FIA WEC: Spa-Francorchamps pre-race updates

#7 Toyota lost pole position 

The #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing lost its pole position yesterday afternoon due to an incorrect identification number for the car's fuel flow meter.  The decision saw the cancellation of all lap times in the qualifying session, ensuring that the car will start from the pit lane only after the last car in the field has covered the first lap and following directions from the Race Director.  Toyota declared "they accept full responsibility for the error, which had no impact whatsoever on car performance. The fuel flow meter which was used in the #7 was fully homologated and calibrated."

This means that the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Fernando Alonso, Kazyuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi will start from pole position. The #1 Rebellion R13 of Neel Jani, Andre Lotterer and Bruno Senna now joins the Toyota on the front row of the grid. 

#86 Gulf Racing Porsche to the back of the grid

The #86 Gulf Racing Porsche has been set back to the grid due to a pitlane infringement during qualifying. Michael Wainwright exceeded the pitlane speed limit and saw all his qualifying times cancelled.

Both Ginetta's withdrawn from the race

Yesterday evening, Ginetta released the following statement confirming that both G60-LT-P1 cars will not start for the opening round of the FIA WEC Super season at Spa-Francorchamps:

It is with great disappointment that we have to announce that Ginetta will no be releasing the two LMP1 cars that successfully ran at the FIA WEC Prologue at Paul Ricard earlier this month.

Unfortunately, funds promised have not arrived from TRS (China) to CEFC TRSM Racing (UK).

The required funds for Ginetta were due some time ago and whilst we understand that TRS (China) has been working with its sponsors to sort the issues, without payment, Ginetta cannot allow the cars to race.  Ginetta remains committed to working with CEFC TRSM Racing (UK) on this programme.

We are aware that CEFC TRSM Racing has visited TRS many times in China and can also confirm that TRS have visited Ginetta three times recently, the last time to attend a Royal visit. We have been informed by TRS that the current situation is a short-term cash flow problem and that the main funds are in place for payment before Le Mans.

Chairman of Ginetta, Lawrence Tomlinson said:“We’ve got to a situation where a UK-based team with excellent ability, kit and personnel, plus a pair of the latest LMP1 cars with confirmed and fully paid up entries for the 2018/19 FIA WEC (including two entries at Le Mans in both 2018 & 2019) are unable to race simply due to funds not flowing."

Rumours about financial woes have been going round the paddock all weekend, both Ginetta's only completing an installation lap at the practice sessions and staying in the garages during qualifying.  Apparently Manor's main sponsor CEFC China has been under investigation by the Chinese government concerning financial fraude.  How this will affect Ginetta's further involvement in the World Endurance Championship and the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans is still uncertain.  

Dragonspeed's tub damaged after Fittipaldi's shunt

The Dragonspeed BR1/Gibson in which Pietro Fittipaldi had a big shunt on the Raidillon has - as expected - been withdrawn from the race.  The car suffered from substantial damage on its tub.  

The FIA has published a new bulletin this morning stating Fittipaldi is well and his condition is stable.  He was operated on last nights for fractures to both his legs, and the operation went well. He remains under observation at the hospital.  The left leg, which suffered a complex fracture, has been satisfactorily operated upon. Pietro was completely conscious on exiting the Operating Suite and was able to describe what happened to him.  At 10.30h today he left intensive care.  His father was with him throughout the night.  

Busy pit walk and autograph session

Glorious sunshine this morning at Spa-Francorchamps and a good coming into the track for the opening race of the FIA WEC Super season.  The traditional pitwalk and autograph session was really packed, especially at the Toyota Gazoo Racing pitboxes where Fernando Alonso had his first taste of the fan-friendly and open atmosphere of the WEC paddock. 

The green flag for the 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps will be waived at 13.30h local time here Belgium. 

6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps start grid

Text: Kristof Vermeulen

Pictures: JellyBaby.Media

FIA WEC: Toyota on pole in Spa, big crash for Fittipaldi on the Raidillon

Free Practice 3

It was under a cloudless sky and with perfect conditions the cars of the FIA WEC lined up at pit exit this morning for the third and final free practice session. It would be wrong to read too much into FP times, but Neel Jani in Rebellion #1 immediately shot to the top of the timing screen with his first flying lap of 1:57.617 then improved to 1:57.120 which remained the fastest time of the 60 minute session.

In GTE Pro, Blomqvist clearly missed the memo and put the BMW #82 to the top of class times 10 minutes into the session with a lap of 2:14.225. At 11:18am Sarrazin put the SMP Racing BR #17 3rd fastest overall with a time of 1:58.398. Meanwhile Pastor Maldonado in the Dragonspeed Oreca #31 topped the LMP2 times early on with a lap of 2:02.281.

Euen Alers-Hankey was the early leader of GTE Am times in the TF Sport Aston Martin with his lap of 2:15.778, but it was not long before Campbell in the #77 Proton Porsche snatched the quickest Am honours with 2:15.410.

