Lilou Wadoux battles to P11 finish at Le Mans, narrowly misses out on top 10 after charge forward in first hours

After a strong comeback, Lilou Wadoux narrowly missed out on a top-ten finish in the LMGT3 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, emerging as the highest-placed female driver in the field at the 93rd running of the world’s most prestigious endurance race, which saw the Ferrari factory driver protagonist of a stellar start.

Photo credits: DPPI

After a strong comeback, Lilou Wadoux narrowly missed out on a top-ten finish in the LMGT3 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, emerging as the highest-placed female driver in the field at the 93rd running of the world’s most prestigious endurance race, which saw the Ferrari factory driver protagonist of a stellar start.

After a challenging week at La Sarthe, the Richard Mille AF Corse team—comprising Lilou Wadoux, Riccardo Agostini, and Custodio Toledo—demonstrated strong fighting spirit, working its way from the back of the grid into the front half of the midfield.

During the practice sessions, the trio—Wadoux making her third Le Mans start, alongside first timers Agostini, and Toledo—made steady progress and aimed to break into the top six. The drivers were building momentum after winning the latest ELMS round at Paul Ricard, where Wadoux made history as the first woman to win overall in the series.

Qualifying for the world’s oldest 24-hour race, however, proved difficult for the Frenchwoman’s team. The fight for a place in the all-important Hyperpole session took place on Wednesday evening under warm conditions. Bronze-rated driver Custodio Toledo was the first to take to the cockpit for Richard Mille AF Corse. After a cautious out lap, he set an early, respectable time of 4:02.882 on the relatively unfamiliar track.

However, this was only good enough for 18th in the highly competitive GT3 field—not sufficient for a Hyperpole spot. His second time, a 4:01.011, saw him drop to 21st place. The session was interrupted after the Iron Lynx Mercedes stalled at the Dunlop Chicane. Following the restart, there were no further improvements. While pushing for a better lap, Toledo ran into the gravel at one of the Mulsanne chicanes, triggering a red flag that ended the session early. Due to other on-track incidents, the team retained 21st on the grid.

Photo credits: DPPI

On race Saturday, temperatures dropped compared to the rest of the week, complicating tyre pressure decisions. Weather conditions however remained stable. At 4:00 p.m. local time, the race began. Starting from 21st in class, the Ferrari driven by Lilou Wadoux gained ground immediately—completing the opening lap in 13th place in GT3, just behind Ben Barker in the Proton Competition Mustang. After three laps, Wadoux had climbed to 9th in class, ahead of the Mustang, in one of the most impressive opening stints of the race, gaining 12 positions.

Lilou then overtook the Mustang’s sister car as hypercars began lapping the GT3 field. Within the first 40 minutes, she reached 6th in class before pitting after 10 laps and handing over to Custodio Toledo.

The team initially dropped to 12th in class after the driver change, as most teams cycled in their bronze drivers early in the race. Toledo struggled to match the pace of the frontrunners, and while navigating the Porsche Curves, he lost rhythm following a close encounter with a Peugeot Hypercar. At the Ford Chicanes, Ben Keating made an overambitious move and hit the #150 Ferrari 296 LMGT3, spinning Toledo around.

Toledo dropped to 57th overall and 19th in class, essentially back to the team’s original grid position. After three stints, Toledo handed the car to Agostini after 2 hours and 50 minutes. Around half an hour later, the #88 Proton Competition Mustang lost a wheel entering Tertre Rouge and crashed, prompting a slow zone.

Agostini steadily worked his way back to 20th in class. Though the GT3 field had spread out, he caught and overtook the AWA Corvette after his first stint, around 4.5 hours into the race. He then handed the car back to Toledo.

Now tasked with another stint, the bronze-rated American held position respectably among largely pro-rated drivers. A full-course yellow was triggered when the #95 McLaren retired on track, which the team used to pit and switch back to Wadoux.

Photo credits: DPPI

Unfortunately, the team missed the pit window by mere seconds and was penalized for entering a closed pit lane. A drive-through penalty dropped them back again to 18th in class. Just past the six-hour mark, the Ferrari was locked in a three-way battle with the Kessel Racing Ferrari and the Iron Lynx Lamborghini. Wadoux overtook the latter before her next stop and later passed the #59 United Autosports McLaren after 7.5 hours.

As night fell, Agostini returned to the car about 20 minutes after Wadoux’s move. In a double stint, he moved the car up to 15th in class before handing over to Wadoux again after 10.5 hours. Shortly after the swap, the #46 BMW GT3 ran off into the gravel at the Porsche Curves, prompting another slow zone and allowing Richard Mille AF Corse to gain a position.

The rest of the night ran relatively smoothly. At 3 a.m., Lilou caught and passed the Iron Dames Porsche after a few well-fought laps. Just before halfway, a crash for Cem Bölükbaşı’s LMP2 car at Tertre Rouge triggered the race’s only safety car, closing up the field and renewing hope for the #150 crew.

The remainder of the night saw the team avoid any issues, and the early morning hours passed trouble-free as Wadoux and Agostini made significant gains, bringing the car back into contention for a top-ten finish.

After sunrise, Toledo took over and held the car in 9th before handing it back to Agostini. Meanwhile, chaos continued in the prototype classes: the #311 Cadillac stopped at Turn 1, bringing out a slow zone, followed an hour later by the #36 Alpine burying itself in the Mulsanne gravel, triggering another full-course yellow.

Toledo returned for a final double stint after 17.5 hours but lost some ground. With 5 hours and 20 minutes remaining, Wadoux got back in the car: a brief full-course yellow occurred shortly after, and she began reeling in the car ahead—but the deficit proved too large to close within that stint.

After 19 hours, the #78 Lexus GT3 crashed into the Porsche Curves gravel and limped back to the pits with suspension damage, ultimately retiring.

Entering the final four hours, the Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari had cycled up to 7th in class—but this proved temporary as the pit cycle played out. Agostini, now back in the car, dropped to 11th after his stop.

Photo credits: DPPI

A string of slow zones and full-course yellows unfortunately worked against the team’s strategy. Despite setting faster lap times than many rivals, their progress was repeatedly interrupted by poorly timed neutralizations. Their alternate strategy didn’t yield gains in the final hours, and instead, they consolidated 11th place in class. Agostini brought the car home, narrowly missing the top ten.

It wasn’t the result the Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari had hoped for, but they brought the car to the finish intact and without major issues; despite their qualifying setback and early misfortune, it was a commendable recovery.

“It was a good race", Lilou commented. "We had a few issues in the first five hours and lost a lap, which we all tried to recover. We didn’t manage it, but we finished the race, and that’s very important, especially with two rookies in the crew.”

For Lilou Wadoux—the highest-placed woman in the field—this was another strong showing at Le Mans. While she didn’t quite replicate her sixth-place debut finish in LMP2 from 2022, she once again showed great pace and consistency in the world’s most demanding race. She’ll now look to regroup for the next ELMS round at Imola on 6 July.