Changing fortunes at WEC Spa
In hot and sunny conditions Audi #8 took the chequered flag in an incident-filled WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The spectacular race played out in front of 56,000 spectators at the Spa track in Belgium.
Oliver Jarvis crossed the line to clinch the win in the Audi R18 he shared with Lucas Di Grassi and Loic Duval. It was a first FIA WEC win for both Jarvis and Di Grassi.
Toyota dominated a significant part of the race before both cars succumbed to technical problems. However the #5 Toyota TS050 HYBRID made history by being the first WEC entrant to complete a full racing lap using only electric power. This was completed on the last lap enabling the car to be classified as a finisher.
Neel Jani, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb secured second place in the #2 Porsche, despite suffering technical issues for much of the race. The Porsche trio also extend their lead in the championship points. The Porsche #1 suffered an extended pit stop following a puncture costing them any chance of a podium finish.
Rebellion Racing secured their best ever combined FIA WEC finish, as they finished third and fourth overall. They also take away maximum points in the LMP1 Privateer class.
The Signatech Alpine of Nicolas Lapierre, Gustavo Menezes and Stephane Richelmi took the LMP2 class win, taking the lead in last five minutes of the race.
The #71 Ferrari 488GTE of Sam Bird and Davide Rigon took their second consecutive LMGTE Pro win, benefitting from the retirement of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari driven by James Calado and Gianmaria Bruni which retired from the lead in final ten minutes.
The #67 Ford GT took their first FIA WEC podium as Tincknell, Priaulx and Franchitti took second in LMGTE Pro.
The LMGTE Am class win was claimed by the #98 Aston Martin of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda.
Stefan Mucke, driver of the #66 Ford GT, brought out the first safety car of the 2016 WEC season, after he had a high speed impact into the tyre wall exiting Eau Rouge.
He was assessed at the circuit’s medical centre and was taken to the local hospital for precautionary checks. The Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK team said the German driver received heavy bruising but is okay.
Round three of the FIA WEC is the Le Mans 24 Hours on 18 and 19 June.
Results
1 8 Audi Sport Team Joest DI GRASSI / DUVAL / JARVIS Audi R18 LMP1 H M 160 6:00:32.112 6 2 1:59.952 210.2
2 2 Porsche Team DUMAS / JANI / LIEB Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 H M 158 6:00:54.770 2 Laps 2 Laps 6 2 1:59.140 211.6
3 13 Rebellion Racing TUSCHER / KRAIHAMER / IMPERATORI Rebellion R-One – AER LMP1 D 156 6:01:05.018 4 Laps 2 Laps 8 65 2:04.022 203.3
4 12 Rebellion Racing PROST / PIQUET JR / HEIDFELD Rebellion R-One – AER LMP1 D 155 6:01:31.523 5 Laps 1 Laps 9 7 2:04.398 202.7
5 7 Audi Sport Team Joest FÄSSLER / LOTTERER / TRÉLUYER Audi R18 LMP1 H M 155 6:01:37.733 5 Laps 6.210 7 3 2:00.062 210.0
6 4 Bykolles Racing Team TRUMMER / WEBB / ROSSITER CLM P1/01 – AER LMP1 D 151 6:01:29.131 9 Laps 4 Laps 9 2 2:05.137 201.5
7 36 Signatech Alpine MENEZES / LAPIERRE / RICHELMI Alpine A460 – Nissan LMP2 D 151 6:02:07.889 9 Laps 38.758 7 5 2:09.849 194.2
8 31 Extreme Speed Motorsports DALZIEL / DERANI / CUMMING LIGIER JS P2 – Nissan LMP2 D 151 6:02:11.468 9 Laps 3.579 9 4 2:10.678 192.9
