Naughty Word Mod
CAVALLINO RAMPANTE PER SEMPRE
Naughty Word Mod
Spa, Race Preview, Part 1, GTE Am, Proton Looks To Bounce Back
LM GTE Am: 6 cars
50 M Larbre Competition Yutaka Yamagishi,Paulo Ruberti, Pierre Ragues Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
78 M KCMG Christian Ried, Wolf Henzler, Joel Camathias Porsche 911 RSR
83 M AF Corse François Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard, Rui Aguas Ferrari 458 Italia
86 M Gulf Racing Michael Wainwright, Adam Carroll, Ben Barker Porsche 911 RSR
88 M Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Khaled Al Qubaisi, David Heinemeier Hansson, Patrick Long Porsche 911 RSR
98 D Aston Martin Racing Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda Aston Martin V8 Vantage
There’s only one change to the GTE Am class’ driver pool as the runners gear up for their trip to Belgium. Patrick Long – who is in for the remainder of the season – will be driving the #88 Abu Dhabi Proton Porsche in place of Klaus Bachler, after a clash with PWC on the Silverstone weekend forced him to skip the opening round.
Long will join the team’s pair of full-season entrants Khaled Al Qubaisi and David Heinemeier Hansson who are looking to bounce back from a disappointing result at Silverstone. After scoring its first pole position in the WEC, and holding the class lead for the majority of the race, a suspension failure in the final half hour put the team a lap down and last of the classified runners.
KCMG’s Porsche also had a tough outing at Silverstone, suffering from an identical issue to Proton, in its run to the flag. Only time will tell what sort of results that the Chinese-entered 911 is capable of this year. But with Christian Ried, Wolf Henzler and Joel Camathias at the wheel, counting them out would be a mistake to say the least.
Inheriting the win at Silverstone was the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, which François Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Rui Aguas drove practically faultlessly all weekend
Last year at Spa, the #83 AF boys finished second in the class, and they will look to move up a step on the podium for 2016 and head to Le Mans as favourites for the Am title.
Another team that ran well at Silverstone was the sole Aston Martin Racing entry in the class, which came home second in its first race on the new Dunlop tyres.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the #98 fares at the second round of the season though.
Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda all know their way round Spa quickly, winning GTE AM last year in the race. The new rubber on the Vantage may well be a key factor in the Ardennes however, as rain, sleet, hail, mist and fog are always on the cards at Spa and the 2016 GTE Dunlops are still very much in the development phase.
After running well throughout the weekend at Silverstone, Gulf Racing UK will be looking ahead to Spa with confidence. The incident with Brendon Hartley aside (and it was a VERY big aside!), Adam Carroll, Mike Wainwright and Ben Barker had a lot of positives to take from their home race.
Interestingly, the last time Gulf Racing made the trip to Spa was back in 2011 and things back then were very different; the WEC didn’t exist, and the team were running Aston Martin in the ILMC.
The sixth car on the entry is Larbre Competition, which heads to Spa after a quiet but successful outing in Northampton finishing on the podium.
With their first full race meeting in the C7.R under their belts, Yutaka Yamagishi and Pierre Ragues have the potential for another solid points haul before Le Mans alongside Paulo Ruberti.
Naughty Word Mod
Spa, Race Preview, Part Two GTE Pro, AF Corse Aiming For Further Dominance
LM GTE Pro: 7 Cars
51 M AF Corse Gianmaria Bruni, James Calado Ferrari 488 GTE
66 M Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Olivier Pla, Stefan Mucke Billy Johnson Ford GT
67 M Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Marino Franchitti, Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell Ford GT
71 M AF Corse Davide Rigon, Sam Bird Ferrari 488 GTE
77 M Dempsey Proton Racing Richard Lietz, Michael Christensen Porsche 911 RSR (2016)
95 D Aston Martin Racing Nicki Thiim, Darren Turner, Marco Sorensen Aston Martin Vantage
97 D Aston Martin Racing Richie Stanaway, Fernando Rees, Jonny Adam Aston Martin Vantage
GTE Pro at Silverstone was dominated by AF Corse and its pair of Ferrari 488s, and the Italian squad will be searching for the same sort of success at Spa; making them odds on favourties for both Le Mans and the title.
Sam Bird and Davide Rigon in the #71 took pole by over 1.3 seconds over the rest of the field in Northampton, and then dominated the opening race of 2016. The #51 meanwhile, had mechanical issues during qualifying and thus were forced to start at the back with a three-minute time penalty.
