2015 WEC/ELMS&TUSC news.

**Rob** · 9th October 2015, 08:21

NEWS ALERT
Fuji Speedway - 09 October 2015
Hello Mr Robert Allum,
WHAT THE DRIVERS SAY...

The 6 Hours of Fuji came a step closer with the arrival of the drivers at Fuji Speedway for signing on checks. They also took the opportunity to walk the track in the beautiful autumn sunshine. We caught up with five of the drivers who will be competing in the 2015 6 Hours of Fuji on Sunday to get their thoughts on racing here in Japan.

Anthony Davidson – Toyota Racing: “Fuji is a fantastic place to have a home event. The fans are brilliant and the atmosphere makes it special for us as a team. The weather can be unpredictable in Fuji at this time of year and wet conditions would sway things in our favour. We’ll be giving everything to take any opportunities that come our way.”

Pipo Derani – G-Drive Racing: "I am confident that this round will be positive for us, but I think the battles will be even more difficult as we approach the end of the championship. There are only three races left and we are looking for our first win. So far we have been very consistent throughout the year and, certainly we will be more aggressive for the final races as we aim to battle for the title.”

Matt Howson – KCMG: “COTA was a really good race with the No.26 G-Drive. I can see another really big battle between us again this weekend. Richard and I know this track well and have raced here for years. It is Nick’s first time but obviously a driver of his caliber only needs a handful of laps.

“I anticipate the grip to be a bit better than last year, as there had been a lot of rain before the race then. The final sector is really the key to a good lap here. It is a technical part of the lap where you need a really good well-balanced car.”

James Calado – AF Corse: “It should be a good battle here at Fuji again. The 5kgs extra for the Porsche doesn’t amount to much, probably not even a tenth of a second. We were 1-2 last year so we have some good memories. I am expecting us to be in a real tough fight with Porsche and Aston-Martin as they have the restrictor break too. This track is okay for the tyres so if the weather is like this (sunny and dry) on Sunday it should be a really good show for the fans.”

Victor Shaytar – SMP Racing: “I like this track. It has big character and the Ferrari has a good record. The season has been super, so much good work from the SMP Racing team. We push hard for more top results in Asia in the next month.”

**Rob** · 9th October 2015, 08:27

NEWS ALERT
Fuji Speedway - 09 October 2015
Hello Mr Robert Allum,

HOW MUCH ENERGY IS GENERATED BY AN LMP1 RACE CAR?

Ever wondered how much energy is generated by an LMP1 car during braking?

Well TOYOTA hooked up their TS040 Hybrid to a simulated lap of Circuit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans to show how their race car could generate enough energy to make breakfast for their 171 guests!

**Rob** · 9th October 2015, 08:36

ASTON MARTIN HEADS EAST FOR ASIAN LEG OF THE WEC

- Aston Martin looks to return to pre-Le Mans success at Six Hours of Fuji

- BoP adjustments to the Vantage GTE should see more competitive racing

- Stefan Mücke steps in to replace Richie Stanaway in car #99

- British GT Championship race-winner Liam Griffin joins the #96 line-up

Friday 9 October, Gaydon - Aston Martin Racing heads to Fuji International Speedway in Japan this weekend for the sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the Six Hours of Fuji, and is looking to return to its pre-24 Hours of Le Mans success following recent Balance of Performance (BoP) readjustments.

In order to keep racing competitive, exciting and cost-effective, the FIA controls the performance of each car, in what is called the Balance of Performance (BoP), and this has enabled the WEC to bear some of the best racing in the world across the last four years.

“Balance of Performance is incredibly difficult for the organisers and, after manufacturers have made new developments to their GTE cars, sometimes it takes some tweaking to rebalance it,” explained Team Principal John Gaw. “Following the Nürburgring and CoTA, Porsche have been given some extra weight to carry and we have a more effective air restrictor size. Hopefully, it will lead to another fantastic race in Fuji and we can see ourselves battle it out with the Ferraris, Porsches and Corvette in both GTE classes.”

In addition to the BoP change, Stefan Mücke (DE) has been called into duty in the #99 Vantage GTE Pro. The German, who usually races with Darren Turner (GB) in the #97 GTE Pro, will replace Richie Stanaway (NZ), who is on GP2 duty this weekend, while Jonny Adam (GB) will race with Turner.

In the #96 Vantage GTE Am, British GT Championship race-winner Liam Griffin (GB) will join Stuart Hall (GB) and Francesco Castellacci (IT) as Roald Goethe (DE) attends business commitments.

The Six Hours of Fuji starts at 11.00hrs (local time) on Sunday 11 October. Fans can follow the team on social media using the hashtag #teamAMR.