At the half hour point, Rebellion had the top two times overall, thanks to a lap of 1:58.124 in the #3 car (2nd fastest). Bruno Senna had a minor oops in the #1 Rebellion with a harmless spin-and-continue around 11:36am. With 20 minutes remaining, Mike Conway in the #7 Toyota finally displaced the #3 Rebellion from 2nd fastest with a time of 1:15.939.

At the chequered flag of FP3:

In LMP1: it was the #1 Rebellion with the quickest time followed by the #7 Toyota Hybrid and the #3 Rebellion .

In LMP2: quickest was #31 DragonSpeed Oreca, 2nd #26 G-Drive Oreca and 3rd #38 DC Racing Oreca.

In GTE Pro: 1st #67 Ford GT, 2nd #82 BMW M8, 3rd #66 Ford GT

In GTE Am: 1st #77 Proton Porsche, 2nd #88 Proton Porsche, 3rd #90  TF Sport Aston Martin. 

FP3 results

GTE Qualifying

Andy Priaulx set an early time of 2:12.936 in the #67 Ford GT then Pla set a time of 2:12.420 the #66 Ford. In GTE Am it was Cairoli in Porsche #88 first to the top of the class times with a lap of 2:14.766 but Wainwright displaced him in the #86 with a time of 2:15.332. We then had a bewildering number of lap time deletions due to track limits abuse. Cars #86 #90 #91 #54 #98 (and possibly others) had laps deleted for track limit violations.

While we were trying to make sense of the situation the chequered flag came out. In GTE Pro the #67 Ford GT was fastest from #66 Ford with #91 Porsche in 3rd.  In GTE Am it was #77 Porsche fastest from #98 Aston Martin with #56 Porsche in 3rd. Update: The #86 lap times of Wainwright were deleted as a result of pit lane speeding.

LMP Qualifying

The LMP qualifying session was interrupted by two red flags. With only one flying lap time set (1:56.756 for Thomas Laurent in the Rebellion #3) the first red flag came out to retrieve the #17 SMP Racing BR (Sarrazin) stranded on the circuit with a hydraulic/electronic problem. After the restart Conway set a time of 1:54.679 in Toyota #7 just before Fittipaldi in Dragonspeed #10 speared into the tyres on the outside of the exit of Eau Rouge, bringing out a second red flag. DuringThe injured Fittipaldi was immediately treated and taken to the hospital by helicopter and barriers needed to be repaired before the session went on with 16 minutes on the clock.

At the restart it was a battle between the two Toyotas but ultimately it was an average time of 1:54.583 for Toyota #7 by Conway and Kobayashi that denied pole position to the #8 Toyota. Third on the grid will be the #1 Rebellion Racing R13 of Jani, Lotterer and Senna.

Update - 20:23 Friday 4th May - Toyota #7 penalised for technicality.

The pole position for Toyota #7 was denied after stewards determined that Toyota Gazoo Racing had made an incorrect declaration of the fuel flow meter. The offence under Art 6.1.4 of sporting regulations has brought Toyota a cancellation of lap times for the car, and it will start from the pit lane exit. The official stewards notice states: "Will start the race from the Pit lane and shall not join the race until the last car in the field has covered his first lap, and following Race Director instruction". This of course promotes the #8 car to pole position and Rebellion #1 to the front row of the grid. 

In LMP2 it was the 2:02.405 2 lap average by Nicolas Lapierre and Pierre Thirlet in #36 Signatech Alpine that claimed the class pole from #26 G-Drive Oreca and #38 JCDC Racing Oreca.  After the chequered flag there appeared to be an undignified minor contact between Gonzalez in #31 Dragonspeed and Ricci in #50 Ligier at final turn before pit entry, no damage evident.

The FIA distributed an official bulletin about the accident of Pietro Fittipaldi, about an hour after the qualifying sessions:

At 15:52 today, Friday 4 March 2018, the No 10 Dragonspeed BR Engineering BR1 left the track at high speed at Raidillon, Circuit de Spa Francorchamps. The incident occurred during the LMP qualifying session for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. 

The car was being driven by Pietro Fittipaldi of Brazil. 

The driver, who was conscious at all times, was attended immediately by the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Medical services and FIA Medical degelate Jacques Tropenat, extracted from the car and taken by helicopter to the Centre Hospitalier de la Citadelle de Liège with suspected fractures to both legs.  He is accompagnied by the Dragonspeed Team Manager and his condition is not life-threathening.

As soon as more information is available it will be communicated. 

Whether the team will be able to repair the car in time and race tomorrow is also unclear at the moment.

Qualifying GTE results
Qualifying LMP results

Text: Dave Davies/Kristof Vermeulen
Pictures: JellyBaby.Media

FIA WEC: Toyota sets the pace in Spa-Francorchamps

Fernando Alonso set the fastest time in the first free practice session at Spa-Francorchamps this afternoon.  The Spaniard went round the Ardennes in 1.58.392, 0.099 seconds faster than his co-driver Sebastian Buemi.  The #7 Toyota of Mike Conway was the second fastest LMP1, 0.237 seconds behind Alonso. 

