Category: Le Mans/WEC

Buemi leads first Spa 6H practice for Toyota

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No. 8 GR010 HYBRID set the benchmark time in the first practice session of the 6 Hours of Spa weekend. Sebastien Buemi topped the times with a 2m02.982s, a time just a fraction slower than last year’s pole lap from Glickenhaus, …

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No. 8 GR010 HYBRID set the benchmark time in the first practice session of the 6 Hours of Spa weekend. Sebastien Buemi topped the times with a 2m02.982s, a time just a fraction slower than last year’s pole lap from Glickenhaus, a 2m02.771s.

Buemi’s flyer was 1.6 seconds faster than the other FIA WEC Hypercar class runners. The No. 50 Ferrari came closest, after a 2m04.632s from Antonio Fuoco, who was a tenth up on Jose Maria Lopez in the No. 7 Toyota that completed the top three.

The fastest of the LMDh cars in the class was the No. 6 Porsche Penske 963, following a 2m04.870s from Laurens Vanthoor. The Belgian would end the red flag-interrupted session fifth, below the No. 51 Ferrari that finished up fourth on the timing screens.

The No. 2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R was sixth, while the brand-new No. 3 example, making a guest appearance this weekend, would set the ninth-fastest time, behind the quickest of the two Peugeot 9X8s — the No. 4.

The other new Hypercar in the field, the No. 38 Porsche 963 from Hertz Team JOTA, was 22nd overall in the times and completed 18 laps, the team using the session as an extended shakedown of its new car. The best time was six seconds off the pace set by Toyota, but this is very much early days and outright speed is not yet a priority.

In LMP2, the No. 22 United Autosports ORECA of Filipe Albuquerque ran just 0.043s faster than the No. 28 JOTA 07 Gibson to top the class with a 2m07.471s. The No. 23 United Autosports ORECA completed the top three.

It was a 1-2 for Ferrari 488 teams in GTE Am, with Kessel Racing’s No. 57 managing a 2m16.177s courtesy of Daniel Serra. The No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari from Ulysse De Pauw ended up second while the ORT by TF Aston Martin slotted in third with a 2m17.168s from Charlie Eastwood.

A pair of red flags interrupted the session, costing the teams almost 10 minutes of running. The first was for an incident at Les Combes for the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari, the second for contact between the D’Station Aston Martin and the Vanwall.

UP NEXT: Track action continues this afternoon with Free Practice 2 at 4:20 local time.

RESULTS

Dalla Lana calls time on racing career

Longstanding FIA WEC driver Paul Dalla Lana, who has competed with Aston Martin in the championship each year since 2013, has decided to retire from racing with immediate effect. The 57-year-old Canadian, who had competed in the opening FIA WEC …

Longstanding FIA WEC driver Paul Dalla Lana, who has competed with Aston Martin in the championship each year since 2013, has decided to retire from racing with immediate effect.

The 57-year-old Canadian, who had competed in the opening FIA WEC rounds of this season at Sebring and Portimao in the GTE Am class No. 98 Northwest AMR Vantage with Nicki Thiim and Axcil Jefferies, will step away from the championship before this weekend’s 6 Hours of Spa and shift his focus to his business interests.

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As a result of Dalla Lana’s decision, the No. 98 entry will be taken over by reigning IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD class champion Heart of Racing. Ian James, Alex Riberas and Daniel Mancinelli are set to drive the car from this weekend’s race at Spa onwards.

Dalla Lana departs the FIA WEC as its most successful amateur driver, with 17 class victories, putting him fourth on the all-time winners’ list, behind Sebastian Buemi, Brendon Hartley and former teammate Pedro Lamy.

“To race for Aston Martin, compete at Le Mans and win a world championship title, has given me so many memories that I will cherish for the rest of my days,” he said. “But the racing always had to stop at some point, and for me, that time has been coming for a while now.

“It has become increasingly challenging to find enough time to prepare and compete at the highest level; and to fight for a world championship you must be able to give your all.