The FIA WEC Six Hours of Fuji Driver line-up:

GTE PRO
#95 Pro Christoffer Nygaard, Marco Sörensen
#97 Pro Darren Turner, Jonny Adam
#99 Pro Fernando Rees, Alex MacDowall, Stefan Mücke

GTE AM
#96 Am Francesco Castellacci, Liam Griffin, Stuart Hall
#98 Am Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda

- ENDS -

**Rob** · 9th October 2015, 08:44

REBELLION Racing Media Team
Fui Speedway, Japan - October 9, 2015

REBELLION Racing
6 HOURS OF FUJI RACE PRIEVIEW

The REBELLION Racing team is ready for the sixth round of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, to be held on the legendary Fuji Speedway with Mount Fuji in the background. REBELLION Racing is looking forward to the 6 hours of Fuji as the Swiss team has always been successful with three LMP1 Privateer wins in the last three races and an overall podium finish in 2013.

Currently, the Swiss team is leading the FIA WEC LMP1 Privateer classification with the Rebellion R-One AER #12 just in front of the sister car Rebellion R-One AER #13.

Despite no opportunities of testing in between the overseas races, the team will be trying some new parts on the Rebellion R-One AER for this race. Introduced last June prior to the Le Mans 24 Hours the new Rebellion R-One AER is still in its development phase. The team engineers and their technical partners are pushing hard to raise the performance of the cars and optimise their reliability.

Only Nicolas Prost and Mathias Beche will be at the wheel of Rebellion R-One AER #12 as Nick Heidfeld is not scheduled to drive in the two Asian rounds of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship. Nick will be back at Bahrain for the championship's final round.
Rebellion R-One AER #13 will remain unchanged with Daniel Abt, Alexandre Imperatori and Dominik Kraihamer sharing driving duties.

Nicolas Prost won the Fuji race in LMP1 Privateer in 2012, Mathias Beche in 2013 and Dominik Kraihamer in 2014. Next Sunday's 6 Hours of Fuji will be the first race in Japan for Daniel Abt, whereas Alexandre Imperatori is familiar with Fuji Speedway as he successfully raced there in the Japan F3 Championship in 2008 and 2009 and GT300 in 2011 and 2012.

Bart Hayden, REBELLION Racing Team Manager : "We are coming to the 6 Hours of Fuji strongly determined to achieve the best results in order to keep our supremacy in the LMP1 Privateer class, to continue the development of the Rebellion R-One AER cars and to show with our results that our first year of this new car project is progressing well. The team like the Fuji Speedway, with the very long front straight and mix of fast and slow corners it is a very demanding track. We hope we will have a good race with both cars and that the team and drivers will be rewarded for their hard work."

**Rob** · 9th October 2015, 09:39

HARTLEY LEADS PORSCHE FIGHTBACK IN FP2

09/10/2015 - 10h39

Porsche emerged fastest in the second of today’s Free Practice sessions at Fuji Speedway as the teams continue to prepare for Sunday’s sixth round of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship.

Brendon Hartley took the No.17 Porsche 919 Hybrid around the 2.83-mile Fuji track in 1m24.480s, which just eclipsed Lotterer’s morning time by 0.037s.

Benoit Treluyer was second in FP2 for Audi Sport Team Joest, the Frenchman getting to within 0.383s of Hartley’s time in the aero-revised No.7 Audi R18 e-tron.

Neel Jani took the No.18 Porsche 919 Hybrid to third, and Oliver Jarvis set the fastest time in the No.8 Audi. All of the top four were covered by just 0.882s after the 90-minute session.

It looked like the No.18 Porsche might have the pace to threaten its sister 919 Hybrid in the dying minutes when Romain Dumas set the fastest first sector time, but a yellow flag and then a subsequent red flag to retrieve Scott Sharp’s Extreme Speed Motorsports stopped Ligier ended any chance of P1.

Toyota Racing again placed fifth and sixth with the No.1 Toyota TS040 Hybrid setting the best time again in this session as the Japanese manufacturer prepares for its home event.

The No.12 Rebellion R-One was the quickest privateer LMP1 in the second Free Practice session with Mathias Beche setting a best lap of 1m29.941s.

Bird files in LMP2
LMP2 was dominated by Sam Bird in the No.26 G-Drive Racing Ligier-Nissan. After a series of stunning laps, the British racer peaked on a 1m32.131s to lead the field. Bird, along with team mates Julien Canal and Roman Rusinov is just ten points away from LMP2 leaders Matt Howson and Richard Bradley.

Re-joining Bradley and Howson this weekend is Nick Tandy, who wasted no time in getting to grips with the Fuji circuit to set a second fastest time of 1m32.951s in the KCMG run ORECA 05-Nissan.,

Third in the LMP2 class was the second of the G-Drive Racing Ligiers with Pipo Derani setting a best of 1m32.990s on his first visit to the Fuji Speedway.

