Autosport (UK)

Top 10 Le Mans Ferraris

In 2023, the famous name finally returns as a works team to the top class in the 24 Hours. Time to look back at the finest Ferraris to have graced the greatest endurance race

- KEVIN TURNER

Ferrari’s long-awaited return to the top echelon of sportscar racing – and the Le Mans 24 Hours in particular – will finally happen in 2023. Despite its half-century as a works team away from the front of the field, the Italian marque is still the third most successful constructo­r in the history of the famous French enduro, with nine overall victories, behind only Porsche and Audi.

There have been many great Ferrari

GTS and sports-racers over the years, which made this list a tough one to put together. The 512, 333 SP and F40 all made big impression­s on enthusiast­s but mustered just one class win between them in the 24 Hours, despite success elsewhere. The 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ was a multiple GT class winner at Le Mans and admirably flew the flag in private hands, but narrowly misses the cut in our ranking. Following the final 512 BB (GTX) appearance in the 1984 event, Ferrari was entirely absent from the 24 Hours for a decade, although the famous Group C Lancias were Ferrari-powered.

The 430 helped spark a new era of success in the GT classes, winning GT2 in 2008 and 2009, before being succeeded by the 458 Italia and the current 488 GTE.

Despite those successful machines, it’s the cars of the 1950s and 1960s that really made Ferrari’s mark on Le Mans, and they feature strongly in this top 10.

For this list, we’ve looked at the success the cars achieved, chiefly at Le Mans, the opposition they faced, and their ‘x factor’. We’ve also placed an emphasis on outright results, rather than class victories.

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