Alpine podium, Isotta Fraschini retirement, thrilling final: the highlights of the 2024 WEC season

The season has been far from easy. Although there are only eight rounds in the World Endurance Championship, all the races have put a strain on the cars and the teams. And in their battles, the drivers have provided magnificent duels. But they have also offered surprising results. And sometimes, motorsport has, as often, shown itself to be cruel.

New crazy 24 Hours of Le Mans

This is the most important race of the season. Every year, more than 300,000 people come to Sarthe to attend one of the most legendary events in sports in general. For this 101st year, the manufacturers were present in large numbers. Twenty cars were battling for the ultimate victory.

But as often, Porsche, Ferrari, and Toyota were the favorites. After a rather calm start to the race, the rain came to shuffle the cards. The night was endless with a safety car omnipresent. But in the early morning, it faded to release the thousands of horses trapped behind.

This offered an exceptional show with shots of four cars side by side. From mid-morning to the finish, the audience was kept on the edge of their seats for a dream final. Toyota and Ferrari engaged in a phenomenal battle. Different strategies continued to spice up the end of these 24 Hours.

With an almost empty tank, the red car was on its way to securing a second consecutive success in the Le Mans classic. But would the little fuel remaining be enough to reach the finish line? After a crazy suspense, car #50 managed to stay on course and win, dealing a major blow to the others.

Alpine and its cars going up in smoke

These 24 Hours of Le Mans were also marked by the double retirement of Alpine, 45 minutes apart, due to an engine failure. The fate of the two blue cars broke the hearts of many enthusiasts.

The brand used this tragic event to bounce back and come back stronger. After a very good race in Austin, the A424 got its first podium in Fuji and a fourth position in Bahrain. This proves that this Hypercar has what it takes and that it was well born.

Disappointments Isotta Fraschini and Lamborghini

These two manufacturers were expected. Not for their performance, but to bring even more diversity to an already well-stocked field. But the two Hypercars did not make a sensation. Apart from their beauty, it must be said, they were far behind in terms of speed and race pace.

The Milan-based team actually threw in the towel during the season, and it’s not certain that we’ll see them on the grid next season. As for Lamborghini, the SC63 was struggling significantly and eventually retired in Bahrain. With a rather poor level of performance, the Italian manufacturer could take a sabbatical year to refine its project and come back even stronger in 2026. At least, if the ACO and the FIA allow it.

The realization of Porsche

A little further up in the hierarchy, in 2023, the Stuttgart manufacturer found the user manual for its 963 to get everyone on board from the start of the championship. The cars from Roger Penske and also the Jota that triumphed at Spa, dominated the season.

Except for Bahrain’s misstep, Porsche’s season is one to show off to everyone. Only the constructor’s title escapes the brand. The #6 was crowned among the drivers. And the #12 from the Jota team won the Hypercar World Cup teams’ crown.

In GT3, the level was also very high, since the #92 Manthey Pure Racing car was crowned in one race before the end and the sister car is in second place. So that’s three out of four titles for Porsche, which makes endurance its private hunting ground.

The beginning of something for Peugeot?

Far from the beginning of the season with their 9X8 2024 version, the Lionesses have progressed throughout the races to gradually enter the top half of the table. If the performance hasn’t always been there, the French strategists have helped achieve very good results as in Fuji or in Bahrain.

All that’s left is to fully understand this Hypercar to compete with the best teams next year. If the project was on hold due to the results, Peugeot has already set a date for the 2025 championship opening.

Effective Iron Ladies but touched by bad luck.

They acted as the favorites. After moving to Lamborghini this season, the Iron Dames were challenged by a pink car that was not as effective as the Porsche from last year. This did not prevent them from achieving good results, including a pole position in Spa and Interlagos.

But several times, they have been unlucky. At Le Mans, they were hit, which damaged the GT3 #85. In Brazil, they retired due to a mechanical problem when a podium or even a victory was possible. Finally, in Bahrain, they were penalized with a drive-through penalty when, once again, victory was within reach.

Next season, the crew should change as Sarah Bovy was promoted to Silver driver, which means the Roses had to sign a Bronze driver. This was done with Célia Martin, replacing Rahel Frey.

The crew could go back to Porsche. The car could be operated by Manthey Racing, a well-known and respected structure in the world of endurance racing. And who has managed to achieve a certain number of successes. So, if we believe all these parameters, it should go very quickly.

No race is the same

One of the major strengths of the World Endurance Championship is to allow all teams to perform at one point or another. Even Full Course Yellow interventions or safety car deployments do not penalize the leaders and help maintain the hierarchy intact. At least as such.

With the different strategies adopted by each, this allows the deck to be reshuffled, as we saw in Bahrain or Fuji. With an equal level of performance, each brand was able to compete for a place on the podium. For example, in Sakhir, the first six places were occupied by six different brands – seven if we count the disqualified Ferrari.