The second free practice session passed with all the LMGTE teams fine tuning their set ups ahead of qualifying for the 6 Hours of Fuji tomorrow.

Ferrari 1-2 in LMGTE Pro

The No.51 AF Corse Ferrari set the quickest time of the day in the LMGTE Pro class at Fuji Speedway with Toni Vilander recording a 1m39.922 lap, just 0.009s quicker than the 1m39.931 lap set by the no92 Team Manthey Porsche in the morning session. The No.71 Ferrari 458 of Davide Rigon and James Calado was second fastest in Free Practice 2, just 0.099s behind their teammates and 0.071s ahead of the No.95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage and 0.083s faster than the no91 Porsche.

In LMGTE Am the No.96 Aston Martin Racing Vantage of Francesco Castellacci, Stuart Hall and Liam Griffin posted the fastest lap of the session. Hall set the 1m40.706 lap which was 0.047s slower than the best time in the morning session. A 1m40.659 lap set by the Larbre Competition Corvette ensured the French team topped off a very positive day at Fuji. The Corvette was second quickest with a time of 1m40.734, only 0.028s behind the No.96 Aston Martin. The No.77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche 911 of Patrick Long, Patrick Dempsey and Marco Seefried was third quickest with a 1m40.938, a big step forward on the cars best time of 1m41.580 in Free Practice 1.

Free Practice 3 will take place tomorrow morning at 09h50 with qualifying at 13h40 tomorrow afternoon.

**Rob** · 9th October 2015, 21:57

**Rob** · 9th October 2015, 22:01

**Rob** · 10th October 2015, 10:28

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING READY FOR HOME RACE
Saturday 10 October 2015

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will start its home race from the third row of the grid after today’s qualifying session for the Six Hours of Fuji, the sixth round of the World Endurance Championship.

The World Champions, unbeaten at Fuji Speedway since WEC returned to the Japanese venue in 2012, could not match their rivals in qualifying and the lap times, disappointingly, did not reflect the improved pace shown in practice.

The #1 car of last year’s winners Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi, alongside Kazuki Nakajima, was the lead TS040 HYBRID in fifth position, 2.309seconds behind the pole position-winning Porsche #17.

It will be an all-TOYOTA third row for tomorrow’s race, which starts at 11am local time, with Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Mike Conway taking sixth place.

Following three consecutive victories at Fuji Speedway, which is just 20km away from the Higashi-Fuji Technical Centre where the TS040 HYBRID powertrain is developed and built, the team is determined to give its home fans a performance to enjoy.

The 20-minute qualifying session took place early in the afternoon, under a grey sky and with air temperatures of 17°C, a little cooler than practice on Friday.

Kazuki was first at the wheel of the #1, while Stéphane began in the #2. Despite 17 LMP1 and LMP2 cars on track at the same time, both had clear laps before handing over to their team-mates.

Only two drivers per car are required to participate in qualifying, with the average of each driver’s fastest lap deciding the grid. Sébastien took over the #1 in provisional fifth place, with Mike in the sixth-placed #2.

Both Sébastien and Mike held those positions during their stints and waited out the final few minutes in the pit box, with the two TS040 HYBRIDs separated by 0.255secs.

TS040 HYBRID #1 (Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima)
Free practice 3: 4th (1min 25.458secs), 33 laps
Qualifying: 5th (1min 25.072secs average)

Sébastien Buemi: “We did the best job we could. In all honesty we are a bit away from where we hoped to be; we looked closer in practice. But that is just qualifying and our focus has been on the race. We will stay positive and see what the weather brings us tomorrow.”

Kazuki Nakajima: “I made a little mistake so the lap time was not ideal, but it didn’t affect the position. We will see what happens tomorrow. Hopefully it is bit wet as this would give us a better chance. We have a lot of support so we are going to keep pushing.”

TS040 HYBRID #2 (Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway)
Free practice 3: 5th (1min 26.186secs), 29 laps
Qualifying: 6th (1min 25.327secs average)

Stéphane Sarrazin: “I waited too long at the end of the pit lane so my tyres went down in temperature and I had an understeering car. I didn’t do an especially good lap as I was not so confident in the car due to the understeer. We have a decent car for the race, so let’s see.”

Mike Conway: “On my first couple of laps I had traffic so the ultimate time could have been a couple of tenths quicker. I am happy with my performance and it was nice to feel the car on low fuel. We couldn’t quite beat the other car but we were close. We’ll work hard overnight and do our best tomorrow when there may be mixed conditions.”

**Rob** · 10th October 2015, 10:41

NEWS ALERT
Fuji Speedway - 10 October 2015
Hello Mr Robert Allum,
PORSCHE SECURE ANOTHER 1-2 IN QUALIFYING AT FUJI

10/10/2015 - 08h02

Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard, driving the No.17 Porsche 919 Hybrid, took an excellent pole position for the sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Fuji Speedway.

