Valentino in doing few checks.
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Valentino in doing few checks.
CAVALLINO RAMPANTE PER SEMPRE
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Spa pole-sitter Bernhard shocked by Porsche’s big advantage
Reigning FIA WEC champion Timo Bernhard has aired his surprise at Porsche’s massive qualifying advantage over rivals Audi at Toyota for the 6 Hours of Spa.
The fastest non-Porsche 919 was the #6 Toyota in third, which was 1.905s off the pace set by Bernhard and Brendon Hartley in the #1 car.
When asked if he was surprised about Porsche’s qualifying advantage, Bernhard replied: “Yes, absolutely. When we saw [Brendon] do a 1m55.6s, that was about what we expected, but I would say that we were really surprised that the competition was two seconds slower.
“Brendon did a perfect job, I had his lap time on my dash so I knew exactly what I had to do. The lap was pretty good and we did really similar lap times, which at the end is really important with this kind of qualifying format."
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, Bernhard is expecting a stronger challenge from Porsche’s rivals.
“It's a lot hotter at Spa than we expected,” Bernhard added. “We know that this track is very rough, so the temperature has an impact on tyre wear.
“The team or car which manages the tyre wear the best will win tomorrow. I think on pace we will be better.”
Lieb bemoans poor qualifying lap
The 0.797s gap between the #1 Porsche and its sister car was mainly put down to Marc Lieb’s lack of pace relative to his teammate Neel Jani.
“The session was actually a disaster for me, because I didn’t get a clean lap at all,” Lieb admitted to Motorsport.com. “Just a poor lap, lots of mistakes, I overdrove a bit.
“Anyway it was enough to be in front of the competition, but #1 is too far ahead and has been since Silverstone. We’re still investigating why that is, and why we are always behind.
When asked what he needs to find relative to the #1 car, Lieb replied: “We need to find balance, we are struggling with that.
"At the moment, using the same set-up, we can’t do the same lap times, so we have to go in different directions and we haven’t found a solution yet.”
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Thanks Rob, but it seems artificial to me, AF Corse have done their development well but it counts for little if the goal-posts are moving!! Hoping for a double podium for them at Spa.Originally Posted by Rob
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 series
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Good afternoon my fellow WEC fans! I'm looking forward to what should be a great race for Ferrari this afternoon.
I don't see anyone getting anywhere near Porsche in LMP1 though!
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Is and isnt in a way.
Think we can see that today. But long hard race, especially in the hear today.
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Afternoon, so so excited about this one. Gimmi is super pumped, i mean really up for this
Dont count Audi out just yet.
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Nice! 2 seconds faster than everyone else!
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exactly what we had at SilverstoneNice! 2 seconds faster than everyone else!
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50 minutes left
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NO NO NO!!!
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im not sure what to say really, happy, as #71 won but super sad that the #51 ended that way. After stella weekend. Its the big one next, and for sure they will bounce back harder and faster.
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The massive disappointment from #51s demise aside, It was a really brilliant race!
Bring on Le Mans!
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A bittersweet race. Good to see the Toyotas again rampaging at the front, not so good to see both of them retire. They had the pace to win outright like the good old days which is a big plus. Disappointed for Calado though. The 488 GTEs look very good, but I still worry about what BoP changes are going to be made for Le Mans. I also wonder how anyone is going to finish Le Mans; reliability has been atrocious this year all round.
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I know what you saying about BoP, Ford playing a game, run to set times, and get easy BoP break for the biggy. Even if we do get some changes, the 488 and the crews we have are still good enough to win and run fast there. Just gave James a text, so close for first win, so gutted. Rebellion could even win Le-Mans
Toyota showed good pace, all be it on the softer tyres.
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Ah but they did say in the middle of the race (the commentators) that it was Audi and Porsche on the super soft compound and Toyota on the softs...I know what you saying about BoP, Ford playing a game, run to set times, and get easy BoP break for the biggy. Even if we do get some changes, the 488 and the crews we have are still good enough to win and run fast there. Just gave James a text, so close for first win, so gutted. Rebellion could even win Le-Mans
Toyota showed good pace, all be it on the softer tyres
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Yep, Toyota were able to double stint as a result of taking the harder compound. It feels like they've been working towards Le Mans all this time, I can't wait.
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Gutted for the late retirement but so happy that the other 488 took the honours. At least those Ferraris can win something, maybe it bodes well for the F1 team?!
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Bird, Rigon and the 488 GTE win at Spa-Francorchamps
Francorchamps, 7 May 2016 – Second success in a row for the No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE of Sam Bird e Davide Rigon, winners of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, second round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the last race before the 24 Hours of Le Mans scheduled for mid-June. Bad luck for car No. 51, of Gianmaria “Gimmi” Bruni and James Calado, that was stopped by a technical issue while leading with only ten minutes remaining in the race. It was a tricky afternoon also for the 458 Italia of François Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Rui Aguas, racing in the GTE-Am class. The car was penalised with two drive-throughs but still finished second.
GTE-Pro. In the GTE-Pro class the race kicked off with Bird in car no. 71 starting from pole and Bruni in no. 51 beside him. The Italian made a better start to take first place but Bird initially kept pace with Bruni. Then, partly because of the traffic, Sam went wide at Pouhon corner and lost a total of eight seconds. The first pit stop with driver change took place under Full Course Yellow, with all cars restricted to 80 km/h following a frightening but thankfully harmless accident for Aston Martin’s Nicki Thiim, while an episode at the second stop seemed to be the key of the race. Debris on the track again called for a Full Course Yellow and both cars returned for their pit stops. But while Calado handed over to Bruni under the yellow flag, Rigon swapped with Bird when the race was back under the green flag. As a result no. 71 found itself almost 30 seconds behind no. 51. Then, with only ten minutes remaining in the race, a technical issue hit the 51 car obliging James Calado to retire in the garage. Bird and Rigon won in front of the Ford of Franchitti-Priaulx-Tinknell and the Aston Martin of Rees-Adam-Stanaway.
GTE-Am. The only Ferrari in the GTE-Am class, the AF Corse No. 83 458 Italia of Emmanuel Collard, François Perrodo and Rui Aguas, had a difficult afternoon but secured an important second place for the championship. The winner was the Aston Martin of Lamy-Lauda-Dalla Lana but the drivers of car no. 83 received two drive-through penalties for exceeding track limits. Without those they would have been in with a chance of victory. The overall race was won by the Audi of Jarvis-Di Grassi-Duval. The next meeting is the most anticipated, the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 18-19 June.
AF Corse Press Office - Riccardo Delfanti
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