WEC- 6 Hours of Portimão: Top 3 per class

Apr 16

Toyota Gazoo Racing and United Autosport dominated their respective class at the 6 Hours of Portimão. In LMGTE AM, the battle was fierce with several leaders; Corvette Racing clinch a second victory after Sebring.

Hypercars

Despite taking an authoritarian lead Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López in the #7 GR010 HYBRID lost 11 minutes in pit when race officials ordered a mandatory sensor to be replaced.

The way was open for Buemi-Hartley-Hirakawa to clinch their first win this season.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Portimão. Hartley-Buemi-Hirakawa with Toyota GR010 HYBRID #8 won the 6 Hours of Portimao 2023.

Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8): “My team-mates and the whole crew did a brilliant job. I feel sorry for car #7 with this small issue which took away their chances. It would have been another tough fight, like in Sebring. We came very close to winning there but we made it today, so it is a very good feeling. We are continuing to work hard, and we’ll try to come back even stronger in Spa. The competition keeps improving so we need to take as many points as we can when we have the opportunities. I’m happy to win again and we’re pushing to keep that momentum.”

Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “I am really happy. It has been an awesome weekend right from the start of practice. It was a great race, and everything went perfectly; no mistakes by the drivers or on pit stops, we had the right strategy and the car was faultless. It was nice to drive from start to finish so a massive thanks to the team. I feel proud of their great work over the first two races. We have maximised our performance using all the experience we gained over the years because the competition is getting strong. I feel for car #7. They were pushing us hard and I am sure it would have been another close finish between us as it usually is.”

Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “The team did a perfect job, and I am very happy with this win today. Our car felt good, and it was very satisfying to win for the first time this season after missing it in Sebring by two seconds. When I started my stint, we were already leading but I managed to create a bigger gap over the Ferrari to make it more secure. It was not easy to manage the race on a short track like this with the traffic. I had to stay sharp so I am pretty happy with my performance. I feel bad for car #7, which had been competitive all weekend. Spa is coming very soon, and we will try to come back even stronger as a team.”

Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Portimão. Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen with Ferrari 499P #50 ended second overall.

Nicklas Nielsen: « We are delighted. We secured a very positive result here at Portimão, taking another step forward from the first race at Sebring. We were also lucky during the race when one of the two Toyotas had a problem and, at that point, did our best and consolidated second position. Now the goal is to continue on this path at the 6 Hours of Spa, a race that will be both beautiful and complicated. » Source: Ferrari.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Portimão. Loterer-Vanthoor-Estre with Porsche 963 #6 ended third overall.

Kévin Estre (Porsche 963 #6): “This podium finish is really cool. That was hard work! Our mechanics have had very short nights. Third place is the reward for that. Honestly, this feels like a victory. But we still have to develop and improve the car. And we also have to maintain a flawless performance in the future.”

Source: Porsche

LMP2

United Autosports clinch the double.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Portimão. Lubin-Hanson-Hanley ended second with #22 United Autosports.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Portimão. Deletraz-Andrade-Kubica completes the podium with WRT #41.

Robert Kubica: “For sure, a podium is a good reward for the hard work of the team. To be honest, it is more than what we could expect looking at the overall picture of our pace after qualifying. We had a good recovery after the first hour of the race, making up a gap of one minute, and had a very strong second part of the race. The car felt much better in the race than in previous sessions and I could keep a good pace despite a contact with a GT car which resulted in strong vibrations in the front, as a rim had been damaged. The safety car at the end helped, but our approach to the race and the tyre strategy was good. Now we have 10 days before Spa to work on what we learned so far.”

Source: Team WRT