2013 WEC, IMSA&ELMS News

[Rob]

THE ARMADA OF LE MANS FERRARI AT SILVERSTONE
For the simultaneous opening of the Endurance World Championship FIA and the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) on 13 and 14 April at Silverstone (Great Britain), no less than eleven Ferrari 458 Italia is expected to start .

2012 winner of the LM GTE Pro both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the World Championship, the Italian team AF Corse saw great things for this appointment UK, with six cars entered, with three in both races. Even if the times and issues are of course very different, this armada awakens the memories of some great times of the Prancing Horse at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, particularly in the late 60s and early 70s.

1965-1967: Ferrari against Ford - Unbeaten since 1960, Ferrari has a relentless grip on the 24 Hours. But this time, the threat Ford said. Faced with the considerable resources of the American giant, the Prancing Horse multiplies his strength, with eleven prototypes in 1965 and 1966 and eight in 1967. In addition to the factory team, he relies on his stables importers (NART the Americans, the British Maranello Concessionaires, Belgians of Ecurie Francorchamps) and faithful private (Scuderia Filipinetti). In 1965, the NART provides his ninth win (and sixth row) Ferrari with Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt. This will be the last: the Italian manufacturer is beaten by Ford in 1966 (no car on arrival!) And 1967.

1970-1971: Ferrari against Porsche - the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Prancing Horse has a new opponent for his (re) action: the Porsche 917. In 1970, Ferrari has twelve prototypes 512 (four factory), faces eight and three 917 908. But the rain gets involved and nothing can stop the Stuttgart manufacturer, who signed his first Le Mans victory and finished the first three places, while Ferrari wins the fourth and fifth positions. In 1971, the Prancing Horse says its 512 private teams. Nine are initially s'adjugent and the third and fourth behind two 917.

Although, defeated by Ford and Porsche, Ferrari has not won at Le Mans since 1965, these legendary duels have not failed to feed his own legend as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Today, it is the Prancing Horse GT found in the endurance road to success: the 458 Italia has become the queen of the LM GTE Pro since its inception in 2011. Besides the six AF Corse cars, the other two are engaged next weekend at Silverstone World Championship and three in European Le Mans Series.

[Rob]

Press release

April 5, 2013
Audi launches title defense in the WEC
2013 FIA World Endurance Championship starts at Silverstone
WEC season opens in UK, Europe’s second-most important market
Thrilling hybrid duel expected with Toyota
Ingolstadt, April 5, 2013 – Last year, Audi won the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at Silverstone. April 14 will mark the beginning of the “title defense” objective with the further developed Audi R18 e-tron quattro hybrid sports car at the 6-hour race on the tradition-steeped English race track.

It will be the first race of the 2013 WEC season but the second sports car event for Audi Sport Team Joest this year. In March, the brand with the four rings celebrated a one-two victory at the Sebring 12 Hours in Florida, a race that was not part of the WEC. At the WEC season opener in England, the two Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars will be meeting with two hybrid sports cars from challenger Toyota. At the wheel of the two Audi sports prototypes will be the current World Endurance Champions, Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (CH/D/F), plus Loïc Duval/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish (F/DK/GB).

Last year, the fans saw a battle of the two manufacturers on the 5.891-kilometer circuit at Silverstone that was thrilling all the way to the end. After the lead had changed 14 times in the course of the six hours of racing, Audi with an advantage of 55.675 seconds achieved the fourth of five season victories.

This year, the UK crowd can look forward to various new elements in the World Endurance Championship. The Audi R18 e-tron quattro version that has been improved in many details will be racing in Europe for the first time. This “evolution of a revolution” features optimized aerodynamics, a hybrid system that has been subjected to further development plus ultra-lightweight design which has been optimized yet again. A new driver assistance system has two forward-pointing cameras on the roof that improve the driver’s view from the cockpit.

While these developments mark a forward step, the regulations limit the sheer performance potential of the race car in a sensitive area. Due to a smaller air restrictor the 3.7-liter V6 TDI engine now delivers only 360 kW (490 hp) – around 15 kW (20 hp) less than last year.

The sporting regulations feature several changes as well. For the first time, qualifying will no longer be contested by just one driver per car. Now, two drivers have to complete at least two timed laps. The average of these four fastest laps determines the grid position. In the manufacturers’ classification, all eight race results will be counted in the 2013 season. There will no longer be any void results like last year, so reliability will be even more important than before.

The spectators and motorsport fans in the United Kingdom are not only regarded as a particularly knowledgeable and brand-loyal audience. Their love of automobiles is reflected in growing enthusiasm for Audi as well. The company has nearly doubled its annual sales in the UK within the space of ten years. In fiscal year 2012 alone, growth amounted to 7.2 percent. With 123,640 delivered automobiles, the United Kingdom is the second-largest European market for Audi after Germany.

Topics of the weekend

-Will Audi be able to repeat last year’s Silverstone victory?
-What impact will the new qualifying format have?
-Will the race cars with their reduced power ratings achieve similar lap times as last year?
-Which of the two Audi driver pairings will make the best start into the season?

