2012 WEC, ALMS&ELMS News

[Nova]

Hey Rob, lol..how did u get the pic into your post? Looks like the same website Im looking at right now...
I copied/pasted the same story. Yay the 458's had a great year.

[Rob]

Despite FIA reducing the fuel tank size in the 458s still won the race and took GTE crown. They reduced it by 5 litres but reduced the weight of the car. In early stages of the race it looked like the Aston was going to be good challenge or win the race as it had the pace. But, at the first stops #51 Ferrari pitted early, 5 laps i think it was. And that was enough to take the lead when the Aston pitted, as #51 was setting fast laps on fresh rubber. After that, didnt look back. Brilliant pit call and race. Great to have Toni back in the car. The Aston did take the lead back for abit, but had problems with the exhaust i think it was, looked like the hydrualic strut has down stuck down after the pit stop.

[Rob]

Hey Rob, lol..how did u get the pic into your post? Looks like the same website Im looking at right now...
I copied/pasted the same story. Yay the 458's had a great year.

lol,

I do press releases sent to me from the WEC, but you can click the image and save it. And use something like tinypic to put up in forum.

Got some pictures from yesterday to put up, what good weekend for Ferrari GTs, other in Rolex series and in the WEC.

[Rob]

[Rob]

[Rob]

[Rob]

[Nova]

Excellenti..If there was a "like" button, Id be on it!

[Rob]

Some nice pictures from yesterday. There was not that many people there.

[Rob]

IF FUJI COULD TALK...

30/09/2012 - 17h20

For the penultimate round of the 2012 season, the FIA World Endurance Championship moves on to Fuji in Japan, a Toyota heartland following the Japanese constructor’s acquisition of the Fuji Speedway in 2000. Situated at the foot of Mount Fuji, one of Japan’s three sacred mountains alongside Mount Tate and Mount Haku, the 4.56km track layout includes an extremely impressive straight of 1.5 km in length.

Fuji Speedway is to be found in the town of Oyama, within the hyper-industrialised prefecture of Shizuoka, where nearly half of all of the green tea consumed in Japan is grown. Mount Fuji is obviously the biggest local attraction, culminating at 3,775 metres (12,389 ft) with a stratovolcano which last erupted in 1707. Experts can’t agree on the origin of the name Fuji, but one thing is sure: in Japan, Mount Fuji is called Fuji-san, and not Fujiyama as many Westerners believe, ‘yama’ being the mistranslation of the Kanji character 山which means ‘mountain’.

Although situated in southern Japan, temperatures at the top of Mount Fuji are somewhat cool and the climb to the top of an average of 150,000 people per year is not recommended between the months of October and May as the snow and strong winds have been the cause of many accidents. If the window is open for long enough for the climb via one of the four routes to the summit of Fuji-san, the ascent is not out of reach and is a sort of pilgrimage for the Japanese who have requested the inclusion of the famous active volcano in the UNESCO World Heritage in the Cultural category and not the Natural category.

The first man to attempt the climb was an unknown monk in the seventh century, but it was not until the late nineteenth century that a non-Japanese climber reached the summit of Fuji-san, and all women were banned from the mountain until the Meiji period which covers the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Mount Fuji’s seismic activity, being part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, delights lovers of hot water baths: ‘onsen’ – hot springs – abound in the region, which have enabled ‘ryokan’, traditional Japanese inns, to multiply within the Five Lakes region where the circuit is situated. Lake Kawaguchi is well-known for reflecting the image of Mount Fuji, while the Sai Lake is bordered by the Aokigara Jukai forest, the weird and wonderful figures of which pepper regional legends.

The presence of the FIA World Endurance Championship is most definitely not a legend! At this time of year temperatures can be chilly in the region because of the altitude. Will Mount Fuji be adorned with its snowy overcoat to welcome the Championship’s competitors to Fuji Speedway? Reply on October 15 with the 6 Hours of Fuji! We’ll know the answer on 15th October with the 6 Hours of Fuji!

[Rob]

That picture of Mount Fuji, stunning. Not my fav tracks around. The last sector since having been "Tilked" has ruined the flow to fast track. Even on when race Fuji on GT5, i, dont hate it, but dont enjoy it. Think Toyota for sure will go all out to win at home. Not sure if they will run 2 cars, did hear radiolemans guys talk about it during the race yesterday. Dont think they have a car ready.

[Rob]

TOYOTA Racing frustrated in Bahrain

TOYOTA Racing’s challenge in the Six Hours of Bahrain ended with an accident after an earlier technical issue had already denied the team a chance of victory in the sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Following the win two weeks ago in Sao Paulo, the #7 TS030 HYBRID of Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre led after two hours and looked in a very strong position. However, the lights went out on that victory bid soon after.
WEC regulations require the illuminated number on the side of a car to function throughout the race. The #7 car’s panel failed on both sides, forcing the team to exchange the parts which cost seven minutes.

A charging recovery in the desert darkness took the team from sixth to third, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process.
But contact with another LMP1 car in traffic terminally damaged the suspension of the TS030 HYBRID with just over an hour remaining. Nicolas was forced to retire at the side of the track.
Earlier, in afternoon sunshine, Alex took the rolling start from third place and immediately made progress, brilliantly taking second at the first corner. He then used his speed in traffic to take the lead with 13 minutes on the clock.