Securing their third pole start of the 2015 season, after another thrilling qualifying session was held in cloudy but dry conditions this afternoon, Bernhard and Webber set a combined average of 1m22.763s to head their pursuers. Webber’s best was the fastest LMP1 lap ever recorded at Fuji – 1m22.639s.

Porsche Team ensured they sealed another 1-2 formation start for the race tomorrow, but it was only confirmed in the final seconds as Marc Lieb took the No.18 Porsche 919 Hybrid ahead of the No.7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro after a last gasp effort by the German.

Andre Lotterer and then Benoit Treluyer ensured that Audi got close to the Porsches’ times in the 20-minute session, but Lieb’s last minute flyer bettered their average by just 0.011s.

The No.8 Audi Sport Team Joest entry, which was driven by Lucas Di Grassi and Loic Duval will line-up alongside the No.7 car in fourth place with an average time of 1m23.245s. This was despite having to make an early pit stop for some adjustments before a flying lap was posted.

Toyota Racing starts from the third row of the grid with the No.1 Toyota TS 010 HYBRID just shading the No.2 sister car by 0.255s. Sebastien Buemi and local hero Kazuki Nakajima combined to register an average lap time of 1m25.072s.

Daniel Abt and Alexander Imperatori won the in-house Rebellion Racing battle this time, as they claimed the LMP1 privateer pole in the No.13 Rebellion R-One AER.

G-Drive Racing was celebrating a fine 1-2 qualifying effort with the No.26 Ligier-Nissan driven by Sam Bird and Julien Canal sealing a second consecutive pole and a third in total so far in 2015.

After Canal started the session, Bird set some blistering laps to beat the No.28 G-Drive car of Ricardo Rodriguez and Gustavo Yacaman by just over 0.2s. It was the end of a successful day for Bird, who was earlier announced as one of the specially chosen young drivers to take part in the ‘rookie test’ next month. The British racer will drive for Toyota Racing in Bahrain.

A notable third in qualifying was the Team SARD Morand Morgan Evo. Pierre Ragues and Oliver Webb combined to score a best qualifying effort of the season for the Swiss team.

Title leaders KCMG start fourth after Matt Howson and Nick Tandy completed qualifying duties today. A potential attack on the G-Drive Ligier-Nissan cars was curtailed after Tandy spun and brushed the wall after spinning at Turn 6.

A dramatic 20 minute qualifying session for LMGTE ended with a jump for joy by Davide Rigon and James Calado in the AF Corse garage as the Anglo-Italian pairing claimed their debut WEC Pole Position. There were also lots of smiles in the Larbre Competition garage as Gianluca Roda and Paolo Ruberti took their first LMGTE Am pole in 2015 and the first for the team since 2012.

In LMGTE Pro the No.71 AF Corse Ferrari lead the way for most of the session with first Rigon and then Calado at the wheel of the Ferrari 458. The biggest challenge came from the No.51 AF Corse of Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni with Bruni pitting late in the session to take on fresh tyres. However the Italian was still 0.108s behind his British teammate at the chequered flag.

The No.99 Aston Martin Vantage of Fernando Rees and Alex MacDowell was third fastest with a 1m38.540s average time, 0.245 behind the lead Ferrari.

In LMGTE Am it was the No.72 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 of Victor Shaytar that was the leading entry early in the session, with the No.98 Aston Martin Vantage of Pedro Lamy in second. Shaytar handed over to Alexsey Basov and Lamy gave the driving duties to Paul Dalla Lana. The No.50 Larbre Competition Corvette was fifth fastest as Roda handed over to his fellow Italian Paolo Ruberti.

However, Ruberti soon punched in a few fast laps to bring the average lap time down to 1m39.901 to move into pole position, with Basov unable to challenge the swift Corvette.** The Russian Ferrari posted an average time of 1m40.128, 0.227 behind the all-Italian pairing.

** Following post-qualifying scrutineering, the lap times of the No.50 Larbre Competition Corvette were cancelled due to non-conformity of the car's fuel cell ventilation valve (Stewards' Decision No.12). The car must now re-pass through scrutineering and, if it is found to conform, it will be able to start the race from the back of the grid.

The sixth round of the 2015 WEC is scheduled to take place at 11.00 local time.