Quotes by the officials

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport: “The title defense for Audi begins in the country that is the European cradle of motorsport – the United Kingdom. A year ago, Audi’s hybrid technology prevailed in a thrilling race at Silverstone where we celebrated the early title win in the manufacturers’ classification of the FIA World Endurance Championship as well. After our victory in the Sebring 12 Hours in March, we’re now excited about our first duel this year with our competitor Toyota.”

Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Team Joest): “Although the WEC season only opens in England in the middle of April we started our preparations for the season with Audi a long time ago. We participated in a number of track tests this year and successfully contested the Sebring 12 Hours. From now on, every single point will count. The World Championship will be even more challenging this year as we’re expecting to meet with a tough opponent right from the beginning. We’re looking forward to this competition.”

Facts and quotes by the Audi drivers

Marcel Fässler (36/CH), Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest)
-At Silverstone, celebrated his first victory in a 6-hour race last year
-Won the Sebring 12 Hours in March
“The track at Silverstone is nice, fast and suits me really well. My two team-mates and I want to repeat last year’s victory for Audi. The crowd in England is very special. For the large number of fans in the UK, Silverstone has the tradition of being the home of motorsport.”

André Lotterer (31/D), Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest)
-Wants to defend the World Champion’s title with his team-mates
-WEC season opener marks first racing commitment in the 2013 season
“After my team-mates won the 12-hour race at Sebring, I’m looking forward to my first race this year at Silverstone. I hope that Benoît Tréluyer and Marcel Fässler will be bringing the momentum from America to the WEC season opener. We want to win this race again. We’re hoping for good weather in April. But even if it should rain, this won’t be a problem – because our car’s got quattro drive.”

Benoît Tréluyer (36/F), Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest)
-Is starting his fourth season with Audi
-Celebrated victory at Sebring in the 12-hour race
“Silverstone will be an initial assessment of where Audi stands in the battle with Toyota. The circuit is fast but not as fast as the track at Le Mans. I really enjoyed the race last year. Of course, we want to win again.”

Loïc Duval (30/F), Audi R18 e-tron quattro #2 (Audi Sport Team Joest)
-Is contesting his first full WEC season
-Clinched a victory and a second place in the WEC last year
“For me, everything is new. My season will begin at Silverstone and I’m happy about starting into the WEC alongside Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish for the first time. I don’t know the current Silverstone track configuration while I’m driving the R18 e-tron quattro in a race for the first time as well. With so many things being new I’ve set myself one aim: to get through the weekend without any mistakes in order to achieve a good result.”

Tom Kristensen (45/DK), Audi R18 e-tron quattro #2 (Audi Sport Team Joest)
-The eight-time Le Mans winner is the WEC runner-up of the 2012 season
-At Sebring, he took second place in March
“Silverstone is a nice venue for starting the World Championship. I’m expecting even more fans this year than last year. I’m eager to see how strong the other teams will be this season. There are a lot of ‘courage’ corners at Silverstone, plus very narrow hairpin turns. This mix will no doubt be suiting our new car well.”

Allan McNish (43/GB), Audi R18 e-tron quattro #2 (Audi Sport Team Joest)
-The Scotsman experiences his “home” round at Silverstone
-He started from the first row there last year
“We’re all looking forward to the World Championship. For me, it starts with a ‘home’ round. The weather at Silverstone will play a role and we’re expecting it to be much colder in April than it was at the last race in summer. If it rains we might have a small advantage thanks to e-tron quattro. But even in the fast turns like in the section from Copse to Stowe our car was very good last year. We’ve been paying attention to improving our acceleration out of slow turns as well. The 2013-specification R18 e-tron quattro is a competitive car.”

The Audi drivers at Silverstone

Loïc Duval (F): * June 12, 1982 in Chartres (F); residence: Tokyo (J); single (partner Gaëlle), one son (Hugo); height: 1.78 m; weight: 70 kg; Audi driver since 2012; Le Mans victories: 0; WEC races: 3; WEC victories: 1; WEC pole positions: 0; fastest WEC laps: 1; best result WEC Silverstone: –

Marcel Fässler (CH): * May 27, 1976 in Einsiedeln (CH); residence: Gross (CH); married to Isabel, four daughters (Shana, Elin, Yael and Delia); height: 1.78 m; weight: 78 kg; Audi driver since 2008; Le Mans victories: 2; WEC races: 8; WEC victories: 3; WEC pole positions: 0; fastest WEC laps: 1; best result WEC Silverstone: 1

Tom Kristensen (DK): * July 07, 1967 in Hobro (DK); residence: Monaco (MC); single (partner: Hanne), two sons (Oliver and Oswald) and one daughter (Carla Marlou); height: 1.74 m; weight: 72 kg; Audi driver since 2000, Le Mans victories: 8; WEC races: 8; WEC victories: 1; WEC pole positions: 0; fastest WEC laps: 1; best result WEC Silverstone: 3

André Lotterer (D): * November 19, 1981 in Duisburg (D); residence: Tokyo (J);
single; height: 1.84 m; weight: 74 kg; Audi driver since 2010; Le Mans victories: 2; WEC races: 8; WEC victories: 3; WEC pole positions: 2; fastest WEC laps: 1; best result WEC Silverstone: 1