Alex and Nicolas cemented the TS030 HYBRID’s lead during the opening two hours as the sun set, however the illuminated number issue struck to drop the #7 down the field.
Nicolas immediately improved the fastest lap of the race as he began a charge which Alex continued, the pair steadily closing the gap on the lead Audis before the incident in traffic brought progress to an end.

TOYOTA Racing’s next action comes at Fuji Speedway for the Six Hours of Mount Fuji on Sunday 14 October when Kazuki Nakajima will return to action in the #7 TS030 HYBRID, resuming his position alongside Alex and Nicolas.

TS030 HYBRID #7 (Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre)
Warm-up: 3rd (1min 48.701secs), 9 laps
Race: DNF, 144 laps, 6 pit stops. Fastest lap: 1min 47.128secs

Alex Wurz: “The speed was there. Today is just one of those days in sportscar racing when you learn how difficult this type of racing
is. It makes us appreciate even more the victory in Brazil which went so smoothly and faultlessly. But all our work of free practice paid off in the race; the speed was there and that is encouraging. The rest was just bad luck. Now we focus on Fuji Speedway.”

Nicolas Lapierre: “After the safety car I was behind the #21 car. He had good top speed so I had to jump inside to overtake him and we made contact. If we were fighting for position I would say it is more my fault, but he had the blue flags. It’s disappointing to end the race like this because we had a chance for one more podium, not the position we hoped for but after the number illumination issue it was the best we could achieve. Unfortunately we didn’t finish which I don’t feel so great about. I think the race pace was very good again compared to the Audi; we were very competitive. We must keep working and get ready for Fuji Speedway as this will be an important race for us and I hope we can get a strong result there.”

Yoshiaki Kinoshita, Team President: “This was an exciting but extremely disappointing race because we were in a strong position to win. It was frustrating to lose the time in the pits due to the light issue, which seems to be caused by the heat. Even after that we were very quick and we had a podium in our hands. Unfortunately the car was too badly damaged in the impact in traffic and Nicolas could not bring it back to the pits for repairs. We had a big chance to win this race but motorsport can be cruel sometimes and today was one of those days. Audi did a great job so congratulations to them. We are looking forward to resuming the fight at Fuji Speedway in two weeks; our preparation begins tomorrow.”

[Rob]

Rebellion Racing reinforces its lead.

- 4th and 5th places overall at the 2012 6 Hours of Bahrain
- 2nd and 3rd in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP1 Teams
- Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani move to 4th in the FIA WEC Drivers World Championship

After the toughest race of the season due to extreme heat and high humidity, REBELLION Racing finishes the 6 Hours of Bahrain in fourth and fifth place overall, 2nd and 3rd in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP1 Teams.

The 6 Hours of Bahrain saw for the sixth time in six races both Lola B12/60 Toyotas taking the chequered flag proving the high level of reliability of the REBELLION Racing cars.

In endurance racing, minor issues can have a big impact on the final race result. Along with many other competitors (including Audi Sport and Toyota Racing), REBELLION Racing had to deal with minor electrical problems during the race that prevented the Swiss team from making it onto the third step of the overall podium. Problems with the illuminated side number panels on both cars forced the team to stop for repairs, costing precious time in the pits.

The Lola-Toyota #12 car driven by Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost was strongly running in third place overall with one lap over the #21 HPD-Honda when the Race Director instructed the car to pit for repair after the three hour mark. The sister car, #13 driven by Andrea Belicchi and Harold Primat was successfully recovering after starting from the back of the grid and was P6 overall when same issue checked its progression.

In these stressfull and demanding conditions, the Toyota RV8KLM engines from Toyota Motorsport GmbH proved once again their performance and reliability.
Michelin provided a first class service with quick, consistant and durable tyres even with extreme heat and harsh track conditions.

REBELLION Racing now heads to the 6 Hours of Fuji in Japan with the aim of securing the win in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP1 Teams. After the 6 Hours of Bahrain, REBELLION Racing has a 37 point lead over Stakka Racing and a maximum of 50 points is available in the last two rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Japan and China.

Bart Hayden REBELLION Racing Team manager :
« It could have been a slightly better result for the team, but the weekend in Bahrain has positives in many ways.
We had both cars on the LMP1 Privateer podium, that rewards the hard work of the whole team. The team endured extreme conditions throughout the week, the guys made no mistakes during the pit stops and had a lot of work to do in rebulding a complete car in only 24 hours prior to the warm-up.
We are closer than ever to winning the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP1 Teams. Both cars finished the race in good condition and that is important for the next fly-away races in Japan and the USA. #12 and the spare car will fly to Fuji. The spare car will be repaired and rebuilt in Japan to race there as #13. The #13 that we raced here in Bahrain will fly to Atlanta for Petit Le Mans where it will run as #12. »

[Rob]

Strakka Racing’s magnificent double podium – 1st WEC Privateer and 3rd overall at the 6 Hours of Bahrain

Sep 29, 2012

Strakka Racing recorded a sensational result at the 6 Hours of Bahrain, scoring a dominant win in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Privateers’ category and finishing 3rd overall with its Honda Performance Development ARX-03a.

