FIA WEC - 6 Hours of Bahrain: Audi takes pole position for its final race (update)

Pole position and the lap record for Audi's final race in the WEC tomorrow.
UPDATE: G-Drive racing loses its pole in LMP2

Lucas Di Grassi and Oliver Jarvis scored pole position for Audi in its final race in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Di Grassi nailed it hard with a new lap record at the end of the session, going round in an impressive 1.28.828, over half a second faster than any other LMP1 driver. Oliver Jarvis best time was 1.39.587, giving the #8 car an average time of 1.39.207 and pole position. After final practice this morning when Jarvis stopped his Audi R18 on track, the mechanics fitted a new engine in the car. 

Porsche took second and third this afternoon. Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley took second place in the dying seconds of the session with an average time of 1.39.471, 0.198 seconds faster than Marc Lieb & Neel Jani in the #2 Porsche 919. Fourth fastest was the second Audi, ahead of both Toyota's in which Mike Conway lots his fastest lap due to not respecting track limits. Rebellion took pole in the LMP1 L class, ByKolles not getting on track during the qualifying session.

In LMP2 G-Drive Racing continued on its momentum from the past 2 races and took pole position with an average time of 1.49.672 with Rene Rast & Roman Rusinov behind the wheel. Newly crowned champions Signatech Alpine share the first row, Gustavo Menezes & Stéphane Richelmi only 0.018 seconds short for pole. Third on the grid tomorrow will be the #44 Manor Oreca of Alex Lynn & Matt Rao. The #43 RGR Sport and #30 ESM round out the top five in class.

Update : #26 G-Drive racing loses pole position in LMP2 and has to start at the back of the grid. During post qualifying scrutineering it appeared that the car was not in compliance with the homologation form. The entries of both front brake cooling ducts not fitted with mesh. All qualifying times have been cancelled. Pole position in LMP2 now goes to the #36 Signatech Alpine, ahead of the #44 Manor and the #43 RGR Sport. 

Aston Martin continued to dominate the GTE Pro class, locking out the front row for the final race of 2016. Darren Turner & Jonny Adam took pole with the #97 Vantage V8 in 1.56.953, leaving the #95 sister car of Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorenson behind them. Third fastest was the #51 AF Corse Ferrari F488 of Gianmaria Bruni and James Calado. The #67 Ford and #71 Ferrari complete this afternoons top 5. Aston Martin's pole position reduces their deficit to Ferrari to 9 points, all will be still to play for in tomorrows race. 

Qualifying in GTE Am was a real cracker. François Perrodo and Rui Aguas seemed to be on track to clinch pole position and take another point in the championship, but a final flying lap by Pedro Lamy got the #98 Aston Martin on pole position. The #50 Larbre Competition Corvette took the third spot on the grid.

This mornings session ended under yellow, when Oliver Jarvis stopped his #8 Audi R18 on track. Timo Bernhard set the fastest time in the #1 Porsche 919, going round the track in 1.40.318. Oliver Jarvis in the #8 Audi was second quickest, despite the troubles at the end of the session, but almost half a second slower than Bernhard. Third place was for Mike Conway who was the fastest of the Toyota drivers.

Rene Rast drove a 1.50.431 in the #26 G-Drive Oreca, the fastest time in the LMP2 class. Both Alpines completed the top 3, the #36 Signatech Alpine ahead of the #35 Baxi DC Racing.  In GTE Pro all three manufacturers were in the top 3 of the session. Ferrari now fastest with Gianmaria Bruni in the #51 AF Corse 488 GTE. Second quickest was the #97 Aston Martin, beating the #66 Ford GT.

Emmanuel Collard was fastest in GTE-Am in his #83 Ferrari, ahead of Ben Barker in the #86 Gulf Porsche. Rounding out the top 3 was the #98 Aston Martin. 

The green flag for the 6 Hours of Bahrain will be waived tomorrow afternoon at 16.00h local time. 

Free Practice 3 results

Qualifying results LMP

Qualifying results GTE

Porsche presents its new 911 RSR

Last Wednesday, Porsche presented its all new for 2017 911 RSR GTE car at the Los Angeles car show. For the first time a 911 race car will be mid-engined. The last time Porsche entered a mid-engined "911" car in competition was the Porsche GT1 which ran in the late nineties. 

The new 911 RSR makes full use of the breadth of the Le Mans 24 Hours GT regulations, and in addition to systematic lightweight design, features the ultra-modern, flat-six unit positioned in front of the rear axle. The four-litre, extremely light aggregate features direct fuel injection as well as a rigid valve drive and is characterised by outstanding efficiency. The new 911 RSR will make its debut at the Daytona 24-hour race in January 2017.

“While retaining the typical 911 design, this is the biggest evolution by now in the history of our top GT model,” says Head of Porsche Motorsport Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser. The new 911 RSR is a completely new development: the suspension, body structure, aerodynamic concept, engine and transmission have all been designed from scratch. The engine concept has enabled the designers to install a particularly large rear diffuser. Combined with a top-mounted rear wing adopted from the LMP1 race car, the 919 Hybrid, the level of downforce and the aerodynamic efficiency were significantly improved.

