Silverstone Six Hours and Four Hours - Jox Jottings

“To finish first.. first you have to finish”  Your friendly scribing team has another version of that “ To finish first .. first you have to get to the media centre by fighting your way through floods, snow, sleet and media parking that had run out of car passes”. So the day did not start well. The only bonus was there were no queues to get in, spectators are a hardy bunch but even they held back. 

April showers are a recognised meteorological phenomenon but they generally refer to rain showers not snow showers! Up until about lunchtime this was a hostile environment to say the least. Free practice for the Porsche Carrera Cup never happened due to the weather and those cheery red flags all-round the circuit and the WEC free practice was cut short.

However free practice on Friday had a familiar ring to it. Porsches were quickest in all three sessions and Toyota were in the hunt. Maybe it was because Audis were debuting a brand new car they were

off the pace and Toyota were now back on the pace and looking competitive again after their apparent misjudgements of 2015. LMP2 was packed with eleven cars and looking stronger than ever and in GT it looked as if Ferrari and Porsche were going well as were the eagerly awaited Ford GTs. Aston Martin looked to have taken a step backwards maybe while they settled onto Dunlop tyres. Whether the Fords are strictly legal having never sold any road going versions of the GT doesn’t matter.. they look amazing! Even a whiff of LMP2 about them maybe? The rear diffuser looks daft but it will probably shovel gravel by the ton if they go off.

Finally the weather eased off and sanity returned as the sledges and huskies were put away again hopefully until next winter. It was still wet and bl**dy cold as the brave band of spectators will agree with.

After qualifying the three Astons were languishing 28th/29th and 30th . It would have looked even worse if the two Rebellion LMP1 cars #12 & #13 hadn’t had a catastrophic qualifying session and were occupying 31st and 33rd on the grid! It was the AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE that took pole ahead of the #77 Dempsey –Proton Racing Porsche and #77 Ford Chip Ganassi Ford GT. 

The #26  G-Drive Oreca 05 Nissan ( catchy title !) was on LMP2 ahead of #31 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier JS P2 Nissan and  similar #43 Ligier Nissan. It really would help if the teams chose easier to remember names!

In LMP1 we think that Porsche’s noses were put badly out of joint judging by the TV shots from their pits. Both Audis proved to be very quick and they nicked pole and 2nd on the grid! Not part of the plan at all. This broke Porsche’s amazing 11 consecutive WEC pole positions. The Toyotas came next but some way off the pace. With the Rebellion cars struggling at the back of the grid the ‘non hybrid’ car the #4  Bykolles  Racing CLM P1/01-AER  ( see what we mean about these names !) was comfortably ahead. 

As is now traditional your scribes totally misjudged the final grid.. but that is quite normal. The good news is that LMP1 might turn out to be a good scrap!

The start procedure for ELMS is a bit quaint to say the least. They are working out of the ‘old’ pits and made their way down to the ‘new’ F1 grid and lined up there prior to their warm up lap which took them back for a rolling start at the ‘old’ start finish line! So they did 1.5 laps before the green light.. Confused?  

Jock Simpson.

Full timing details can be found on the FIAWEC and ELMS web sites.

Clean Sweep for Audi in WEC qualifying at Silverstone

No third free practice session in the morning due to snowfall at Silverstone, so the WEC qualifying was the first track session of the day for all contenders. And what a qualifying we got ! After Porsches impressive laptimes yesterday, everyone expected them to dominate qualifying. But, if there's one thing we've learned over the years, never rule out Audi, they always might have some kind of surprise in their sleeve.  

Neel Jani and Mark Webber were the first battling it out for pole position in their Porsche 919's, but six minutes into the session, both Audi's were at the top of the timesheet, Andre Lotterer putting the #7 in the mix in front of the #8 with Loic Duval at the wheel. Right after the driver change, both Audi's stayed on top, this time the #8 with Lucas Di Grassi in front of the #7 of Martin Fässler.

No happy faces in the Porsche pitbox after the 15 minute session, as Audi took out the qualifying session with a clean sweep on the front row, and more surprisingly with a demanding lead over Porsche. Webber and Hartley put their #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid on third place, almost a second behind the pole sitting #7 Audi R18. The #8 sister car of Duval and Di Grassi took second, 0.1 second off pace, despite a late run-off at the end of the session. The #2 Porsche was fourth fastest, ahead of both Toyota's. 

Pole position in LMP2 is for the #26 G-Drive Racing Oreca05/Nissan, 0.6 seconds ahead of Pipo Derani's #31 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier JSP2. P2 being the best qualifying result for the American team in the WEC. Filipe Albuquerue secured third place on the grid in his #43 RGR Sport by Morand Ligier. Both SMP Racings BR01's complete the top 5, the #27 ahead of the #37.

Sam Bird took pole in his #71AF Corse Ferrari GTE-Pro, setting an average laptime of 2.12.440, 1.3 seconds ahead of the #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche of Michael Christensen and the #66 Ford GT of Olivier Pla. The #51 AF Corse was leading early on, but an engine issue, prevented Gianmaria Bruni to put in a lap. Quickest in GTE-Am was the #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Porsche, more than 2 seconds ahead of the #78 KCMG Porsche of Wolf Henzler and Chistian Ried. The #50 Larbre Corvette set the third fastest average time.  

Practice sessions

Tricky conditions in the first practice session of 2016, with a damp track at the start of the first practice session. By the end of the session, the track started to dry up and laptimes reduced quickly.

