Which car brand ruled 24 hours of Le Mans the most?

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the most challenging endurance races in the world (probably only next to the 24 Hours of Nürburgring). With the many car manufacturers participating in it throughout its 89-year history such as Audi, Ferrari, Ford, Porsche, and more, we wondered - which brand has dominated the prestigious endurance race the most?

To help us answer this, we found a cool infographic showing us every winning car for each year since its inception in 1923.

In case you’re having a hard time finding out, allow us to break it down a little further and start with the car brand with the least wins in Le Mans. We’ve excluded the privateer teams since we’re just talking about the car brands. See it at the bottom of this article.

Of the current car manufacturers still in business today, six had won it once; Aston Martin in 1959, Mazda in 1991 (the first Japanese car brand to win Le Mans), McLaren in 1995, BMW in 1999, and most recently Toyota this year. French supercar-maker Bugatti managed to bag two back in 1937 and 1939. Meanwhile, Peugeot claimed back-to-back wins in 1992 and 1993, as well as its latest victory in 2009.

Alfa Romeo dominated in the early 1930s with four consecutive wins from 1931 to 1934. American carmaker Ford, on the other hand, made its mark from 1966 to 1969 when it fielded its GT40 race car for the sole purpose of beating Ferrari.

Even the now-luxury brand Bentley managed to win in Le Mans in 1924, 1927 to 1930, and 2003 for a total of six victories. Jaguar launched its name to fame with the XK 120C in 1951, the C-Type in 1953, and the iconic D-Type from 1955 to 1957. It reclaimed the crown in 1988 and 1990 for a combined seven wins all in all.

If you’re a Ferrari fan, this might come as a shock to you. Even with its 9 wins, the Prancing Horse isn’t the car manufacturer with the most wins in Le Mans despite its fame in motorsport. After winning it in 1949 with the 166 MM V12, it took the Italian marque another five years to finish first with the 375 Plus V12 in 1954, and four more years with the 250 TR58 V12 in 1958. It then took a couple of years before it mounted its five-year dominance in the Le Mans.

Surprisingly, it was Audi who had the second most wins with 13 and all of it coming in the 20th century. Audi won from 2000 to 2002, 2004 to 2008, and 2010 to 2014.

Finally, the car manufacturer with the most wins in Le Mans is… Porsche! Yes, the German marque managed to win the gruelling 24-hour race a legendary 19 times. Porsche won it back-to-back two times from 1970 to 1971 and from 1976 to 1977. The next win came in 1979 before dominating for seven years from 1981 to 1987. Porsche again made it to the top step of the podium in 1994, 1996 to 1998, and most recently from 2015 to 2017.

The last win of Porsche came at the hands of the team composed of Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, and Earl Bamber driving the Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 race car. The trio crossed the finish line in first place after 367 laps or 5,001.8 km after the time limit.

Source: Budget Direct Car Insurance