Allan McNish (GB): * December 29, 1969 in Dumfries (GB); residence: Monaco (MC); married to Kelly, one son (Finlay), one daughter (Charlotte Amelie); height: 1.65 m; weight: 60 kg; Audi driver in 2000, since 2004; Le Mans victories: 2; WEC races: 8; WEC victories: 1; WEC pole positions: 2; fastest WEC laps: 0; best result WEC Silverstone: 3

Benoît Tréluyer (F): * December 07, 1976 in Alençon (F); residence: Gordes (F); married to Melanie, one son (Jules); height: 1.78 m; weight: 68 kg; Audi driver since 2010; Le Mans victories: 2; WEC races: 8; WEC victories: 3; WEC pole positions: 1; fastest WEC laps: 0; best result WEC Silverstone: 1

All Silverstone winners (since 2004)

2004 Pierre Kaffer/Allan McNish (Audi)
2005 Allan McNish/Stéphane Ortelli (Audi)
2007 Marc Gené/Nicolas Minassian (Peugeot)
2008 Dindo Capello/Allan McNish (Audi)
2009 Olivier Panis/Nicolas Lapierre (Oreca)
2010 Anthony Davidson/Nicolas Minassian (Peugeot)
2011 Simon Pagenaud/Sébastien Bourdais (Peugeot)
2012 Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (Audi)

Track info

Track length: 5.891 km
Race duration: 6 hours
Qualifying record on this track: Allan McNish, Audi R15 TDI, 1m 43.475s = 204.954 km/h (September 11, 2010)
Race record on this track: Nicolas Lapierre, Toyota, 1m 44.059s = 203.804 km/h (August 26, 2012)
Pole position 2012: Benoît Tréluyer, Audi R18 e-tron quattro, 1m 43.663s = 204.582 km/h (August 25, 2012)
Fastest lap 2012: Nicolas Lapierre, Toyota, 1m 44.059s = 203.804 km/h (August 26, 2012)


Allan McNish comments on the Silverstone track

“In April, the weather in the UK is changeable and the tire choice difficult. The track was modified two years ago. Turn 1 is a very fast corner that we drive in fourth gear. Then the slowest passage follows. Afterwards, we immediately start accelerating again to have a chance for overtaking towards Luffield. We brake far into this corner. Then we move on towards Copse, Becketts and Stowe – the fast corners. We practically throw the car into these turns. There are a few bumps approaching Stowe. In Club corner and on the way back to the start and finish, it’s not easy to put the power on the ground. At Silverstone, we’ve got a maximum of three places for overtaking – when braking into Club, Luffield and Stowe.”

Schedule (local times; CEST –1 hour)

Friday, April 12
12:25–13:55 Free practice 1
16:25–17:55 Free practice 2

Saturday, April 13
09:00–10:00 Free practice 3
12:40–13:00 Qualifying LMP1 and LMP2

Sunday, April 14
12:00–18:00 6-hour race

– End –

[Rob]

TOYOTA RACING DRIVERS MOTIVATED FOR SILVERSTONE

8 April 2013 Fred Jaillet 2 comments114 viewsFacebookTwitterGoogle PlusRSS
TOYOTA Racing will compete with two TS030 HYBRID cars for the first time since Le Mans last year. We caught up with the drivers to hear how they are feeling ahead of the first round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, at Silverstone this weekend.
Alex Wurz (#7): “It’s great to get back to racing after some positive tests over the winter. Testing is okay for a driver but nothing compares to the thrill of racing so I’m impatient to get started. Last season finished on a very high note for TOYOTA Racing, with victory in the final two WEC races, so we want to keep that winning run going at Silverstone. It will not be easy because we face a very tough competitor, so we have to quickly get back into the rhythm of a race weekend and perform to our maximum.”
Nicolas Lapierre (#7): “It’s really exciting to be part of TOYOTA Racing at the start of a new season, when we come to the first race hoping to start a challenge for the world championship. Last season it was really special to stand on the top step of the podium three times but I’m hungry for more. We can expect some strong competition from our colleagues in the #8 car and the two Audis so it should be a very exciting race weekend. We had some close races last year so having another TOYOTA in the field will provide a great spectacle for the fans.”
Anthony Davidson (#8): “I can’t wait to be racing again for TOYOTA Racing; it has been far too long! Testing has gone really well and from a personal perspective it has been great to be back in the car after a long break. It’s going to be special to race in front of my home fans for the first time since 2010. I won this race back then so the target is obviously to repeat that victory and make the best possible start to our season. It will be a difficult race but we have a strong car and we are really fired up for the season.”
Stéphane Sarrazin (#8): “It’s great to be back alongside Anthony and Sébastien in the #8 car. We had a good testing programme during the winter and I feel ready for this first race of the season. The TS030 HYBRID was already an impressive car when I raced it for the first time at Le Mans last year; it has improved since then so I am eager to try it in race conditions. It’s amazing to think my last race in this car was 10 months ago but I’ve done a lot of racing in other categories so I am sharp and I cannot wait to be fighting at the front again.”
Sébastien Buemi (#8): “Silverstone is a really good opportunity for me to get more experience of endurance racing and I am looking forward to it. I very much enjoyed Le Mans and I’ve been counting down the weeks until I can compete with TOYOTA Racing again. It has been good to get back into the groove during winter testing and I am absolutely ready for this weekend’s race. I’ve also seen good progress from the team; they have improved in several areas and look really
strong for the upcoming season.”