James Calado and Gianmaria Bruni still managed to climb the order and finish second though, handing the 488 a 1-2 on its competition debut.
If both cars manage to run the entire weekend reliably, then it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a similar result in Belgium, because the pace is clearly already there in the new machine.
Aston Martin Racing on the other hand will be heading to Spa hoping to see progression in its updated Vantages, and to its new Dunlop tyres.
They left Silverstone satisfied with a podium finish, although they felt that second place was on the cards until the #51 charged past at the end.
The #95 of Darren Turner, Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen will only get better after more time competing as a trio and the #97 of Fernando Rees and Richie Stanaway will be hope to rebound from a late retirement in the race. Joining the #97 crew after commitments in British GT on the Silverstone weekend prevented him from competing in the WEC is Jonny Adam, who will drive with Stanaway and Rees for the remainder of the season.
For the Ford Performance boys, a solid points haul at Spa would only add to their confidence ahead of their first trip to La Sarthe.
At Silverstone both the #66 and #67 Ford GTs had a quiet, but promising showing in the race on their way to fourth and fifth in the Pro class. The car is still very much in its infancy in terms of development though, so what we’ve seen so far is very encouraging.
After a troubled global debut for the car in Daytona, running well on its WEC debut was very well received. Both drivers lineups stay the same for the trip to the Ardennes, and again include the third drivers for Le Mans.
Make no mistakes, the final stop on the road to Le Mans for Ford is going to be another very important one.
For Porsche the Silverstone weekend was pretty bleak for its GTE runners and that included the Dempsey Proton Pro car, which failed to make the finish. Richard Lietz and Michael Sorensen drove well all weekend, but mechanical niggles in the race after being in the running for a podium position forced them to retire.
The only way is up for Porsche’s only full-season Pro challenger.
Naughty Word Mod
Aston Martin Racing ready to race at 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
Aston Martin Racing looks for strong points haul from 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
Continuous development and learning ahead of 24 Hours of Le Mans
Jonny Adam to return to FIA WEC line-up in #97 GTE Pro
Wednesday 4 May, Banbury: Aston Martin Racing will contest the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps this weekend (Saturday 7 May) with the continued objective of maximising points in the early stages of this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
Taking on one of the world’s most challenging race circuits, hidden deep in the Ardennes Forest, Aston Martin Racing will enter its three WEC challengers – two GTE Pro and one GTE Am – as the team looks to make its final preparations ahead of the season’s centrepiece event; the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
With the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps bringing great success for the team in recent times, including victory in both GTE Pro and Am in 2015, the team’s drivers are relishing the opportunity to take on the historic circuit yet again in the WEC.
#95 GTE Pro driver Darren Turner (GB) said ahead of this weekend, “Silverstone was a great start to the season for us in the #95 car. We learnt a lot over the weekend, especially about our Dunlop tyres. I’m sure we’ll be in a position to fight for the podium this time out at Spa. It’s a track I enjoy and it’s all great preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans”.
Jonny Adam (GB) will return to the cockpit of the #97 GTE Pro and will race alongside Richie Stanaway (NZ) and Fernando Rees (BR). This weekend will be Adam’s first opportunity to compete in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps after joining the team last year to support its practice sessions.
“This weekend will be invaluable ahead of Le Mans. We’re still continuing to learn with our new partners Dunlop and Total but I think we’ll be in a good place at the end of Saturday,” Adam commented. “It will also be my first opportunity to complete a race alongside Fernando and Richie and I’m sure we’ll put in a strong showing as a trio. The guys have been training hard as have I and I’m excited to join them”.
The #98 GTE Am trio of Paul Dalla Lana (C), Mathias Lauda (A) and Pedro Lamy (P) will also hope to build on their second place finish at Silverstone, as they continue to work towards their objective of GTE Am world titles.
Paul Howarth Team Principal Aston Martin Racing said, “Spa is a demanding circuit both on the car and driver and will be the perfect test for us at this stage of the season. We continue to learn and progress each day with our new technical partners Dunlop and Total, but we aim to be in a great position to achieve success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the end of this weekend”.
The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps begins at 14:30 CET on Saturday 7 May.
- Ends -
Driver line-ups: 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
GTE Pro
#95: Nicki Thiim Darren Turner Marco Sĝrensen
#97: Jonny Adam Richie Stanaway Fernando Rees
GTE Am
#98: Paul Dalla Lana Pedro Lamy Mathias Lauda
Naughty Word Mod
Cavallino Rampante
Only three days to go really nice! My AF Corse shirts are ready so AF Corse will have full support at Spa! Forza AF CORSE!!!
