Michelin vs Dunlop
Dunlop still leads the tally of overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with 34 wins, their last though was in 1991 with Mazda and since then Michelin has dominated winning all bar three races since then (Goodyear took wins in 1994, 1996 and 1997).
Prior to 1992, Michelin had won only three times, in 1923 at the very first 24 Hours, 1978 with Alpine and 1989 with Sauber. Recent times though have seen the gap close remorselessly and in 2024, unless every Hypercar retires, Michelin will hit 32 overall wins!
Goodyear meanwhile has 14 wins, Englebert 5, Firestone 3, Pirelli 2, Continental 1, Avon 1 and Rapson 1.
Ferrari
Ferrari sit on 10 wins overall after their 2023 triumph, 58 years after their previous overall triumph and 50 years after their previous last factory effort in the top class, still third in the tally of most successful marques behind Porsche (19) and Audi (13).
They also have 29 class wins at Le Mans so another in 2024 would hit 30 – and 40 wins overall!
Porsche
Porsche meanwhile sits on the cusp of a record-breaking (albeit their own record!) 20 overall wins.
And with a pair of Porsche 963s in the hands of the Championship-leading Porsche Penske Motorsport factory effort, another pair in the hands of the 2024 race-winning Hertz Team Jota squad and a fifth with the increasingly impressive Proton Competition crew, they have no fewer than five bullets in their fast-firing gun!
Top Class Debutants
Whilst it’s no surprise that Isotta Fraschini will feature at Le Mans for the first time, 2024 also sees the long awaited top-class debut of fellow Italian marque Lamborghini.
The pair of SC63 Hypercars may not feature in many people’s list of favourites for the win, but Lamborghini is yet another famous marque to see the opportunities that exist in 21st-century sportscar racing!
