2014 WEC/ELMS&TUSC news.

[Rob]

ASTON MARTIN TAKES CLEAN SWEEP IN LMGTE QUALIFYING IN BAHRAIN

14/11/2014 - 16h33

Aston Martin Racing today claimed pole position in both the LMGTE Pro and Am classes for tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Bahrain, the seventh round of the 8-race FIA World Endurance Championship.

Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke in the No.97 Vantage V8 claimed their second pole of the season in the Pro category with a 4-lap average lap time of 1:58.805, while the No.95 ‘Dane Train’ of Kristian Poulsen, David Heinemeier Hansson and Nicki Thiim remarkably, for a three-time race winner, claimed its first pole of 2014 in a time of 1:59.589.

The British-German duo in the No.97 didn’t have it all their own way, however. They were pushed to the final seconds of the 25-minute qualifying session by the GT championship-leading No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander. The Italian set the fastest GTE lap of the weekend so far (1:58.122), but a minor error on the Finn’s final lap meant that the average of the two best laps of the two drivers put them 0.27s behind pole.

Third in the class was the sister AF Corse car, the No.71 of Davide Rigon and James Calado, which recorded an average lap time of 1:59.226, followed by the No.99 Aston Martin of MacDowall and Rees. Despite going quicker than at any time over the weekend so far, the two Porsche Team Manthey 911 RSRs appeared to struggle in qualifying and they finished in fifth and sixth in class, a less than favourable result for Championship contender Frédéric Makowiecki in the No.92. The Frenchman badly needs a win in Bahrain tomorrow to keep alive his title hopes.

Less than a second separated the top eight cars across the two classes, and the two Aston Martin Racing entries were once again a class act in LMGTE Am. Nicki Thiim set the pace for the No.95 Vantage V8 with two quick laps which put him firmly among the fastest cars in the session, and this was then ably backed up by Kristian Poulsen. The Danes led an Aston Martin Racing 1-2 as Pedro Lamy and Christoffer Nygaard qualified less than two tenths of a second behind their team mates.

A fast-lapping Alessandro Pier Guidi and American Jeff Segal did a great combined job to put the No.61 AF Corse Ferrari 458 in third place, but their Am team mates in the No.81 – Andrea Bertolini and Michele Rugolo fared less well. A brake problem on the Ferrari meant that newly crowned ELMS LMGTE Champion Bertolini only completed two laps in qualifying and Rugolo did not drive at all. The team elected to sit out the session to fix the problem and save the tyres for tomorrow’s race.



The qualifying session today was run under the fully floodlit Bahrain International Circuit, as the majority of the race will be tomorrow. The green flag for the 6 Hours of Bahrain will be given at 15h00 local (13h00 CET) and live timing can be found via FIA WEC or on the FIAWEC App.

Qualifying Facts

17:30:22 In GTE Am #95 Aston on pole (first of 2014) from #98 Aston and #61 Ferrari
17:27:51 Aston #97 on pole (2nd of 2014) from #51 Ferrari and #71 Ferrari
17:26:49 Chequered Flag
17:25:54 1:59.589 fastest 4 lap average for #95 Aston in GTE Am
17:25:01 1:59.075 4 lap average for #51 Ferrari
17:23:48 1:58.805 4 lap average for #97 Aston
17:21:45 Ferrari #81 into pits with problem - engine cover off
17:20:55 Ferrari #71 moves into 2nd place after 4 laps
17:19:43 Aston #95 fastest GTE Am with 4 lap average
17:18:47 1:58.900 fastest 4 lap average for #97 Aston
17:17:48 Aston #97 now has 1:58.730 fastest 3 lap average
17:16:48 All cars have set a 2 lap average - second drivers now out on circuit
17:16:01 1:58.286 now fastest 2 lap average for #51 Ferrari
17:1 5:02 Ferrarri #51 moves up to 2nd on 2 lap average
17:13:27 1:58.814 3rd fastest 2 lap average for #71 Ferrari
17:11:28 1:58.634 fastest 2 lap average for #95 Aston in GTE Am
17:10:24 All GTE Cars now out on circuit
17:09:02 1:58.471 for #97 Aston 2 lap average
17:06:24 1:59.721 for Aston #99
17:04:24 Green flag Aston #99 first out

[Rob]

Bahrain WEC: Audi makes changes after chassis damage.