Maurizio Arrivabene fanpage:www.facebook.com/maurizioarrivabene
Full Member
You guys are getting very involved in AF Corse, and I'm with you all the way!Originally Posted by fratelliferrari
Naughty Word Mod
they do look really good mate. Its going be good race. Not sure of the weather just yet. Hope it stays dry.
Last edited by Rob; 4th May 2016 at 22:37.
Naughty Word Mod
Aston Martin and Ford get BoP changes for Spa
The Aston Martin LMGTE Pro cars have been given a weight break ahead of the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Spa this weekend.
The British constructor had a disappointing home event at Silverstone, three weeks ago, where they were unable to get on terms with Ferrari.
The Aston Martin Vanatge V8’s quickest time of the weekend, set by Darren Turner, was 1.8s shy of Gianmaria Bruni’s in the AF Corse Ferrari 488GTE.
Aston have been given a 30kgs weight break this weekend meaning that its final weight will be 1213kgs rather than its base weight of 1243kgs.
This compares to the Ferrari and Porsche which will both run at an unchanged 1243kgs, while Ford runs at 1263kgs.
The Ford GT, which notched up its first ever class win at Laguna Seca last weekend, will have a greater fuel rig restrictor for Spa this weekend.
The adjustment to the diameter of the fuel rig restrictor goes up from 28.8mm to 33.3mm for Spa.
Full Member
How come Aston and Ford are allowed these changes? Imagine if the F1 cars were granted this sort of trickery, I thought rules were rules but obviously I'm missing something!
Naughty Word Mod
Its to make racing "fairer"and bring teams closer for better racing. It isnt great, but it works. sit on the fence when it comes to BoP. But least FIA do BoP properly or should say fairly unlike another seriesHow come Aston and Ford are allowed these changes? Imagine if the F1 cars were granted this sort of trickery, I thought rules were rules but obviously I'm missing something!
Naughty Word Mod
Naughty Word Mod
Naughty Word Mod
Naughty Word Mod
Naughty Word Mod
Spa, Race Preview, Part Three, LMP2, Can RGR Go Two For Two?
LMP2: 12 Cars
26 D G-Drive Racing Roman Rusinov, Nathanaël Berthon, Rene Rast Oreca 05 Nissan
27 D SMP Racing Nicolas Minassian, David Markozov, Maurizio Mediani BR01 Nissan
30 D Extreme Speed Motorsports Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek, Ed Brown Ligier JS P2 Nissan
31 D Extreme Speed Motorsports Ryan Dalziel, Pipo Derani, Chris Cumming Ligier JS P2 Nissan
35 D Baxi DC Racing Alpine David Cheng, Ho-Pin Tung, Nelson Panciatici Alpine A460 Nissan
36 D Signatech Alpine Gustavo Menezes, Nicolas Lapierre, Stephane Richelmi Alpine A460 Nissan
37 D SMP Racing Vitaly Petrov, Viktor Shaytar, Kirill Ladygin BR01 Nissan
38 D G-Drive Racing Simon Dolan, Jake Dennis, Giedo Van Der Garde Gibson 015S Nissan
42 D Strakka Racing Nick Leventis, Jonny Kane, Danny Watts Gibson 015S Nissan
43 D RGR Sport by Morand Ricardo Gonzalez, Bruno Senna, Filipe Albuquerque Ligier JS P2 Nissan
44 D Manor WEC Tor Graves, Will Stevens, James Jakes Oreca 05 Nissan
45 D Manor WEC Matt Rao, Richard Bradley, Roberto Merhi Oreca 05 Nissan
After round one last month at Silverstone the points sit like this:
1 – #43 RGR Sport by Morand 25
2 – #31 Extreme Speed Motorsports 18
3 – #26 G-Drive Racing 16
4 – #36 Signatech Alpine 12
5 – #42 Strakka Racing 10
6 – #45 Manor 8
7 – #35 Baxi DC Racing Alpine 6
8 – #37 SMP Racing 4
9 – #30 Extreme Speed Motorsports 2
10 – #27 SMP Racing 1
11 – #44 Manor 0
There’s a single addition to the entry for round two at Spa Francorchamps with the now regular Le Mans warm-up session from the #38 G-Drive (nee Jota Sport) Gibson Nissan, this the car that has left bruised WEC egos in its wake for several seasons at this race finishing on the podium in every season of FIA WEC competition. The team twice a winner (in 2012 and 2015), with third in class in 2013 and second in 2014.