The speed and reliability of the 3.4-litre normally aspirated, 600bhp, HPD ARX-03a, impeccable pit crew work and the team’s strategy of only single-stinting its drivers paid dividends, as this allowed Nick Leventis, Danny Watts and Jonny Kane to push hard at all times, regardless of the fact that the race started in extreme desert heat conditions – with air and track surface temperatures of 35 and 43ºC respectively.

The results ensures that Strakka Racing remains in contention for the WEC for Privateers’ title with two races remaining in Japan and China, with a large points advantage over its third placed rival.

Jonny made the perfect start from the inside of row three and held onto 2nd Privateer position during a faultless 26-lap stint around the 3.36 mile (5.412km) Bahrain Grand Prix circuit.

Nick took over and despite painful pins and needles throughout his stint, he moved Strakka Racing into the Privateer lead. However, he had to be helped out of the car at the driver change and, unable to move easily, struggled to strap Danny into the car as quickly as normal. The 40 seconds lost in the pits saw Danny re-join the race as 3rd Privateer, as the desert darkness descended.

The team then hunted down the two Rebellion Racing Lolas ahead. Danny overtook the #13 car driven by Andrea Belicchi before Jonny closed in on the #12 of Nicolas Prost, until the latter pitted, surrendering the Privateer lead. Strakka had another driver change coming up, and despite having to repair a damaged left hand side number plate, Danny re-joined in the lead after a magnificent lightning quick pit crew procedure.

With a healthy Privateer lead, the #7 works Toyota dived down the inside of Jonny to lap him, but made contact. The Strakka ARX-03a was forced to come into the pits to replace a rear left puncture, while the Toyota suffered irreparable damaged.

Despite some impact-related handling problems, Danny was able to complete the race at a good pace, finishing a lap ahead of the #12 Rebellion to win the Privateers’ award and finish 3rd overall behind the two works Audis.

Nick: “Our strategy of single-stinting certainly gave us the edge today and our car ran perfectly. It’s been an incredible team effort and I’m immensely proud of every member of the team for all their hard work in achieving this result. My stint was unfortunately cut short because of pain in my leg – it’s a problem we’ve suffered with at times this year, I think it’s belt-related, and this time I fell foul of it. It was the most painful driving stint I’ve ever done in a racing car. After a short while I had no feeling in my right foot at all; it was okay when I was pressing down on full throttle, but I had no sensation in my lower right leg, so regulating movement was impossible. I knew I’d need help getting out of the car and that I’d struggle helping Danny get strapped in, and the pit stop ended up being a catalogue of errors! We lost forty seconds but luckily it all came good in the end.”

Danny: “It’s a fantastic achievement to finish third overall, but of course we weren’t really racing the works Audis and Toyota and we were very focused on trying to win the Privateers’ battle. We’re a small team, all the guys put in a huge amount of work to make sure the car is fast and reliable and the conditions this week have been extremely difficult, not just for the drivers, but also for all the team members working on the car. They deserve all the credit for this race result and it will give us the confidence to go to Japan knowing exactly what dedication and hard work can actually achieve.”

Jonny: “Our pace has been really good all season, the competition in the P1 Privateers’ category is very close and this time we came out on top. We’ve had a good car underneath us all season, and it’s a fantastic achievement to not only win the Privateers’ award, but to also stand on the third step of the overall podium – it just shows what a great team effort this was. I had a little coming together with the #7 Toyota. Its transponder wasn’t working, so we didn’t know it was following me, but where it tried to overtake I don’t really think was the right place because they have a massive straight-line speed advantage over us and could have safely overtaken on a straight. At the end of the day it was just a racing incident, but it gave us a puncture, damaged a side pod and upset the balance of the car so it was sliding about a lot. Luckily we were able to continue at a fairly good pace and finish the race.”


Dan Walmsley, Strakka Racing’s Team Manager: “The whole team is delighted by achieving our first Privateer win of the year and having the honour to be the first Privateer team to stand on the P1 podium, which has been dominated by the manufacturers all season. It’s a testament to all the hard work that every single member of the Strakka Racing team has put into this project since before the beginning of the season. It’s very satisfying that the combination of reliability, outright pace and strategy meant that we could not be beaten by any other Privateer team in Bahrain.”

Round 7 of the FIA WEC is the 6 Hours of Fuji on October 14.

Time-lapsed significant race moments
00mins: Danny takes the chequered flag, to claim 1st WEC Privateers’ and 3rd overall
44mins: Driver change, Danny in for Jonny. Fuel. 1st Privateer and 3rd overall
1hrs 17mins: Incident with #7 Toyota. Stopped to replace a punctured left rear tyre. 1st Privateer and 3rd overall
1hrs 29mins: Fuel only stop during Safety Car period
1hrs 50mins: Driver change, Jonny in for Danny. Tyres and fuel. 1st Privateer and 4th overall
2hrs 39mins: Driver change, Danny in for Jonny. Tyres, fuel and replace left side number panel. 1st Privateer and 4th overall
2hrs 44mins: Having taken almost a minute out of leader, #12 Rebellion pits. Strakka Racing moves to 1st Privateer and 3rd overall
3hrs 29mins: Driver change, Jonny in for Danny. Tyres and fuel. 2nd Privateer and 4th overall
3hrs 42mins: Danny overtakes #13 Rebellion. 2nd Privateer and 5th overall
4hrs 19mins: Driver change, Danny in for Nick. Tyres and fuel. 1st Privateer and 4th overall. Long stop as Nick has to be helped out of car. 40 seconds lost. 3rd Privateer and 5th overall
5hrs 11mins: Driver change, Nick in for Jonny. Tyres and fuel. 2nd Privateer and 5th overall
6hrs 00mins: Jonny makes a great start from 2nd Privateer and 5th overall. Challenges #12 Rebellion into T1, but holds position. Air temp 35ºC / track 43ºC

[Rob]

So pleased to see Strakka up there on podium, 3rd over all. Great team work. The coming together with #7 Toyota was lucky to come away with just puncture. As mentioned above, was surprised Nico went to overtake where he did, turn 9.