PIT NOTES FROM QUALIFYING

14:34:33 Rebellion #13 fastest P1 privateer from Rebellion #12 and CLM #4

14:33:22 In P2 Ligier #26 fastest from #28 Ligier and Morgan #43

14:32:12 In LMP1 Porsche #17 on pole from #18 Porsche and Audi #7

14:30:50 Chequered Flag

14:30:38 1:28.492 #13 Rebellion fastest privateer LMP1

14:28:32 2 minutes remain

14:26:06 Oreca #47 hits wall but continues

14:25:25 1:31.634 fastest in P2 for #26 Ligier

14:23:33 1:22.763 average for Porsche #17 fastest

14:20:45 1:23.082 average for Audi #7 fastest so far

14:19:54 Second drivers now going out

14:19:18 All cars have now set a time

14:18:47 1:31.779 fastest in P2 for Ligier #26

14:17:24 1:23.016 for Porsche #18 goes 2nd

14:15:40 1:32.645 fastest in P2 for #47 Oreca

14:14:15 1:22.888 for Bernhard in Porsche #17

14:13:15 Audi #8 into pit box

14:12:44 LMPs on first flying lap

14:10:37 Green Flag

14:08:50 Audi #8 at front of queue will do 1 installation lap to check new gearbox

14:05:45 In GTE Am Corvette #50 from Ferrari #72 and Aston #98

14:02:05 In GTE Pro Ferrari #71 fastest from Ferrari #51 and Aston #99

14:00:52 Chequered Flag

13:57:56 1:39.901 for Corvette #50 fastest in GTE Am

13:56:30 1:38.295 average for Ferrari #71 fastest

13:55:18 1:38.317 2 lap average for Ferrari #71 fastest

13:54:38 1:38.189 for Ferrari #71

13:51:21 Second drivers now getting in cars

13:50:50 Porsche #88 back to pits

13:49:01 All 14 cars have now set a time

13:48:36 1:39.798 for Ferrari #72 fastest in GTE Am

13:47:43 1:38.431 for Ferrari #51

13:47:12 No time yet for Porsche #88

13:45:20 1:38.445 for Ferrari #71

13:44:50 1:39.145 for Aston #99

13:43:31 Aston #99 starts first flying lap

13:40:40 Green Flag

13:39:33 Aston #99 leads the queue at pit exit

13:33:37 Air temp 17c Track temp 19c

**Rob** · 10th October 2015, 12:28

ASTON MARTIN QUALIFIES THIRD FOR FUJI

Saturday 10 October 2015, Fuji - The #99 V8 Vantage GTE of Fernando Rees (BR) and Alex MacDowall (GB) will start from third in the GTE class field in tomorrow’s FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) race at Fuji International Speedway.

The pair, which qualified on pole at the race last year, was the most successful of the three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE Pro cars in the 20-minute session, earlier today. Team-mates in the #97 Vantage GTE and #95 Vantage GTE could only manage sixth and seventh.

Similarly, in GTE Am, third was the best that Six Hours of Silverstone and Six Hours of Spa race-winners Pedro Lamy (PT) and Paul Dalla Lana (CA) could achieve. The #96 Vantage GTE qualified in sixth.

“Our teams and drivers did a fantastic job to get the most out of our cars today,” commented Team Principal John Gaw. “And, that’s all we can be expected to do.

"The Balance of Performance adjustments weren’t quite enough for us to be competitive in qualifying but we will be sure to do whatever we can tomorrow to give ourselves the best chance of a good battle with the Ferraris, Corvette and Porsches.”

The WEC Six Hours of Fuji starts at 11am local time on Sunday 11 October. Fans can check out their local TV listings on the WEC website and can follow the team on social media using #teamAMR.

- ENDS -

**fratelliferrari** · 10th October 2015, 13:16

Please please please can someone provide me with a livestream for tommorow

**Rob** · 10th October 2015, 13:20

Originally Posted by fratelliferrari

Please please please can someone provide me with a livestream for tommorow

will hunt some down for you mate.

**Rob** · 10th October 2015, 13:27

**fratelliferrari** · 10th October 2015, 15:11

Originally Posted by Rob

will hunt some down for you mate.

Much appreciated mate! Great result in Q today! Forza AF corse!!!

**Rob** · 10th October 2015, 15:18

Originally Posted by fratelliferrari

Much appreciated mate! Great result in Q today! Forza AF corse!!!

was really good result. Was raining as they went to bed, so hope race is dry.

**Rob** · 10th October 2015, 18:50

sorry late on AF Corse press release, i put in my trash box for some reason...

FIA WEC: “6 Hours of Fuji”

The target is clear: to gain the first positions in the rankings and bring new points to Ferrari to maintain the leadership in the GT Manufactures standing. A mission is not easy but possible for the AF Corse Ferrari 458’s Italia in the “6 Hours of Fuji”, sixth round in the FIA World Endurance Championship. During the last races, some unlucky episodes have affected the results. The GT world champions, Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander, lost the leadership in the GT Drivers classification and now the duo in the Ferrari 458 Italia #51 is third with 68.5 points. In second position among the GT Drivers, thanks to 87 points, the teammates Davide Rigon and James Calado (11 points less than Lietz, the leader).