As expected, Porsche was fastest in the first session, Timo Bernhard topping the timesheets on Friday Morning. The #2 sister car was second fastest, 0.8 seconds behind the title defending 919 Hybrid. Toyota's all new TS050 Hybrid put in a strong performance with Anthony Davidson third fastest, although 1.6 seconds slower than the fastest Porsche. Audi (#8) and Toyota (#6) completed the top 5 in LMP1. 

Positions changed constantly in the LMP2, but at the 90 minute mark, Rene Rast put the #26 G-Drive Oreca05/Nissan on top of the timesheets. Rast was 0.85 seconds ahead of Nelson Panciatici in the #35 Baxi DC Racing Alpine and almost a second ahead of the #45 RGR Sport of Filipe Albuquerque. First and third then for an Audi factory driver.

In GTE Pro AF Corse dominated the competition, Gianmaria Bruni fastest in the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE ahead of the #71. The #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing of Michael Christensen being “the best of the rest”. Both Fords were fourth and fifth fastest, ahead of both Aston Martins. AF Corse was also on top op the GTE-Am leaderboard, the #83 ahead of the #86 Gulf Porsche and #88 Abu Dhabi- Proton

Mixed conditions again in the second session, starting on a damp track, with a hint of sunshine at the end. Brendon Hartley put in an astonishing lap in his last stint, going outright quicker than last years pole position, 1.6 seconds faster than the #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid. Third place for Audi this time, the #8 car 0.1 seconds behind the #2 Porsche. The Toyota #6 was only 0.06 seconds behind, so it seams the new Audi's and Toyota's new cars are somewhat in the same league, but still a long way behind the Porsches.

In LMP2, Strakka Racing put their good old Gibson 015S on top of the table when Jonny Kane put in the fastest time in the closing minutes of the session. Another surprise was the #44 Manor Oreca/Nissan coming in third, 0.06 seconds behind the Gibson. Signatech Alpine was third fastest, the #36 ahead of the second Manor. GTE Pro was Ferrari's playground again, AF Corse putting in the 2 fastest times, with the #51 0.2 seconds ahead of the #71 sister car. Dempsey-Proton racing was third fastest again too, 1 second adrift of the first Ferrari. Newcomers to the WEC UK's Gulf Racing smashed the opposition in GTE-Am, putting the #86 Porsche well between the Pro cars (4^th place overall). The #98 Paul Dalla Lana Aston Martin was second fastest ahead of the #50 Larbre Corvette.

Third free practice this morning was cancelled due to ... snow ...

Kristof Vermeulen

ELMS 4 Hours of Silverstone, practice and qualifying sessions

Practice sessions

Wet conditions at the start of the first practice session on Friday morning, giving us a quite eventful session with 2 red flags and a few full course yellows. The #40 Krohn Ligier had 2 big offs during practice, one at the start and one at the end of the session, having the car towed out twice under FCY. The first red flag was caused by the Murphy Prototypes LMP2, the second on by the Eurasia Oreca when Gommendy went into the tyrewall.

At the end of the session, the #46 Thiriet by TDS Oreca set the fastest time, ahead of the #41 Greaves Oreca and #32 SMP Racing BR01. In LMP3 Duquiene Engineering put their 1#19 Ligier on top of the leaderboard, half a second quicker than the #2 United Autosports and the #10 Graff. The fastest GTE was the #99 Aston Martin, holding off the #77 Proton Competition Porsche and the #96 Aston Martin.

The second session in the afternoon was run under on a further drying track, with laptimes dropping significantly in the second half of the session. A quick red flag though when the #23 Panis-Barthez Ligier lost a wheel underway. Again, a few full course yellow with several cars having an off, but never with significant damage. In the drying conditions, the #21 Dragonspeed set the second fastest time, behind the #46 Thiriet Oreca who was quickest again. Leo Roussel managed the third fastest time in the #29 Pegasus.

Duquiene Engineering was on top again in LMP3, Dino Lunardi setting the fastest time ahead of both Graff Ligiers, wth the #9 ahead of the #10. AT Racing set the benchmark in GTE with their #56 Ferrari, only 0.1 second ahead off the #66 JMW Ferrari and the #96 Aston Martin.

ELMS Qualifying

The snow disappeared just in time for ELMS qualifying, with the cars going on a very wet and tricky Silverstone for their first qualifying session of the 2016 season. A newly faced qualifying this year with each class having their own dedicated 10 minute session.

While Thiriet and Greaves were out right away to put in their first laptimes, Damian Faulkner parked his #48 Murphy Oreca 03 in the gravel trap at Luffield, causing a red flag after 3,5 minutes into the session. Right before the checkered flag another car parked itself into the gravel, now the #25 Algarve Pro Racing with Parth Ghorpade at the wheel.

Matthieu Beche, who has been outright fastest the whole weekend so far, took pole in the #46 Thiriet by TDS Oreca 05, 1.1 seconds faster than second placed SMP Racing #32 of Stefano Coletti. Third place is for Leo Roussel, 0.05 seconds behind the BR01. Harry Tincknell put the G-Drive Gibson on fourth, Nicolas Lapierre completing the top 5 for Dragonspeed.

Rob Kaiser put the #6 360 Racing Ligier JSP3 on pole for this afternoons race in the LMP3 class. Ultimately he was 0.05 seconds ahead of the #19 Duquine Engineering Ligier of Dino Lunardi who dominated both practice sessions on Friday. Third spot was for the #9 Graff racing, holding off Alex Brundle in the #2 United Autosport with just 0.004 seconds.

In GTE Richie Stanaway took pole position in the #96 Aston Martin, almost a second ahead of the #88 Proton Porsche of Richard Lietz and the #66 Ferrari of Andrea Bertolini.

The race will run this afternoon at 14.30h local time, and will be streamed live on the ELMS website.