MOLINA Miguel, from Spain, representing Ferrari AF Corse, drove the Hypercar Ferrari 499P #50 during the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans. This race was the fourth round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship and took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe from June 15 to 16, 2024, in Le Mans, France. In a portrait photo taken during the podium ceremony, Molina is seen alongside his teammates, FUOCO Antonio from Italy, and NIELSEN Nicklas from Denmark.
Antonio Fuoco, one of the recent winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Ferrari, mentioned that a change in track conditions would have posed a challenge for the team. Fuoco praised his teammate Nicklas for doing an exceptional job in handling the situation. Meanwhile, Nielsen revealed that he had to save a significant amount of fuel to finish ahead of the Toyota #7, driven by Jose Maria Lopez. Nielsen described the last part of the race as complicated, with the need for fuel saving and other factors coming into play.
During the race, Nielsen had to make a pit stop on lap 280 to fix a lock issue with one of the doors of car #50 499P. This stop also served as his final refueling stop. He then completed a stretch of 13 laps to cross the finish line, carefully managing his fuel consumption to reach the end of the race. Throughout this stretch, Lopez was chasing him, putting pressure on Nielsen to maintain his lead. In the end, despite Lopez’s efforts, Nielsen managed to stay ahead with a 14-second margin at the checkered flag.
Reflecting on his performance, Nielsen mentioned that he had to save a lot of fuel during the race. He acknowledged that, in order to have a chance at victory, fuel saving was the only option. Nielsen did not complain or deviate from the energy per lap target set by the team. He focused on pushing hard in the final hours of the race to maintain tire temperature and the distance between him and the pursuing Toyota.
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