By Gary Watkins Friday, November 14th 2014, 13:35 GMT

Audi, Bahrain WEC 2014

Audi is changing the mountings to the underfloors of its pair of R18 e-tron quattros in a bid to solve the problem that prompted three changes of monocoque this week.

The R18s were found to have damaged tubs after their arrival in Bahrain from China for this weekend's Sakhir World Endurance Championship round.

Both cars took part in the two free practice sessions on Thursday after full rebuilds, but the #1 car was diagnosed with the same problem after the second, evening session and did not take part in Friday morning's practice period.

Audi Sport Team Joest technical director Ralf Juttner explained that the squad had "optimised" the mountings in a bid to solve the problem.

"We have optimised the way we mount the floors, but it is too complicated to go into detail," he said.

The #2 car came through Friday morning practice without a problem in this configuration.

The damage sustained to the monocoques is believed to have resulted from the R18s running over relatively flat kerbs that strike the centre of the car.

Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich said: "It seems that at flat circuits where we take the kerbs between the wheels that the car touches where it doesn't normally touch."

The #2 car, shared by championship challengers Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, was rebuilt around the spare monocoque carried by the team.

The #1 Audi, driven by Tom Kristensen, Loic Duval and Lucas di Grassi, was built up around a tub that arrived at the Bahrain International Circuit at 3am on Thursday morning.

A second spare arrived at the track on Thursday afternoon and it is around this chassis that the #1 car is being rebuilt for a second time.

Audi opted not to undertake a second all-night shift, which means that the #1 car missed practice three and will also not take to the track during qualifying on Friday afternoon.

[Rob]

TOYOTA RACING’S FRONT ROW RUN CONTINUES
Friday 14 November 2014

TOYOTA Racing extended its run of front-row starts in the FIA World Endurance Championship with a strong performance in qualifying for the Six Hours of Bahrain, the penultimate round of the 2014 season.

The team had started each of the previous nine WEC races, covering the end of the 2013 season and all races this year, from the front row of the grid and that run stretched to 10 under lights in Bahrain this evening.

World Championship leaders Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi, who can secure the title this weekend with a good result, took second position in the #8 TS040 HYBRID, just 0.265secs off pole position.

Alex Wurz and Mike Conway, in the #7 they share with Stéphane Sarrazin, start from the second row in fourth to give TOYOTA a strong platform as it looks to defend a 29-point lead in the manufacturers’ World Championship.

The WEC qualifying format requires two drivers from each car to set a minimum of two flying laps each. The grid is decided by the combined average of each driver’s fastest two laps.

Under floodlights and using the TS040 HYBRID’s high-powered LED headlights, Alex and Anthony hit the track immediately when the 25-minute session began.

Both completed two flying laps before handing over to Mike and Sébastien respectively. At that stage the #7 was classified fourth with the #8 in second.

Mike, who also took qualifying duty on his previous race weekend for the team in Austin, completed four timed laps and held third place until the final moments when the #7 was pushed back to fourth by only 0.069secs.

Sébastien clocked three timed laps but also opted to finish the session in the pits in order to minimise tyre wear, with all cars required to start the race on the same set of tyres as used in qualifying. The race starts at 15.00 local time on Saturday.

TS040 HYBRID #7 (Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway)
Free practice 3: 2nd (1min 44.710secs), 26 laps
Qualifying: 4th (1min 44.260secs average)

Alex Wurz: “It didn’t go exactly to plan on our car in qualifying. I didn’t feel great with the car and that meant I didn’t get the best of out it. That’s life and I won’t dwell on it. Now we have a six-hour race to do tomorrow and we’ll fight for a better result.”

Mike Conway: “Qualifying was all right. My first lap was good and I pushed for a second lap straight away but the tyres dropped off. So I cooled them down and went for another, which felt really good at the start but I lost time in the last sector. I went a little bit quicker but it was not quite what we wanted. It would have been tough to beat Porsche. Tomorrow is another story and we’ll be pushing as hard as possible.”