[Rob]

Disappointment for JRM Racing in Six Hours of Bahrain

29 September 2012 – JRM Racing’s increasing promise went unrewarded in today’s Six Hours of Bahrain. The #22 HPD ARX-03a driven by David Brabham, Peter Dumbreck and Karun Chandhok had qualified in P3 in the privateers’ class for today’s inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship race in the Middle East and had high hopes of a podium finish, however electrical gremlins hit just a handful of laps into the race.

Karun Chandhok had started the six hours but the car developed a problem with the chassis electronics inside the one-hour mark. The team tried to reset all systems but could not fully regain the data needed to run the car. After 50 laps the #22 came into the pits to effect full repairs but after just one lap back on track, this time with Peter Dumbreck, it became clear that the car required more fundamental work.

The car returned to the garage for the team and rejoined with one hour 10 minutes remaining, but was forced to retire shortly afterwards. Post race the problem was traced to a faulty loom section, which the team will work to fully resolving prior to the next event in Japan.

Karun Chandhok

The race started OK and I was running behind Jonny [Kane]. I was a little bit slower than him, but this was as expected as I was managing the tyres very carefully. Then in my second stint the race started to come to me – I was quicker than the other guys on used tyres and I think we could have had a good race. However very early on in the first stint I lost the power to the dash and the guys had no telemetry, which is critical for the engine and also knowing where we are on fuel consumption. We pitted quite conservatively and lost time as we were caught speeding in the pitlane – the pitlane limiter didn’t work due to the electrical problem. From then on we tried to reset but it didn’t work out. Sometimes it’s like that, unfortunately.

Peter Dumbreck

I took over from Karun after about 1.5 hours and by that point we knew we had a fairly major issue. After resetting the systems in the garage I went back out for a lap but the reset hadn’t worked 100% so I came back in and ultimately retired with just under an hour to go.

David Brabham

I didn’t get a chance to drive today with the issues we had early on. We’ll focus on Japan and putting together a clean race there.

Nigel Stepney, team manager and chief engineer

What can we say – things happen when we are going well! We are not 100% certain of why the chassis electronics failed in the first instance, but an on-track reset didn’t work and we had to pull the car into the garage to change the control systems. When that proved ineffective, we had lost too many laps to score points so we decided to fully understand the issue so we don’t have a reoccurrence in Fuji.

James Rumsey, team principal

It’s disappointing that yet again we couldn’t realise our potential, but as a young team we are learning all the time about the car and its systems. With that comes a certain amount of risk, which we saw today. We will now focus on Fuji and hope that we can finally get a weekend we deserve.

[Rob]

Sakhir, Bahrain, 29 September 2012 – Aston Martin Racing has finished the sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the Six Hours of Bahrain, in second place – matching its best race result of the championship with a fourth consecutive podium.

The Six Hours of Bahrain presented a unique challenge for all teams – the searing desert heat raised track temperatures to 43 degrees centigrade and the rapidly fading light restricted visibility. Despite these challenges, the #97 Vantage GTE battled for first position for much of the race.
Starting on pole following a fantastic qualifying lap by Stefan Mücke (D), Darren Turner (GB) started the race with the aim of pushing hard from the first lap to extend the lead over his GTE Pro competitors. After 22 laps, Turner had established a 15 second advantage.

After the first round of pit stops, Mücke found himself in second position, but was able to exploit the Vantage GTE’s class-leading race pace to close the gap on the leader at up to two seconds per lap, slipping past on lap 32. Continuing at the pace that saw him record the fastest GTE lap time of the race, Mücke began stretching the lead. However, a minor issue with the exhaust system – resulting from slight impact with the #51 during the overtake – cost the team close to a minute as the fault was resolved, causing the Gulf-liveried racer to drop back to second position.

As Turner and Mücke set about cutting the deficit to the lead car, an unfortunately timed safety car interruption halted the Vantage GTE’s charge. With more time lost to the #51 car, the pair once again cut the margin at up to two seconds per lap, but the chequered flag was waved before the #97 machine could muscle past.
Turner comments: “It looked like it was going to be our first WEC win - it was going to play out close between us and the #51 car. We got the start we wanted, but when we had the issue with the exhaust I thought we might struggle for a podium, so to finish in second was a great recovery by the whole team. The car felt really good here and is well suited to the track, I’m sure a win is in sight.”

Mücke adds: “It was a difficult race with the heat, darkness and the small issue with the exhaust, but it was also really fun. The car was fast and handled really well on the circuit, making it a joy to drive. It’s good to know that we have the pace and reliability to win a race and I’m really looking forward to the Six Hours of Fuji in two weeks.”