“For the 911 RSR, we deliberately focussed on a particularly modern and light normally-aspirated engine, as this gave our engineers immense latitude in developing the vehicle,” explains Dr Walliser. “Apart from that, in principle, the LM-GTE regulations stipulate the absolute equality of various drive concepts, as the torque characteristics of turbo and normally aspirated engines are aligned.” Depending on the size of the restrictor, the new normally-aspirated unit puts out around 375 kW (510 hp).

Shift paddles on the steering wheel actuate the sequential six-speed gearbox with a magnesium housing, which delivers power to the 31-centimentre-wide rear wheels. The changeover to the new engine generation is now complete. After the 911 GT3 R and the 911 GT3 Cup, the spearhead of Porsche GT racing cars is now also powered by the same cutting-edge six-cylinder boxer engine family.

In the past, Porsche has already thoroughly pushed the limits with the concept of the 911 – in 1996 with the 911 GT1. With great success: In 1998 the 911 GT1 achieved the 16th overall victory for Porsche at the Le Mans 24-hour race. Back then, the fastest vehicle in the field emerged from the GT1 class.

For the first time, a Porsche GT race car features state-of-the-art assistance systems: the new 911 RSR is equipped with a radar-supported collision warning system, the so-called “Collision Avoid System”. Even in the dark, the faster LMP prototypes are detected early enough and misunderstandings can be avoided. A new safety cage concept and a new, rigidly-mounted racing seat enhance driver safety. With the seat fixed to the chassis, the pedalry can now been moved and adjusted to fit the driver.

The new 911 RSR’s serviceability has also been significantly improved: Entire elements of the carbon-fibre body can be exchanged completely in a very short time thanks to clever quick-release fasteners. Moreover, changes to the suspension setup can be performed much more quickly and easily.

With the look of the body wrapping, the 911 RSR is striking out in a new direction: For the first time, the GT racer bears the new factory design that has further developed the clear and dynamic design language of Porsche Motorsport. From a bird’s eye view, a hint of the Porsche emblem silhouette can 

be seen. The basic colours remain white, red and black.

In the 2017 season, the factory is expected to run the new 911 RSR at 19 outings which equates to more than 140 hours of racing. With two factory-entries, Porsche will tackle the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) including the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as the American IMSA Weathertech Championship. The new racer will celebrate its debut under the toughest conditions at the IMSA season opener in Daytona on 28-29 January. “We’re very well prepared for this,” says Marco Ujhasi, Head of GT Works Sport. “Since its first rollout in Weissach in March this year we’ve covered 35,000 test kilometres on racetracks in Europe and North America – that’s more than in the development of any other Porsche GT racer.”

FIA WEC: BR Engineering and Dallara to build a new LMP1-L prototype

On the eve of the final round of the FIA World Championship, the Russian company BR Engineering announces the decision to continue the participation in the championship in 2018 in the LMP1 class with a prototype of its own manufacture.

Boris Rotenberg, president of BR Engineering, and Andrea Pontremoli, CEO of Dallara, signed a collaboration agreement. The joint development and creation of a racing prototype BR1 in 2018 is the target of the Russian and Italian team work.

The BR Engineering new project started in Italy yesterday, and the process of creating the future prototype has already been launched. The company intends to spend 2017 on design, constructoen, all the necessary studies and tests, as well as the whole homologation process. In 2018 Russian team SMP Racing team once again take part in the FIA WEC on BR Engineering prototype. The team of specialists from ART Grand Prix is also involved into participation of the development of the new car and subsequent technical and operational services.

The BR1 will be created in accordance with the FIA regulations for LMP1 prototypes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The newest prototype is the next step after the launch in 2015 of the BR01 (LMP2), which had several podium finishes and achieved an overall third place in the ELMS this season and finished third in the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours. 

For next season some fundamental changes in the LMP2 class will be introduced; reducing the list of manufacturers. This influenced the decision of BR Engineering to focus its efforts on the development of a new prototype in the LMP1-L class with the target to continue in the 2018 FIA WEC championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours, in a new car and stepping up to the top class of endurance racing.

"We raised a challenge to ourselves", - said Boris Rotenberg. - It was possible to buy on the chassis of one of the four manufacturers, also it was possible to leave prototype racing, but we have always chosen our path. Not necessarily, and not always the easiest, but it is for sure - the most interesting and promising. The aim of the project was and remains the development of Russian motor sport, including the field of technology. We invest a lot in support of the Russian pilots to help talented young drivers to start a career in karting and successfully continue in GT, prototypes or single seaters. Our LMP2 BR01 prototype was the first Russian car on the Le Mans podium. BR1is the continuation of this project, aimed primarily at attracting higher technology in our country. Dallara's name is known to anyone who is familiar with motor racing. Now we have become partners, and BR Engineering's new project started here in Italy, where the best designers and engineers, both from Russia and from Europe will create a Russian prototype for the Russian SMP Racing team. They will face a lot of work. "   

The world-famous manufacturer of racing technology of the highest level,  Dallara, is the chassis supplier for the cars involved in IndyCar, FIA WEC, ELMS, GP2 , GP3, Formula 3,5 V8, Super Formula, represented in Formula 3, and Formula E.  Dallara is also collaborating with Alfa Romeo, Audi, Bugatti, Ferrari , KTM, Lamborghini, Maserati and many other manufacturers. Every weekend, about 300 racing cars built by its plant in Parma, where the BR Engineering office is now open, successfully performing on tracks around the world.