FIA WEC - 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps : LMP2 & GTE Race review

LMP2

LMP2 saw a frantic battle for the podium that lasted 'till the checquered flag was dropped. When the green flag fell, Rene Rast in the polesitting #26 G-Drive racing Oreca05/Nissan quickly pulled away from the competition, building up a gap of 20 seconds. 2 punctures and a switch of bodywork when Nathanael Berthon was at the wheel ruined their chances for a podium finish, losing a lap to the leaders. 

The first full course yellow came out after a contact between Simon Dolan in the #38 G-Drive Gibson and Nicki Thiim in the #95 Aston Martin. Thiim sliding off track, tapped into the tire barrier and flipping over. Luckily Thiim got out uninjured. Dolan was given a stop & go penalty for avoidable contact. 

With the Gibson Oreca05 gone, Manor took the lead with their #44 Oreca05/Nissan driven by Tor Graves, Will Stevens and James Jakes. They kept onto the lead well into the third hour but lost the lead when Graves reported a brake problem and the front left brake needed replacement. The lengthy stop dropping the #44 car out of contention. Alpine now took the class lead in the #36 of Gustavo Menezes, Nicolas Lapierre and Stephane Richelmi. Second was the #45 Manor on a respectable distance, followed by the #43 RGR sport by Morand Mexican team. 

Going into the final stint, the first 4 cars in LMP2 were almost nose to tail. The #36 Signatech Alpine leading Silverstone winners #43 RGR Sport Ligier and the #45 Manor Oreca. Meanwhile, the #31 ESM Ligier of Ryan Dalziel, Pipo Derani and Christopher Cumming went up to fourth place. With rising star Derani completing the final stint, we all knew ESM would get a shot a victory at some point. 

The safety car came in with 41 minutes to go, and what followed was a nailbiting shootout. Derani made it up to second during the final pitstop, getting in a fierce battle for second with Filipe Albuquerque in the RGR Sport by Morand. When Nicholas Lapierre was forced to make his final pitstop, Roberto Merhi in the #45 Manor got into the fight, passing both other cars for the lead. He didn't enjoy that for long though, as he got a drive through penalty due to a pitlane infringement. 

Derani now briefly held the lead, keeping of Albuquerque on fresher tires. Lapierre fought back however and with less than 5 minutes to go he put up a bold overtaking manoevre after the double left hander. Passing Derani and the #67 Ford GT in one bold move got him back into first, and victory 5 minutes later. Derani came in second, ahead of Merhi who ultimately surprised Albuquerque and rounded off a fantastic weekend for Manor with their first podium in the WEC. 

GTE

In GTE-Pro, AF Corse dominated the class in Silverstone and seemed to do so in Spa too. The #51 Ferrari 488 GTE of Gianmaria Bruni and James Calado lead most of the race, and seemed to have the victory in the bag. The first victory for Calado in the WEC ... But then disaster struck. Calado having to come into the pits with less than 8 minutes to go, the car wheeled into the garage with an engine problem. This gave victory to the second AF Corse Ferrari, the #71 of Davide Rigon and Sam Bird, their second win of the year after Silverstone. 

2 accidents upset the GTE-Pro class. First the contact of Nicki Thiim in his Aston Martin #95 and Simon Dolan in the #38, causing the Aston to roll over after hitting the tire wall at the exit of Stavelot. The second accident was a freightening one. With an hour to go into the race, Stefan Mucke rejoined in his #66 Ford GT after a lengthy pitstop due to a turbo problem. A few laps into the race again, Mucke loses control of the car at the exit of Eau Rouge and goes hard into the barriers at the Raidillon. Mucke stayed conscious and escpaed with a few dents and bruises out of the completely wrecked Ford GT. 

The #67 Ford GT sister car of Marino Franchitti, Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell had a faultless race, finishing second after six hours. The #97 Aston Martin of Fernando Rees, Richie Stanaway and Jonny Adam came in third, right behind the Ford.  The #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche never really was into the race and finished anonymously fourth and last in class. 

IN GTE-Am, Aston Martin dominated the competition in the #98 of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda. The #83 AF Corse Ferrari of Francois Perrodo, Ammanual Collard and Rui Aguas shortly took the lead after the start, but lost that again after contact with the Ford #67 in Les Combes. The #95 Vantage took the lead again & never really looked back, finished a lap ahead of the competition. Lots of drive through penalty's in this class during the race, either for speeding in the pitlane or exceeding track limits. 

In the first few hours, the #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Porsche 911 seemed to be in contention for a podium spot. It went up to second several times, but dropped down the order in the final hours of the race. The #50 Larbre Competition Corvette took his second consecutive podium, bringing the car home in third position after a rather uneventful race. AF Corse took the second step of the podium with the #83 Ferrari F458 Italia. 

Kristof Vermeulen.

FIA WEC - 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps : LMP1 Race review

56000 spectators, Spa-Francorchamps under the sun and temperatures up to 24 degrees ... all was set for a great race in the Belgian Ardennes last weekend. After Porsche's domination in qualifying, setting everyone else back for at least 1.9 seconds, it seemed like they were in for “a walk in the park” on Saturday. 6 hours later, with a classic endurance race passing by, things turned out differently ...