“I’ve been lucky enough to race alongside some great drivers and great friends and compete against the very best in sports car racing. I’ve been there as WEC has grown in stature and I’ve been able to drive the mighty V12, V8 and now the turbocharged V8 Vantages at places like Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans.

“It’s been one hell of ride and I’m very grateful to have been able to take it all on board an Aston Martin. Thanks to all the incredible fans that have come out to watch us over the years, and I’d like to wish Aston Martin luck in the future. I’m sure going to miss it!”

Dalla Lana is the WEC’s most successful amateur driver ever. Nick Dungan/Drew Gibson Photography/Aston Martin Racing

Huw Tasker, the AMR head of Partner Racing, paid tribute to Dalla Lana as part of the announcement, describing his racing career with the British marque as ‘outstanding’ and ‘legendary’.

“He is a legendary AMR driver and world champion, and the standards he has set as a ‘Bronze’ driver over more than 10 years of racing in WEC are unbelievable,” Tasker said. “We are unlikely to see anything like it again. To win 25% of all the races he contested in WEC is an amazing record, and to finish on the podium 37 times is equally astonishing.

“Aston Martin owes Paul a great debt of gratitude and we will miss his competitive drive and indubitable spirit inside the garage. On behalf of all of us at Aston Martin, thank you Paul, and congratulations on a fantastic career, you have done us all proud.

“We’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome Heart of Racing into the WEC paddock. The team has been doing a stellar job in IMSA for some time now, which was clearly shown by its victory in the Rolex 24 and IMSA GTD title, and we have every confidence that it can grow and develop to mirror those championship-winning achievements at world level.”

For Heart of Racing, this weekend’s FIA WEC race at Spa will be its first with a GTE-spec Vantage. The track time in Spa will be crucial in the build-up to its surprise Le Mans debut in June.

“The Heart of Racing team has had ambitions to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the FIA WEC for some time,” revealed Ian James. “We are an ambitious group and to add WEC to what we have been fortunate to achieve in our other programmes over the past three years is an honour.

“Going for the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona/24 Hours of Le Mans double is very exciting. I’d like to take the opportunity to wish Paul well in the future, and to thank him for giving us the chance to take over his entry for the rest of 2023. It will be a baptism of fire in Spa, but we hope to continue the successful heritage of the No. 98 plate in WEC.”

Due to the FIA WEC’s entry regulations, the Heart of Racing Aston Martin will compete under the Northwest AMR banner for the remaining rounds this season, and retain the number 98.

Aitken joins Cadillac for Spa WEC

Former F1 Grand Prix starter Jack Aitken has been added to Cadillac Racing’s driver roster for next weekend’s FIA WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The British-South Korean racer, who won the 12 Hours of Sebring with Cadillac team Action Express …

Former F1 Grand Prix starter Jack Aitken has been added to Cadillac Racing’s driver roster for next weekend’s FIA WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

The British-South Korean racer, who won the 12 Hours of Sebring with Cadillac team Action Express back in March, will join Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande in the No. 3 Ganassi-run V-Series.R. The No. 3 crew, which competes in the IMSA GTP class full-time, joins the Hypercar field in Belgium as a non-point scoring race-by-race entry ahead of its Le Mans appearance alongside the full-season FIA WEC No. 2 Cadillac.

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“Chip Ganassi Racing is excited to have Jack join Sebastien and Renger in sharing driver duties for the No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R at the Spa WEC race next week,” said Mike O’Gara, director of operations for Chip Ganassi Racing that runs the Cadillac Racing entry.

“This is just another example of the ‘One Team’ concept that Cadillac Racing is all about. We value Jack’s feedback in the car, and hope this strengthens the preparation for Cadillac Racing’s assault on the 24 Hours of Le Mans this June.”

In addition to this outing at Spa, Aitken is confirmed for Le Mans, where he will race alongside Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims in the No. 311 Action Express Cadillac V-Series.R for the team’s debut in the race.

At Le Mans Cadillac will be represented by three Hypercar-class cars, with Action Express making the trip to La Sarthe to join Cadillac Racing’s two-car effort. AXR had applied for an entry to the WEC round at Spa, but its request was denied by the championship organizers due to a lack of available garage spaces at the circuit for the meeting.