Aston Martin Racing’s Team Principal John Gaw summarises: “We were unlucky, this should have been our first WEC win – we were the fastest on the track and we no longer had a fuel consumption disadvantage this weekend. Luck wasn’t our side today, but the team fought on relentlessly and to get second place is fantastic. I would like to say a special thanks to the team. We took the opportunity to make some changes for Bahrain and it paid off. We had improved pit stop times and the way that they dealt with the small issue and still enabled us to finish second was exactly what we were looking for.

“Being this close to a win in our first season in a return to GT racing is an achievement in itself. Our aim is to get on that top step of the podium before the year is out, which would be a tremendous result.”

The 2012 season marks Aston Martin’s return to GT racing; a discipline in which the company had huge success, most notably winning the GT class at Le Mans in both 2007 and 2008. The Vantage GTE is based on the road-going Vantage; the sportiest model in the prestigious marque’s line-up.
Aston Martin Racing is currently second in the WEC GTE Pro Championship with two rounds remaining. The next race in the championship, the Six Hours of Fuji, takes place at 11h00 local time on the 14th October 2012.

[Rob]

Dario and Marino Franchitti Join Level 5 for Petit Le Mans
Four-time IndyCar champ and younger brother to drive No. 95 with Scott Tucker

BRASELTON, Ga. – Reigning Indy 500 champion Dario Franchitti is returning to Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda for the season finale of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón. The four-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion and three-time 500 winner will join younger brother and sports car ace Marino behind the wheel of the No. 95 Level 5 Motorsports Honda Performance Development ARX-03b P2 car at Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda.

The Franchitti brothers will pair with regular Level 5 driver and team owner Scott Tucker in the 1,000-mile/10-hour race on Saturday, Oct. 2.

“We’re thrilled to have Dario and Marino Franchitti with us to close out the season,” Tucker said. “We’ve had a great year, and we are looking forward to another strong effort at Road Atlanta for Petit Le Mans. And, having the Indy 500 champion on your side is always a plus.”

It will be the second Petit Le Mans race for Dario, who has a Sebring P2 victory (2007) to his credit in four ALMS starts. Marino, twice a Prototype Challenge winner in ALMS this season, will make his second consecutive appearance with Level 5 at Petit Le Mans; the Scotsman finished fifth in class last year driving the No. 055 with Tucker and Luis Diaz. Marino Franchitti is a two-time P2 winner at Petit Le Mans – 2009 and 2010.

Level 5’s second car, the No. 055 HPD ARX-03b will be driven by Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz. Level 5, Tucker and Bouchut are currently in a tight battle for the P2 team and driver championships with Conquest Endurance and its duo of David Heinemeier-Hansson and Martin Plowman.

This will be the first time the two brothers share a car in ALMS competition. They drove together previously in the Daytona 24 Hours.

Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda, the 1,000-mile/10-hour ALMS finale from Road Atlanta is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, Oct 20. ABC's broadcast begins at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 21. Full, live coverage starts at 11:15 a.m. ET on ESPN3.

[Rob]

Super Weekends in ’13: ALMS with GRAND-AM at Road America
Planning partnership with FIA WEC in Austin

Braselton, Ga. – The first pieces of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón’s 2013 schedule are coming into place. The ALMS joins the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series for a doubleheader race weekend at Road America in August. Plans also are under way to pair the ALMS alongside the FIA World Endurance Championship in September at the new Circuit of The Americas near Austin, Texas.

The ALMS’ complete 2013 race schedule will be announced in the near future.

Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wis., will see the ALMS race Sunday, Aug. 11, with GRAND-AM competing the previous day. Although the recently merged ALMS and GRAND-AM organization will not compete as a unified series until the 2014 season, the 2013 shared weekend at Road America represents what ALMS President and CEO Scott Atherton called “an opportunity to create a truly special event where fans will experience the scope of North America’s premier sports car racing on two consecutive days at one iconic venue.”

“This Road America event with GRAND-AM will be a super endurance weekend and will provide sports car racing fans an advance look at what will be the best of the best when our two series become one in 2014,” he added.

Likewise, Atherton said he envisions the Texas event as another super endurance weekend with separate, long-distance races for the ALMS championship on Saturday, Sept. 21, and the WEC the next day.

“Even though the event is not fully confirmed, we are working in close cooperation with WEC leadership and with the CoTA promoters to create a thrilling experience for fans of sports car racing at a spectacular new circuit,” Atherton said. “Our proposal includes IMSA and ALMS providing services such as safety, timing and scoring, and TV production for the WEC race. Our intention is to make the best and most efficient use of our resources in support of one fantastic, world championship-caliber motorsports weekend, which will serve as a marquee prelude to the ALMS’ premier season finale at Petit Le Mans.”

Atherton also revealed that the WEC’s 2013 calendar reflects an agreement that no WEC event will be scheduled 30 days before or after the 2013 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida – the opening round of the ALMS championship.

[Rob]

FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 6:

6 HOURS OF BAHRAIN (28 & 29 September 2012)

NELSON PANCIATICI: MY KINGDOM FOR A LIGHT!