9 45 Manor RAO / BRADLEY / MERHI Oreca 05 – Nissan LMP2 D 151 6:02:12.958 9 Laps 1.490 8 10 2:10.154 193.7
10 43 RGR Sport by Morand GONZALEZ / ALBUQUERQUE / SENNA LIGIER JS P2 – Nissan LMP2 D 151 6:02:36.353 9 Laps 23.395 7 3 2:11.209 192.2
11 26 G-Drive Racing RUSINOV / BERTHON / RAST Oreca 05 – Nissan LMP2 D 150 6:01:56.635 10 Laps 1 Laps 8 3 2:09.317 195.0
12 38 G-Drive Racing DOLAN / VAN DER GARDE / DENNIS Gibson 015S – Nissan LMP2 D 148 6:02:26.430 12 Laps 2 Laps 8 17 2:10.556 193.1
13 30 Extreme Speed Motorsports SHARP / BROWN / VAN OVERBEEK LIGIER JS P2 – Nissan LMP2 D 146 6:01:01.652 14 Laps 2 Laps 7 2 2:13.149 189.4
14 71 AF Corse RIGON / BIRD Ferrari 488 GTE LMGTE Pro M 145 6:02:44.667 15 Laps 1 Laps 5 3 2:18.485 182.1
15 44 Manor GRAVES / STEVENS / JAKES Oreca 05 – Nissan LMP2 D 144 6:02:14.704 16 Laps 1 Laps 7 4 2:09.580 194.6
16 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK FRANCHITTI / PRIAULX / TINCKNELL Ford GT LMGTE Pro M 144 6:02:45.331 16 Laps 30.627 6 46 2:19.999 180.1
17 97 Aston Martin Racing STANAWAY / REES / ADAM Aston Martin Vantage V8 LMGTE Pro D 144 6:02:47.164 16 Laps 1.833 5 3 2:19.970 180.1
18 77 Dempsey – Proton Racing LIETZ / CHRISTENSEN Porsche 911 RSR (2016) LMGTE Pro M 142 6:01:08.585 18 Laps 2 Laps 7 126 2:20.461 179.5
19 98 Aston Martin Racing DALLA LANA / LAMY / LAUDA Aston Martin Vantage V8 LMGTE Am D 140 6:00:52.343 20 Laps 2 Laps 5 5 2:20.763 179.1
20 83 AF Corse PERRODO / COLLARD / AGUAS Ferrari F458 Italia LMGTE Am M 139 6:00:34.035 21 Laps 1 Laps 8 3 2:20.679 179.2
21 50 Larbre Competition YAMAGISHI / RAGUES / RUBERTI Chevrolet Corvette C7-Z06 LMGTE Am M 139 6:01:07.670 21 Laps 33.635 7 70 2:21.312 178.4
22 78 KCMG RIED / HENZLER / CAMATHIAS Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE Am M 139 6:01:07.831 21 Laps 0.161 5 3 2:22.027 177.5
23 86 Gulf Racing WAINWRIGHT / CARROLL / BARKER Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE Am M 138 6:02:10.095 22 Laps 1 Laps 7 4 2:22.461 177.0
24 37 SMP Racing PETROV / LADYGIN / SHAYTAR BR01 – Nissan LMP2 D 136 6:00:57.083 24 Laps 2 Laps 10 75 2:11.550 191.7
25 88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing AL QUBAISI / HEINEMEIER HANSSON / LONG Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE Am M 136 6:01:28.729 24 Laps 31.646 6 3 2:21.807 177.8
26 1 Porsche Team BERNHARD / WEBBER / HARTLEY Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 H M 112 6:00:57.448 48 Laps 24 Laps 6 3 1:58.431 212.9
27 5 Toyota Gazoo Racing DAVIDSON / BUEMI / NAKAJIMA Toyota TS050 – Hybrid LMP1 H M 110 6:06:21.258 50 Laps 2 Laps 5 22 1:59.740 210.6
Not classified
35 Baxi DC Racing Alpine CHENG / TUNG / PANCIATICI Alpine A460 – Nissan LMP2 D 143 5:46:41.380 8 4 2:10.461 193.3
51 AF Corse BRUNI / CALADO Ferrari 488 GTE LMGTE Pro M 140 5:51:06.508 6 4 2:18.619 181.9
27 SMP Racing MINASSIAN / MEDIANI / MARKOZOV BR01 – Nissan LMP2 D 123 4:54:17.337 6 3 2:10.862 192.7
66 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK JOHNSON / MÜCKE / PLA Ford GT LMGTE Pro M 100 4:50:51.661 6 3 2:20.230 179.8
6 Toyota Gazoo Racing SARRAZIN / CONWAY / KOBAYASHI Toyota TS050 – Hybrid LMP1 H M 87 3:23:08.845 6 17 2:00.177 209.8
42 Strakka Racing LEVENTIS / WATTS / KANE Gibson 015S – Nissan LMP2 D 78 3:08:35.677 4 5 2:11.581 191.6
95 Aston Martin Racing THIIM / SØRENSEN / TURNER Aston Martin Vantage V8 LMGTE Pro D 40 1:36:17.650 1 27 2:19.687 180.5 by Melissa Warren