[Rob]

Good weekend of motorsport this weekend. Chinese GP Sunday Morning, and then all afternoon WEC kicks off. 6 hours of Silverstone. Was planning on going but few things have popped up and cannt make it.

[Rob]

[Rob]

Sorry Tobes...

Deltawing coupe race debut set back from Laguna Seca ALMS round
By Gary Watkins Friday, April 12th 2013, 15:06 GMT

The race debut of the new coupe version of the DeltaWing experimental prototype has been set back from next month's Laguna Seca American Le Mans Series round.

ALMS founder Don Panoz, who has taken full control of the DeltaWing project for this season, had wanted the new car to race at round three of the US series at the California track.

The problems with the Mazda-based Elan engine, which has replaced last year's Nissan powerplant, at the Sebring 12 Hours last month have forced the DeltaWing Racing Cars squad to refocus its programme.

Team manager Dave Price said: "We will be at Laguna, but it won't be with the coupe. The plan now is to debut it later in the summer.

"We need to get some more testing under our belts and iron out the problems we had at Sebring before we introduce a new car."

The open-top DeltaWing will test at the team's home track at Road Atlanta next week and will then run at Buttonwillow Raceway in California in the lead up to the Laguna Raceway.

Olivier Pla and Andy Meyrick, who raced the car at Sebring, will handle testing duties and race the car at Laguna on May 11.

Price added: "We want to keep consistency in the programme by using the same two. Neither of them will be able to do all the races, so there will be other drivers later in the season."

The new DeltaWing coupe, which was unveiled over the course of Sebring race week, is built around a bespoke monocoque designed and built by Panoz's Elan Motorsports Technologies organisation rather than the Aston Martin AMR-One tub of the original.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106680

[Rob]

Rigon and Kessel together again in the Blancpain Endurance Series
Maranello, 10 April – With just a few days to go until the weekend when the Blancpain Endurance Series gets underway in Monza, Davide Rigon and the Kessel team have confirmed an agreement for the 2013 season. “I am really happy to have this opportunity,” commented Rigon. “Especially because it means I will be able to continue the work I did with the Kessel team in 2012. I will be starting this new challenge with one more year’s experience behind me, both in the championship and at the wheel of the fantastic Ferrari 458 GT3.”
The 26 year old driver from Venice and the Swiss team run by Ronnie Kessel will be aiming to capitalize on the experience gained in the six races in which Rigon competed in 2012. “Last year I came to Monza without a single kilometre of testing,” recalls Davide. “Now however, I can count on the experience gained over a whole season. I hope the rain will hold off for the Monza weekend, so that we can rapidly get an idea of the relative merits of everyone.
“It will be a tough season,” concludes Rigon. “With just five races on the calendar, any error can be a big handicap in the final classification, especially as the level of competition is very high. Again this year, the most awaited event will be the Spa 24 Hours, a race which is worth a whole season, both for its attraction as a race and for the important points allocation for the championship.”
Rigon ended the 2012 Blancpain Endurance Series in tenth place, with 45 points. In the six races, he took one pole position and finished on the podium at the end of the Paul Ricard race.

[Rob]

[Rob]

ASTON MARTIN RACING LAUNCHES GULF LE MANS LIVERY COMPETITION

At the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) this weekend, the Six Hours of Silverstone, Aston Martin Racing and long-time team partner Gulf are launching a competition to design the livery for the team’s #97 Vantage GTE as it competes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

As well as seeing their design brought to life, the winner and a friend will also attend Le Mans as VIP guests of Aston Martin Racing and Gulf to watch the #97 car – driven by Darren Turner (GB), Stefan Mücke (D) and Peter Dumbreck (GB) – race around the famous La Sarthe circuit.

The competition invites anyone of any age and artistic ability to go to www.mygulfastonmartinracingcar.com and download the image of the blank Vantage GTE. Regardless of whether entrants choose to use colouring pencils or a professional graphic design programme, the judges will be looking for originality and creativity.

The entries will be judged by works team drivers Darren Turner, Stefan Mücke, Frédéric Makowiecki and Bruno Senna and, as well as the main prize for the winner, runners up will win a host of Gulf and Aston Martin Racing goodies.

Sam Cork, Global Brand Manager at Gulf comments: “How many of us, over the years, have doodled race car designs on scraps of paper dreaming of them being used? We are very happy that fans of Gulf and Aston Martin will now have the chance not only to fulfill this ambition, but also to actually come with us to Le Mans in June to see their dream become reality.

“I’m sure that it will really capture people’s imagination and I can’t wait to see the designs. We’re also going out to schools to see what the younger generation has to offer and we’ll be offering some special prizes for the best entries from ‘Junior Designers’.”

Jeremy Scoones, Head of Partnerships at Aston Martin Racing adds: “Since 2008, Gulf-liveried Aston Martins have become an iconic feature of the Le Mans 24hrs. The opportunity for one of our fans to write a chapter in this special history by designing the livery of our car is very exciting and we can’t wait to see the results.”