“Driving at such an incredible circuit with the Cadillac V.Series R will be an invaluable addition to our prep for Le Mans,” Aiken added. “It will be a pleasure to integrate with Chip Ganassi and work together to push the Cadillac program forward, as we have a great deal of respect between us. Partnering up with Seb and Renger will be great for me personally, as I’ll be learning from two great guys.”

Porsche Hypercar team bolstered by Portimao podium, but realistic about pace

Like its Hypercar revivals at Ferrari, with whom it will share the Monza circuit for a pre-Le Mans test, Porsche Penske Motorsport is feeling more bullish about the prospects for the Porsche 963 following a more successful FIA WEC race in Portimao. …

Like its Hypercar revivals at Ferrari, with whom it will share the Monza circuit for a pre-Le Mans test, Porsche Penske Motorsport is feeling more bullish about the prospects for the Porsche 963 following a more successful FIA WEC race in Portimao. The team netted its first podium finish, with its No. 6 963, driven by Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer, on a weekend which saw the IMSA arm of the program score the 963’s first win globally at Long Beach.

Speaking to RACER after the 6 Hours of Portimao, Estre was generally positive about the team’s progress in extracting more pace out of the 963.

“We were all very down after Sebring — it was a very tough weekend for the whole Porsche Penske motorsport group,” he said. “We worked really hard between then and now to try and improve the car’s reliability and performance.”

However, Estre stressed that there is still a long way to go and a lot of speed to find if it is to challenge Toyota and Ferrari for race wins. At Sebring the Penske team’s cars finished a distant fifth and sixth in the WEC 1000 Miles, four laps off the winning Toyota. In Portugal, Porsche’s lead car was much closer, but the No. 6 crew, still crossed the line off the lead lap.

“(Despite the improvement in form) we proved in the USA that the performance is not where we want to be, in qualifying in both the USA and WEC, on one-lap pace,” Estre admitted.

“I think we did a good job on both sides of the Atlantic on strategy, on tire calls. Pretty much everyone made mistakes in Long Beach and here, and we were closer to everyone else, which I think pushed people into mistakes.

“I think we can improve on our side. We made a small step, but it’s not enough — we are too far from Toyota. There are still some steps to come. If it’s enough or not is another question.

“At the moment we are really far (back) in performance. Even if we execute the race well we are one or two laps down, which is too much. I am not sure if this is all in our hands, we don’t have the data. We have to be confident in the FIA and ACO.

“You have to keep in mind that one Toyota had an issue (at Portimao), and a Ferrari had an issue. Other than that it would have been very hard to beat them. On performance, our position is more fourth and fifth rather than third. I think it’s still Toyota in front of Ferrari, and then us, which was nice because it was Cadillac after them in Sebring.”

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It must be noted though that the No. 6 Porsche didn’t enjoy an entirely perfect race. The drivers battled power steering issues throughout, which Estre said made the car tough to drive. “It didn’t impact performance, I think, but as drivers, we were happy to only do double stints and not a triple,” he said.

Thankfully the handling issues for Estre and company weren’t as catastrophic an issue as the sister car’s power steering woes, which forced it into the garage for repairs that cost the team a huge chunk of time. The No. 6 also lost time at the end of the race to an additional stop, the car forced to come in for a splash in the closing laps. Estre admitted that “there wasn’t enough fuel in the car” to make it home.

“We were luckily we spotted it early,” he added.

What may help Porsche, and fellow LMDh manufacturer Cadillac at Spa, is a change to the Platform BoP, which can be made every two races (the BoP for individual cars is frozen until after Le Mans to prevent the temptation for teams to hold back performance ahead of the 24 Hours). Whether or not the ACO and FIA decide to give the LMDh cars a significant boost for the race in Belgium remains to be seen.

