Did anyone have a good weeklong rest after watching the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans till the end? The fourth round of the 2024 World Endurance Championship (WEC) brought in all kinds of action, penalty dramas, and harsh-weathered competition expected of the century-old endurance race.

A jam-packed grid with 23 Hypercar (LMH and LMDh), 16 LMP2, and 23 LMGT3 entries meant anyone could reach the top, especially after the four-hour safety car intervention due to the heavy downpour. In the end, the team in red retook the crown of the 92nd running of the famed endurance race.

Ferrari returned to Le Mans with the 499P duo—the #50 and #51 Ferrari AF Corse—taking home P1 and P3, respectively, despite accumulating numerous penalties. A new Ferrari LMH entry in this year’s WEC is the #83 AF Corse, but the prancing horse in yellow ended its run by the 248th lap.

On the LMGT3 side, the 296 GT3 had a lukewarm success with the #55 Vista AF Corse in P8 followed by the #88 GP Racing in P12. The #54 Vista was the first entrant to retire after crashing the barriers of the Dunlop Chicane.

Toyota almost had the Hypercar victory, but the all-black GR010 Hybrid still couldn’t reach the same level of luck as Ferrari. During the warm-up lap, the #7 was caught in a rumble with its sister contender, a Lexus RC F GT3.

The #78 Akkodis ASP suddenly braked in front of Nyck de Vries, damaging both cars including the GR010’s front wing eight minutes before the start. Despite this incident, the rest of the race was smooth sailing for the team, finishing on the podium in P2.

Meanwhile, the #8 experienced a flawless marathon until the latter parts of the 24 hours, starting from a torque wrench mishap costing time in the pits. With two hours left, the #51 Ferrari took Brendon Hartley out of the podium spot after a T-bone that ended in P5.

All eyes were initially set on Porsche as the 963 of #6 Penske Motorsport snagged the pole of Hyperpole qualifying with a 3:24.634. Despite the best efforts of Kévin Estre, its race lead was immediately seized by both Ferraris.

Its #4 brother lost control on the 211st lap, squishing the tire barrier and retiring with about seven hours left. The remaining #5 and #6 finished in P8 and P4, respectively.

On the Hertz Team Jota camp, its crew successfully resurrected the #12 shell after a major shunt in the second free practice right in time for qualifying. Aside from a P8 and P9 (#38) finish, the British team was awarded the Prix Escra for its technical efforts during the weekend.

The LMGT3 class is a homecoming for two brands in La Sarthe: Ford and McLaren.

A successor to the Ford GT LM GTE-Pro, the Mustang GT3 made a promising debut in the hands of Proton Competition finishing in P3 and P4 for the #88 and the #44, respectively. However, the #77 experienced a broken steering rack four hours in, and a long repair job gave them a disappointing but earnest P17 finish.

The 720S GT3 Evo showcased its pace when the #70 Inception Racing smashed the qualifying and Hyperpole sessions, but the team only managed to cross the line in P13. United Autosports represented the papaya colors, but both the #59 and the #95 retired due to mechanical issues at the 19th hour.

As for the returning brands, Aston Martin only arrived with the facelifted Vantage GT3 Evo before its Hypercar debut next year. Unfortunately, the #27 The Heart of Racing went off on the same corner as the #4 Porsche and landed on its roof, causing the second major safety car outing.

After an eight-year absence, the Manthey Racing name came back to the leaderboard with a pair of 911 GT3 R cars. While the #92 Manthey PureRxcing was crowned as the first Hyperpole winner in its class, the #91 Manthey EMA finished as the first LMGT3 winner of Le Mans.

After Chevrolet pulled out of first-party manufacturer support, TF Sport took the helm of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R racing program that Pratt Miller paved for 23 years. The British team still has a long way to go as the #82 and the #81 took home P11 and P15, respectively.

Sticking with General Motors, Cadillac brought its triple V-Series.R squadron back to the French field. However, problems arose after the #3 was left stranded during the second safety car stint. Scott Dixon attempted to jump-start the electric motors, but couldn’t get his yellow machine going by the final four hours.

Soon, the red #311 caught the same Indianapolis bug as it flew sideways into the tire barrier and limped back to the pits. The remaining blue #2 tried to push as hard to maintain its composure and, at some point, top positions but ended in P7.

Hometown heroes Alpine and Peugeot Sport had difficulties racing against time and bad luck. While the updated 9X8 finished the 24 hours, finishing at the cusp of the top 10 wasn’t a good look in front of the home crowd, especially after an unlucky mistake of the #93 during the safety car lap.

The A424 showed promise in straight-line speed, but reliability issues plagued the #35 right before the fifth hour as smoke suddenly bellowed from its rear. The #36 followed suit moments later, marking the first two Hypercar retirements of the race.

Not only did BMW make a return to this year’s LM24 since 2019 with the M8 GTE, but also in the top class since 1999 with the V12 LMR. The M Hybrid V8 and the M4 GT3—both run by Team WRT—started well, but everything changed in the second hour when the #20 Art Car driven by Robin Frijns crashed in the last corner.

As night fell, Dries Vanthoor in the #15 car was swiped by the #83 AF Corse in the tail end of the Mulsanne Straight, losing control and hitting the left-side barrier at high speeds.

Two hours after that crash, Ahmad Al Harthy in the #46 left the pits with fresh tires that weren’t grippy enough to save the rear end coming off the Dunlop Bridge and avoid the wall, effectively ending the run of Valentino Rossi’s team. The sole Bimmer left was the #31, crossing the finish line on the second step of the LMGT3 podium.

Another dual-class participant was Lamborghini with the brand-new SC63 taking its first top-10 finish in the WEC season. Aside from some cornering hiccups, Iron Lynx turned around its disappointing performance with the #63 finishing in P10, while the #19 landed in P13.

Iron Lynx also brought the Huracán GT3 Evo 2 to the fray, with the female-led #85 Iron Dames bagging a P5 after recovering from a nasty but mostly scatheless spin before sundown.

Among the major manufacturers, Isotta Fraschini was the biggest surprise of the LM24 from how a built-from-the-ground-up brand carrying an early 20th-century marque survived its debut.

Despite the consistent pace in the backmarker and P14 ending, everyone was impressed by the lone #11 Tipo 6 LMH-C run by Duqueine Engineering—drawing comparisons with past privateers like Scuderia Glickenhaus and ByKolles Racing.

This roundup still scratched the surface of the 24 Hours of Le Mans experience, missing the pit and driver strategy, the four-hour intermission due to poor conditions, and the countless overtakes and battles that kept us glued to our screens.

If you want to relive the entire race again, the World Endurance Championship will post the full daylong broadcast on its official YouTube channel in the coming months. For those who want to continue the WEC season, its next trip will be the 6 Hours of São Paulo in Interlagos, Brazil, on July 14 (11:30pm, Philippine time).

For all-nighters who itch for another 24-hour race, the Intercontinental GT Challenge will host the Spa 24 Hours in Belgium on June 29-30 (10:30pm, Philippine time).