A Porsche 963 customer team wins for the first time

WECHyperCar

May 12

TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, round three of the FIA World Endurance Championship did start with a bright sunshine and a clear sky which did last the whole afternoon enabling race direction and organisers’ brave decision to restart the race after being red flagged during 1 hour 47’.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps.

The first part of the race at Spa-Francorchamps saw 40’ cautions with BMW M Hybrid V8 #20 punching out Porsche #38 which pushed BMW M4 GT3 #46 in the rails and Christensen ending the race of Porsche #5 in the wall.

The race was suspended after Bamber’s #2 Cadillac V-Series.R speared into the barriers at high speed at Kemmel, rebounded on to the track and collected Gelael’s #31 WRT BMW M4 GT3 which, ended its race in the guard rail.

The race eventually resumed at 7:10 p.m. for one hour and 44 minutes that gave the 88.000 fans one of the craziest sports car races in recent memory since cars had different level of energy left.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps.

When red fag was raised, the two Ferrari 499P were leading ahead of Proton Competition Porsche 963 #99, the AF Corse Ferrari #83, the two Toyota GR010. All 6 had low level of stint energy whereas Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963 #12 (P7) and Porsche Penske Motorsport #6 (P8) did pit just ahead of red flag. They did not need to stop when Safety Car released the pack thereby moving up the ranking to the lead as the top 6 all had to pit losing more than 1 minute.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps.

After pit stops, both #12 and #6 Porsche were 1 minute ahead of the previous leaders.

First win in WEC Hypercar for Hertz Team JOTA

One year after they started racing a Hypercar, Hertz Team JOTA Porsche #12 wins its first WEC Hypercar race with Callum Illott and Will Stevens who become the first duo line-up to win a top class WEC race since 2014. Having pitted just ahead of the red flag, Callum Ilott was catapulted to P1 as the 6 cars ahead had to pit in emergency. He distanced the factory Porsche which was suffering a brake issue. With the P2 at Qatar 1812 and the win at Spa the crew is now second in the overall driver standings.

Callum Ilott (Porsche 963 #12): “Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable! I knew that we’d be strong this weekend. Our pace was good and we were able to use the red flag perfectly. At the end of the day, we benefited from that. Sometimes things just pay out the way they should!” Source: Porsche

With P2, Porsche #6 increases championship leadership

The #6 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar driven by Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor end second 12.363s behind race winners as Estre, then in the #6 Porsche, was in delicacy with braking issue. The trio therby further extend the lead in the drivers’ standings to 22 points ahead of the #12 duo.

Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 963 #6): “This time, we had luck on our side in the midst of difficult conditions. But we also did everything we could to put ourselves in the right place. In terms of the championship, we’re happy to take another second place – being championship leaders feels good. Nevertheless, we still have some work to do for the next race in Le Mans.” Source: Porsche

Ferrari claims race restart for losing a double

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps.

The #50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P Hypercar of Miguel Molina, Antonio Fuoco and Nicklas Nielsen took the final podium spot. Fuoco moved into second place on lap 86 after starting the race from the back of the Hypercar grid following a penalty. The trio was leading the race when red flag came out.

At the restart, Ferrari #51 first had to make an emergency stop, followed by a final pit stop, like its ‘sister’ car #50.

MIGUEL MOLINA: “I think the team showed its full potential at Spa, and it will be hard to forget how both our crew and our teammates in the 499P number 51 climbed up from the back. At the sixth hour, we were first and second, and I believe that positioning best represents what we saw on the track today.” Source: Ferrari

The sister #51 Ferrari AF Corse driven by James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi finished fourth.

JAMES CALADO: “I congratulate my teammates and the entire team. In the first stints, Antonio (Giovinazzi, ed) did something exceptional by moving up in the standings and allowing me to take the race lead. At that point, we were first and second with the two Ferraris. The race was over for us at the six-hour mark, and the subsequent one-hour and 44-minute ‘sprint race’ shouldn’t have happened.” Source: Ferrari

Outstanding performance from Julien Andlauer

After a good 40 minutes, Julien Andlauer (Proton Competition Porsche 963 #99) passed the then leading Porsche 963 #5 for 69 laps just losing the lead during 1 lap as he was pitting. Together with Neil Jani, they couldn’t resist to the Ferrari’s speed ending the race in P5.

Julien Andlauer (Porsche 963 #99): “That was the best weekend so far for Proton Competition’s Porsche 963. Our preparations went really well in the practice sessions for the first time this season. The setup was right, so were the tyres, strategy and energy management – the rest was pure racing. After the red flag, we initially slipped from third to ninth place. In the last two hours, I tried to make up as much ground as possible and gave it my all. But I couldn’t do any better than fifth place. Now we’re hugely motivated for the upcoming highlight of the year.” Source: Porsche

Toyota secured points in their World Championship defence

World Champions Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa, in the #8 GR010 HYBRID, finished sixth. Buemi lined up a promising sixth but was hit by another car at the first corner and dropped to ninth. He fell further back due to a five-second stop-go penalty for exceeding the permitted energy usage on the formation lap. Since sister car #7 had a 5” penalty at the end, the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid moved to sixth overall.

Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8): “It was an eventful race once again. I didn’t have such a good start, and I got pushed around badly. We got a penalty before the race even started which was very annoying and we need to get to the bottom if it. After that we worked hard to fight back. The result is not ideal, but we have to live with it. At least we finished with both cars and scored points, but we were hoping for a bit more.” Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing

Despite dropping to 15th following a drive-through penalty for a virtual safety car infringement in the first part of the race, Nick de Vries handed over the #7 GR010 Hybrid to Kamui Kobayashi in fifth. Kobayshi briefly ran third after the next round of fuel stops, before losing out to the #50 Ferrari. He was unable to hang on to fourth as the #51 Ferrari and #99 Porsche made the most of a performance advantage to get past. Kobayashi was then handed a five-second penalty for contact with a lapped LMGT3 car. That meant, when he crossed the line less than two seconds ahead of Brendon, the #8 GR010 HYBRID was classified sixth, and the #7 seventh.

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “It has been a difficult day. In terms of performance, sixth and seventh is the best we could do. This is the race before Le Mans and it’s one of our home races, so it’s a pity we couldn’t really compete at the front and get a strong result. It’s been a tough event for us but we have to accept it and improve, so that we come back stronger in Le Mans.” Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing

Although the result brought an end to its seven-race winning streak at Spa, the team remains firmly in World Championship contention, second in the standings, just 23 points behind leaders Porsche going into the double-points Le Mans 24 Hours.

P3 for AF Corse Ferrari #83 in independent FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams

AF Corse’s 499P #83, shared by official Ferrari drivers Yifei Ye and Robert Shwartzman, with Robert Kubica, finished in third place in the independent FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams and were eighth overall.

YIFEI YE: “It was a complicated race at Spa, with excellent moments and trickier ones. Eighth place overall may not be the best result we could have hoped for, but we are certainly pleased to have achieved third place in the independent teams’ class, which allowed us to climb the world championship podium for the third consecutive time.” Source: Ferrari