That’s quite a record for the ELMS front runners, and for each of those efforts the driving squad has featured ‘Super-Silver’ Simon Dolan, supported by a galaxy of talented Pros – and always in the same chassis!
2016’s effort is no exception and with team regular Harry Tincknell on Ford GTE Pro duty the race marks the LMP2 debut of young Jake Dennis, the ex-F3 racer, bound for a season in GP3 with Arden International, and set to contest both Spa and Le Mans with the #38 squad.
Giedo van der Garde is the new ‘big’ name for the 2016 season, and he completes the trio after a very convincing run at the front of the pack to help take the win at the opening ELMS race of the season. No doubt whatsoever of either his credentials, or his speed; though it was perhaps a little surprising to see the overall pace sustained to the degree that it was at Silverstone when no threat remained from behind. We’d expect perhaps a different approach as the season progresses if the same situation reoccurs.
The Gibson joins the team’s regular full-season WEC effort on the entry, this the team’s new #26 Oreca 05 Nissan, 2015 WEC class Champion Roman Rusinov joined by Nathanaël Berthon for the season, and by Rene Rast up to and including the Nurburgring.
This trio are definite contenders both for the race, and for the season. Team tactics between the two orange cars are highly unlikely and the driver squad for the #26 should, in any case need no assistance to be in contention here.
The only variable to consider is the team’s expansion to a two car effort, and a necessary reshuffling of the backroom pack. The team though are as well-drilled as any in the LMP2 paddock.
Rusinov remains a controversial Silver-ranked driver with Berthon having proven pace in LMP2 and single seater machinery. Audi factory man Rast meanwhile is simply world class! The car took pole position at Silverstone.
The #26 though does not lead the Championship, as that bragging right at present belongs to the #43 RGR Sport by Morand Ligier JS P2 Nissan.
Ricardo Gonzales looked a different driver to that we have seen previously at Silverstone, the Mexican putting in a great effort in support of the two team pros, Bruno Senna seemed to enjoy his LMP2 debut, scoring a win in a third different class in the FIA WEC.
Filipe Albuquerque meanwhile brought another dash of Audi factory class to the LMP2 field, no doubt he and Herr Rast will be privately comparing data traces (as well as trophies!)
The #43 had an impressively controlled and effective afternoon at Round 1, adding ‘trouble-free’ to the pace of others, and grabbing the good luck when it came courtesy of a full-course caution, to grab an on-track edge that they wouldn’t lose. The chasing pack will be looking to show that their pace is the equal of the Mexican-flagged Oreca.
Perhaps interestingly, with the arrival here of the #38, the #43 Ligier and #42 Strakka Gibson are the only two cars entered by single car efforts in the 12 car class.
So lets deal with the other singleton entry first. The #42 Strakka Racing Gibson ran very well indeed at Silverstone, the car troubling the leaders for a period. Strakka have had an opportunity to dial themselves into their ‘new’ car now and Jonny Kane, in particular, was mightily impressive.
Spa is another track where all three of the all-British crew have plenty of experience, and on a notoriously tricky track that could be invaluable. Nick Leventis (as was discussed in the team’s first DSC column is becoming a rare breed in the WEC, a true Silver, as the teams continue to exploit loopholes in the rulebook, that puts pressure on the Strakka team owner to perform, but like most non-Pros at this level it’s part of the appeal!
As with each and every other entry in this class the relative performance of the non-Pro ranked driver will be key.
Tequila Patron ESM sit second in the Championship standings after Silverstone in what has been a stellar start to their season. With the WEC effort featuring Nissan power rather than the Honda engines that powered the team’s Ligier for the wins at Daytona and Sebring, Pipo Derani now sits as a standout emerging talent in this company. Add to that the known quality of Ryan ‘Razzle Dazzle’ Dalziel and there’s pressure aplenty for Chris Cumming as the non-Pro in a very ‘Nick Leventis’ sort of way.
Cumming was finding pace at Silverstone and will be looking to do likewise at Spa.
The sister #30 car had a rather more taxing Sunday in April. There’s work to do for team principal Scott Sharp, and his team-mates Johannes van Overbeek and Ed Brown to make up ground.
