THE WINNING HORSE

Ferrari last entered Le Mans' top class as an official factory team in 1973. Its return went rather well evo was a fly on the (pit) wall

- JAMES TAYLOR

MIGUEL MOLINA LEANS FORWARD IN HIS SEAT: 'It's difficult to separate the emotion, of driving for Ferrari in the top class of endurance racing, on the centenary of the Le Mans 24 Hours, 50 years after Ferrari was last here, starting on pole. I will try not to think about it, but... it's difficult.' M It's Friday, Le Mans weekend, in Ferrari's sweltering HQ behind the pits. The team is in part-buoyant, part-cautious mood. Yesterday, Molina's teammate Antonio Fuoco stuck the no.51 Ferrari 499P on pole, and Alessandro Pier Guidi qualified second in the no.50 sister car. 'From what I understand from Antonio, it was a perfect lap,' Molina says. 'I will say it was quite a good lap,' Fuoco understates. 'If I were to go back, I'm not sure where I would find more time.' It's a historic moment in every sense but you can see the focus etched in the eyes of every team member. This is far from a done deal.

Of course, two sunrises later, the deal was very much done: Pier Guidi crossed the line 1m22sec ahead of Toyota's Ryo Hirakawa, and the subsequent victory run down the pitlane, team-mates James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi sitting side-saddle on the 499P's flanks, will surely still be an iconic image when Le Mans' double centenary rolls around in 3023. This is the story of what happened in the moments in between the qualifying debrief and that final flag fall, with evo a fly on the wall in the Prancing Horse's paddock.