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Motegi Wheels Star at the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans

Motegi Wheels 24 Hours of Le Mans

Surviving the legendary race.

One of the most iconic races is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Every year, teams, spectators, and drivers from around the world gather at Le Mans, France for one of the most spectacular displays of motorsport competition. For an incredible 24 hours, teams battle it out to take the checkered flag in their respective classes fighting through crashes, delays, mechanical issues, pit stops, and the weather. This year, Motegi Wheels teams were able to achieve two podium finishes, showing that their products are some of the best in the industry.

At the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Motegi Wheels equipped teams of No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 in LMGTE Pro and the No. 61 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia in LMGTE Am were able to reach the podium and make their presence felt among their competition.

The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 with Motegi Wheels driven by Gianmaria Bruni, Toni Vilander, and Giancarlo Fisichella finished the race with a healthy two-lap lead over the next closest car in their class, the No. 73 Corvette. The No. 51 was driven by Bruni in qualifying and he was able to put it on pole to start the race. During the fifth hour of the race, there was a heavy downpour and the No. 51 car dropped all the way back to sixth place but was able to battle back as the race wore on. In the 13th and 15th hours of the race, the No. 51 fought hard against the No. 97 Aston Martin shared by Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke, and Bruno Senna where they were able to achieve the overall class lead and never looked back.

This is a very important victory in an amazing race,” said Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo. “This result is extremely satisfying and is a just reward for all the hard work from everyone in the team and my congratulations go to them. We dominated the race with a car that was able to outclass some very strong opponents and everyone at Ferrari can be very proud of that.”

As an added bonus, the points were doubled for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, furthering the lead of the AF Corse lead in the FIA World Endurance Championship standings.

“It’s great,” said Fisichella. “It’s the most important race, maybe in the world. Winning that race for the second time, I’m really proud of it. The team did a fantastic job through the pit stops. The car was very, very good, very reliable. I think that was the key to winning the race.”

In LMGTE Am, the No. 61 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia with Motegi Wheels driven by Luis Perez Companc, Marco Cioci and Mikro Venturi was able to finish third in class.

Other teams wearing Motegi Wheels were the No. 77 Dempsey Racing-Proton Porsche driven by Patrick Dempsey, Joe Foster and Patrick Long that finished fifth in the LMGTE Am class after a three-minute penalty cost them in the pits. The No. 90 8 Star Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia with Gianluca Road, Paolo Riberti and Franckie Montecalvo finished fourth in the same class.

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