Ferrari Hypercar adds Monza test for Le Mans prep

Ferrari AF Corse is set to take its pair of 499P Hypercars to Monza after the third round of the FIA WEC season at Spa-Francorchamps next weekend, for a final test ahead of the car’s Le Mans 24 Hours debut in June. Giuliano Salvi, the Ferrari GT & …

Ferrari AF Corse is set to take its pair of 499P Hypercars to Monza after the third round of the FIA WEC season at Spa-Francorchamps next weekend, for a final test ahead of the car’s Le Mans 24 Hours debut in June.

Giuliano Salvi, the Ferrari GT & Sports Race Cars race and testing manager, confirmed to RACER that the entire crew and all six drivers will be present at the “Temple of Speed” as it looks to get some additional running in before the Le Mans Test Day. It will also be useful in helping the team get a baseline set up for the FIA WEC’s race at Monza in July, which will be the program’s first on home soil in front of the tifosi.

However, this final test will not be the 499P’s first at Monza, as it took its 499Ps to the Autodromo back in February for some running before the season opener in Sebring.

“It will be a good training session for everyone,” Salvi said. “The circuit is closer in terms of lift-to-drag ratio to Le Mans. It’s a low-downforce circuit. So we are going there to test different setups and settings for running at high speed — this will help us prepare for Le Mans.”

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Salvi also confirmed that the team will use the traditional Monza layout for the test. In the past, LMP1 Hybrid teams were filmed testing at Monza without the first chicane to increase the time spent at top speed at the circuit. However, Ferrari, which will share the venue with Porsche for the test, has confirmed that it will use the traditional layout.

The test at Monza will come after the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps next week, which is set to be a hugely important race for the program, following a pair of podium finishes in the opening races of the season.

The 499P isn’t a stranger to Spa, as the team tested at the Belgian circuit in the off-season, though mainly in wet conditions. Ferrari hopes to make further progress with its 499Ps on its return and close the gap with Toyota.

Last weekend in Portimao, Ferrari was again Toyota’s closest rival. It looked set for a double podium before its No. 51 developed an issue with its brake-by-wire system, which ultimately led to a right-front brake disc failure late in the race.

The team, and in particular, Antonio Giovanazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi, were forced to take a cautious approach to their stints. They were tasked with managing the brake temperature, with Pier Guidi’s pace suffering badly as the problem worsened.

Still, despite that setback in Sunday’s race, Salvi feels the team has made significant progress since the season began, with a new car and a newly assembled staff, which have only raced together twice.

Technical glitches hindered the Ferrari 499P Hybrids in Portimao, but the team is confident it can take a more aggressive approach each time out. Motorsport Images

“The team in Sebring was working together in a race environment for the first time,” he explained. We were testing a lot but it’s a brand-new team with younger, bright brains, but that is inexperienced. We still need a lot more time working together.

“The workflow was smoother (in Portimao) — we improved massively. We had more control over what we were doing on track. We were better at fuel management too. We need another step like that for Le Mans — we need to be ready to face big endurance races.”

Interestingly, Salvi revealed that the team had opted for a conservative approach in Portugal. He hinted that it will become bolder as the season progresses, once it becomes more comfortable with the 499P as a package.

“Every time we put the car on the ground we learn something,” he said. “In Sebring we were probably not nursing the tire enough; here (in Portimao) at the end of the day we probably could have pushed more at the beginning and during the race. We were trying to cure the left-front corner, which was critical here. We could have pushed more. We still need to improve.

“If we didn’t have the issue we would have been second and third, which would have been an exceptional result. Unfortunately, we couldn’t achieve that, but we take the positive of the second position of car No. 50.

“Every time we see the checkered flag we get tons of data. Testing is limited — we don’t have many days to spend on track. The car is brand-new, it’s fragile and complicated. We needed to nurse it. We can push more. Every time we race we will be more aggressive.”

LMGT3 could be limited to two cars per manufacturer in the WEC

Imposing a limit of two cars per manufacturer in the FIA WEC’s new-for-2024 LMGT3 class is “on the table”, according to the head of Le Mans Endurance Management, Frédéric Lequien, to ensure variety and enough grid spaces for loyal teams and …

Imposing a limit of two cars per manufacturer in the FIA WEC’s new-for-2024 LMGT3 class is “on the table”, according to the head of Le Mans Endurance Management, Frédéric Lequien, to ensure variety and enough grid spaces for loyal teams and factories.

