Ferrari wins third straight 24 Hours of Le Mans

LE MANS, France -- Ferrari won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the 3rd consecutive twelvemonth Sunday, but a precocious surge from Porsche Penske Motorsport denied the Italian shaper a podium sweep.

The No. 83 Ferrari 499P unit of Robert Kubica, Ye Yifei and Philip Hanson took the triumph arsenic Ferrari won for the 12th clip successful the 102nd variation of the storied race. Their bright-yellow car, privately entered by the AF Corse team, got the amended of Porsche and the 2 authoritative factory-entered Ferraris.

Kubica took the checkered emblem aft a marathon spell astatine the instrumentality Sunday day to marque definite of the win.

"It has been a agelong 24 hours," Kubica said to his squad implicit the vigor and thanked them successful Italian. "Enjoy."

The Penske-operated No. 6 Porsche 963 of Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell surged precocious successful the contention to decorativeness 2nd up of the 2 different Ferraris, 14 seconds down the winner.

For Kubica and Ye, it was redemption aft their car -- past with Robert Shwartzman arsenic 3rd operator -- was a beardown contender to triumph past year's contention earlier a crash, a punishment and yet a race-ending mechanical failure.

It's a vocation item for 40-year-old Polish operator Kubica, whose promising Formula 1 vocation was interrupted successful 2011 erstwhile a clang portion competing successful a rally near him with terrible injuries.

Kubica is the archetypal operator from Poland to triumph Le Mans outright, and Ye is the archetypal from China to execute that feat.

"It's a large communicative that we yet enactment a cleanable ending with Robert," Ye told broadcasters. "It looks easier from the extracurricular than it is successful the car. It's conscionable unbelievable."

Ferrari was disconnected the gait successful qualifying, with the 2 mill cars seventh and 11th connected the grid and the eventual victor 13th. But erstwhile tennis large Roger Federer waved the starting emblem Saturday, Ferrari's gait implicit agelong contention runs soon became clear.

After a adjacent combat with Toyota successful past year's race, this clip Ferrari often seemed successful adjacent full control. Early Sunday morning, it was connected people for the archetypal top-class podium expanse by 1 shaper since 2012.

Ferrari didn't person it each its ain mode successful the last hours, though.

Alessandro Pier Guidi spun successful the No. 51 car connected his mode into the pits, losing the lead, portion the resurgent No. 6 Porsche piled connected the pressure.

Le Mans is arsenic overmuch a trial of drivers' resilience arsenic it is the cars' reliability. Both held up good successful an unusually calm contention that avoided overmuch of the accustomed nighttime play with fewer important crashes and conscionable 1 safety-car period.

Polish squad Inter Europol Competition won the LMP2 class, and Manthey won the GT3 people successful a Porsche 911.