This Crash Compilation Shows Just How Chaotic the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans Was

The event saw no fewer than 62 cars line up at the starting line. That's no record because the 2022 race was contested by just as many vehicles. But last year's race had 53 cars take the checkered flag. This year, however, only 40 vehicles lasted for the whole 24 hours. That's 22 cars that didn't make it, and most entries had to abandon following collisions.

The LMP2 prototype of Nielsen Racing was the first to retire to the pits after only 18 laps, followed by Tower Motorsports a lap later. Five more cars had crashed by lap 50, including a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo by AF Corse. A couple more Ferraris got damaged by lap 90, while lap 103 saw the No. 7 Toyota Gazoo hypercar abandon the event.

So what prompted all the chaos? Well, for starters, the weather was quite terrible, with two sessions of heavy rain before night fell. Second, the dynamics of the race changed dramatically due to the high number of Hypercars. While last year's running of the Le Mans included only five such prototypes, the 2023 race had no fewer than 16 on the starting grid.

That's good news when it comes to high-speed battles at the front of the pack, but things became complicated when these Hypercars began lapping slower traffic. Moreover, with Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota, and Cadillac now fighting for supremacy, drivers took more risks when navigating through traffic. And as you'll see in the video below, that didn't go well for some of them.

But while chaotic, the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans was indeed entertaining and provided a few historic results. Starting with the Ferrari 499P of AF Corse taking the checkered flag in first place and scoring Maranello's first Le Mans victory since 1965. The Italians were followed by Toyota Gazoo Racing in second place and Cadillac Racing in third. Porsche, on the other hand, had to settle for a 16th-place finish overall.

The LMP2 class win went to Inter Europol Competition and its Gibson-powered Oreca 07. Team WRT and Duqueine Team followed it in similar prototypes. The LMP2 Pro-Am trophy went to Algarve Pro Racing.

As for the LMGTE Am class, the sole Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Corvette Racing managed to take the honors ahead of a 20-car pack of competitive Porsches, Ferraris, and Aston Martins. The American outfit finished a full lap ahead of ORT by TF's Vantage AMR, GR Racing's Porsche 911 RSR, and AF Corse's Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.

Finally, Hendrick Motorsports' NASCAR-spec Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 completed the race and covered 285 laps in the process. While it wasn't among the fastest cars at Circuit de la Sarthe, the ZL1 was the first NASCAR rig to race at Le Mans since 1976.