In a media roundtable discussion yesterday at Portimao, Lequien hinted that interest is high for the new LMGT3 category next year, meaning tough decisions will need to be made by the selection committee to ensure the grid is diverse and rewards loyalty from Hypercar manufacturers and teams to the championship.

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Spaces will be at a premium for the LMGT3 class, as the Hypercar field is set to expand further in 2024, with the likes of Alpine, BMW and Lamborghini joining the array of manufacturers already on the grid. With a limit on the number of full-season cars due to the number of garage spaces at certain circuits, pleasing everyone will be a near-impossible task.

“One of the ideas on the table is to have two GT3s per manufacturer, and give priority to the manufacturers involved in Hypercar,” he explained. “Saying that, we like diversity also. The perfect situation would be to have spaces for marques, and brands, not in Hypercar. We have to find a fair regulation.

“The idea is that the OEMs will choose the teams.”

What does this mean for manufacturers in GTE that have more than two customer teams in the FIA WEC, and the OEM in Aston Martin, which has been part of the FIA WEC since its inception but has no Hypercar programme?

“This is something we must take into consideration, loyalty to the championship,” Lequien said. “In a way, the success of hypercars can bring some other problems. What do we do if we have 26 Hypercars? We have 12 (10) places for GT. We will see.”

The expansion of Hypercar is also likely to spell the end of the LMP2 class in the FIA WEC, outside of the Le Mans 24 Hours, from next season. Instead, the teams in the LMP2 marketplace that aren’t set to join Hypercar from next season, will have to look further afield to programmes in the European and Asian Le Mans Series, where LMP2 cars will remain the top class.

While Lequien was unable to confirm this change or the two-car limit for GT3 factories, at this stage, as both are subject to approval by the FIA World Motorsport Council, he said an announcement is targeted for the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

“We have to respect the process,” he said. “We discussed with the teams, we have explained to them that LMP2 is the top class in the ELMS and Asian Le Mans Series (going forward), and still eligible for the 24 Hours of Le Mans with around a minimum of 15 places.

“But we may have the possibility (of reintroducing LMP2 to the FIA WEC if there wasn’t enough GT3 and Hypercar interest combined), but not for next season.”

No. 8 crew saves the day for Toyota at Portimao 6H

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No. 8 GR010 HYBRID scored its first win of the FIA World Endurance Championship season in dominant fashion after the team’s Sebring-winning No. 7 crew lost seven laps due to a driveshaft change being required on the car early …

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No. 8 GR010 HYBRID scored its first win of the FIA World Endurance Championship season in dominant fashion after the team’s Sebring-winning No. 7 crew lost seven laps due to a driveshaft change being required on the car early in the race.

Sebastien Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley finished a lap ahead of the field, although the race was more intriguing than the Sebring 1000 Miles. But ultimately the Japanese team, with its untroubled winning car, proved capable of keeping Ferrari and the other teams in the chasing pack at arm’s length.

“I felt for car 7 — they kept us honest,” Hartley admitted after the race. “They overtook us at the start before their issue. I’m still convinced the others are coming and will get their ducks in a row for Le Mans.

“It was a great race for us though. Today it was perfect — there were no mistakes from the drivers, pit stops, or on strategy. To take the championship lead is nice. We are still making steps. I am proud that the guys have put our experience to good use and optimized the package we have.”

Finishing second was the No. 50 Ferrari 499P of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, scoring the team its best result to date, improving on the third-place finish in Round 1.

It wasn’t in any way a perfect race for AF Corse, but there were so many encouraging signs. The team’s race pace, and performance in the garage and on the pit wall were much improved in this encounter. As a result, Ferrari was in contention for the opening hours and able to put pressure on the winning car, spending almost five hours on the lead lap.

