The 6 Hours of Silverstone and the WEC opener

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The FIA WEC got underway with the 6 Hours of Silverstone – a very wet occasion.  We saw a great debut performance from Porsche, a very un-Audi like double retirement with strange snap crashes on entry to fast corners and a supreme effort from Toyota in LMP1.  Here we take a closer look.

LMP1

1;8;Toyota Racing;Anthony DAVIDSON;Nicolas LAPIERRE;Sébastien BUEMI;;Toyota TS 040 – Hybrid;M;LMP1;H;;Classified;167;5:22’42.296;;;112;1’44.646;202.7;

2;7;Toyota Racing;Alexander WURZ;Stéphane SARRAZIN;Kazuki NAKAJIMA;;Toyota TS 040 – Hybrid;M;LMP1;H;;Classified;166;5:23’14.056;1 Laps;1 Laps;17;1’44.326;203.3;

3;20;Porsche Team;Timo BERNHARD;Mark WEBBER;Brendon HARTLEY;;Porsche 919 Hybrid;M;LMP1;H;;Classified;165;5:22’47.120;2 Laps;1 Laps;4;1’45.245;201.5;

Toyota

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Anthony Davidson (no8 Toyota TS040-Hybrid):

“It has been a fantastic weekend and it is brilliant to win my home race. The team did a fantastic job all weekend. It looked like it would be an epic fight with Audi and Porsche if it had stayed dry, but we knew the rain was coming and we had set our car up for wet conditions. We made the right call on tyres, the strategy was just perfect; that’s how you win races. It is particularly special to also win the Tourist Trophy and the Richard Lloyd Trophy. It is a fantastic achievement and I couldn’t have wished for a better weekend.”

 

Porsche

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Mark Webber:

“It’s been a brilliant day for us. I’m happy to have played a small role in the effort that’s gone in from the team and everyone back at the factory to get to this point. Timo and Brendon drove exceptionally as well. It was unfortunate for the other car, but it wasn’t their day. It was a tough race for all the drivers with tricky conditions, and drizzle on slick tires is never easy. We managed to dodge a few bullets and survived some of the tricky phases. It was a great experience for me, I learnt so much today in the race. We were spot on with the pit stops in terms of the tire strategy.”

Audi

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Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport):

“Losing both cars in a race due to accidents is extremely bitter. It’s the first time since Road Atlanta 2011 that we’re going home from a race with the Le Mans prototypes without having scored a single point. But the performance at the beginning of the race was good. When it started to rain we trusted our weather radar and waited too long before changing the tires. That was our mistake and, in retrospect, an unnecessary risk. It really hit us at full force: Both cars slipped off track. The car of Lucas (di Grassi) was so heavily damaged that we had to take it out of the race. André (Lotterer) was able to continue driving but lost a lot of time. Although afterwards we played it safe with the tires and Benoît Tréluyer was running on intermediates that worked well, he slipped off track, too. As both cars were heavily damaged, we’re in for a real marathon run before the next WEC race at Spa.”

 

LMP2

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5;26;G-Drive Racing;Roman RUSINOV;Olivier PLA;Julien CANAL;;Morgan – Nissan;D;LMP2;;LMP2;Classified;154;5:24’15.065;13 Laps;5 Laps;3;1’51.339;190.5;

6;47;KCMG;Matthew HOWSON;Richard BRADLEY;Tsugio MATSUDA;;Oreca 03 – Nissan;D;LMP2;;LMP2;Classified;152;5:22’59.911;15 Laps;2 Laps;4;1’51.597;190.0;

13;27;SMP Racing;Serguey ZLOBIN;Nicolas MINASSIAN;Maurizio MEDIANI;;Oreca 03 – Nissan;M;LMP2;;LMP2;Classified;145;5:23’53.313;22 Laps;1 Laps;4;1’52.798;188.0;

Olivier Pla (no26 G-Drive Racing Morgan-Nissan) :

“1st race at the WEC and 1st victory, we couldn’t have hoped for a better result, even though it wasn’t as straightforward as that. It started really well, and we could cope, but then we had an issue and we had to change the bonnet to fix the front headlight which burnt out, and so we had to follow the rules and change it immediately, which made us lose a lot of time. With the rain which came to bother us now and then, it really wasn’t easy. The car was perfect, and everything was under control. It was great to start like this and I hope it’s just the start of a long string of wins. “

 

GTE-Pro

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7;92;Porsche Team Manthey;Marco HOLZER;Frédéric MAKOWIECKI;Richard LIETZ;;Porsche 911 RSR;M;LMGTE Pro;;LMGTE Pro;Classified;147;5:23’11.855;20 Laps;5 Laps;3;2’00.963;175.3;

8;91;Porsche Team Manthey;Patrick PILET;Jörg BERGMEISTER;Nick TANDY;;Porsche 911 RSR;M;LMGTE Pro;;LMGTE Pro;Classified;147;5:23’57.636;20 Laps;45.781;3;2’01.075;175.2;

9;97;Aston Martin Racing;Darren TURNER;Stefan MÜCKE;;;Aston Martin Vantage V8;M;LMGTE Pro;;LMGTE Pro;Classified;147;5:24’39.700;20 Laps;42.064;3;2’02.054;173.7;

Hartmut Kristen, Porsche Head of Motorsport:

“Our drivers did a very good job at this truly exciting race. Just thinking about Frédéric’s overtaking skills – now that was a lot of fun to watch. What we saw today was racing at its very best. The stewards made the right decision to stop the race. Towards the end the rain came bucketing down. For the first race of the season this is of course a terrific result and we’ll be doing everything to continue like this. Our 911 RSR cars were the ones to beat today in the dry and the wet. Fortunately none of our rivals managed this.”

GTE-Am

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15;95;Aston Martin Racing;Kristian POULSEN;David HEINEMEIR HANSSON;Nicki THIIM;;Aston Martin Vantage V8;M;LMGTE Am;;LMGTE Am;Classified;144;5:25’05.013;23 Laps;1’08.614;114;2’02.656;172.9;

16;98;Aston Martin Racing;Paul DALLA LANA;Pedro LAMY;Christoffer NYGAARD;;Aston Martin Vantage V8;M;LMGTE Am;;LMGTE Am;Classified;144;5:25’12.509;23 Laps;7.496;4;2’02.212;173.5;

17;81;AF Corse;Stephen WYATT;Michele RUGOLO;Sam BIRD;;Ferrari F458 Italia;M;LMGTE Am;;LMGTE Am;Classified;143;5:25’12.924;24 Laps;1 Laps;3;2’02.147;173.6;

Jan Struve, team owner Young Driver AMR:

„It was a extremely difficult weekend. We had a late rule change in the ride height of our car. It came only last week, so we couldn’t test this before. Due to this, we couldn’t use last year’s data. In absolute lap times, we were not the quickest, but we didn’t make any mistakes. The entire team did a perfect job and this was the key for today’s success. It was hard work, but the drivers and the team made it work and at the end, it worked out. We won and our team member Christoffer Nygaard finished second in a sister car, we couldn’t ask for more this weekend.”

Text via press materials

Images courtesy of Michelin except for LMP2 which is courtesy of the FIA WEC

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