The pair of Alpine (Oreca) Nissans both showed some real speed at Silverstone too. In the #36 car it’s clear that young Gustavo Menezes’ time ranked as a Silver will go no further than 2016, Nivo Lapierre is another, yet another, in this class that is of real class, and Stephane Richelmi provided ample support too as he learns the LMP2 ropes. There’s more to come though from this combo.
The Baxi DC-entered #35 Alpine finished close behind their team car with Nelson Panciatici typically effective, Ho-Pin Tung typically press-on and David Cheng finding pace too. This effort could be something of a ‘sleeper’ both here and throughout the remainder of the season.
The remaining two teams both had difficult starts to their 2016 FIA WEC campaigns, neither SMP Racing BR01 ran without issues, and the same was true also for the debuting Manor WEC two car Oreca effort.
The Russian-flagged team remain eager to grab race wins, but need to find reliability from both of their new-build BR01s before that is even a remote possibility. We know already that the package has pace, even more so since the arrival at each corner of the cars last season of Dunlop rubber, but the step up to the WEC is a big one in terms of driver squad depth. Spa may well be an important weekend for the team in determining their strategy for the big one in June!
Manor WEC meanwhile also need to find reliability after both of the new to FIA WEC team’s Oreca Nissans spent time in the garage at Silverstone’s season opener. There was no shortage of pace from either car when the opportunity arose, but all in all it was a downbeat debut as niggles intervened.
Their star-studded lineup will be super keen to make their mark on the points standings in Belgium
Naughty Word Mod
Spa, Race Preview, Part Four, LMP1, A Mystery At The Top
LMP1: 9 Cars
1 M Porsche Team Timo Bernhard Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley Porsche 919 Hybrid
2 M Porsche Team Romain Dumas, Marc Lieb, Neel Jani Porsche 919 Hybrid
4 D ByKolles Racing Team Simon Trummer, James Rossiter, Oliver Webb CLM P1/01 AER
5 M Toyota Gazoo Racing Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima Toyota TS050 Hybrid
6 Toyota Gazoo Racing Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi Toyota TS050 Hybrid
7 M Audi Sport Team Joest Marcel Fässler, Benoit Treluyer, Andre Lotterer Audi R18
8 M Audi Sport Team Joest Lucas Di Grassi, Oliver Jarvis, Loic Duval Audi R18
12 D Rebellion Racing Nicolas Prost, Nick Heidfeld, Nelson Piquet Jr Rebellion R-One AER
13 D Rebellion Racing Matheo Tuscher, Dominik Kraihamer, Alexandre Imperatori Rebellion R-One AER
Post Silverstone Points
Manufacturer Championship Points
1 Toyota 33
2 Porsche 25
3 Audi 1
Drivers Championship Points
1 LIEB M. 25
1 JANI N. 25
1 DUMAS R. 25
2 KOBAYASHI K. 18
2 CONWAY M. 18
2 SARRAZIN S. 18
3 IMPERATORI A. 15
3 KRAIHAMER D. 15
3 TUSCHER M. 15
4 PIQUET JR N. 12
4 HEIDFELD N. 12
4 PROST N. 12
And so to the now ‘traditional’ Le mans warm-up that is the 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps.
Round one at Silverstone was a topsy turvy afternoon with incident (#8 Audi, #5 Toyota), accident (#1 Porsche) and action aplenty, plus of course, the post race exclusion from the results of the race winning Audi giving the #2 Porsche crew back to back wins but Toyota, courtesy of a two car finish, take the manufacturers Championship points lead.
It will be exactly the same six car line-up for round two at Spa with one notable exception: aero!
We’ve seen in recent years some of the factory teams rolling the dice and trying back to back runs with their Le Mans low drag configuration cars against their higher downforce versions.
With the move to a pair of cars apiece from Audi and Porsche, and the change in regulations to no more than three iterations of bodywork for the season there is less potential for that this time.
Porsche, after a successful endurance test last week, have heavily trailed that they will debut “elements of” the low drag version of the 2016 919 Hybrid at Spa, on both cars – that comes as a surprise as the new regulations apparently forbid a ‘mix and match’ approach between bodywork iterations.
Porsche team principal Andreas Seidl: “A car’s configuration for what is an over seven kilometre long up-and-down-hill circuit is always a compromise between enough downforce for the fast corners and little drag on the long straights. At our endurance test in Aragon last week we were examining our Le Mans aero package for the first time, and will now use components of that in Spa. Regarding reliability and crew training, the 30-hour test was positive and we feel ready for round two of the championship.”
