At the end of 24 hours of racing Kazuki Nakajima, Fernando Alonso and Sebastien Buemi took the unique accolade of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice in one season and becoming the 2018/19 FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Champions.
Kazuki Nakajima had the honour of taking the chequered flag in the no8 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050-Hybrid, finishing 16 seconds ahead of the no7 Toyota of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez, which had been leading the race with one hour to go. However a puncture forced Lopez to pit for a new tyre, which allowed the no8 Toyota to take the lead and the victory.
The no11 SMP Racing BR01-AER took the final podium spot with Stoffel Vandoorne finishing three laps ahead of the no3 Rebellion Racing R13 of Bruno Senna and six laps behind the two Toyotas.
LMGTE Pro: Victory for Ferrari; World Crown for Porsche Drivers
Outgoing LMGTE World Champions James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi, along with Daniel Serra, celebrated a hard fought win in the no51 AF Corse Ferrari in the LMGTE Pro category that featured 17 cars and six manufacturers. The Ferrari 488 GTE Evo finished 49 seconds ahead of the no91 Porsche 911 RSR of Gianmaria Bruni.
However it was Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen who were celebrating winning the FIA World Endurance GT Drivers Championship despite finishing 10th in class after a race of incidents and a broken exhaust manifold that delayed the no92 Porsche 911 RSR.
LMP2: Championship Battle Goes Down to the Wire
The two main protagonists in the LMP2 title race entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans split by just four points with the no38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca leading the no36 Signatech Alpine Matmut A470. However in the race it was the Signatech Alpine which finished a lap ahead of their rivals to claim the title and the class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Pierre Thiriet, Andre Negrao and Nicolas Lapierre, who was celebrating his fourth class win at Le Mans, stood on the top step of the podium with the Jackie Chan crew of Ho-Pin Tung, Stephane Richelmi and Gabriel Aubry stood on the second step as worthy vice champions.
LMGTE Am: Team Project 1 Take Title in WEC Debut Season
The LMGTE Am category saw the IMSA championship entered no85 Keating Motorsports Ford GT take the class win at the end of a gruelling 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Jeroen Bleekemolen finishing 44.9 seconds ahead of the no56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 of Jorg Bergmister, the first of the WEC cars entered to reach the chequered flag. The maximum 39 points gave the team and Bergmeister, Egidio Perfetti and Patrick Lindsey the 2018/19 WEC LMGTE AM team and drivers titles.