It was on the Bahrain circuit, in the crushing heat, that the whole G-Drive Racing by Signatech-Nissan team met up for the sixth challenge of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Nelson Panciatici and his teammates, Pierre Ragues and Roman Rusinov, were on route to victory when the Race Director pulled them in to the pits because of a faulty race number light on the right side of the car. Conclusion, nearly seven minutes lost and all hope of victory evaporated! Despite all their efforts, they finished the 6 hours of Bahrain in a very disappointing fifth place of the LMP2 ranking.

After having mostly worked on tyre wear during free practice, the G-Drive by Signatech-Nissan put Roman Rusinov in charge of the qualifiers where he finished in a very nice seventh place.

For the race Nelson Panciatici was once again fast and reliable, taking the lead in the LMP2 class in his first relay clocking some great times before he set the third best time of the race in his last run in which he also overtook two cars!

Nelson: "It's really frustrating because we had all the means to win. The positive point is that we took the lead in the LMP2 category before we had to return to the pits to fix the number's lighting and we were getting results. Damien, our engineer, improves the car for every race, she is "easy" and fast and if success is on our side, we should have a win before the end of the year. Personally, I am still getting traffic experience and I'm getting better in every race. I always get a lot of pleasure driving the endurance races."

Philippe Sinault, the boss of the G-Drive Racing by Signatech-Nissan is also very disappointed:

"I am disappointed and upset! We could have won. We really had the performance and we were up there battling with Starworks and Pecom. Our strategy was perfectly adapted to the race conditions. I found the officials' decision very unforgiving. The race number was more than 80% visible, only a few light cells at the bottom of it were defective. I see it as an injustice because the number was visible. We lost the race because of that additional stop and I'm really disappointed especially considering the excellent work put in by the team and the drivers."

The next meeting, the 6 Hours of Fuji in Japan, will be fought out on the 13 and 14 October on the fast circuit of the Fuji Speedway!

[Rob]

ASTON MARTIN AIMING FOR LMGTE PRO VICTORY IN FUJI

08/10/2012 - 19h56

After recording four consecutive podium finishes and a qualifying pole position in both São Paulo and Bahrain, Aston Martin Racing has its sights set firmly on the top step of the LMGTE Pro podium in the 6 Hours of Fuji.

The No.97 Vantage GTE will once again be driven by works Aston Martin drivers Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke. The Anglo-German pairing have demonstrated great pace and reliability to date, and are hoping that the recent changes in LMGTE Pro regulations will allow them to translate that promise into victory for the iconic British manufacturer.

The team is confident that its car will suit the characteristics of the fast circuit, particularly the long 1.5 mile straight, and like all the other competitors who will take the start for Sunday’s race it will use the additional day of testing (Wednesday, 10th October) to work on an optimum set up for the car.

John Gaw, Team Principal: “Now that the fuelling issue has been balanced by the organisers, we should only need to pit five times in a six hour race, which is in line with our rivals. We will aim to be ahead of the rest of the GTE Pro field as we head into the final stint; we’ll use the class-leading pace of the Vantage GTE to get us into that position. If there are no hiccups, our pace should allow us to win the race.”

Darren Turner, No.97 Aston Martin Vantage GTE: “We had a good chance to go for the win at Bahrain and I think that will continue on to Fuji. Neither myself or Stefan has raced there before but we have a test on the Wednesday prior to the race so it will be one of the few times we have plenty of mileage before the race weekend starts. We’re still playing catch up to the Ferrari but we can at least take the fight to them now so everything is still to play for and we will go out there to try and achieve the Aston Martin Vantage GTE’s first win.”

Stefan Mücke, No.97 Aston Martin Vantage GTE: “I’ve never driven at Fuji Speedway before and it’s always exciting to head to a new circuit. The only time I’ve raced in Japan was in 2009 when we won at Okayama in the Aston Martin DBR1-2 LMP1 car – hopefully we can win here again, to continue my Japanese racing success rate! I think we can do it. Obviously, there are so many things that can happen in a six hour race that you can’t be sure, but we have the fastest car and certainly have the ability to win here.”

(Aston Martin Racing press release)

[Rob]

Audi has known enormous success wherever it has raced, most particularly at the 24 Hours of Le Mans where it has taken 11 victories in 13 years and, in June this year, an historic first win for a hybrid-powered car. But, surprisingly, on Sunday 14th October the German marque will be making its racing debut in Japan in the 6 Hours of Fuji and it is up against strong opponents, notably Toyota Racing entry who are determined to do well on home soil.

After coping with the intense heat of Bahrain, the five drivers now face more uncertain weather conditions at the track which is in the shadow of Mount Fuji. However, a little rain will hold no fear for the super-successful line up which includes Fuji experts André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer who have the benefit of many years of racing in the Land of the Rising Sun. The German relocated his career to Japan in 2003 and the Frenchman has spent as many as twelve years of his life as a racer in the Far East. Tom Kristensen spent several seasons driving in Japan in the 1990s and Allan McNish also has a large number of test and race kilometres under his belt at a number of different circuits in the country. Only Marcel Fässler has never been to Japan.

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "We’re looking forward to the race at Fuji. It’ll be held in completely different conditions than the past round. Instead of the high temperatures and desert sun I’m expecting around ten degrees less and changeable conditions. Two of our drivers - André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer - have an enormous wealth of experience at Fuji. I’m hoping for us to be able to show a similarly strong performance in Japan as in Bahrain."

Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Team Joest): "Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer are traveling to Japan with a relatively comfortable advantage. If our cars had finished in reverse order in Bahrain our two driver squads would only have been separated by half a point [in the drivers’ championship]. The battle remains thrilling. André and Benoît know the track well because they’ve got many years of experience in Japan. I’m looking forward to a nice battle between our cars and a fierce competition with Toyota."

Tom Kristensen, No.2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro: “I love being in Japan, I spent an important part of my career there. From 1992 to 1995, I was regularly driving in Japan and sporadically again in 1996. I celebrated my sports car debut there as well, as team-mate to Eddie Irvine and Jacques Villeneuve. And I also won the Le Mans 24 Hours for the Japanese Team Goh once. I’ve got very close ties to the country and its people and owe them a lot. Now I’m returning to Japan with Audi and Audi Sport Team Joest. Back in those days I was living in Gotemba and now we’re racing at Fuji, just a few kilometres away from there. I’m basically familiar with the track but the modified final section is new to me too.”

Allan McNish, No. 2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro: “I’ve spent a lot of time in Japan as a racer, for instance as a Formula 1 test driver in the nineties, then as a sports car driver and again in Formula 1. I’m expecting the fans to show a really positive response to the Fuji 6 Hours. I’m familiar with the new track layout which I came to know at the wheel of an Audi R8 V10. The circuit has retained a lot of its traditional characteristics. The first part is fast and fluid and the last one very technical and difficult with a lot of camber change and general elevation change as well. This section of the track can heavily influence the race result, both due to the vehicle set-up and the time loss when lapping other cars. The weather at Fuji is unpredictable in October. When it rains in this mountain region it pours.”

(Audi Motorsport press release)

[Rob]

Sad sad news, shame to see Lola go..

Lola Cars ceases trading as no buyer comes forward
Tuesday, October 9th 2012, 14:40 GMT

Lola Cars International has ceased trading after the administrators concluded that the famous British racing car constructor could not be sold as a going concern.

Lola, which was established in 1958, went into administration in May with debts totaling more than £20 million.

The company had continued to trade through the summer while joint administrators Mark Newman and James Snowdon of CCW Recovery Solutions LLP sought a buyer.

A statement issued on Tuesday read: "At the end of September, having not received an acceptable offer for the business as a going concern, we considered whether or not we should continue trading.

"During the first week of October we concluded that a going concern sale of the business was not going to be possible, and the company ceased to trade on Friday, October 5, which unfortunately led to the redundancy of the remaining staff working in the business."

The administrators said they expected to conclude a sale of the assets of the company in the near future. It is unclear whether they will be sold in their entirety or whether the assets will go up for auction.

The trademarks to the Lola name and the intellectual property rights to its designs are owned by Lola Group Holdings.

Lola Composites, which also went into administration in May, continues to trade. The administrators remain in discussion with "two seriously interested parties" but stated that "neither has committed to progressing their purchase at this time".

Their statement continued: "Following a review of the likelihood of a sale of the business in the short term, and the current order book, we had to consider our staffing needs going forward, and we had no alternative but to make a further 23 staff redundant."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103257

[Nova]

Shoot, this is a bummer...Lola is a famous marque.
This is bad for the world of racing.

[Rob]

Shoot, this is a bummer...Lola is a famous marque.
This is bad for the world of racing.

I know, sad. Lola going to be missed, and will not be same without them cars around.

[Nova]

They go way back, very cool cars in many classes. Formula Ford, very popular, used to be the benchmark for upcoming drivers. The Lola was and still is
one of the better cars to race. Hard to see them disappearing altogether..they still have orders into 2013.

[Rob]

FREE PRACTICE 1: TOYOTA MAKES ITS MARK

12/10/2012 - 05h46

The clear blue skies from the start of the morning are long gone but, while clouds gathered over the Fuji circuit, temperatures remain mild and rain doesn’t seem to be on either Friday’s programme or that of the rest of the weekend.

Toyota, which owns Fuji Speedway, didn’t fail to make its mark on the field by setting the quickest time in the first 90-minute free practice session. Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima demonstrated his knowledge of the Fuji track by posting the fastest lap of the session with a 1:28.809, quicker than anything from Wednesday’s official test day. He would be the only driver to get below the 1m29 barrier. Next up was Benoît Tréluyer, another driver familiar with Japanese circuits, who put the No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro in second place, but more than four tenths of a second from the No.7 Toyota TS030 Hybrid, shadowed by his team mate Allan McNish at the wheel of the second R18.

As so often, it was Danny Watts who showed himself to be the most rapid among the LMP1 Privateers thanks to a time of 1:31.038 in his No.21 Strakka Racing HPD-Honda. He is more than six tenths ahead of Neel Jani’s No.12 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota and the second HPD ARX 03a-Honda in the field, the No.22 JRM car in David Brabham’s hands.

The battle in the ever-competitive LMP2 class was markedly tighter, but Japanese constructors definitely had a good session. In the final outcome it was Nelson Panciatici who climbed his way to the top of the time sheets with a lap of 1:33.525 at the wheel of the No.26 Signatech-Nissan Oreca-Nissan. In fact, Nissan-engined cars filled the first three places in the class after John Martin in the No.25 ADR-Delta Oreca-Nissan took second, less than two tenths from the leader, and Olivier Pla ended up third with the No.24 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan.

