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- Moldova narrowly votes for EU membership amid fraud claims
- Erdogan rival Gulen dies in exile at 83
- Man Utd's Ten Hag relishing Europa League clash with Mourinho
- Amnesty says migrant workers exploited at Carrefour Saudi stores
- Fethullah Gulen: ex-Erdogan ally who became public enemy number one
- Rabada takes 300th Test wicket as Bangladesh all out for 106
- Seoul demands 'immediate withdrawal' of North Korean troops in Russia
- WHO to evacuate 1,000 Gazan women, children for urgent medical care
- Israel bombs Hezbollah-linked finance group in Lebanon
- Erdogan's rival Fetullah Gulen dies in exile aged 83
- Gauff-led USA pitted with Canada at season-opening United Cup
- Cuban leader warns against unrest over nationwide blackout
- Asian markets mixed as traders digest China rate cut
- Sanofi pursues sale of painkiller after political controversy
- Trump heads to hurricane-hit N. Carolina, Harris in swing state push
- Rabada takes 300th wicket as Bangladesh stumble to 60-6 at lunch
- Alpacas, hecklers and climate warnings: King Charles visits Australia's capital
- Moldova EU vote too close to call, president blames 'foreign interference'
- Sartorially suave alpaca sneezes on King Charles
- In a first, France welcomes Russian army deserters
- Storm Oscar hits eastern Cuba as island grapples with blackout
- New Zealand basks in 'golden 48 hours' after sporting triumphs
- UN biodiversity summit opens with call for 'significant' funding
- Dodgers beat Mets to set World Series showdown with Yankees
- Liberty rally to top Lynx in overtime for WNBA title
- US, Canada warships pass through Taiwan Strait
- Asian markets fluctuate as traders digest China rate cut
- Naomi Osaka season over because of injury
- Toll from attack in India-controlled Kashmir rises to seven: reports
- Simmering Bellingham set for Dortmund reunion in Champions League
- World Cup winner Kerr thanks 'grandmas' for T20 inspiration
- Dortmund identity crisis ahead of European rematch with Real Madrid
- China's central bank cuts two key rates to boost economy
- BHP goes on trial in London over 2015 toxic Brazil mine disaster
- Pakistan passes constitutional amendments aimed at courts
- Fungi finding: mushroom hunters seek new species and recognition
- Beware: US election disinformation masked as 'breaking news'
- Celtics seek repeat, Lebron and son unite as NBA season opens
- Poston holds off Ghim for PGA Tour triumph in Las Vegas
- Unbeaten Chiefs march past 49ers, Lions hand Vikings first loss
- Moldova president blames interference for potential EU referendum loss
- King Charles to spotlight conflict, climate in Australian capital
- UN chief seeks 'significant' funding at summit to save nature
- Hurricane Oscar makes landfall in Cuba amid huge power outage
- McLaren blast 'inappropriate' penalty as Norris F1 title hopes hit
- La Rochelle bounce back against Bordeaux-Begles
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- Leclerc wins US Grand Prix as Norris, Verstappen clash
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'We did it' - Ferrari win second successive Le Mans 24 Hours race
Ferrari overcame wretched weather and tenacious rivals to claim back-to-back editions of the Le Mans 24 Hours race on Sunday.
Nicklas Nielsen took the chequered flag after a vintage and gruelling contest, the Dane sharing driving duties in the Italian constructor's No 50 car with Italian Antonio Fuoco and Spaniard Miguel Molina.
Toyota's No 7 car took second with Ferrari's No 51 car, which triumphed last year, completing the podium.
Twenty-four long hours, 311 laps and 4,238 kilometres after French football great Zinedine Zidane had sent the 62 car-grid on its way on Saturday, Ferrari emerged victorious after a classic version of motorsport's supreme endurance test.
"I had a very long stint driving, the last lap was so long, but we did it" said Nielsen.
"We were ready for this moment for one year, we won it. We did a good job since the beginning, now is the moment to enjoy," Molina chipped in.
"This is amazing, last year we were so very close," he added after the triumphant trio's fifth place in 2023.
Porsche's pole-sitting No 6 car narrowly missed a podium place in fourth ahead of Toyota's No 8 car.
In an attritional affair, the night proved long and tedious with incessant rain forcing long yellow flag periods.
That reduced the gleaming high-spec racing cars capable of going well in excess of 300kph to pottering along at speeds normally associated with a family hatchback heading to the local supermarket.
Drivers like Toyota's previous winner New Zealander Brendon Hartley complained of knee cramp as they were unable to put their foot on the gas in the confined cockpits.
Molina constantly complained of boredom on the team radio.
This year's Le Mans set an invidious record of over six hours-racing neutralised by safety cars. Four were used at any one time, with some even having 'to pit' to refuel.
Mechanics used the period to grab some much needed shut eye, but that was not a luxury all the unpaid track marshals from France and Britain could afford.
- Daytime mayhem -
At the midway point - 0400 local time - with the rain tipping down, visibility minimal and the spray flying in the dead of night - Hartley's Toyota led Kevin Estre in one of Porsche's six Hypercar entries.
After daylight broke over the saturated Sarthe circuit, the safety cars retreated to give the weary 250,000 crowd a welcome dawn chorus of car engines roaring again in anger.
Nocturnal tedium made way for daytime mayhem.
At around 0930, mechanics in the Aston Martin garage had their hearts in their mouths watching Daniel Mancinelli suffer a terrible-looking crash.
The 35-year-old Italian rolled his car, and there was an agonising wait before he forced open his side door and scrambled out, thankfully unscathed.
With six hours to go and a restart after another safety car interlude Earl Bamber in the No. 2 Cadillac was told on the team radio "it's time to make the eagle fly".
The closing hours developed into a mesmerising battle between four constructors - Porsche, Ferrari, Toyota and Cadillac.
Ferrari's No 50 car led from last year's winning No 51 car with under 120 minutes to go, from Toyota's No 7 then the No 2 Cadillac.
Nielsen in the leading Ferrari then had to pit after orders from race control due to an unsafe open door which he had tried frantically to shut himself.
That gifted Jose Maria Lopez's Toyota - the lead but only momentarily as Nielsen with an hour remaining had regained control, the Dane establishing a 30sec cushion as the long awaited 1400GMT finish approached.
A frantic conclusion in the rain, with pit stops aplenty triggered multiple changes in the lead with Ferrari crossing the line 14 seconds ahead.
With winners, come losers and one team leaving a memorable edition of a race first staged in 1923 downcast were Alpine, whose two cars failed to finish, and motorcycling legend Valentino Rossi, whose BMW in the LMGT3 category crashed out.
A.Jones--AMWN