Toyota though will stick with their high downforce configuration, they too tested at Aragon after Silverstone, looking to understand more about how to extract the maximum level of performance out of their new for 2016 powertrain and hybrid system.
Toshio Sato, team president: “Spa is one of our home races, as it is so close to Toyota Motorsport GmbH in Cologne and also to Toyota Motor Europe in Brussels. So we are looking forward to seeing a lot of supporters in the grandstands and we want to give them a performance to celebrate.
“Even if the result at Silverstone was pretty good, we know we need to show more performance if we are to achieve our targets this season. The team has been working flat-out to improve, including our test session in Spain. I would like to thank them for the big effort and I hope we can see the reward this weekend in Spa, which is an important step on the road to Le Mans.”
Audi meanwhile have been very, very quiet since opting not to appeal their exclusion from the race win at Silverstone, the front plank on the underside of the #7 R18 worn beyond the permitted tolerances.
No word then on the selected aero solution for the R18s, nor any post Silverstone testing. Audi though will arrived bruised at having left the opening race with but a single point for the pole position for the #7 car.
The delightful prospect we have then is of a Porsche team with proven reliability but an unproven aero concept, a Toyota team needing to make up ground on pace and an Audi team looking to race their way back into contention.
Game on!
LMP1 Privateer Points
1 13 Rebellion Racing 25
2 12 Rebellion Racing 18
3 4 Bykolles Racing Team 15
Silverstone saw one of the best performances of the Hybrid era for the distinctly non-hybridised Rebellion Racing team.
How good? Well the 3rd & 4th placed overall finish from the pair of AER engined R-Ones would, had the privateers team been registered for Manufacturer Championship points, have been good enough to tie Toyota for the overall Championship lead.
The team though was delighted to show that reliability after a quiet winter of consolidation and subtle development, was near 100%.
The #13 squad took a second consecutive class win after taking the top step at the 2015 Bahrain season finale last year, Kraihamer, Imperatori and Tuscher then lead the class standings ahead of Prost, Heidfeld and Piquet Minor.
The CLM had a more troubled run but has points on the board from a finish, the new aero apparently bringing some pace, in particular when the car ran untroubled at the start with James Rossiter at the wheel.
The ex-F1 test driver returns for a second, and currently final, planned run before Pierre Kaffer returns from Le Mans onwards.
It will remain a reliability game for the privateers unless and until the rule makers make a decision on a way forward. On the basis of the reliability we saw at Silverstone there’s an outside chance of a factory scalp or two.
Naughty Word Mod
Naughty Word Mod
POSITIVE PRACTICE FOR TOYOTA GAZOO RACING
Thursday 5 May 2016
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing made an encouraging start to practice for the second round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
TOYOTA arrives at the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps leading the manufacturers World Championship after being the only LMP1 Hybrid team to record a two-car finish in the season-opener at Silverstone.
But the team was determined to improve performance for round two in order to fight for victory, and the early signs were positive in todays two 90-minute practice sessions.
The #6 TS050 HYBRID of Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi set the fastest lap time in second practice, 0.155secs quicker than the #5 of Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima in second. Earlier the two cars had been respectively third and fifth in the opening session.
Unlike at Silverstone last month, where rain and snow interrupted preparations, practice at Spa took place in warm, sunny conditions which allowed the team the ideal opportunity to work on set-up and tyres.
The priority was to optimise the control settings and set-ups to get the maximum performance out of the new TS050 HYBRID, whilst also understanding the behaviour of the various specifications of Michelin tyres.
A test at Motorland Aragon after Silverstone gave the team additional data to improve performance and this progress was validated today. The two cars completed 103 laps, covering 721km despite second practice ending early due to an accident for a GT car.
But the team is focused on extracting even more performance from the TS050 HYBRID in third practice prior to Fridays qualifying session and Saturdays race.
TS050 HYBRID #5 (Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima)
Free practice 1: 5th (2min 00.053secs), 30 laps
Free practice 2: 2nd (1min 58.711secs), 27 laps
Anthony Davidson: Its been a productive day and the car has been performing better than it did at Silverstone. The more we learn about it, the faster it gets. Its really nice to end second practice on top; its a good morale boost for everyone. I feel optimistic already that we are going to be in a fight in the race. Thats what we want; its why we are here.
Sébastien Buemi: I didnt do a lot of laps today and only one in the second session. But overall the situation looks encouraging for us. We will wait until tomorrow to see where we stand after qualifying but it looks much better than it did one year ago.