In LMGTE Pro, it was Porsche who had the upper hand with the No.77 Team Felbermayr-Proton 911. Marc Lieb, a Porsche factory driver, set the fastest lap at 1:41.378, relegating the returning Gianmaria Bruni – who missed the Bahrain round in order to boost his championship hopes in another series – to second. The No.51 Ferrari of AF Corse, the Italian team having already claimed championship honours in the Middle East, was more than three tenths further behind the Porsche with Andrea Bertolini completing the top three in class in the second, No.71 Ferrari of Amato Ferrari’s team.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, former Peugeot sport driver Pedro Lamy recorded the quickest time in the LMGTE Am category in the No.50 Corvette of Larbre Competition. With his lap of 1:42.175 the Portuguese emerged as the best ahead of Michele Rugolo’s No.57 Krohn Racing Ferrari but by only 0.058 seconds! The No.88 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche, currently second in the championship, was third thanks to Paolo Ruberti.

[Rob]

FREE PRACTICE 1: TOYOTA MAKES ITS MARK

12/10/2012 - 05h46

The clear blue skies from the start of the morning are long gone but, while clouds gathered over the Fuji circuit, temperatures remain mild and rain doesn’t seem to be on either Friday’s programme or that of the rest of the weekend.

Toyota, which owns Fuji Speedway, didn’t fail to make its mark on the field by setting the quickest time in the first 90-minute free practice session. Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima demonstrated his knowledge of the Fuji track by posting the fastest lap of the session with a 1:28.809, quicker than anything from Wednesday’s official test day. He would be the only driver to get below the 1m29 barrier. Next up was Benoît Tréluyer, another driver familiar with Japanese circuits, who put the No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro in second place, but more than four tenths of a second from the No.7 Toyota TS030 Hybrid, shadowed by his team mate Allan McNish at the wheel of the second R18.

As so often, it was Danny Watts who showed himself to be the most rapid among the LMP1 Privateers thanks to a time of 1:31.038 in his No.21 Strakka Racing HPD-Honda. He is more than six tenths ahead of Neel Jani’s No.12 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota and the second HPD ARX 03a-Honda in the field, the No.22 JRM car in David Brabham’s hands.

The battle in the ever-competitive LMP2 class was markedly tighter, but Japanese constructors definitely had a good session. In the final outcome it was Nelson Panciatici who climbed his way to the top of the time sheets with a lap of 1:33.525 at the wheel of the No.26 Signatech-Nissan Oreca-Nissan. In fact, Nissan-engined cars filled the first three places in the class after John Martin in the No.25 ADR-Delta Oreca-Nissan took second, less than two tenths from the leader, and Olivier Pla ended up third with the No.24 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan.

In LMGTE Pro, it was Porsche who had the upper hand with the No.77 Team Felbermayr-Proton 911. Marc Lieb, a Porsche factory driver, set the fastest lap at 1:41.378, relegating the returning Gianmaria Bruni – who missed the Bahrain round in order to boost his championship hopes in another series – to second. The No.51 Ferrari of AF Corse, the Italian team having already claimed championship honours in the Middle East, was more than three tenths further behind the Porsche with Andrea Bertolini completing the top three in class in the second, No.71 Ferrari of Amato Ferrari’s team.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, former Peugeot sport driver Pedro Lamy recorded the quickest time in the LMGTE Am category in the No.50 Corvette of Larbre Competition. With his lap of 1:42.175 the Portuguese emerged as the best ahead of Michele Rugolo’s No.57 Krohn Racing Ferrari but by only 0.058 seconds! The No.88 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche, currently second in the championship, was third thanks to Paolo Ruberti.

[Rob]

ALL CLASSES TO HAVE DRIVER TROPHIES IN 2013 WITH GTE DRIVERS FIGHTING FOR A WORLD TITLE

12/10/2012 - 07h44

Following a recommendation made by the FIA World Endurance Commission, which was acting on a proposal made by the ACO, the promoter of the World Endurance Championship, the FIA World Motor Sports Council have confirmed that from next season a title will be award - the FIA World Cup for LMGTE Drivers. In addition there will be FIA Endurance Trophies awarded for LMP2 and LMGTE Am Driver Championships.

This new title will be in addition to the existing FIA World Cup for LMGTE Manufacturers, which has been won by Ferrari in 2012, the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Pro teams, which was secured by AF Corse in Bahrain two weeks ago, and the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Am teams, which is still very much open with two races of the season remaining.

The new World Cup will be available to all GTE drivers in both Pro and Am classes and points will be scored, using the standard FIA world championship points scoring system, depending where they finish in the combined GTE class.

LMP2 and LMGTE Am drivers will also have their own championships next season with FIA Endurance Trophies being awarded to the top drivers in each class at the end of the 2013 season.

Pierre Fillon, President of the ACO, said: “Next year we will see all drivers battling for a title. While the teams and manufacturers have been recognised this season, the only title that was available for the drivers was the overall world championship. Therefore the ACOproposed to the FIA Endurance Commission which recommended to the FIA World Motor Sports Council that a new World Cup for LMGTE Drivers and Endurance Trophies for LMP2 and LMGTE Am were established for the 2013 season. This will give these important classes a new challenge and we are sure we will see more interest in taking part the FIA WEC next season as a result.”

[Rob]

I think the race is on the same time as the Korean GP