Iron Dames keep P2 in class championship

LM GTELMGTE

Sep 11

Ferrari AF Corse wins

AF Corse’s number 54 Ferrari 488 GTE took victory in the LMGTE Am class at the 6 Hours of Fuji, allowing the trio of Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Davide Rigon to claim their first win of the season in the sixth and penultimate round of the FIA WEC 2023.

Rigon, at the wheel in the last double stint, after acquiring the 488 GTE from an excellent Castellacci, made a comeback to a well-deserved win, allowing a convincing Thomas Flohr back onto the podium of the Japanese circuit after his win in 2017.

DAVIDE RIGON: “Thomas and Francesco did an amazing job in the opening part of the race giving me — along with the perfect strategy adopted by the team — the opportunity to get on board our 488 GTE and give the best of myself. I was able to push hard right from the first laps without having to think too much about saving fuel. I have to admit that I had a lot of fun today behind the wheel of a well-balanced car, so I should thank the whole team and Ferrari, who allowed us to bring home our first triumph in 2023. We arrived in Japan with the hope of doing well in a 6 Hours of Fuji that is never easy. The final hour seemed never-ending and I felt really great when I crossed the finish line.” Source Ferrari Competizioni GT

Corvette Racing second

Corvette Racing returned to the GTE Am podium on Sunday with a second-place finish for the No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Six Hours of Fuji.

Drivers Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nico Varrone continued their historic run in this year’s championship with their fourth podium finish in six races. The Corvette Racing team elected for an aggressive strategy of completing the race with only four pit stops compared to five for most of its competitors. That line of thinking appeared to be the winning call… were it not for two questionable in-race penalties that cost the Corvette team two minutes in the pitlane.

Keating began on pole in class following a stunning lap in Saturday’s qualifying session. He drove a pair of 70-minute stints while a majority of other GTE Am cars stopped 10-15 minutes earlier. His fuel economy with the Corvette’s flat-plane crank V8 engine put the team in prime position for a fourth victory of the season.

Unfortunately toward the end of his stint, Keating was involved in side-to-side contact with the eventual race-winning Ferrari that resulted in a damaged right-hand door. The crew quickly repaired the hinge system and swapped out the door on the C8.R’s second pit stop as Keating handed over to Varrone.

Adding insult to injury, though, Keating was judged by the race stewards to be responsible for the contact. The Corvette received a 30-second stop-and-go penalty, which Varrone served shortly after he got in the car at the two-and-a-half-hour mark.

The never-give-up spirit of Corvette Racing was evident once again as Varrone’s pace and fuel savings meant he was able to cycle back to the lead inside the final 90 minutes. However, the Corvette was assessed a 10-second pitlane penalty for contact with another GTE car toward the end of his stint.

That left Catsburg to drive the final 65 minutes with aims of moving from third to second, but a late-race full-course yellow period hurt his chances and slowed his progress. He crossed the line third in class, but a 10-second, post-race time penalty to the No. 57 Ferrari elevated the Corvette to second.

BEN KEATING, NO. 33 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – SECOND IN GTE AM: "I think everything went according to plan. We came into the race hoping to do only four stops but it was five because of the penalty. But I still think we did our job the way we exactly planned to do it. I did 2.5 hours in the car; us and the 86 were the only two cars to go on that strategy, and I think it was the right strategy.

"The contact with the 54... I can understand why they (the race stewards) viewed it the way they did. To me, we came together. I was right up next to him (Thomas Flohr) and it was my intention to make his braking line tighter. As I went to get close to him, he came over to get into the braking line and the fact is that we came together. But because the normal line is to go out wide for the brake zone, they deemed I went into him more than he went into me. I felt like it was a racing incident.

"All I care about is our race and how we finished. I was not happy with the retaliation, either. They turned him up and gave him some extra speed. Then he caught up to me and ran me off the track at the last turn. I don't feel like that was the right way to go about a solution. I'm sure he's mad at me, and I'm mad at him. It's not the first time we've had this conversation. But I feel really good about the car and about our strategy." Source: Corvette Racing

Kessel Racing gets second Ferrari on podium

Third-place finish for the crew of Kessel Racing. The Kimura-Huffaker-Miyata trio, who finished runners-up, were lumbered with a 10-second penalty at the end of the race that dropped the crew onto the lowest step of the podium.

Irons Dames end fourth

The Iron Dames team were once again among the frontrunners. The pink Porsche 911 RSR driven by the all-female trio Sarah Bovy (Belgium), Michelle Gatting (Denmark) and Rahel Frey (Switzerland) were on course for a podium finish over long stretches but ultimately took the flag in fourth place.

As has been the story of much of the season the opening couple of stints featured Sarah battling against the #33 Corvette, with the pair providing some entertaining battles throughout. Michelle took over after 2 hours, put in strong times and kept the car in contention for the lead at the top of the class.
As the race progressed towards the midpoint, the #85 kept within range of the leading cars and in the fight for a podium finish. Rahel, who took over from Michelle after a single stint, battled hard to remain in with a chance of a top-three, but she dropped down the order slightly before handing back to Michelle to finish the race.
For the Iron Dames, the pace started to come back in the final hour and Michelle put in very strong times to keep close to the Corvette in front. Despite the determined drive, there just was not enough time to work up into the top three at the conclusion of the race.

But this valiant fourth place represents a largely positive result and could prove decisive in the quest for second place in the championship. The GTE-Am field has been close all year. Indeed, battles seemingly rage on right until the chequered flag at most of the rounds. With one race to go before the end of the season, the battle is still raging and today the Iron Dames leave Fuji taking a six-point advantage towards the season-ending silverware.

RAHEL FREY: ”We can be quite happy with P4 in the end and with good points for the championship as we made the gap to P3 bigger. For sure we are still hungry for a win. We will try one more time in Bahrain.” Source: Iron Dames