Behind the Toyota’s, Thomas Laurent in the #3 Rebellion Racing R13 set the quickest time in the non-hybrid LMP1’s, 0.457 seconds behind Alonso.  An encouraging result, as the gap between Toyota and the other LMP1’s was feared to be much bigger (although it’s still too early to know how hard everyone haas been pushing).

Ben Hanley in the Gibson powered #10 Dragonspeed was the fastest of the BR1’s, setting a 1.59.321 as fastest time, still within a second of Alonso.  Closing out the top 5 was Bruno Senna in the #1 Rebellion R13. Egor Orudhzev was the quickest SMP driver on seventh place. CEFC TRSM Racing had a disappointing first session at Spa, none of the cars completing a lap around the track, sitting out the whole session in their box.  

As in Le Castellet, Pastor Maldonado immediately showed his pace in the LMP2 class, setting the fastest time in his #31 Dragonspeed Oreca 07 with a 2.03.494.  Andre Negrao in the #36 Signatech Alpine was second quickest, 0.640 slower than Maldonado. Jean Eric Vergne in the #36 G-Drive was third fastest ahead of both Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca’s.  

Ford dominated the GTE Pro class in the first session, with And Priaulx on top of the timetable in the #67 Ford GT, his fastest laptime 2.15.014.  Oliver Place in the #66 sister car followed in second place, 0.259 seconds behind.  Both Porsches took third and fourth place, but were over half a second off the pace of the Fords.  In its first official practice session in the FIA WEC Superseason, the BMW’s ended up sixth (#82) and eight (#81), just over 1.5 seconds behind Priaulx.  The new Aston Martin Vantage AMR’s closed the standings in the Pro Class. 

As expected, the quickest of the LMGTE Am cars mingled themselves inbetween the Pro cars.   Matteo Cairoli especially in the #88 Dempsey-Proton Porsche was hitting one after another fastest lap, ultimately setting a 2.16.601 which would have put him on seventh place in the Pro class.  Second fastest Am driver was Benjamin Barker in the Gulf coloured #86 Porsche, just under a second behind Cairoli.  Another Porsche on third and fourth place with Matt Campbell in the #77 Dempsey-Proton 911 and Jörg Bergmeister in the #56 Team Project 1.  Best of the rest was Pedro Lamy in the “good old” Aston Vantage V8 who clocked the fifth fastest time.

The second practice session saw Toyota scoring a 1-2 again.  After 90 minutes of on track action, which was interrupted by a full course yellow and 2 red flags, it was the #7 Toyota of Mike Conway who went fastest in 1.56.172. Kazuki Nakajima set the quickest time in the #8 TS050 Hybrid, 0.643 seconds behind Conway. Pietro Fittipaldi - who replaces Renger van der Zande - in the #10 Dragonspeed BR1 was third fastest in 1.58.835, giving in 0.924 seconds to the #7 Toyota.  Both Rebellion R13’s completed the top 5, Thomas Laurent quickest again in the #3, ahead of Neel Jani in the #1.  Both CEFC Ginetta’s only completed an installation lap in the final session, with rumours going through the paddock about funding issues with their title sponsor. 

Pastor Maldonado went quickest again in the LMP2 class, improving his time from the first session with over half a second to 2.02.991. The #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca of Nabil Jeffri moved up to second in 2.03.306.  Roman Rusinov in the #26 G-Drive set the third fastest time with Andrea Pizzitola behind him in fourth, and the quickest non-Oreca car in the #50 Larbre Competition Ligier.  Andre Negrao was quickest again in the #36 Alpina and set the fifth fastest time of the second session in 2.04.134. 

Ford stayed on top of the LMGTE Pro class, this time with the #66 of Stefan Mücke (2.13.733).  Gimmi Bruni in the #91 Porsche 911 squeezed himself inbetween both Ford GT’s, just under half a second behind Mücke and half a second faster than Harry Tincknell in the #67 Ford.  Kevin Estre in the #92 Porsche was fourth fastest with the two AF Corse Ferrari’s behind him. 

The top 3 places in the LMGTE Am class were all Porsche again.  Ben Barker outpaced both Dempsey-Proton Porsches with a laptime of 2.16.113, leaving Matt Campbell (#77) and Matteo Cairoli (#88) behind. Pedro Lamy was fast again in the #98 Aston Martin in fourth place, closely followed by Giancarlo Fisichella in the #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari. 

The third free practice session is set to be run today at 11.00h .  Qualifying will take place this afternoon, starting at 15.00h for the GTE cars and 15.35h for the LMP’s.

Results Free Practice 1
Results Free Practice 2


Kristof Vermeulen
Pictures: © JellyBaby.Media