Yesterday, the entry list for the second round of the WEC in Spa has been revealed. In the past years, we saw extra cars for Audi and Porsche on the grid, but as both teams will only run 2 cars at Le Mans next month, there are only minor changes to the list this time.
The only addition is the #38 G-Drive Racing Gibson 015S/Nissan which will run in LMP2. Simon Dolan, Giedo van der Garde and Jake Dennis will drive the car, the same trio that will race at Le Mans. Jake Dennis replaces Harry Tincknell, who's racing with Ford at Spa and Le Mans. Tincknell will drive the #67 Ford GT, Billy Johnson continues his preparation for the "big one" in Ford's #66. One other driver change in the #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Porsche, Patrick Long replacing Klaus Bachler. 34 cars will take the green flag at Spa-Francorchamps next week.
The entry list can be found here.
Club Arnage is now on Instagram too, give us a follow on https://www.instagram.com/clubarnage/. You'll find regular updates with pictures of Le Mans, WEC, ELMS, IMSA and other endurance racing events. There's still also the Club Arnage facebook page with news and pictures, and the Club Arnage twitter account.
Busy days at Motorland Aragon this week with Toyota, Porsche, Audi and Ford putting in some extensive testing in Spain. Toyota has been running a 30 hour simulation in preparation of Le Mans and its low downforce aero pack. One of the drivers was the "retired" Alex Wurz.
Manor has launched a new mobile app to interact more with race fans. The app contains exclusive content including detailed background information of the team & its history, but also provides a way for fans to interact during the race. One of these is a feature called "Track-Watch" which allows fans to post live weather forecasts complete with geo-location data to help the team understand the weather situation around the track in real time. Could come in handy at Spa or Le Mans, where the weather is always unpredictable. Track-Watch is only the first step, as Manor plans to update the app regularly, allowing fans to interact more and more with the team. The app can be downloaded in the App store or Google Play, search for "Manor Endurance". More info on the Manor website.
Audi has decided to withdraw its appeal following the exclusion of the winning #7 at Silverstone due to a violation of the LMP1 class technical regulations.
"The thickness of the skid block of the number “7” Audi R18 represented a breach of Article 3.5.6 a3 of the regulations, according to the assessment of the Technical Delegate. “We accept the exclusion from the classification and, in the interest of the sport, jointly look ahead,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, justifying the decision. The skid block suffered above-average wear during the season opener. An analysis revealed that its wear was attributable to unexpectedly heavy “bouncing,” in other words an up- and downward movement of the race car. “It it is our job to avoid increased wear – we accept this responsibility,” Dr. Ullrich said. “We made our decision in the interest of the sport and hope that the eight remaining world championship rounds will be similarly thrilling as the season opener.”
Other news from Audi is the departure of Leena Gade as reported by DSC. Gade will be transferred to the Bentley customer programs, in a management position. Her successor at Audi, Erik Schuivens, who previously worked at Sauber in F1, has started working at Audi in Silverstone.
Kristof Vermeulen