Gulf has been a partner of Aston Martin Racing for the past five years and, during this time, Gulf-liveried Aston Martins have enjoyed victory at Le Mans in the GT1 Category; GT and Outright Le Mans Series and WEC race wins, as well as Driver and Team Le Mans Series championship titles.

This year, the team will contest the FIA World Endurance Championship with four Aston Martin Vantage GTEs. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the third round of the highly competitive championship and will see the team running five cars.

Updates from the team, including information about the competition and examples of entries so far, will be found on the Gulf Facebook page www.facebook.com/gulfoilinternational and the Aston Martin Racing Facebook page www.facebook.com/astonmartinracing.

- ENDS -

Rebecca Jones
Press officer, Motorsport

[Rob]

CHAMPIONS ON TOP IN FREE PRACTICE

12/04/2013 - 21h19

As the second practice session came to a close today in preparation for Sunday’s 6 Hours of Silverstone, the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, it was Audi on top of the time sheets, starting the new season in fine style.

Although both sessions were declared wet, and brief showers were experienced during both, this afternoon’s 90-minute practice was run in better conditions than earlier in the day. Lap times fell accordingly. André Lotterer set the fastest time of the day in the No.1 R18 Audi e-tron quattro which he shares with Benoît Tréluyer and Marcel Fässler, 1:43.217, but was only five hundredths of a second ahead of the No.2 Audi, Loîc Duval setting that car’s best time of 1:43.263. The Frenchman is driving this weekend with the very experienced duo of Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish.

Toyota Racing’s Nicolas Lapierre was third in the LMP1 category in the No.7 Toyota TS030 Hybrid he will race with Alex Wurz, ahead of the fastest of the LMP1 Privateer teams, Strakka Racing. The Silverstone-based team, which proudly flies the Union flag on the engine cover of the No.21 HPD ARX 03c-Honda and boasts the only all-British driver line up in the race (Nick Leventis-Danny Watts-Jonny Kane), headed the No.12 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota of Neel Jani, Nicolas Prost and Nick Heidfeld by one tenth of a second.

In the 10-strong LMP2 category, the No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA 03 Nissan of Roman Rusinov, John Martin and Mike Conway set the quickest time of the class with a best lap of 1:50.166 – former Indycar driver Conway proving that he has adapted quickly well to endurance racing.

Another Briton, Tom Kimber-Smith, driving the No.41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11N Nissan with the American pairing of Chris Dyson and Michael Marsal, was next up with a time of 1:50.647. Very close behind – signifying how competitive the category is – was the No.24 OAK Racing ORECA 03 Nissan of Olivier Pla, David Heinemeier Hansson and Alex Brundle. Pla recorded a best lap of 1:50.699 – just four hundredths of a second behind Greaves.



In the LMGTE Pro category it was AF Corse’s Ferrari 458 Italias which dominated these two free practice sessions with, on each occasion, the No.71 of Kobayashi and Vilander on top. The best time of the day in this category was set this afternoon, 2:01.503. This morning, on a wet track, the No.71 headed its sister car, the No.51, as well as the two Porsche 911RSRs of Porsche AG Team Manthey. As for Aston Martin, although midfield this morning, they set the second quickest time of the afternoon – the No.99 of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Frederic Makowiecki achieving this.

The trio at the head of LMGTE Am has been the same all day. This morning, it was the No.50 Corvette of Larbre Competition which set the fastest time ahead of the two Aston Martin Vantages (No.95 in front of No.96). This afternoon the order was reversed with the two Astons – the No.96 of Roald Goethe, Stuart Hall and Jamie Campbell-Walter on top – ahead of the American car.

A third and final practice session will take place tomorrow morning from 9-10 am during which teams will make their final preparations before qualifying later in the day.

[Rob]

[Rob]

FIA WEC ‏@FIAWEC 38s
Tom Kristensen sets 1.49.801 in Audi No 2 for new fastest time of session

[Rob]

dscracelive ‏@dscracelive 1m
Brundle goes fifth in #24 with a minute to go - 1:53.789 in #24 #FIAWEC

[Rob]

Audi Sport ‏@Audi__Sport 1m
No.2 Kristensen further 1.7s quicker (1m 48.063s, P1)

dscracelive ‏@dscracelive 43s
Lamy takes the #99 Aston Martin back to the top of GTE-Pro - 2:04.004 - with Mücke half a second back in 2nd in #97

[Rob]

Toyota Hybrid ‏@Toyota_Hybrid 8s
Chequered flag drops for Free Practice 3: car no. 7 P3, car no. 8 P4

[Rob]

dscracelive ‏@dscracelive 1m
Times tumbling in final seconds - TK goes to 1:48.083, while Heidfeld goes second on 1:48.316

[Rob]

wow just popped in at the end too go P1..

FIA WEC ‏@FIAWEC 39s
1.47.993 for Nick Heidfeld in Rebellion Toyota No 12 #

[458 Italia]

Hey Rob, do you know of any streams for Qualifying?

[Rob]

Big thankyou to Fiona Miller for press releases....