Kazuki Nakajima: Its been a positive day for us. We found a good direction for the set-up and it went well generally. The lap times were quite impressive. It has been a long time to see our cars at the top of the timing sheets, so that was nice after second practice. I hope this is a good sign for the rest of the weekend.
TS050 HYBRID #6 (Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi)
Free practice 1: 3rd (1min 59.429secs), 27 laps
Free practice 2: 1st (1min 58.556secs), 19 laps
Stéphane Sarrazin: We are stronger than we were at Silverstone; we have taken a good step but its too early to get carried away. The aerodynamic package seems to work well at this track and we found a nice balance. We still need to improve in some areas but it was a good day. Even if its only free practice, to be first and second in FP2 is a nice improvement but lets see for the rest of the weekend.
Mike Conway: Our car was in the top three all day and set some good lap times. We started with a decent balance and weve just been improving as the day goes on, releasing more potential. We still need to work on the race balance but we came here with a good strategy and hopefully it will work out for the race, thats the main thing.
Kamui Kobayashi: I drove only in the morning and it went well. Its a great feeling to drive the TS050 HYBRID around this circuit; the power and the hybrid boost were really impressive. There are a lot of high-speed corners here and the car felt really good. We are in quite a good position I think today so we can be positive.
Free practice 1 results:
1st #1 Porsche (Bernhard/Webber/Hartley) 1min 58.012secs 30 laps
2nd #2 Porsche (Dumas/Jani/ Lieb) +0.565secs 23 laps
3rd #6 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1.417secs 27 laps
4th #7 Audi (Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer) +1.971secs 33 laps
5th #5 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +2.041secs 30 laps
6th #8 Audi (di Grassi/Duval/Jarvis) +2.428secs 11 laps
Free practice 2 results:
1st #6 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 1min 58.556secs 19 laps
2nd #5 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +0.155secs 27 laps
3rd #1 Porsche (Bernhard/Webber/Hartley) +0.620secs 29 laps
4th #2 Porsche (Dumas/Jani/ Lieb) +1.045secs 24 laps
5th #7 Audi (Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer) +1.743secs 23 laps
6th #12 Rebellion (Prost/Piquet/Heidfeld) +6.294secs 21 laps
Naughty Word Mod
THE HEADLINES FROM FP1 AT SPA
Reigning champion No.1 Porsche 919 top the times as Brendon Hartley sets best of 1m58.012s
Marc Lieb makes it 1-2 for Porsche in no.8 car. Toyota third with No.6 TS 050 HYBRID, time of 1m59.429s set by Mike Conway.
No.2 Porsche given black and orange flag for breaching article 10.5.2 of Technical Regs for lack of telemetry
Audi place fourth and sixth with low-downforce spec Audi R18. Fassler and Duval set times.
Rebellion Racing head Privateer LMP1 class after ByKolles hit issues
Pipo Derani sets fastest lap of 2m08.974s in LMP2 in no.31 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier JS P2 Nissan
G-Drive ORECA-Nissan second and No.36 Signatech Alpine third as first three covered by just 0.135s
Aston Martin lead LMGTE Pro class with No.97 Vantage driven by Fernando Rees.
AF Corse place third and fourth with No.51 Ferrari 488GTE heading No.71 sister car
Aston also top LMGTE Am category ahead of No.50 Larbre Chevrolet Corvette
Naughty Word Mod
TOYOTA RETURN TO FORM IN FREE PRACTICE 2 AT SPA
The Headlines after Free Practice Two at Spa:
New Toyota TS 050 HYBRID takes 1-2 sweep after Free Practice 2 this afternoon
Kazuki Nakajima’s time of 1m58.556s heads teammate Stephane Sarrazin’s 1m58.711s
Porsche third and fourth as No.1 919 Hybrid leads No.2 sister machine
Audi suffer tough start as No.7 places fifth and No.8 R18 fails to take part after technical problems
Nick Heidfeld sets LM1 Privateer pace with 2m04.850s in No.12 Rebellion R-One AER
Richard Bradley takes quickest LMP2 lap time on 2m07.865 in No.45 Manor ORECA 05
G-Drive Racing in second and No.36 Signatech Alpine in third separated by just 0.001s!
AF Corse Ferrari lead LMGTE Pro as Calado sets best of 2m18.494s
Aston Martin second with No.97 car and No.71 AF Corse Ferrari third
AF Corse Ferrari also takes LMGTE Am top slot ahead of Gulf Racing Porsche
Session shortened to retrieve stranded No.26 G-Drive ORECA and Larbre Competition Corvette
Naughty Word Mod
this is stunning picture...
