WEC - 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps: Last Man Standing
The last race before Le Mans is usually seen as a chance to test the cars prior to the French classic, but – as with the last race at Silverstone – we’re seeing teams struggle to complete 4 hours, never mind 24.
Audi drivers Lucas di Grassi, Loic Duval and Oliver Jarvis benefited from a surprising lack of reliability and driver errors to come out on top in the latest round of the WEC at Spa-Francorchamps.
A first win for both Jarvis and di Grassi was only interrupted by some bodywork problems, as those around them found the classic Belgian circuit a tough test of man and machine.
Each of the three manufacturer entries in the LMP1 Hybrid class suffered problems at one point in the race, which allowed the ‘off the pace’ #8 crew in their Audi R18 to take the chequered flag after six hours of intense competition.
After the race Jarvis said: "It's clear we didn't have the performance this weekend compared to the Porsche or even the Toyota, but we stayed out of trouble and the car was reliable, that's what endurance racing is about.”
Audi boss Dr Wolfgang Ulrich surmised: “Today, the drivers, the team and the technology had to show real endurance qualities. I am very happy about the first joint victory clinched by Lucas, Loïc and Oliver.”
At one point or another all three manufacturers led the race, partially due to the different aerodynamic configurations they each ran.
With this being the final outing before the Le Mans test day on June 5th, all 3 manufacturers went different ways in body work and setup.
Porsche and Audi both experimented with low downforce bodywork that they intend to run at the 24 hours next month. For Porsche this meant that their 919s were sublime in the fastest parts of the circuit.
Brendan Hartley led the field away in the #1 Porsche and quickly built a lead of over 2 seconds. Behind the leader a tussle of gargantuan proportions gave some of the best racing yet seen in the series.
Running the Silverstone aero package – giving more downforce than the Le Mans settings – Toyota were much closer to the pace than they were at the encounter last month.
Both cars suffered on the first lap as their third and fifth starting positions became fourth and sixth thanks to the Audi pair slipping past.
On the Kemmel straight this became fifth and sixth as Benoit Treluyer passed the Sebastian Buemi Toyota.
A lap later and Buemi went side by side with Treluyer exiting the La Source hairpin before backing out into Eau Rouge. The Toyota pair kept pace with the Audi which helped Buemi in the #5 machine to pass his team mate Mike Conway after a run through Kemmel.
With 45 minutes gone the #2 Porsche, driven by Marc Lieb, lost its second position as it tumbled down the order with a Hybrid system failure. This meant the Porsche would spend the rest of the race strolling around with only half of its 1000 bhp.
Surprisingly, due to the attrition, they would eventually pick up second place.
The sister Porsche, after two punctures, would suffer the similar fate but with terminal results.
The battle between the two Toyotas and the second Audi continued unabated. Buemi outbraked the Audi of Treluyer into the chicane to put the #5 Toyota into third place.
A couple of laps later Conway also passed the the Frenchman with ease through the fast left hander Pouhon. Treluyer attempted to outbreak him at the chicane later in the lap but found himself off-track and unable to take advantage.
Let loose, the Buemi driven Toyota quickly caught the #8 Audi of Di Grassi and tailed him closely before taking the position exiting Pouhon.
Di Grassi was having none of it taking the position back at full throttle through the fast uphill Blanchimont, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process, with his left hand wheels on the grass the fearless move was more akin to a Formula Ford move.
A couple of hundred metres later Buemi out-braked Di Grassi around the outside on the entry to the chicane, positioning his car to take the optimum line exiting onto the start finish line.
Mike Conway in the second Toyota was the next leading car in trouble after collecting an LMP2 machine at the chicane. A quick trip to the pits for a new front end and plenty of tape delayed the # 6 car. Ultimately, losing the right bank of cylinders would cost them a good finish.
In the other Toyota an oil leak would almost end their day after Anthony Davidson had led the race.
This car pitted with an oil leak for a couple of hours, re-emerging at the end of the race to become the first WEC car to complete a racing lap purely on Hybrid power, being classified 26th.
The #7 Audi would suffer bodywork, overheating and floor issues to come home fifth, but with everybody else taking body blows the #8 car would eventually take the win.
In the non-hybrid LMP class Rebellion racing took their second podium position in a row with the Tuscher, Kraihamer, Imperatori car, and the second car of Prost, Piquet Jr and Heidfeld taking fourth.
The LMP2 victory was taken by Menezes, Lapierre and Richelmi in the Signatech Alpine.
It was a hard fought victory thanks to a mesmerising overtaking manoeuvre from Lapierre with 10 minutes left.
Through the Fagnes section, Lapierre dived inside the leader Derani, only to find Marino Franchitti in his way. A dive to the left for Lapierre with Derani diving right saw the Scot submerged by the LMP2 machines – far more spectacular than the famous Schumacher/Hakkinen/Zonta move in F1 many years ago.
In the GT classes David Rigon and Sam Bird came home first in GT-Pro, but only after the other AF Corse car of Bruni and Calado retired from the lead with 10 minutes remaining.
Ford got their first podium with the Franchitti GT – the other car being written-off in Eau Rouge with an hour of the race left, resulting in Stefan Mucke leaving the scene with possible leg injuries.
The other big incident in GT-Pro saw a barrel roll for the Aston of Thiim. Thankfully there were no injuries sustained there.
In GT-am Dalla Lana, Lamy and Lauda won for Aston Martin.
The pace and reliability of the LMP1 cars is unclear as the teams prepare for Le Mans, but post-race those concerns were not part of the thoughts of Di Grassi, who said: “You never forget your first victory, and definitely I won’t forget this one.
“Ours was the only car that endured the race without a major problem. That was the main reason why we won.
“Nevertheless, it doesn’t feel less tasty for that. I’m going to enjoy this victory very much.”
The series is next in action at the Le Mans test day on June 5th.