RAM RACING CLAIM FIRST POLE OF 2013 ELMS SEASON

Johnny Mowlem tops the GTE times at Silverstone

MEDIA RELEASE: 13th April 2013


Silverstone-based Ram Racing has started its 2013 season as it means to go on, and in some style, by claiming the first LMGTE pole position of the 2013 European Le Mans Series in preparation for this e 3 Hours of Silverstone this afternoon.
Johnny Mowlem, driving the white No.52 Ferrari 458 Italia took just four laps to set his quickest time of 2:02.358, a lap which was good enough to beat Porsche factory driver Nick Tandy in the Proton Competition Porsche by three tenths of a second. Frankie Montecalvo was tasked with qualifying the No.53 Ram Racing entry, and set his best time of 2:04.412 to place himself and Gunnar Jeannette on the 5th row of the LMGTE and GTC combined grid.

Conditions have been tough for all four drivers all weekend so far, with the fickle English weather offering up a combination of wet, damp, slippery, drying and windy conditions in the two hours of practice yesterday and the this morning’s 20-minute qualifying session.

The very experienced Mowlem had to dig deep into that bank of knowledge to cope with the tricky conditions and fended off both Tandy in the Proton Porsche and Emmanuel Collard in the Prospeed Competition Porsche for pole position.

The challenge was greatest for Montecalvo, the young American driver from New Jersey, as he was the only one of the four Ram Racing drivers not to have raced at Silverstone before. Taking that into consideration he did a very commendable job.

Dan Shufflebottom, Team Principal

“We are really happy with our first pole position. It’s amazing and has taken such a lot of effort; it’s been 15 months of planning so we are made up. We have a good strategy for the race so we are looking good. Johnny did a great job, as did Frankie - he has really impressed me. We would have been happy to have been up the front so to get pole is brilliant. We did a fair amount of testing before the race, but we didn’t have great weather so it has prepared us a little bit for this.“

The 3-hour race will take place this same afternoon, Saturday, 13th April.


Johnny Mowlem
No.52 Ferrari 458 Italia
“I’m relieved that qualifying is over. I went into that session feeling more pressure than I can remember for a long time. The boys have worked so hard and we’ve all been a part of it since last August so I wanted to deliver for them. When they told me I was P1 at the end I was so relieved because it means a lot to Dan and the boys. I’m really happy with the balance of the car, we made a few tweaks going into qualifying and that was the first time I ran in the dry. It’s been interesting finding out what the car can do in the dry but, on saying that, it’s still quite patchy out there. I had a few big moments on track. We understand that it will rain for the race, but I’m happy to be on pole.”


Frankie Montecalvo
No.53 Ferrari 458 Italia

“We didn’t put it on pole, but we ended up pretty good. The car was clean, and we managed to get a little more dry running, which is always better before a race. We have a different set up to the other car so we will make some changes and lean towards what they are doing and see. We have a good car and we’re ready to go. Silverstone is definitely more challenging because of the weather conditions and lack of track time, but we have a good race car and are looking forward to it.”

[Rob]

Silverstone WEC: Toyota set for pole amid qualifying system chaos
By Gary Watkins Saturday, April 13th 2013, 12:33 GMT

Toyota looks certain to have taken pole position for Sunday's opening round of the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone.

A timing system glitch means that no official times have been issued after qualifying, but Toyota is confident that its #7 TS030 HYBRID shared by Nicolas Lapierre and Alex Wurz claimed the pole in a 20-minute prototype session held in changeable conditions.

The timing problems followed the switch to a new aggregate system of qualifying under which the grid is determined by the average best two lap times of two drivers in each car.

Lapierre, who went out first in the best of the Toyotas, said: "We are on pole by miles for sure, because we got the conditions right.

"We went from intermediates to slicks, whereas our other car went inters-inters and the Audis, we think, wets to slicks."

The likely pole winner in LMP2 is the G-Drive/Delta-ADR ORECA-Nissan 03 driven by Antonio Pizzonia and James Walker.

Top qualifying in GTE Pro appears to be the Aston Martin Vantage V8 shared by Pedro Lamy and Frederic Makowiecki.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106727

[Rob]

Hey Rob, do you know of any streams for Qualifying?

sorry bit late. Check on fiawec website. Also have the race shown live on there, aswell as being on Motors on Sunday

[Rob]

As well as the WEC, we got the ELMS season kicking off today, with te 3hrs of Silverstone...

http://www.europeanlemansseries.com/...p09_videos.php

[Rob]

dscracelive ‏@dscracelive 24s
The GTC pole-sitting Audi only did one lap during qualifying due to a puncture. It was all it needed

[Rob]

JMW Motorsport ‏@JMWmotorsport 1m
The safety car is out. Did anyone have a safety car sweepstake?

[Rob]

Murphy Prototypes ‏@MurphyPrototype 58s
#ELMS @BrendonHartley in P2 with his times going purple for this lap... 2:09.897

[Rob]

Safety car been out for abit now, raining heavy.

[Rob]

ASTON MARTIN DOMINATES QUALIFYING AT SILVERSTONE

Aston Martin Racing has qualified on pole and in second place in both of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) GTE classes at the season-opener, the Six Hours of Silverstone.