In GTE Am Trophy, François Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Rui Aguas are second with 96 points in their Ferrari 458 Italia #83.

In the Manufactures GT, Ferrari is first with 187 lengths. AF Corse have the second place in the Team GTE Pro standing with 101 points (Porsche Team Manthey is first with 107) and second among Team GTE Am with 96 (Smp Racing is first with 131).

The “6 Hours of Fuji” will start Sunday, October 11th, at 11 A.M. (local time)

AF Corse Press Office - Riccardo Delfanti

**Rob** · 11th October 2015, 06:05

under 2 hours left, the track is drying slightly. Maybe enough for slicks soon. Was under SC for first 15 laps due to rain and poor visibility. Havent had much time to update here, been great watch and only left action twice, make coffee and go get kids when they woke.

anyway...

.@FIAWEC #6HFuji 2H to go
GTE-Pro: @AFCorse @Ferrari #458Italia #51 P1; #71 P3
Am: @SMP_Racing #72 P4; AFCorse #83 P5

SMP was going great, but got pitlane speeding penalty early on.

**Rob** · 11th October 2015, 10:26

what a fantastic race, Audi hung on in there till the track started to dry out abit more. Then we saw Porsches advantage. GTE Pro, what can you say. Brilliant. AF Corse played a blinding strategy. 1-3

Just what we needed and Toni and Gimmi needed that win.

Will post more when have pictures and press releases.

**Rob** · 11th October 2015, 15:39

Bradley Reprimanded For Fuji Incident, KCMG To Appeal (Update – Decision Suspended!)

The race stewards at the 6 Hours of Fuji have decided, after reviewing video evidence and telemetry data following the contact between the #47 KCMG Oreca and #28 G-Drive Ligier that:

The driver of the #47 who was defending his position against #28 which was very close to him, braked 37 metres sooner than usual as he considered the damped braking side of the track. This way of defending his position explained the contact between the 2 cars.

The Stewards considered that the driver of car #28 was not responsible for the incident.

Regarding the driver of car #47 the Stewards consider that the fact to brake so early even in defending his position was potentially dangerous for other drivers as for himself.

Therefore the Steward decide to impose a reprimand to Richard Bradley, the driver of car #47.

There is a right to appeal and DSC believes that on the basis of data recovered from the #47 the team are set to do so.

Update – 22:30 local

The following update was issued by the Stewards – Their decision is suspended after the data provided by KCMG apparently showed the #47 was under full throttle at the point of first impact from the #28!

**Rob** · 11th October 2015, 19:23

11 OCTOBER 2015WEC -

The Ferrari of Bruni and Vilander back to winning ways at Fuji

Oyama, 11 October - Maybe bad luck is finally over. The Ferrari of AF Corse pulled off a stunning win on Sunday at the 6 Hours of Fuji, Japan, the third last round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC). In the shadow of the famous mountain, "Gimmi" Bruni and Toni Vilander overcame the bad weather to beat the Porsche no. 92 of Patrick Pilet and Frederic Makowiecki and the other Ferrari of James Calado and Davide Rigon who won some important points for the drivers' and constructors' championships.

GTE-Pro. The race began after half-an-hour behind the Safety Car due to the heavy rain. At the start James Calado did well to keep first place in front of Vilander although the Porsches soon overtook the Finn, with the bad conditions possibly favouring the German cars. Porsche also managed to take first place as intermittent rain stopped the track from drying out. In this situation car no. 51 decided not to waste time, stopping twice just for fuel and keeping the same tyres, with Vilander at the wheel for over three hours. The decisive move came two and a half hours from the finish, when at the first full pit stop dry tyres were fitted on the car, now in the hands of "Gimmi" Bruni. It was the same with car no. 71, while the two Porsche decided to stick with wet weather tyres. After a bit of a struggle to warm the tyres, this turned out to be the right decision. The Porsches had to return to the pit to change tyres allowing the two 458 Italias to take first and third places, which after a spin by Porsche no. 92 became second. In the final stages Bruni had everything under control, while James Calado was involved in a great fight with Porsche no. 92, which managed to overtake the English driver with just four minutes to go. Ferrari has extended its lead to 13 points in the constructors' table, while all four drivers made up ground on Richard Lietz (Porsche), who is now only 7 points ahead of Rigon-Calado and 16.5 in front of Bruni-Vilander.

GTE-Am. It was a less successful day than usual in the GTE-Am class. Car no. 83 AF Corse secured a podium finish with François Perrodo, Rui Aguas and Emmanuel Collard, while SMP Racing's championship leaders were unlucky. Andrea Bertolini, Aleksey Basov and Viktor Shaytar suffered a puncture after they had already had to serve a 30-second stop&go penalty for speeding in the pitlane. However, the 458 Italia crew still has a 29-point lead over their closest rivals and at Shanghai, at the end of the month, could wrap things up with a race to spare.