TS040 HYBRID #8 (Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi)
Free practice 3: 5th (1min 46.226secs), 21 laps
Qualifying: 2nd (1min 43.410secs average)

Anthony Davidson: “As a driver I prefer to get the pole position and the bonus point, but it was a better result than we expected. When we saw the speed of the Porsches in qualifying trim I didn’t expect to beat either of them to be honest. So I am really happy to have done that and I’m looking forward to the race. Tomorrow will be a completely different day in terms of tyre wear and management so I’m looking forward to it.”

Sébastien Buemi: “Overall I’m really happy with the performance. I know we are used to fighting for pole position and today we were two tenths on average slower but Porsche did a great job, we have to say. But we are there, we are competitive. So I am looking forward to the race because I am sure we have a good pace to fight hard. Our target is to have a good clean race until the end, then we see what happens.”

French and German translations of this press release will be available shortly on www.toyotahybridracing.com, where copyright-free photos are also available for editorial use.

[fratelliferrari]

Not a bad result for our cars I think

[Rob]

Not a bad result for our cars I think

Its not bad start. just got finish ahead of the #92

[The Architect]

Front row, not bad. I wouldn't actually mind another safety car and early stop, just so I can see them charging through the field again like last time.

[fratelliferrari]

Anyone with a link please

[AfterLife]

Anyone with a link please

shhhhhh..... don't tell the others
http://live.drakulastream.eu/static/...205913200.html

[Rob]

Fernando is there watching race.

[fratelliferrari]

shhhhhh..... don't tell the others
http://live.drakulastream.eu/static/...205913200.html

Many many thanks Afterlife!

[AfterLife]

Many many thanks Afterlife!

You are welcome.

[AfterLife]

That orange Ferrari 458 is doing great job.

[AfterLife]

Fernando is there watching race.

[fratelliferrari]

Fernando is there watching race.

[Rob]

fantastic overtake form Gimmi, amazing. 3rd to 1st

[fratelliferrari]

fantastic overtake form Gimmi, amazing. 3rd to 1st

So great to see this! I really have to work for my MasterThesis but I can't concentrate because Iam constantly looking at WEC

[Rob]

So great to see this! I really have to work for my MasterThesis but I can't concentrate because Iam constantly looking at WEC

good luck with that mate.

WEC is just brilliant.

[fratelliferrari]

good luck with that mate.

WEC is just brilliant.

Thank you will try to see as much as possible

[fratelliferrari]

What a great battle between Bruni and the AM!

[fratelliferrari]

Good to see the Vettel thread is closed Rob! I hope you aren't mad at me but I have difficulty with a fanboy that suddenly comes along Now let's get back to AF Corse!

[Rob]

Good to see the Vettel thread is closed Rob! I hope you aren't mad at me but I have difficulty with a fanboy that suddenly comes along Now let's get back to AF Corse!

not at all, it gets silly somethimes, he not even confirmed. 99.9% he coming to us, but wait till then if want to open threads like that.

[fratelliferrari]

Will be very nervous last hour...What do you expect Rob?

[fratelliferrari]

Soo close..Come on AF Corse

[Rob]

Will be very nervous last hour...What do you expect Rob?

that last hour was nerve racking. Best race of the year. F1 watch and learn.

#51 wins and Gimmi and Toni WEC driver champs. Got wait till Brazil for us to wrap up teams and manufacture titles.

[fratelliferrari]

that last hour was nerve racking. Best race of the year. F1 watch and learn.

#51 wins and Gimmi and Toni WEC driver champs. Got wait till Brazil for us to wrap up teams and manufacture titles.

Grande Grande Grande! What a fantastic race! Hopefully we will win the other titles next week too!

[Rob]

[fratelliferrari]

http://i59.tinypic.com/28guwpd.jpg

[fratelliferrari]

Rob I had a question. What is the reason AF Corse with #51? Did they choose themselves or did the FIA that for them?

[Rob]

[Rob]