Under the new regulations, which require two drivers to complete two laps each with the average of the two best laps counting as the qualifying time, the Gulf-liveried #97 Vantage GTE, driven by Darren Turner (GB) and Stefan Mücke (D), took the GTE Pro pole with a time of 2:00.566.

In the GTE Am class, Stuart Hall (GB) and Jamie Campbell-Walter (GB) also put their Vantage GTE (#96) on the front row for the start of tomorrow’s race, with an average time of 2:01.531.

The #99 car, driven in qualifying by Frédéric Makowiecki (FR) and Pedro Lamy (PT) qualified in second in the GTE Am class and third GT overall, with the #95 driven by three Danes Christoffer Nygaard and Allan Simonsen taking the second place spot in the GTE Am class.

Darren Turner comments: “It’s a great way to start to the 2013 WEC. We’re all very proud of the boys who have really been up against it to get four cars ready for this weekend; it’s a lovely reward for them to see both cars take pole. Yesterday was tricky; we missed the first session so have been playing catch up a little. Also, with the mixed conditions no one has an idea what their cars will be like in the race.

"The qualifying format is different to what anyone is used to and our directive was to go flat out. To get a good result for Aston Martin this weekend is fantastic. It’s an important year for us and we want to hit the ground running. Qualifying isn’t that important in endurance racing, but it’s certainly a nice birthday treat.”

Jamie Campbell-Walter comments: “Obviously, we arrived at Silverstone with the same specification car as the one that won in Shanghai at the end of last year. This has enabled us as a team of three drivers to feel comfortable in the car very quickly. Aston Martin Racing did a fantastic job and we all pushed hard. It’s the home race for Aston Martin in its centenary year so it’s a great way to kick the season off.”

Stuart Hall comments: “It’s my second WEC race and it’s my second WEC pole. I qualified on pole here at the Six Hours of Silverstone last year and to repeat it is awesome. I’ve got two great team mates and if we all do a good job tomorrow, we’ll start 2013 off on the right foot.”

John Gaw, Team Principal at Aston Martin Racing, concludes: "It's nice to start our home race from the front row in both classes. However, there are no points for qualifying and points are what we want to take away from the first race of the WEC season. Running four cars allowed us to experiment with tyre compounds in the final free practice session and, in the dying minutes, as it dried, we had some surprising but positive results that we took that forward into qualifying. It looks like we found something our competitors did not at this stage, given the limited running time we have all had in good conditions. We are looking forward to the race tomorrow and it looks like conditions will be favourable.“

The WEC Six Hours of Silverstone gets underway at 1200h tomorrow (Sunday 14th April). Follow the team’s progress at www.astonmartin.com/racing on Facebook at www.facebook.com/astonmartinracing and on Twitter using @amr_official.

- ENDS -

[Rob]

[Rob]

TOYOTA’S SILVERSTONE FRONT ROW LOCKOUT

13/04/2013 - 16h03

Toyota Racing has secured the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Silverstone. Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre will start from pole position for the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in the Toyota TS030 Hybrid with an average time from the four fastest laps of 1m48.021, +1.974 seconds ahead of their teammates Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi in the nr8 Toyota.

The nr2 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron will head the second row. The nr 12 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota finished in 4th place, pushing world champions Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler onto row three.

The LMP2 grid will be headed by the nr25 Delta-ADR Oreca Nissan with Antonio Pizzonia and James Walker posting an average time over the four laps of 1:53.810. The Silverstone based team celebrated as the time was 2.4 seconds ahead of the nr24 Oak Racing Morgan-Nissan.

Aston Martin Racing also had cause to celebrate as three of their cars posted the three fastest times in GTE to claim both poles in the GTE Pro and GTE Am classes. Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke claimed pole position in GTE Pro with an average time over the four laps of 2m00.566, just two tenths of a second ahead of the nr99 Aston Martin Vantage of Pedro Lamy and Fred Makowiecki.

The nr 96 Aston Martin Vantage of Stuart Hall and Jamie Campbell-Walter was the third fastest GTE car to claim pole position in GTE Am, finishing ahead of the two Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche 911s and the nr51 AF Corse Ferrari.

The 6 Hours of Silverstone will start at 12:00 on Sunday 14 April and is the opening round of the eight race FIA World Endurance Championship.

Alex Wurz: “It was a new qualifying format but today it was totally overshadowed by the weather conditions. With a rain shower at the beginning and a drying track at the end it was quite tricky. Nico did a super job in the first stint. I took over the car with slick tyres and the circuit was dry enough to put in a good lap time. So we are very happy; we have pole position and that’s what we like.”

Nicolas Lapierre: “It is a really good start to the season getting the pole position here at Silverstone in those difficult conditions. It was a good strategy from the engineers, drivers and all the team. Pole position is one thing but also getting the fastest lap is very important for us and gives us confidence for tomorrow. The car is looking good. It will be a tough race but it’s so important for us to start first and second on the grid so we are very happy right now.”

[Rob]

Silverstone WEC: Toyota confirmed on pole as times unravelled
By Gary Watkins Saturday, April 13th 2013, 13:49 GMT

Toyota will start Sunday's World Endurance Championship opener at Silverstone from pole position.