Both Porsches had a faultless start, Hartley leading his 919 Hybrid first in La Source, followed by the #2 sister car with Marc Lieb at the wheel. After almost six laps, Lieb runs into trouble with the #2 car. A problem with the hybrid system meant they couldn't deploy all of their hybrid power for the remainder of the race. At that time, bringing the car home without losing too much time was the challenge for the team. Little did they know, they'd be finishing on the podium after 6 hours. Laptimes went up significantly and the #2 Porsche fell down to sixth position.

After the first pitstops, Sebastian Buemi took the lead in his Toyota #5, doublestinting his tires. At that point Buemi had already been in a frantic battle with Di Grassi in the Audi #8 for second place. Side by side through La Source and Eau Rouge, Di Grassi even overtaking on the grass at Blanchimont, before losing its place again at the chicane. (Endurance) Racing at its best, fighting for every inch on the track.

Timo Bernhard took over in the #1 Porsche, lapping faster than Buemi and ready for another breathtaking battle for first. Until disaster stroke for Bernhard as he collected a puncture in lap 37, causing damage to the body work. Webber takes the car over, but also has a puncture about 10 laps later. This one causes more substantial damage, keeping the car in the garage for 1h40' and out of contention for a place on the podium.

With both Porsches and Audi #7 in trouble, Toyota held on to the lead in the #5 TS050 of Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima. Davidson, almost a lap ahead of the Audi #8 which was in second position halfway the race, looked comfortable in the lead. After 3 hours, Toyota occupied P1 and P3, Audi in second and the handicapped #2 Porsche in fourth. The Audi #7 meanwhile fell down to 15th overall after a several visits to the pitlane due to a damaged floor and air ducts that had to be cleaned.

Behind the factory teams, both Rebellions were holding on in fourth and fifth position, 1 and 2 laps behind third place. Rebellion already got onto the podium in Silverstone, if the factory cars keep on hitting trouble in the second half of the race, they could have a chance to be up there again in Belgium. Mechanical woes hit the ByKolles #4 again, keeping it in the pitlane for a while and dropping to 18th overall.

The second half of the race started with the fourth placed #6 Toyota unlapping itself from the second placed Audi #8. Would Toyota – racing in high-downforce trim instead of the low drag Germans – be able to clinch a surprising first and second at the end of the race ?  Unfortunately, no ... Minutes later the #6 TS050 of Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi was pushed into its garage with an engine problem, forcing it to retire due to engine/electronics failures. The Porsche #2 was now up to third, and both Rebellions ready for the podium if trouble strikes again at the factory teams.

Marcel Fassler charged hard in the #7 Audi R18 to make up the time lost in the pitlane, too hard ... after contact in the chicane he had to come in again with damage to the front bodywork, losing more time in the pitlane and received a drive through penalty for causing a collision. By the end of the race, Fassler made contact again in La Source, finishing with a right front damaged R18. The Porsche #1 came back out again with a bit more than 2 hours to go, on the edge of being able to complete 70% of the winners distance to score some important championship points.

Just when you thought Toyota had everything under control and was going for a well deserved victory, drama struck again.  With a few minutes over an hour to go, the leading #5 Toyota started smoking from the rear. An engine problem forcing the leading car into the pits, only to come out again at the end of the race. Drama for Toyota losing both cars with mechanical issues in less than 2 hours. The Audi #8 now takes the lead, ahead of Porsche #2 and the Rebellion #13.

Despite the safety car after Mucke's crash on the Raidillon (more about that in our LMP2 & GTE race review), nothing really changed anymore in the final hour of the race. A bit of commotion though when the leading Audi #8 was pushed into the garage under the safety car. Audi declared later this  was a scheduled stop, they now could do under the safety car without losing time.

After 6 hours of racing, the Audi #8 of Lucas Di Grassi, Loic Duval and Oliver Jarvis took victory in the Ardennes, 2 laps ahead of the #2 Porsche 919 Hyrbid and 4 laps in front of the #13 Rebellion R-One. The second Rebellion came in fourth, 6 seconds ahead of the #7 Audi. ByKolles completed the top 6. The first win for this trio together in an Audi, and the first for Di Grassi and Jarvis in the WEC.

Toyota brought out the #5 again in the last lap of the race, completing the lap solely on hybrid power, scoring important points in the championship and securing second place. A premiere in the WEC, and probably in motorsport, as it's believed this was the first time ever a car has completed a lap completely on hybrid power. After the race, the #5 TS050 got a four lap penalty, because Nakajima didn't meet the minimum drive trime. 

It seems like the LMP1 teams all have quite some work to do ahead of Le Mans. More than ever, reliability is going to be crucial next month, and with each factory team fielding “only” 2 cars at the start, there's almost no room for error. In the past years, more than once the third car took victory at La Sarthe. Rebellion is having a dream season so far, twice on the podium and second in the constructors standing, ahead of Toyota and Porsche. If they are as reliable at Le Mans as in Spa and Silverstone, they might be in for a surprise !

Roll on June, this could be an epic one (again) !

Kristof Vermeulen.