**Rob** · 11th October 2015, 19:23

**Rob** · 11th October 2015, 19:26

FIA to investigate controversial Bradley/Yacaman crash

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Fuji WEC: FIA to investigate controversial Bradley/Yacaman crash

The contentious incident which saw LMP2 contender Richard Bradley retire from the WEC race at Fuji is to be investigated further by the FIA.

Bradley's KCMG ORECA was hit from behind by G-Drive Racing’s Gustavo Yacaman in the late stages of the six-hour race.

The pair were battling for third place in class, Bradley having lost time earlier after another incident, when he the sister G-Drive Ligier-Nissan of Roman Rusinov were contesting the lead.

Initially, the stewards had given Bradley a reprimand for the clash with Yamacan after they had deemed him to have braked 37 metres early for the corner.

The KCMG driver was blamed for the incident after the stewards stated that "This way of defending his position explained the contact between the two cars."

"In the end, Bradley was very aggressive in his way of defending," said Yacaman after the clash. "Before the final incident I had a couple of contacts with him.

"It's a shame what happened because no driver wants to put another driver in the wall, it was never my intention.

"I went much faster than him, and then he changed, defended, made movements and it was very unfortunate.

However, a subsequent stewards decision (No. 22) showed they appear to have reconsidered the situation.

The decision read: "With regards to decision No. 21, the Stewards at 20:30 today received from the team #47 new data in order to establish that driver Richard Bradley was under full throttle when he was hit by car #28.

"In order to consider whether or not this document could be a new element which can make the Stewards reconsider their decision, the Stewards decide to suspend their previous decision No. 21 until receiving new analysis and possible additional evidence.

"The Technical Delegates have taken data supplied by KCMG for further investigation and will prepare a report for the Stewards for the next WEC meeting. The competitor agrees with this proposal."

KCMG, who went in to the Fuji race with a 14 point lead in the championship, failed to finish after the accident while the #26 G-Drive Ligier-Nissan won and the Yacaman car, which he shares with Pipo Derani and Ricardo Gonzalez, placed third.

This result ensured that Bradley and his teammate Matt Howson now trail Rusinov and his partners Sam Bird and Julien Canal by 12 points.

**Rob** · 11th October 2015, 19:35

**Rob** · 11th October 2015, 19:41

FUJI FRUSTRATION FOR TOYOTA GAZOO RACING
Sunday 11 October 2015

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing played its part in an exciting but ultimately disappointing Six Hours of Fuji, finishing fifth and sixth in its home race.

In front of an enthusiastic crowd, including many supporters from TOYOTA Motor Corporation, the two TS040 HYBRIDs were significantly more competitive in the wet weather conditions early in the race.

But incidents for both cars and a relative lack of pace in dry conditions caused frustration. The #1 TS040 HYBRID of Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima finished fifth after a drive-through penalty ended its battle for the top four.

The #2 of Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Mike Conway needed a lengthy repair stop after being hit by a GT car and fought back to finish sixth.

The first 40 minutes took place behind the safety car on a wet track with rain still falling. Kazuki and Alex started in fifth and sixth respectively. When racing did begin, a hectic start saw Kazuki in third, while Alex held fourth before falling back to sixth despite a gallant fight.

Kazuki’s battle with the #17 Porsche was a highlight of the race as he showed immense fighting spirit to trade places before ultimately dropping to fourth shortly before the hour mark.

The first pit stops left the #1 in fifth, one place ahead of the #2. As the rain eased Anthony closed on the fourth-placed #8 Audi, with the TS040 HYBRID performing strongly in the damp conditions.

With the track drying, both cars changed to hybrid intermediate tyres but TOYOTA’s race chances were dealt two blows soon after.

First, Stéphane was hit by a GT car, damaging the cooling system and requiring a 13-minute stop for repairs. Mike rejoined in the #2 in 19th place, 12 laps down. At the same time, Anthony was given a drive-through penalty for a pit lane entry infringement.

With conditions improving, both cars switched to dry tyres for the final quarter of the race. By that time Sébastien was at the wheel of the #1 in fifth place, while Mike had made his way into the top eight.

Home hero Kazuki took the wheel of the #1 for the final stint and crossed the line in fifth place, while Alex continued progress for the #2 and reclaimed sixth position in the closing minutes.

TOYOTA remains third in the manufacturers’ World Championship, 145 points behind leaders Porsche, who won the race with the #17 car.

Only two races remain in the 2015 WEC season, beginning on 1 November in Shanghai before the finale in Bahrain three weeks later.

Toshio Sato, Team President: “The weather conditions gave us a chance to show improved performance so we were in a much stronger position than at recent races. It was encouraging to see our strong performance on a wet track. But unfortunately for various reasons we couldn’t take advantage of this and it’s disappointing not to have a better result at our home race. Thank you to all the fans that supported us this week. Thanks also to our colleagues from TOYOTA who have given so much support and help. We couldn’t keep up our winning run here at Fuji but we are determined to come back much stronger next year.”

TS040 HYBRID #1 (Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima)
Race: 5th, 214 laps, 6 pit stops. Grid: 5th. Fastest lap: 1min 27.512secs

Anthony Davidson: “The conditions were really tricky today. We got to try the full range of Michelin tyres which made life really difficult for the drivers. We all had a tough time behind the wheel but we had some fun as well. We showed a better pace in the wet which was encouraging. But we still missed the podium so that is disappointing for us at our home track.”

Sébastien Buemi: “I am disappointed with the result. I felt we looked quite good in the wet, definitely closer. But then the gap increased as it got drier which was disappointing. We did a decent race and we can be reasonably happy with our performance today. I just hope we come back next year and get the winners’ trophy again as we did for the previous three seasons.”

Kazuki Nakajima: “As we expected, in the wet conditions we were more competitive. I had a fun fight early in the race with the Porsches; it was difficult to keep ahead because they had more straight line speed. Somehow I stayed ahead of one Porsche until my pit stop; it was exciting. After that the others were a bit faster. At least we could show our spirit to the fans and to everybody. We just keep fighting.”

TS040 HYBRID #2 (Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway)
Race: 6th, 203 laps, 7 pit stops. Grid: 6th. Fastest lap: 1min 27.992secs

Alex Wurz: “First of all I send my gratitude to the fans who come here all the time; they are the best fans you can imagine. After 20 years of professional motor racing I still enjoy coming back to meet them. It’s a pity for them to have such bad weather conditions but on the other hand I think they saw a good race. For our car it was a pity Stéphane got hit by a GT car which took us out of the fight.”

Stéphane Sarrazin: “The race was difficult for our car. In the wet we struggled with low front grip and it was difficult to carry the speed we wanted. I had a problem with a GT car. He crashed into me and that cost us a lot of time. On top of that I pushed to change to hybrid intermediate tyres and then it rained again. Sometimes in these conditions it can go well, other times not; we just have to always learn from these experiences.”

Mike Conway: “It was a tricky day in tricky conditions. It was very hard to get the hybrid intermediates to work. I stayed out there for the switch to slicks when the car seemed to come alive a bit more and towards the end our pace was not bad compared to the other car. We will keep pushing and see what we can do for the final two races of the season.”

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 2015 Results:
Silverstone: #1: Qualifying 4th; Race 3rd / #2 Qualifying 6th; Race 4th.
Spa: #1: Qualifying 6th; Race 8th / #2 Qualifying 7th; Race 5th.
Le Mans: #1: Qualifying 8th; Race 8th / #2 Qualifying 7th; Race 6th.
Nürburgring: #1: Qualifying 5th; Race 5th / #2 Qualifying 6th; Race 6th.
Austin: #1: Qualifying 5th; Race 4th / #2 Qualifying 6th; Race DNF.
Fuji: #1: Qualifying 5th; Race 5th / #2 Qualifying 6th; Race 6th.

**The Architect** · 11th October 2015, 22:39

Toyota finally showed some fighting spirit. Sadly it didn't last long. I was quite shocked by what could only be called an assault in LMP2. Maybe I should pay more attention to LMP2; it seems to be where all the nastiness is.

**Rob** · 12th October 2015, 09:09

Originally Posted by The Architect

Toyota finally showed some fighting spirit. Sadly it didn't last long. I was quite shocked by what could only be called an assault in LMP2. Maybe I should pay more attention to LMP2; it seems to be where all the nastiness is.

As soon as the track started to dry, and the Porsches and Audi's could use the power advantage, they left Toyota behind. I did enjoy watching Toyota battle away with them Kaz was for me the stand out Toyota driver in those conditions.

LMP2, is like GTE, you can always get good close hard fighting. I started take more notice of LMP2 couple years ago. Just a shame the LMP2 regs changing. Hope that doesnt effect what we got now. Did enjoy the race, when i got up at 3am (with man flu) saw the rain and SC start, i thought we going have what we had the other year. But, no thank heavens, really the driving was good in those conditions, all drivers, nearly behaved. Bring on China now, we had the legs on the Porshes in straight line. But yet again, as we saw at Petit Le-Mans 2 weeks ago, Porsche GTEs (LM) have advantage in the wet.

So far this WEC, season, i said Silverstone best race of the year, but yesterdays race was just as good. (apart from me not being there and being in AF Corse pits)