“Second place represents an excellent performance and a further step forward over the third step of the podium on the debut,” said Antonello Coletta, head of Attività Sportive GT. “We know there’s still a long way to go, and our opponents are very strong. We had a problem with the 499P No. 51 that stopped us from finishing with a double podium, which would have been an outstanding result. We go away happy but aware that we must continue to work, especially on reliability.”

Completing the podium was the No. 6 Porsche Penske 963, on what was an extremely memorable weekend for the young LMDh program. After the IMSA arm of the team claimed the 963 model’s first win globally on Saturday in the IMSA Long Beach sprint race, a first WEC podium today will add to the team’s confidence going forward.

With the third-place finish the No. 6 of Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre became the first LMDh car to finish on the podium in WEC history. It wasn’t a comfortable end to the race, though, as the team under-fueled the car at its last scheduled stop, forcing Lotterer in with 10 minutes to go, almost costing the team third.

Just off the podium, finishing a handful of seconds behind the Porsche, was the car from the only major factory team in Hypercar that didn’t suffer a mechanical drama or significant on-track incident: Cadillac Racing. Over one lap the V-Series.R couldn’t match the front-runners, but the car is significantly kinder to its tires than most of the other cars in the class, which gradually brought the team into play as the race wore on.

Richard Westbrook, Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber, who were out of sync for most of this one due to an additional tire change midway through a stint early in the race, will be thrilled with a second fourth-place finish, which was claimed when the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari suffered a right-front brake disc failure in the final 30 minutes.

The issue for Alessandro Pier Guidi occurred at Turn 1 after a late race restart for an incident for the Vanwall, which also suffered a brake failure that sent Jacques Villeneuve spinning into the barriers and into retirement at the end of the fifth hour. Pier Guidi went straight on at Turn 1, and then went straight on at the hairpin later in the lap.

He finished, but had to limp home at a reduced pace with the left-front brake disc doing the heavy lifting. This came after Antonio Giovanazzi suffered issues with the car’s brake-by-wire system early in the race while running in the top three. The Italian was forced to complete an ironman stint, lifting and coasting to control the brake temperature while the team worked to solve the issue. It was a stint which he described as the hardest of his career.

Meanwhile, the No. 7 Toyota had to come in for a rear corner change, to replace a driveshaft and the sensor which failed. By regulation the sensor needs to work, so Toyota was forced to bring the car in despite the fact that the issue didn’t affect its performance. It proved a major setback for Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez, who held the championship lead going into the race and left Portugal with a ninth-place finish.

At Porsche, both its cars suffered power steering issues in the race. The No. 6’s was reported as persistent but not catastrophic, while the No. 5 had to spend time in the garage for repairs due to an electronics-focused issue for Michael Christensen late in the race. It came home last of the classified Hypercar runners.

Peugeot’s No. 93 9X8 also had steering issues, the team was forced to replace the steering rack in the build-up to the race. The car started from pit lane and a lap down, forcing its drivers into a recovery drive for the duration, eventually finishing a respectable seventh, behind the team’s No. 94.

The latter had a far more encouraging race, in the mix with the Cadillac and Porsches for a top-five finish throughout. This performance was by no means a complete turnaround for the Peugeot program, but it has clearly taken steps in the right direction since its woeful outing at Sebring.

There were no issues with the hybrid system or the new hydraulic gearbox. Peugeot will therefore have more confidence that it can take further strides at Spa next time out. With a surprise fifth-place finish due to the limping Ferrari falling back, the No. 94 also made it five manufacturers in the top five.

In LMP2, it was a thriller that went down to the wire, again. Winning the race after late drama was the No. 23 United Autosports ORECA of Oliver Jarvis, Giedo van der Garde and Josh Pierson. It was a welcome change in fortune after the team’s rotten luck in the season opener, when an issue with the in-car camera hit the kill switch on the car and they retired from the lead.

The car controlled most of the race, before a fumbled penultimate pit stop as a result of a radio failure dropped Oliver Jarvis to second behind the No. 63 Prema ORECA of Danill Kvyat.