FIA WEC - 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps : Porsche dominates Spa qualifying & practice sessions

In a sunny Spa-Francorchamps, Porsche demolished the competition this afternoon in qualifying. 

Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard took pole position in the #1 Porsche 919 Hybid, with an average time of 1.55.793. The #2 Porsche of Neel Jani and Marc Lieb took second place, 0.797 seconds behind the fastest time. Toyota and Audi were battling it out for the second and third row on the grid, but with a substantial gap to both Porsches. 

Stéphane Sarrazin and Kamui Kobayashi took third place, in their #6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, but no less than 1.905 seconds behind the polesitters. First Audi on the grid is the #8 of Oliver Jarvis and Loic Duval, 1.923 seconds behind Hartley & Bernhard, followed by the second Toyota of Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima. The second Audi of Andre Lotter and Marcel Fassler completes the LMP1 Hybrid grid in sixth place.   

In the privateer LMP1 class, both Rebellions were faster than the ByKolles. The #13 fastest in class ahead of the #12. The LMP qualifying session was shortly red flagged after contact between the #34 ByKolles and the RGR LMP2 left some debris on the track at the Raidillon. 

LMP2 pole position was, as in Silverstone, for G-Drive Racing. René Rast and Roman Rusinov were fastest on track in their Oreca05/Nissan, half a second ahead of the #36 Signatech Alpine A460 driven by Nicolas Lapierre and Gustavo Menezes. A strong performance by the Manor guys again, putting the #45 of Richard Bradley and Roberto Merhi on third place. The #38 Gibson 015S of Simon Dolan and Giedo van der Garde took fourth, ahead of the second Manor Oreca05/Nissan. 

AF Corse and Ferrari are confirming their dominance of Silverstone, clearing out the front row in GTE-Pro. Second pole position for the #71 of Davide Rigon and Sam Bird, outpacing the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE of Gianmaria Bruni and James Calado.

After a BOP adjustment, the Aston Martins seem to be closer to Ferrari as last month, with the #97 of Fernando Rees/Richie Stanaway and Jonny Adam third on the grid, 0.343 seconds adrift from the fastest Ferrari. Both Fords complete the top 5 in the Pro class, the #66 ahead of the #67. The top 5 in GTE-Pro qualified within a second from eachother.

In GTE-Am, Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda were quickest in their #98 Aston Martin Vantage V8. They beat the #83 Ferrari F458 of Francois Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Riu Aguas by 1.851 seconds. Third in the Am category is the #88 Dempsey-Proton Porsche 911 RSR of Khaled Al Qubaisi, David Henemeier Hansson and Patrick Long.
Qualifying results

Practice sessions

Porsche was fastest in the first and third practice session, while Toyota showed some good pace in the second one on Thursday afternoon.

In the first session, Hartley quickly set a 1.58.02 on the clocks, a time that wouldn't be bettered for the rest of the day. The second Porsche 919 RSR of Lieb/Dumas/Jani was half a second slower, the rest of the competition following at 1.4 seconds or more. Toyota claimed the third fastest time with the #6 TS050 Hybrid.

Extreme Speed Motorsport continued in their good form of Silverstone, the #31 Ligier JSP2/Nissan faster than the #26 G-Drive Oreca 05 and the #35 Baxi DC Racing Alpine A460. In GTE Aston Martin was outright fastest. The #97 in GTE-Pro, just ahead of the #98 Vantage Am entry which outpaced all other GTE's in both classes.

Toyota was fastest in second practice, although not able to outpace Hartleys top time from te first session. Sarrazin topped the timesheets in the #6 TS050 ahead of the #7 sister car of Nakajima. Both Porsches and the Audi #7 completed the top 5 in LMP1, 1.7 seconds adrift of the Toyota's. Manor was fastest in LMP2, the #44 Oreca05/Nissan of Richard Bradley 0.8 seconds faster than Giedo van der Garde in the Mighty 38 of G-Drive Racing. After a year on the sidelines, it seems like van der Garde didn't loose his sense of speed.

In the GTE class, Ferrari took the honours this time. James Calado was fastest in his #51 488, Rui Aguas in the 488 Am class AF Corse. The second practice session was red flagged, after the #50 Larbre Corvette lost fuel and went into the barriers with about 15 minutes to go.

The third and final practice on Friday morning was Porsches playground again. Timo Bernhard nailed it with a 1.56.465, leaving everyone else at least 1.6 seconds behind. The second 919 Hybrid was second ahead of the #6 Toyota and #7 Audi.

Both Alpines had a strong run in LMP2, but couldn't top Rene Rast's time in the #26 G-Drive. GTE-Pro was for Ferrari with both F488 GTE's on top ahead of the #97 Aston Martin. In GTE-Am it was the #50 Larbre competition who was fastest this time, before the KCMG Porsche 911.

Audi didn't have a trouble free run during practice this week. In the first session the #8 R18 suffered from a failure of the front axle drive train, keeping it in its garage for the whole second session. On Friday morning, the #8 hit trouble again after contact with the KCMG Porsche, damaging its bodywork.

Results FP 1
Results FP 2
Results FP3


Kristof Vermeulen.