Tonight the MongolZ played against Vitality in the Austin Major final. The MongolZ became the first ever team from Asia to reach the Major final, and also the youngest team in the final.
Hundreds of fans gathered in the capital of Mongolia, on the main square of Ulaanbaatar, and from 2 am to 6 am watched the final and cheered for their team.
Unfortunately, Vitality is too strong atm, but the guys from the MongolZ proved that they can compete at the highest level throughout the season, and now all that remains is to win the next final. And we in Buryatia are proud of our relatives and root for them!
#CS2 #AustinMajor #MongolZ
This Le Mans will go down in history for several reasons, the foremost being Robert Kubica’s victory behind the wheel of the Ferrari 499P hypercar. This achievement by the Polish driver must unequivocally be called historic, considering how dramatically his career and life have unfolded.
Kubica led for a significant portion of the race, and in his public comments, he defended his right to the win, as it seemed to him—perhaps not without reason—that Ferrari’s management had other plans.
Unlike the drivers of Ferrari’s factory teams from Maranello, he drove calmly, methodically, and most importantly, without mistakes. He held a lead of over half a minute, but about 40 minutes before the finish, he made his final, 32nd pit stop and returned to the track in fourth place.
Ahead were two Ferrari cars, with the #6 Porsche prototype wedged between them, but five minutes later, the Italian #50 hypercar also pitted, and Kubica climbed to second place.
Now, Antonio Giovinazzi led in the Ferrari #51, but he reported some issues to the team. The Ferrari pit wall responded that nothing could be done, so he had to stay on the track for the time being.
With half an hour to go, Kubica was 40 seconds behind Giovinazzi, with Porsche’s Kevin Estre trailing him by ten seconds, who was being chased by Antonio Fuoco in the second factory Ferrari, but Fuoco couldn’t catch up—partly because the Italian made a frustrating driving error, going off the track, and though he returned, he lost at least seven seconds.
This year, Ferrari had a strong chance of taking all three podium spots, were it not for errors leading to penalties and time losses. The 499P hypercars themselves were undeniably the fastest, most efficient, and allowed drivers to manage tires better.
With 25 minutes to go, Giovinazzi was instructed to head to the pit lane for his final pit stop, and Kubica regained the lead. His advantage over Estre was 11-12 seconds, while Giovinazzi exited the pits just a couple of seconds ahead of Ferrari, and Fuoco quickly overtook him.
What followed was this: Ferrari warned the team via radio that both cars had issues and needed to ease off slightly. First, it meant they could no longer challenge the #6 Porsche, which was about eight seconds ahead; second, Fuoco was instructed to let his teammate through. This essentially made things for Kubica, who could drive a bit more conservatively since Estre was still falling further behind.
In 2023, Robert Kubica finished second in Le Mans’ LMP2 category but continued to dream of an overall victory. When he joined AF Corse and got behind the wheel of a Ferrari hypercar, his chances of realizing that dream emerged, and today it came true.
As Robert began his final, 387th lap, the grandstands began rose to their feet, applauding the 40-year-old driver, and the standing ovation continued long after the finish.
The yellow Ferrari hypercar received the checkered flag 14 seconds ahead of its closest rival, and the two teams—Ferrari factory and AF Corse—rushed to celebrate.
Of course, this triumph is not the sole achievement of the Polish motorsport veteran; he shared this success with Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye. When Robert stopped the car and opened the door, his first words were: “Where are my teammates? They should be here!”
However, during his cooldown lap, he shared a calm, traditional comment over the radio: “It was a long 24 hours, but in the end, they brought joy. Thanks to everyone, great job! Grazie mille!”
Speaking with a Eurosport reporter in his first post-race interview, Robert didn’t even seem particularly tired despite his long stint. He smiled, his voice steady and composed:
“Winning Le Mans is a special achievement because it’s one of the toughest races, and two years ago, I was very close to winning, though in the LMP2 category. That was my first Le Mans, and we lost the win on the final lap.
But this time, everything came together perfectly, and winning the overall race is even more satisfying than LMP2. As always, the week was challenging, but fortunately, we put in every possible effort and kept working hard.
During the race, we pushed when needed and conserved the car and tires when it wasn’t necessary. Overall, I’m thrilled for myself, my AF Corse teammates, and Ferrari, as this is their third consecutive Le Mans win with three different crews. I don’t think there could be a better script.”
Robert truly let his emotions shine on the podium, his face beaming with joy, punching the air, celebrating, and spraying champagne with everyone else…
A Le Mans report would be incomplete without mentioning the winners in other categories.
In LMP2, the Inter Europol Competition crew of Tom Dillmann, Jakub Śmiechowski, and Nick Yelloly took the win, with Yelloly crossing the finish line. Notably, this is a Polish team.
In the LMGT3 category, Manthey won for the second consecutive year; their international Porsche 911 crew consisted of Austrian Richard Lietz, American Ryan Hardwick, and Italian Riccardo Pera.
We’ll conclude with this symbolic fact: Fernando Alonso and Robert Kubica are longtime friends, and they are the only drivers in the 21st century to have won races in both Formula 1 and Le Mans.
F1news.ru 
