romain Dumas sharing driving duties. Berthon completed the majority of the middle portion of the race and ran as high as fourth at one stage.

Cadillac Racing were running in 10th place, but they received a penalty for a pit stop infraction earlier in the race.

The Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 fell back after a steering related issue in the third hour. However, the team were able to fix the issue and the car returned to action albeit in 11th position in Hypercar.

Floyd Vanwall were running in 12th place ahead of the No.94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 which had a lengthy pit stop in the third hour after a technical issue.

Meanwhile, the No. 6 Porsche Penske car faced challenges and was given a drive-through penalty on the penultimate lap. It ultimately finished in seventh position, driven by Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, and Laurens Vanthoor.

Glickenhaus Racing delivered a solid performance, securing a commendable eighth position. They displayed excellent strategy and ran as high as fourth during the race.

The No. 2 Cadillac Racing entry, driven by Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber, and Richard Westbrook, secured the tenth position, with their timings impacted by an emergency pit stop for fuel.

The No. 94 Peugeot TotalEnergies entry claimed the eleventh position, closely followed by the Floyd Vanwall Racing Team, with Peugeot overtaking the No. 4 Vanwall Vandervell 680 on the final lap.

LMP2

The race started with the No.28 Jota Oreca-Gibson leading the way, followed by the No.22 United Autosports car of Giedo van der Garde and the No.23 United Autosports car of Ben Hanley.

Van der Garde made a strong start and quickly built up a lead over the other two cars. He held the lead until the first pit stop, when he handed over to Joshua Pierson.

Pierson continued to drive well and extended the lead of the No.22 car. However, he was challenged by Frederick Lubin in the No.23 United Autosports car, who had taken over from Hanley.

Lubin made a number of attempts to overtake Pierson, but he was unable to do so. The two cars remained close together until the second round of pit stops, when Lubin emerged ahead.

However, Pierson was able to regain the lead after the third round of pit stops. He held on to the lead for the rest of the hour, and the No.22 United Autosports car finished the hour in first place.

The No.23 United Autosports car finished second, with the No.31 Team WRT car in third place. The No.63 Prema Oreca-Gibson finished the hour in fourth place, but was later penalized for the incident with the Vector Sport car.

No.23 United Autosports asserted their authority in the LMP2 race as Joshua Pierson and later Oliver Jarvis built significant leads over their competitors. Giedo van der Garde joined the battle when he took over the No.23 car, fighting against the No.31 Team WRT Oreca-Gibson and the Jota car for the lead.

At the four-hour mark, the No.23 United Autosports car held a slim 1.2-second lead over the Ferdinand Habsburg-driven WRT car, with the Jota car piloted by Oliver Rasmussen not far behind.

However, the sister No.22 United Autosports car encountered a setback when an incident occurred at the first Lesmo corner. Phil Hanson and Luis Perez Companc in the No.83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari spun after making contact with each other. The incident was deemed a racing incident, but it resulted in the No.22 car losing positions.

As the third hour commenced, a second Safety Car was deployed following a collision between the No.9 Prema and No.10 Vector Sport LMP2 cars. Gabriel Aubry’s car ended up in the barriers at Lesmo 1 and was declared a retirement. Bent Viscaal, involved in the incident, received a 60-second stop/go penalty as a consequence.

LMGTE Am

The race started with the Iron Dames in the pink Porsche 911 RSR-19 leading the way, followed by the No.83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and the No.33 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.

Bovy made a strong start and quickly built up a lead over the other two cars. She held the lead for the first hour, and extended her advantage over the No.83 Ferrari.

The No.33 Corvette Racing made a charge through the field in the second hour, and moved into second place. However, they were unable to catch the Iron Dames car.

A safety car period was called in the third hour, which bunched the field up. The ORT by TF Sport Aston Martin took advantage of the safety car period to take the lead.

However, the Iron Dames car regained the lead after the second round of pit stops. Bovy continued to drive well and extended her lead over the other cars.

The Iron Dames car finished the hour in first place, with the No.83 Ferrari in second place and the No.33 Corvette Racing in third place. The ORT by TF Sport Aston Martin fell back to fourth place, but was still well-placed in the championship.

The LMGTE Am category continued to see a significant reshuffling of positions throughout the race. The GR Racing-run Porsche 911 RSR-19 made a strong push to the front after Riccardo Pera took over from Michael Wainwright in the second hour, propelling them into the lead.

Pera held the lead for a substantial portion of the race, battling against Mikkel Pedersen in the No.77 Dempsey Proton Porsche 911 RSR-19 for the top spot.

Meanwhile, the No.33 Corvette driven by Nicolas Varrone took over the cockpit from Ben Keating and secured third place. Varrone’s performance was noteworthy as he surpassed the previous leaders, the Iron Dames Porsche, to secure third position. Their strong performance in the race and throughout the season saw them secure the LMGTE Am championship with two rounds remaining.

However, just before the fifth hour approached, the top three cars were tightly packed together, engaged in a fierce battle for positions. As the clock ticked to the four-hour mark, Varrone managed to overtake Pera and snatch the lead.

The #54 AF Corse Ferrari faced a moment of disaster when Thomas Flohr stopped the car at the exit of the first chicane, losing a lap before getting back into the race with Davide Rigon taking over the driving duties.

There was also drama involving the #21 AF Corse Ferrari and the #60 Kessel Racing Ferrari, as they collided at Lesmo 1, triggering a full course yellow period. The incident was deemed a racing incident, and no penalties were assigned.

Regrettably, the No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche encountered issues and retired from the race after stopping on track during the fifth hour.

 

 
 

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