“I had no radio for the whole stint. The battery died and I was on my own,” explained van der Garde, who filled IMSA full-season driver Tom Blomqvist’s seat this weekend, told RACER. “Then suddenly they decided to put Olly in the car as they thought it was an issue with my helmet. We were only supposed to swap the left-side tires at that stop before I took the car to the end. But then suddenly Olly was in the car and I had to unbuckle and sort the drinks system. It was a strange situation, but we did a good job.”

But the final round of stops after the restart wasn’t kind to Prema, as the car dropped to third behind the two United ORECAs, the No. 23 reclaiming the lead, with the No. 22 of Phil Hanson at the end of the race close behind, following Jarvis home

To add insult to injury for Prema, Kvyat lost third in the closing laps to a hard-charging Louis Deletraz in the No. 41 WRT ORECA and came home fourth, the former F1 driver struggling for grip.

The No. 48 Hertz Team JOTA ORECA, in its final outing before the team begins campaigning a Porsche 963 in Hypercar, ended up completing the top five after struggling to feature in the race for the win, and getting involved in multiple lengthy tussles with the cars around it.

Meanwhile, it was a tough day for Vector Sport. After the high of missing out on pole by the smallest margin in WEC history yesterday, today the team suffered a fly-by-wire throttle issue that forced the team in for a lengthy stint in the garage for repairs.

GTE Am came down to a duel in the final hour. Corvette Racing’s pole-sitting No. 33 C8.R and the No. 83 Richard Mille Racing Ferrari ended up in a battle for the lead in the final minutes, with Nicky Catsburg putting on a defensive masterclass to keep Alessio Rovera at bay.

“It takes two drivers to put on a show like that,” Catsburg said after the race, “but I have to say hats off to Alessio for driving fair. He was so much faster at the end, but catching is one thing, passing is another.”

Catsburg’s teammate Nico Varrone described the atmosphere in the Corvette garage during the final hour as “stressful.”

“We are so lucky that our team helped us at every stop,” Varrone told RACER. “We were gaining six or seven seconds each time, they kept us in it. Those guys hit the gym multiple times a week and practice every day — hard work pays off.”

In the end, Rovera was unable to make the move and Corvette held on for the win, taking a commanding championship lead in the process with its second straight win to start the season. It was nevertheless a great bounce-back result for Richard Mille Racing, after crashing out of the race in Sebring.

Completing the podium was the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche, which was in the mix throughout and came home just 25 seconds off the lead.

Just off the podium was a pair of AF Corse Ferraris that finished fourth and fifth, the No. 54 leading the No. 21. The No. 21 crew of Diego Alessi, Simon Mann and Ulysse De Pauw will leave Portugal scratching their heads and wanting more. The car led much of the early portion of the race, Alessi proving to be the class of the field in the opening stints up against the other Bronze drivers.

Next on the schedule for the FIA WEC teams is the 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps on April 29.

RESULTS

Hartley leads Toyota sweep of Portimao 6H qualifying

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s GR010 HYBRIDs blitzed FIA World Endurance Championship qualifying at Portimao this afternoon, locking out the front row with both its cars over a second quicker than the rest of the Hypercar runners. The best lap came from …

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s GR010 HYBRIDs blitzed FIA World Endurance Championship qualifying at Portimao this afternoon, locking out the front row with both its cars over a second quicker than the rest of the Hypercar runners.

The best lap came from Brendon Hartley, who set a 1m30.171s, bettering the previous FIA WEC pole lap record by two-tenths in the No. 8. His time was almost three-tenths quicker than the sister car of Kamui Kobayashi.

“It felt really good. We’ve put some effort into qualifying setup this time,” Hartley said. “Ferrari annoyed us by taking pole at Sebring. We expect Ferrari to be closer in the race, as they have focused on long runs. I knew the lap was good –I knew it would be hard against Kamui.

“We felt we would be playing catch-up as we hadn’t tested here before the season. We expect to be fighting the red cars tomorrow.”

The fastest time from the other teams came from Nicklas Nielsen in the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P, which could only manage a 1m31.596s, 1.4 seconds off the pole time. James Calado completed the second row, though the Briton complained of the braking performance at the rear throughout the session, describing the brakes as “locking up everywhere” on the team radio.

