Back 24-Stunden-Rennen von Le Mans 1961 German 24 Heures du Mans 1961 French 1961-es Le Mans-i 24 órás verseny Hungarian 1961年のル・マン24時間レース Japanese 24 uur van Le Mans 1961 Dutch 24h Le Mans 1961 Polish 24 Horas de Le Mans de 1961 Portuguese 24 ur Le Mansa 1961 Slovenian
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The 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans was a motor race for Sports cars and Grand Touring cars staged at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France on 10 and 11 June 1961. It was the 29th Grand Prix of Endurance and the fourth race of the 1961 World Sportscar Championship. Ferrari and Maserati were the main contenders, with Aston Martin an outside chance.
Ferrari's competition soon wilted in the race – the Maseratis were fast but fragile. The Aston Martins, though reliable, couldn't match the Italian cars’ pace. In the end it was a race between the two works team cars and the North American Racing Team entry driven by the Rodriguez brothers. When the private entry failed with just two hours to go, it was a clear 1-2 result for the Ferrari works team with the Olivier Gendebien, Phil Hill Ferrari 250 TRI/61 winning from the similar car driven by Mike Parkes and Willy Mairesse. A privately entered Ferrari GT 250 was third with an American-run Maserati Tipo 63 fighting it way back up to fourth, a full 22 laps behind the winning car.