Naughty Word Mod
Naughty Word Mod
. Note the turning vanes on the floor ahead of the rear tire leading edge. I suspect they've been there since 2014, but this is the first time I've seen a shot revealing such. Note they direct air inboard, around the rear tire. Images of Sam Collins, Race car engineer
Naughty Word Mod
Spa, Thursday Paddock Notes and Statwatch!
There were issues today for the #2 Porsche in Free Practice 1 (replacement of the high voltage battery – leading to warning for non-operational FIA telemetry) and for the #8 Audi in Free Practice 2 (“failure of the front axle drivetrain”).
Porsche meanwhile have given more information on the new (and much larger) headlamp array in the Low Downforce configuration car – Jens Maurer, Head of Systems at the Porsche Team, names the key factors: “We have managed to improve the performance regarding the range of lighting to the side as well as the reach to the front. We have saved almost 30 per cent of weight, made the fitting easier and optimised the cooling.”
The system is equipped with the latest and handpicked LEDs from Osram and features three different modes of operation: pencil beam (ultra long distance light), main beam and side beam. Twelve pairs of LEDs and reflectors per headlight unit are split into seven individually controlled strings for long distance and cornering light. The control unit is integrated into the headlights. At an angle of 45 degrees, the side light performance matches the quality of a good dipped-beam headlamp of a road going car. The flashing light is operated as a switchover between maximum and reduced operation mode of the LEDs.
In addition, each headlight has 20 of so called RGB-LEDs (RGB stands for the red-green-blue colour space) to make the two cars identifiable. The number 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid is illuminated in magenta, the number 2 car can be recognised by its blue light.
Compared to 2015, the number of LEDs has been doubled while the weight of each headlight unit was reduced by 1.1 kilograms. The new headlight is fitted as a single component now. The pre-adjustment of the reflectors inside the headlight saves the fine-tuning procedure after fitting. The cooling is from air that is channelled in from outside.
The #4 ByKolles CLM suffered engine problems in FP1 but the team completed remedial work in time for the car to complete the whole of FP2.
Ferrari took the lead in the all-time (since the WEC’s inception in 2012) class winning total stakes at Silverstone (the double win in GTE Pro and Am taking Ferrari’s total to 24 class wins agains Aston Martin’s 23 and Porsche’s 22)
Ferrari’s record of overall race starts in the FIA WEC should though be equalled on Saturday – Ferrari’s total currently stands at 176, with three Ferraris on the entry that should rise to 179. Porsche sit on 173 but with their pair of LMP1s and four 911 RSRS on the entry they too should leave Spa with 179 starts!
The current Le Mans entry though should see Porsche move up to 188 with Ferrari on 187 (with nine Porsches listed to Ferrari’s eight) though any further drop-out from the entry would see the JMW Ferrari 458 enter into the equation!
Naughty Word Mod
PORSCHE TAKE 1-2 IN QUALIFYING AT SPA
The Headlines from Qualifying .
No.1 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley takes pole position with 1m55.793s average.
Marc Lieb and Neel Jani combine to claim second place in No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid
Toyota take third after close battle with Audi. The No.6 TS 050 of Kobayashi and Sarrazin combine to pip No.8 Audi by just 0.018s
LMP1 Privateer class sees No.13 Rebellion Racing car top times
ByKolles collision with No.44 Manor ORECA sees brief red flag for bodywork on track.
LMP2 pole taken by G-Drive Racing ORECA 05 as Rusinov and Rast set 2m07.363s average
Signatech Alpine start second after Menezes and Lapierre qualify No.36 A460-Nissan
Bird and Rigon take second consecutive LMGTE Pro class pole in No.71 AF Corse Ferrari 488GTE with combined average of 2m17.644s
Bruni and Calado make it an AF Corse 1-2 in No.51 Ferrari 488GTE
Aston Martin grab LMGTE am pole as Dalla Lana and Lamy take dominant pole in No.98 V8 Vantage
No.83 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia start second after Perrodo and Aguas qualify
Naughty Word Mod
ooooo yeah, 1-2 thats good, really good. Now for the race. Be long hard fight tomorrow. Lets hope #51 and James will get win, and James first win. Super happy for Sam and Davide another pole.
Naughty Word Mod
Davide
Naughty Word Mod
Naughty Word Mod
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks