2015 WEC/ELMS&TUSC news.

[Rob]

[Rob]

[Rob]

[Rob]

[Rob]

[Rob]

[Rob]

this was from after qualifying..


Mauro, Matteo and Thomas in background

[Rob]

just been sent this picture..

[Rob]

Luca went up on podium with Gimmi and Toni

[Nova]

Rob, these r some of the most excellent pix..Thanks for posting them..If I could frame them I would.
Congrats to my 458's...Yay!!!

[Rob]

[Ed Harley]

With two races left Bruni and Vilander still have a chance to win the title?

[fratelliferrari]

With two races left Bruni and Vilander still have a chance to win the title?

They still have! 16.5 points behind Posche Manthey if Iam correct

[Rob]

FIA WEC, Fuji: Bruni and Vilander won the race.

Podium for all the AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italias.

FUJI SPEEDWAY, October 11th - Victory for the AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia #51, in the GTE Pro category, in the “6 Hours of Fuji”, the sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander, the current GT world champions started from the second position on grid, took the lead at the third hour. From that moment, they did not give up the first place and ended with a lap over the Porsche #92. In third place, Davide Rigon and James Calado in the AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia #71. In the GT drivers championship, Richard Lietz (Porsche) is now only 7 points ahead of Rigon-Calado and 16.5 in front of Bruni-Vilander.

The good news, under the rain in the Japanese round of the world competition, do not end there.

In the GTE Am category, François Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Rui Aguas gained a new podium thanks to the third place in their AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia #83. The trio confirms his talent and takes important points in the championship: with two race to go, Perrodo-Collard-Aguas are second in the GTE Am Drivers standing with 111 points (Basov, Shaytar and Bertolini are first, 140 points).

Ferrari has extended its lead to 13 points in the constructors’ table (228 points), while AF Corse is second in both GTE Pro and GTE Am Team classification with respectively 117 points (just 2 points behind Porsche Team Manthey) and 111 (the first among the GTE Am Team is SMP Racing with 140 points).

The next round of the FIA WEC will be at Shanghai, November 1st.

AF Corse Press Office - Riccardo Delfanti

[Rob]

With two races left Bruni and Vilander still have a chance to win the title?

it will be tough, but yes they still can win it.

[Rob]

few more pictures from Fuji..

[Rob]

[Rob]

F1 calendar clash with Le Mans in 2016 "an attack" on WEC
Wednesday, October 14th 2015, 11:22 GMT

The scheduling of a Formula 1 race against Le Mans 24 Hours next year has been described as a "clear attack" on the World Endurance Championship, according to series boss Gerard Neveu.

Neveu blamed F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone for the date conflict over the weekend of June 18/19 that comes against a backdrop of growing interest of current grand prix drivers in Le Mans following Nico Hulkenberg's victory with Porsche this year.

He described the clash of WEC events with five other grands prix as inevitable, but suggested that scheduling of the European Grand Prix - F1's inaugural race in Azerbaijan - on Le Mans weekend was deliberate.

"It's a clear attack on us and on this race," Neveu told Autosprint magazine of the F1 clash with Le Mans.

"Ecclestone never does anything nonchalantly."


Neveu suggested the "FIA should have protected us better".

That is a reference to a gentleman's agreement between the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, the Le Mans organiser and WEC promoter, and the FIA that the weekend of the 24 Hours would be left free on the F1 calendar.

That agreement dates back to 2011, the year of the last clash between Le Mans and an F1 race, when the ACO was confirmed as the promoter of the re-born WEC for the following season.

Neveu added it would be the fans and drivers who would lose out.

"It is a shame because by doing this you take away the possibility of having F1 stars entering what still is the most important race in the world," he said.

"We could have had Hulkenberg and also other F1 drivers - motorsport fans are losing out."

ACO president Pierre Fillon expressed similar sentiments on the clash.

"I am not worried for Le Mans, but I am disappointed for the fans," he said.

"Because I think they liked seeing F1 drivers, like they used to in the old days."

The clash means that Hulkenberg will be unable to take up a place in Porsche's LMP1 line-up that was all but agreed, although the German manufacturer has said that it is willing to wait for an undisclosed period to see if there are any changes to the F1 calendar.

AUTOSPORT SAYS
Gary Watkins, special correspondent (@gazzasportscars)

The Le Mans 24 Hours takes place in June - world wars, civil unrest and quirks of the calendar apart - so I'm not entirely sure that an F1 race on the same day in a country with no motorsport heritage is going detract in any way from the great race, and the ACO agrees with me on that one.

ACO president Fillon says his disappointment at the clash with the Azerbaijan GP is one he feels for the fans, and I'm quite sure they would have quite liked to see a proper Formula 1 driver defending his Le Mans crown.

The days when a posse of F1 drivers would take in the 24 Hours are long gone, but there is more than circumstantial evidence of a possible return to such a state of affairs: we all know of Fernando Alonso's desire to take part in the race, but Hulkenberg's victory has also piqued the interest of others.

It would be wrong to say that the gentlemen's agreement between the FIA and the ACO has been broken, because the governing body doesn't set the F1 calendar, Ecclestone and Formula One Management do.

And that means there is something wrong with the governance of this sport

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/121327

[Rob]

The F1 race starts after Le-Mans finish, but it is a real shame FOM scheduled this race the same day. Just fact they robbing us fans of seeing Nico defend crown and possible Fernando, who even Button racing. Think, maybe FOM/Bernie are worried of F1 drivers leaving F1 for good to join WEC. Love to see more F1 drivers entering and racing Le-Mans.

Hope FIA FOM sort it out and make changes to the F1 calender.

[fratelliferrari]

The F1 race starts after Le-Mans finish, but it is a real shame FOM scheduled this race the same day. Just fact they robbing us fans of seeing Nico defend crown and possible Fernando, who even Button racing. Think, maybe FOM/Bernie are worried of F1 drivers leaving F1 for good to join WEC. Love to see more F1 drivers entering and racing Le-Mans.

Hope FIA FOM sort it out and make changes to the F1 calender.

Yes I also got a feeling Bernie does this to make WEC not too popular! But this season Iam more looking forward to the next WEC race then Grand Prix!

Awesome photos once again mate! Definitely gonna use them as background lol! Forza AF Corse

[Rob]

The second issue of the Onroak Automotive Newsletter deals with the following subjects:

NEWS
An update on the Onroak Automotive 2017 LM P2
The Ligier JS P3’s competition debut
Press test of the Ligier JS P3 in AutoHebdo
The ACO announces the fifth constructor in LM P3

RACING
FIA WEC – Fuji 6 Hours
ASIAN Le Mans Series – Fuji
V de V Endurance Series – Magny-Cours 6 Hours
Tudor Championship – Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta

“The second issue of the Onroak Automotive Newsletter is full of excellent results scored last weekend by each of our models.
On Saturday at Fuji we saw the first race and the first victory of the Ligier JS P3. The next day our LM P2s shone in the Fuji 6 Hours. G-Drive Racing’s Ligier JS P2 scored its third win this year putting it back in the lead in the LM P2 teams’ classification; and the Morgan LM P2 run by the Team Sard Morand confirmed that it is still very reliable and competitive.

At the same time some 10 000 km from Japan, the Ligier JS 53 EVO 2s scored a good result with third, fourth and fifth places and the fastest lap in the race in the Magny-Cours 6 Hours.”

Jacques Nicolet, President of Onroak Automotive


NEWS

An update on the Onroak Automotive 2017 LM P2
After penning the Ligier JS P2 in 2014 and then the Ligier JS P3 in 2015, the design office led by Nicolas Clémençon is now hard at work on the conception of the future LM P2 beginning with the finalisation of the monocoque’s design whose digitised files must be ready in December. It is the first of the five stages of the manufacturing schedule drawn up by the FIA, the ACO and IMSA, as the cars must be homologated and available in January 2017 at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the first race in which the regulations governing the LM P2 category and the prototypes in the American championship will come into force.

The Ligier JS P3’s competition debut
The Ligier JS P3 made its debut in the Asian Le Mans Series with Chinese team, DC Racing, scoring a victory first time out. It will have its first race in Europe this weekend in the European Le Mans Series in which a total of five LM P3s are entered including four Ginettas. The no. 9 Ligier JS P3-Nissan will be run by French squad Graff, which has also entered Ligier JS 53 EVO 2s in the V de V Endurance Proto Challenge with considerable success. Onroak Automotive’s latest car will be at the start of the Estoril 4 Hours, a new step in the fledgling career of the French sports prototype.

Press test of the Ligier JS P3 in AutoHebdo
Romain Bernard, journalist/test driver for French magazine AutoHebdo, drove the Graff Ligier JS P3 at the Paul Ricard circuit at the end of September. Thus, he was able to test the first LM P3 from the Onroak Automotive workshops. The magazine devoted 12 pages to this test and the visit to the Magny-Cours workshops.

The ACO announces the fifth constructor in LM P3
Given the interest generated by the new LM P3 category, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest has decided to limit the number of chassis constructors to five. The Japanese company, Dome, is the last one to be chosen and it joins Ginetta, Adess AG and Onroak Automotive, whose cars are already running, and Riley Technologies.

RACING
FIA WEC – Fuji 6 Hours, round 6/8, 11.10.15


Pole position, victory, double podium and fastest lap in the race for the Ligier JS P2


In particularly difficult circumstances caused by unpredictable weather and changing track conditions, a Ligier JS P2 won the LM P2 category in which eight cars were entered for the Fuji 6 Hours. G-Drive Racing locked out the first two places on the grid, and thanks to the team’s excellent race strategy its nos 26 and 28 Ligier JS P2-Nissan-Dunlops finished first and third in the LM P2 category with no. 28 setting the fastest lap in 1m34.550sec.

Extreme Speed Motorsports saw the flag in fourth place for the second time running, its best result in its first season in the WEC so far. The no. 30 Ligier JS P2-Honda started the race in sixth place and it matched the pace of the leaders in the second half of the event fighting its way up to fourth. The team’s other car no. 31 came home seventh.

Once again the Team Sard Morand put on another great performance proving that the Morgan LM P2 is still reliable and competitive. The Swiss team qualified in third place and made a fantastic start to the race until an off after 2h20m racing dropped the car to the back of the field. The no. 43 Morgan LM P2 EVO-Sard fought its way up to sixth and gained another place when the KCMG Oreca 05 retired, its fourth top-5 finish in five races.


A FEW FIGURES :
Results of the Ligier JS P2 in the 2015 FIA WEC – LM P2 after six races

4 pole positions
3 victories
10 top-3 finishes
2 fastest lap in the race
​
CLASSIFICATIONS :


Next FIA WEC rounds
Shanghai 6 Hours, 31 October-1st November
Bahraïn 6 Hours - Finale, 20-21 November


In China Pegasus Racing will enter a Morgan LM P2-Nissan to reinforce the Onroak Automotive armada.

[Rob]

[Rob]

You Know You’re Doing Something Right If They Try To Hurt You!
on 15/10/2015 17:48

The latest meeting of the FIA World Motorsport Council approved a number of measures of direct interest to the DSC readership.

We’ve been talking to the FIA, and to the ACO to help ensure that future regulatory changes are more comprehensively explained – The response to those approaches has been very positive indeed so hopefully no repeat of the rather ill-founded information on power-capping that resulted this time.

Then though there’s the issue of the new Formula One calendar.

The major bone of contention is, of course, Baku a provisional date that sees the first F1 race in Azerbaijan going head to head with the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours, a move so clumsy by BCE and friends that even the normally very diplomatic Gerard Neveu has commented in particularly strident terms to Italian magazine Autosprint that the measure amounts to an attack on the WEC and the Le Mans race.

Putting aside the obvious truth that you always know when you’re doing something right if ‘they’ try to hurt you, the reality of the move is that there can be no realistic option for current F1 drivers to compete in the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours. From the get go it got social media and the DSC Editor’s inbox buzzing with conspiracy theory and conjecture.

There was only one prevailing theme. Was this another raid on sportscar racing as it finds itself in the ascendancy? (shades of 1992!)

Every part of me hopes, and at least some of me believes, that isn’t so. but, put simply the insertion of a provisional date for an F1 race at Baku which effectively clashes with the Le Mans 24 Hours is difficult for anyone to defend.

In an era of supposed direct co-operation between the ACO and FIA, in a ‘moment’ when there has been much talk of prominent F1 racers showing interest in competing at Le Mans and in the year after Le Mans was won overall by a crew featuring a current full season F1 driver (Nico Hulkenberg) the move looks cynical. Again if it isn’t there’s precious little effort being expended to dissuade critics of that.

It certainly shows little backbone from the World Motorsport Council whose job it is to consider and either approve or question the calendar submitted by the F1 promoter. For that matter it shows utter disregard for the sport. Any measure that resorts to observing the wording, but drives a coach and horses through the spirit, of a commitment not to clash cannot be viewed in any other way.

The fact that it is Baku that is the potential clash adds further grist to the mill, yet another race inserted onto the calendar for two reasons only – Money and a political statement.

Shame on you decision makers for allowing it, it is impossible to defend, and whilst it may, ultimately, only affect the options for one driver, it shows that an important part of the sport has forgotten that our Champions, and the fanbase for the sport as a whole, have a vital role to play if the sport is to reverse the trend of decline. One of the infamous F1 ‘Fan Poles’ might usefully ask – Where would you like to see the very best drivers racing in June? My guess is that even the F1 faithful would put ‘Le Mans’ WAY ahead of ‘Baku’

Short-term gain though has once again been allowed to prevail – and that, it will be seen in the future, is not going to be the correct decision for the sport as a whole.


GG

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2015/1...-hurt-you.html

[Rob]

Reading what Graham said there, pretty much sums it up.

[Rob]

Yes I also got a feeling Bernie does this to make WEC not too popular! But this season Iam more looking forward to the next WEC race then Grand Prix!

Awesome photos once again mate! Definitely gonna use them as background lol! Forza AF Corse

Same here, been like that for couple years now. I will be missing Chinese race aswell, as be at Silverstone for the WEC opener. Taking Keira along aswell, she looking forward to it, and cannt wait to meet Gimmi

[Rob]

Dirty Deeds in Fuji?
Friday, 16 October 2015
Marshall Pruett

By the numbers, the lone KCMG ORECA 05-Nissan P2 entry received three hits from the pair of G-Drive P2s during last weekend's FIA World Endurance Championship race at Fuji. Of the three hits, the first came from behind, the second connected halfway up the right sidepod, and the final blow – the one that ended KCMG's race against the barriers – also came from behind.

To some, the sister G-Drive Ligier JS P2-Nissans appeared to be enacting a nefarious plan to bash their primary title contender into submission. And considering how the FIA handled the melee after the race, the matter only became more confusing as the stewards initially absolved G-Drive of any wrongdoings, then followed that decision by...vacating their original decision.

WEC fans looking for a concrete determination on the G-Drive vs KCMG slugfest will probably have to wait until later this month when the championship resumes at Shanghai, but that delay in that ruling won't prevent us from running through what took place. And thanks to fresh input from the driver at the heart of the controversy, we might have a glimpse at how the FIA will rule on the collision trifecta.

The punches started with 37m41s left in the 6-hour contest when G-Drive's Roman Rusinov struck KCMG's Richard Bradley while overtaking Bradley for the class lead. The Ligier's left-front bodywork hit the ORECA's right-rear floor and diffuser section, and although small pieces of carbon-fiber flew off one of the cars, no major damage was reported and Rusinov took first place with the move. Bradley pitted at the end of the lap for fuel and no repairs were required.

Rusinov pitted the following lap, and with a caution period called to allow track workers to remove the debris from the G-Drive/KCMG clash, the late-race yellow saw Bradley and others circulating the track under a virtual safety car period. By sheer coincidence, Bradley's exit from the pits and the VSC intervention coincided with the second G-Drive car, piloted by Gustavo Yacaman, sitting inches off the KCMG car while waiting for the race to go back to green. Yacaman, a lap down to Bradley who now held third, was itching to get by. The race resumed, and with less than 30 minutes on the clock, the second hit between the teams took place.

The contact was the kind we've seen a thousand times before. Bradley exited the previous corner and trackEd out towards his left while Yacaman, who noticed an opening was made in the run up to the next corner – a right-hander, cut to the right – to the inside of Bradley – and as the KCMG car turned right to apex, he found the G-Drive car was partially there.

If the first G-Drive-to-KCMG contact made by Rusinov was just an error in spatial awareness, the second G-Drive-to-KCMG contact also looked and felt like a genuine error that could be shared to varying degrees of blame on both parties.

http://www.racer.com/more/viewpoints...fuji#!KCMGGD_2

[Rob]

Toyota opposed to 2017 hybrid limits
Friday, 16 October 2015

An extension of the new limit on hybrid power for next year's Le Mans 24 Hours to the rest of the World Endurance Championship in 2017 is opposed by Toyota
The Japanese manufacturer is arguing that the rule limiting hybrid power release to 300kW would hurt its concept more than those employed by rivals Audi and Porsche. It says it agreed to the limit for the 8.47-mile Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans because the rule change will have a negligible effect on performance courtesy of the proliferation of long straights. But Toyota argues that the sharper burst of energy release required on other tracks where the straights are shorter would disadvantage its hybrid concept because it is the only manufacturer to deploy through both axles.

"This kind of limitation hurts a double KERS [kinetic energy retrieval system] more than one KERS and an exhaust system," Toyota Motorsport technical director Pascal Vasselon said. "It is not fair to introduce a rule that hurts one technology more than another." Vasselon expressed surprise that the rule makers, the FIA and the Le Mans organiser the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, wanted to extend the rule to the Formula 1 tracks that make up the rest of the WEC in 2017.

"It is difficult to understand, because what was discussed originally was to apply the limit only to Le Mans because it is a grade two circuit," he explained. "The delivery is not so important because the straights are very long; we were surprised at the suggestion that it could be applied generally."

Vincent Beaumesnil, sporting manager at the ACO, explained the thinking behind the extension of the 300kW rule by saying it was "best to have one rule for all circuits, because otherwise it is confusing."

The 300kW limit pre-empts a projected change to the way circuits are licensed by the FIA. Under a system that has yet to be signed off, the grading of a circuit would be determined by power-to-weight ratios of the cars allowed to run on it.

http://www.racer.com/wec-le-mans/ite...-hybrid-limits

[Rob]

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest launches a new GT3 Endurance series

Sunday, October 18, during the final round of the 2015 season of the European Le Mans Series in Estoril (Portugal), Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, and Gérard Neveu, European Le Mans Serie CEO, with Pascal Couasnon, Michelin Motorsport Manager, announced the creation of a new GT3 Endurance series in 2016.

The Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup will be launched next season and will run on the European Le Mans Series meetings, completing the line-up of exciting race series for the race week-ends including ELMS, Formula Renault 2.0 and Renault Sport Trophy RS01.

The Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup is reserved for GT3 category cars and will take part on five ELMS rounds : Imola, Red Bull Ring, Le Castellet, Spa and Estoril. A sixth round will place at Le Mans in June as the opening race of the weekend at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In order to optimise the sporting programme of these GT3 cars, an agreement has been reached with the French FFSA GT Tour promotor with endurance staying with ELMS and sprint with GT Tour. There will be 2-hour endurance races at each of the ELMS meetings and 1-hour sprint races on the GT Tour meetings.

The calendars of the two series have no clash in dates, which means the GT3 Teams will be able to enter both competitions, keeping the same car number and the same tyre manufacturer, due to the fact that Michelin will be the title sponsor of the new ACO series.

In each 2-driver crew in the new endurance race series, a bronze category driver will be mandatory for each line-up. Apart from the race taking place on the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit, the track programme in the ELMS meetings will be made up of two 1-hour free practice sessions, one 30-minute qualifying session and one 2-hour race.

Important to note, as this will be the case in ELMS, the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup will also present “prize money” to the champions at the end of the season.

Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, said: “This new series is a logical step as part of the scheme adopted by the ACO for the development of endurance. In addition to the WEC on the world stage, or the ELMS at European level, and the Asian Le Mans Series in Asia, with this new series the ACO adds another piece to its portfolio of competitions and strengthens its position as promoter of Championships and Endurance races. It will be for the best teams and drivers in GT3, a true gateway to access the GTE world and therefore to have the opportunity to join the family of the 24 hours of Le Mans. The ACO also welcomes the strong involvement of Michelin in this new series, strengthening further the links between the world-renowned French manufacturer and Le Mans.”

Gérard Neveu, CEO of the European Le Mans Series, said: “The Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup enhances the ELMS programme for the 2016 season. In the same meeting, motorsport fans will be able to enjoy single seat racing with the Formula Renault 2.0, mono series with the RS01 and with the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup, all of this coming in addition to the main race of the weekend, the European Le Mans Series.
“This new series represents an excellent path for gentlemen drivers who want to progress in the world of endurance. Like we have always done in ELMS, we will do all we can so that the dream becomes reality for these gentlemen drivers. We are extremely pleased by the very strong interest that has already been shown by many GT teams for this new series. We look forward to seeing you in 2016 for a season that promises to be superb.”

Pascal Couasnon, Director, Michelin Motorsport: “Michelin has invested significantly in the development of its endurance racing tyre range over the past several seasons. It consequently seemed natural to share this expertise with the GT3 teams and, indirectly, with the manufacturers of GT3 cars. Through our involvement in the Le Mans 24 Hours and in the championships the Automobile Club de l’Ouest promotes, we already have close ties with the ACO, so it was a perfectly logical step to extend our partnership and thereby accompany the spectacular growth endurance racing has enjoyed in recent years. Michelin is very keen to be a part of this new challenge, especially as it will allow us to combine an endurance racing programme with a season of sprint racing within the framework of the GT Tour. We will provide the drivers who participate in the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup with tyres that will contribute both to their enjoyment and their performance thanks to the quality of their overall package.”

[Rob]

JOTA SPORT UNLUCKILY MISS OUT ON EUROPEAN LE MANS SERIES TITLE

British team suffers disappointment in Estoril finalé resulting in championship title heartbreak for second consecutive year

JOTA Sport has narrowly missed out on winning the European Le Mans Series title for a second consecutive year having previously finished second (2014) and third (2013) over the past two years. Simon Dolan, Filipe Albuquerque and Harry Tincknell brought their Gibson-Nissan home in to fourth place in the final race of the season in Portugal last weekend (18 Oct) to ultimately finish third in the championship.

The JOTA Gibson finished a lap behind the winner in the Four Hours of Estoril – the British team having recorded podium place finishes in four of this year’s five races – the only team to achieve this impressive feat. JOTA’s stunning form of one win (Red Bull Ring) plus second (Silverstone) third (Imola and Paul Ricard) and fourth placings, five front row starts and three fastest race laps nevertheless saw them miss out on the series title by four-points. Last year, despite achieving first, second, third and fourth place race finishes, JOTA agonisingly missed out on the Series “crown” by the same margin.

Albuquerque started the JOTA Sport Gibson 015S-Nissan from pole-position on the 30-car grid in the ELMS finalé at Estoril with a slender two-point lead after the team had received a time penalty costing them a deserved race victory in the previous race at Paul Ricard in France and subsequently a severely reduced championship lead.

Filipe had done a stunning job in qualifying on a treacherously slippery wet track to record JOTA’s fifth front row start of the season. The Audi Sport “works” driver impressively built a near 30secs lead by the time he pitted for Dolan with 52mins gone. Simon soon returned to the front of the field but a sudden heavy rain shower with 100mins on the clock caught Simon out. The JOTA Gibson slowly spun into the gravel trap, requiring a tow-out by a recovery vehicle under Full Course Yellow. He immediately pitted for fuel and “intermediate” tyres resuming seventh but over 90secs off the lead.

Another rain deluge brought about another brief Full Course Yellow while Dolan, driving intelligently on the now very slippery in places track, was back up to fifth at the halfway point in the race. Tincknell took over with 90mins to run and immediately bettered the race’s fastest lap set by Albuquerque – the JOTA Gibson an astonishing 0.649secs faster than any other car in the weather-affected race. The “factory” Nissan NISMO driver moved into fourth place with 42mins remaining before making his final pit-stop 12mins later for fuel, Harry duly crossing the finishing line in that position, one-lap down on the winning car, despite a hard charge.

In addition to its ELMS campaign this year JOTA, which recently announced an exciting and unique partnership with Arden International Motorsport to create opportunities for drivers between sportscar and single-seater disciplines, claimed a win (Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps) and second place (24 Hours of Le Mans) in this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship. JOTA Sport will contest the entire nine-race 2016 WEC with an ORECA 05-Nissan while competing in ELMS with its Gibson 015S-Nissan next year. Both championships begin at Silverstone (15-17 Apr).


Simon Dolan (GB). Age 46. Born: Chelmsford, Essex. Lives: Monaco (MC):
“It’s difficult to express how disappointed we are all feeling. We battled so hard today, as we have all season, and but for a very harsh penalty in the previous race at Ricard, we would have secured the ELMS title in convincing fashion. One we felt we deserved.”

Filipe Albuquerque (P). Age 30. Born & Lives: Coimbra (P):
“Ofcourse I’m gutted how the championship ended. I had been delighted to get ‘pole’. Conditions were pretty tricky and I had a few moments on the wet track but I needed to take risks. The track was not 100% dry at the start of the race, some corners were still damp, making things difficult early on. I drove really hard and pulled out a gap of almost 30secs before handing the Gibson to Simon. He was the one unfortunately caught in the heavy rain shower on ‘slicks’. That cost us time as did the Gibson not firing up immediately on a couple of pit-stops.”

Harry Tincknell (GB). Age: 23. Born: Exeter, Devon. Lives: Sidmouth, Devon (GB):
“After the dominant season we had up until this race, to ultimately finish third in the standings is a huge and bitter disappointment. I was flying when I first took over the Gibson, setting a series of fast laps, but something on the rear wing broke costing me a massive amount of time.”

Sam Hignett. Partner, JOTA Group:
“JOTA Sport had the fastest driver line-up and the fastest car today but a small issue and a dose of bad luck meant that in the end we couldn't fight for the win and ultimately the championship. Once again the entire team and our drivers have proven they are the class of the field in 2015 with an unrivalled qualifying record, a win in the WEC and a close second at Le Mans. In fact today is the first time we haven't been on the podium all year.”

[Rob]

Greaves Motorsport Secured by Kairos Technologies are European Champions

Greaves Motorsport Secured by Kairos Technologies took a fighting second place today at the 4 Hours of Estoril, the final round of the 2015 European Le Mans Series. The points earned from that fine result means that Greaves Motorsport Secured by Kairos Technologies are this season’s Team Champions and Gary Hirsch, Jon Lancaster and Björn Wirdheim take the Drivers Title.

The 4 Hours of Estoril was a race filled with incidents from start to finish and the result was hard earned by the whole team, overcoming several obstacles to their title aspirations. Jon Lancaster posted the second fastest time during Qualifying but on a subsequent lap Jon was adjudged to have slowed insufficiently in a Yellow Flag Caution Zone. The team received an eight place penalty on the grid as a result, making their task of winning the titles even harder.

Björn Wirdheim drove the opening stint in the team’s Nissan-powered Gibson 015S prototype and skillfully avoided spinning cars on the first corner. Björn steadily worked his way up to the leaders handing the car over in third place.

Gary Hirsch was next in and faced conditions that, at times, were as difficult and challenging as can be imagined, with monsoon-like deluges flooding the track causing many competitors to lose control. Gary continued with his team-mate’s good work taking the lead before his first pit stop. The weather continued to be treacherous but Gary coped well handing the car over to Jon Lancaster for the run to the Chequered Flag.

Jon had the situation under control but the Officials noticed that on his final pit-stop Gary had released his safety harness prematurely, in contravention of the regulations. The Stewards imposed a Stop and Go Penalty that the team elected to serve immediately. Jon got the car back on track with just enough time to spare and drove on to the finish, crossing the line after four hours of non-stop action, scoring enough points to secure both the titles.

Tim Greaves, Team Principal: “What a day, what a race. This championship win, our second, was amazing, I don’t think any other team has matched that achievement. We had our up and downs, any of the three top teams could have won it, things really went down to the wire. With about 20 minutes to go I didn’t know where I was, we struggled to think straight on the pit-wall. That demonstrates that were were emotionally involved and stressed, we had a few run-ins with the Official but………. What it means to the team is that we are back up where we belong, we have won races, we have won at Le Mans and now we have another championship.”

“Björn, Gary and Jon stuck to the plan we had before the race and we all coped well with the changing and challenging conditions. The guys on the team were particularly sharp today at the pit stops, the reward for the hard work and practice in the run up to the race. We are looking forward to a light celebration tonight and then planning our 2016 campaign.”

Jacob Greaves, Team Manager. “A great way to round off a great season. What a race that was, keeping us all in suspense till the final lap, but we did it, our second title. For this we have to thank our partners, Gibson Technology, Nissan, Dunlop and Kairos Technologies who have given us the platform to build this success. I must pay particular tribute to the guys on the team, their pit-work today was fantastic. Björn, Gary and Jon drove really well in very difficult circumstances, Paul Thomas did another great job today engineering the car. Greaves Motorsport is both a team and a family, today we saw how those qualities were rewarded with success, I hope we will continue with this in the future.”