The #7 Toyota TS030 HYBRID shared by Nicolas Lapierre and Alex Wurz was confirmed on pole more than an hour after qualifying finished, following problems with the timing system.

The Toyota duo were nearly two seconds clear at the top of the timesheets amid the introduction of a new qualifying procedure.

The grid is based on the aggregate time of the two best laps of two drivers in each car.

The four-lap average of Lapierre and Wurz was a 1m48.021s, which compared with 1n49.995 of the sister car, driven by Davidson and Buemi during the 20-minute session.

AUTOSPORT's 2013 World Endurance Championship season guide

The best Audi R18 e-tron quattro, which was driven by Loic Duval and Tom Kristensen, was a further 1.3 seconds down in third place.

Lapierre explained that Toyota had called the changeable conditions right: he started on intermediates before Wurz took over on slicks.

The Joest Audi team started both cars on intermediates, but each came into the pits for wets before completing a lap. They subsequently changed to slicks for the second half of the session.

Joest technical director Ralf Juttner said: "We started both cars on inters, but both drivers [Duval and Benoit Treluyer] said it was too wet, so we went to wets.

"In hindsight, we should have stayed on inters because the rain lessoned. After the first driver, we were already in the ."

The best of the Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota B12/60s ended up fourth fastest ahead of the second Audi, in which Treluyer was joined by Andre Lotterer.

The LMP2 times were headed by the G-Drive/Delta-ADR shared by Antonio Pizzonia and James Walker, which ended up 2.5s ahead of the OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan LMP2 driven by Olivier Pla and Alex Brundle.

Walker, who is driving a prototype for the first time this weekend, said: "We went out on a cut slick, which stood up to two or three laps around here."

Aston Martin Racing dominated in the GTE rankings, filling out the top three positions on the final timesheets.

Stefan Mucke and Darren Turner ended up fastest ahead of Pedro Lamy and Bruno Senna in the second GTE Pro class Vantage GTE. Jamie Campbell-Walter and Stuart Hall were third fastest overall in GTE and quickest in the Am division.

Pos Cl. Drivers Team/Car Time Cl. gap
1. P1 Wurz/Lapierre Toyota 1m48.021s
2. P1 Davidson/Buemi/Sarrazin Toyota 1m49.995s + 1.974s
3. P1 Kristensen/Duval/Mcnish Audi 1m51.283s + 3.262s
4. P1 Prost/Jani/Heidfeld Rebellion Lola-Toyota 1m52.124s + 4.103s
5. P1 Lotterer/Treluyer/Fassler Audi 1m53.488s + 5.467s
6. P1 Belicchi/Beche/Cheng Rebellion Lola-Toyota 1m53.835s + 5.814s
7. P2 Graves/Pizzonia/Walker Delta-ADR ORECA-Nissan 1m55.148s
8. P2 Pla/Heinemeier Hansson/Brundle OAK Morgan-Nissan 1m57.629s + 2.481s
9. P2 Rusinov/Martin/Conway Delta-ADR ORECA-Nissan 1m57.697s + 2.549s
10. P2 Baguette/Gonzalez/Plowmann OAK Morgan-Nissan 1m58.729s + 3.581s
11. GTE P Turner/Mucke/Senna Aston Martin 2m00.566s
12. GTE P Dalla Lana/Makowiecki/Lamy Aston Martin 2m00.772s + 0.206s
13. GTE A Goethe/Hall/Campbell-Walter Aston Martin 2m01.158s
14. GTE P Bergmeister/Pilet/Bernhard Manthey Porsche 2m01.308s + 0.742s
15. GTE P Lieb/Lietz/Dumas Manthey Porsche 2m01.452s + 0.886s
16. GTE P Bruni/Fisichella AF Ferrari 2m01.512s + 0.946s
17. GTE A Nygaard/Poulsen/Simonsen Aston Martin 2m01.544s + 0.386s
18. P2 Holzer/Kraihamer/Charouz Lotus-Praga 2m01.555s + 6.407s
19. GTE P Kobayashi/Vilander AF Ferrari 2m01.803s + 1.237s
20. P2 Weeda/Liuzzi/Bouchut Lotus-Praga 2m02.144s + 6.996s
21. GTE A Gerber/Griffin/Cioci AF Ferrari 2m02.396s + 1.238s
22. P2 Perez Companc/Minassian/Kaffer Pecom ORECA-Nissan 2m02.454s + 7.306s
23. GTE A Potolicchio/Aguas/Peter 8Star Ferrari 2m02.513s + 1.355s
24. GTE A Bornhauser/Canal/Rees Larbre Corvette 2m02.862s + 1.704s
25. P2 Imperatori/Howson/Ka To KCMG Morgan-Nissan 2m02.991s + 7.843s
26. GTE A Narac/Bourret/Vernay IMSA Porsche 2m04.176s + 3.018s
27. P2 Dyson/Marsal/Kimber-Smith Greaves Zytek-Nissan 2m04.491s + 9.343s
28. GTE A Krohn/Jonsson/Mediani Krohn Ferrari 2m05.482s + 4.324s
29. P2 Nicolet/Merlin OAK Morgan-Nissan 2m10.475s + 15.327s
30. P1 Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka HPD

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106730