The No. 74 Bee Safe Racing/Riley Motorsports Ferrari finished fifth in the GTE Pro Division at the 90th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Ferrari 488 GTE Pro Evo – sponsored by Roy Carroll, president and founder of The Carroll Companies, and his wife, Vanessa, was the first car from Greensboro to ever race at Le Mans, which is considered the most prestigious car race in the world.
The announcers for the race, which was broadcast live in its entirety on Motor Trends+ and the Motor Trends TV channel, heaped praise on the three-man Bee Safe Racing/Riley Motorsports driving team, made up of Sam Bird, Felipe Fraga and Shane van Gisbergen.
The drivers reported that early in the race the No. 74 Ferrari GTE Pro Evo didn’t have the speed to keep up with their competitors. But the drivers said that the Ferrari got faster during the race.
During the race Carroll tweeted, “We are currently in 4th place and Felipe Fraga just turned in a 3.49.3 lap making the Bee Safe Ferrari the fastest Ferrari at Le Mans this year!!”
The Bee Safe/Riley Motorsports Ferrari completed 347 laps of 8.4 mile Circuit de la Sarthe, during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The No. 91 Porche 911 that won the division completed 350 laps. The top four finishers in the GTE Pro division were all factory sponsored teams.
The overall winner in the Hypercar division was the No. 8 Toyota, which completed 380 laps. Overall the Bee Safe Racing/Riley Motor Sports Ferrari finished 32nd in the 62 car field.
“Fifth place GTE-Pro finish for Vanessa and Roy Carroll in their 24 Hours of Le Mans debut with Bee Safe Racing. The No. 74 Bee Safe Racing/Riley Motorsports Ferrari 488 GTE Pro Evo team and co-drivers Felipe Fraga, Sam Bird and Shane van Gisbergen put in a flawless performance but ultimately need a little more speed out of the team’s reliable Ferrari to battle for the podium. But to finish fifth in your Le Mans debut, in the ultra-competitive GTE-Pro class no less, is an accomplishment to be proud of! – BeeSafeStorage on Instagram.
Congratulations Roy, Venessa and the Bee Safe Ferrari race team, well done! Hope to see you all in Daytona next year…….
Great accomplishment!
Congratulations, 5th in class behind the two factory Porsches and 2 factory Ferraris is quite a feat. Bragging rights are Bee Safe beat both factory Corvette cars…which broke down, but like golf there’s no explanation line on the scoring sheet. Well done!!!!
Sadly the GTE/Pro class is gone after this year. To be replaced with what is not yet known.
Nice run for the team.
One of the Corvettes broke down, the other one was hit and crashed by one of the LMP2 cars.
Corvette was class leader at that time.