Best of the rest was the No. 6 Penske Porsche, which was the first of a gaggle of Hypercars in the 1m32s. The No. 94 Peugeot ended up sixth, ahead of the No. 5 Porsche and No. 2 Cadillac. The No. 93 Peugeot and Glickenhaus completed the top 10.

Richard Westbrook, who qualified the Cadillac in the session, says the team is still finding its feet at the Portimao circuit.

“We’re not quite pleased with the starting position but the lap time is an improvement,” he said. “Every time out we’re learning and, of course, it is the first time at this track for the car and us in the car. We have a reliable car and like we showed at Sebring we’ll have good race pace. It’s a work in progress.”

Prema Racing’s No. 63 ORECA took pole in LMP2 with a last-gasp effort from Mirko Bortolotti, after his previous provisional pole time was deleted for a Turn 1 track limits violation. The Italian Lamborghini factory driver set a 1m34.303s to go to the top by a thousandth of a second with just a minute remaining, vaulting from 12th to pole.

This pushed Gabriel Aubry’s Vector Sport ORECA to second, after he spent most of the session atop the times, only briefly edged by Bortolotti before his initial time was deleted midway through the running.

“Mirko did an amazing job. He is very impressive. We really need to be proud of what we achieved today,” said Bortolotti’s teammate Doriane Pin after what was Prema’s first WEC pole.

There is an investigation ongoing, though, as the No. 63 had to be worked on in the fast lane of the pit lane when the session went green, which prevented cars from heading out on track. We await a decision from the stewards.

“I am in the pit lane, the engine goes off, I couldn’t restart it — I tried power cycles,” Bortolotti explained. “At that stage, my mechanics came to the rescue and they fired it up quickly so I could go out without losing much time. There was then another issue which was really weird, but luckily the guys fixed it quickly and we could actually qualify on our second set of tires without using the first set. It was undrivable so I had to stop straight away.”

Third in the times was Phil Hanson, who set a 1:34.451 in the No. 22 United ORECA. There were five teams in the top five, as Yifei Ye put the No. 48 JOTA ORECA fourth, while Albert Costa put Inter Europol fifth.

Ben Keating put the Corvette C8.R LMGTE on pole. Motorsport Images

In the GTE Am ranks, Corvette Racing will start from pole position after a stunning lap from Ben Keating late in the GTE session, which like at Sebring, was thrilling. The Texan, who topped the times early with a 1m44.557s, improved twice amid another shootout with Sarah Bovy in the Iron Dames Porsche.

The pair traded fast times, but eventually, Keating set a 1m41.362s to snatch pole, a time that Bovy was unable to better on her final flying lap, which was a 1m41.579s.

This performance from the Corvette (which is carrying the biggest success ballast penalty) and the Iron Dames Porsche came after Ferrari teams topped all three practice sessions in the build-up to qualifying. But when it counted, the fastest Ferrari could only take third on the grid. Diego Alessi in the No. 21 led an all-AF Corse second row, as Thomas Flour in the No. 54 ended up fourth. The fastest Aston Martin, the ORT by TF Vantage, ended up fifth after Ahmad Al Harthy’s 1m41.904s.

“I expected the Ferraris to be up front,” Keating admitted after scoring Corvette’s first WEC pole of the season. “In all the practice sessions they were the quickest car, and we weren’t quite sure what we were going to be able to do.

“I have to give so much credit to the Corvette team. The C8.R has never been to Portimão, and neither has the team. This is not a place where you show up and do well from the beginning. We’ve been making unbelievable, big improvements in the car every time we go out. I couldn’t believe how well the car was set up for qualifying.”

UP NEXT: Sunday’s six-hour race is set to start at 12:00pm local time.

RESULTS

Action Express details its plans for Le Mans

As Cadillac V-Series.R prototypes compete on two continents this weekend – in the GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Long Beach and in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in the six-hour race at …

As Cadillac V-Series.R prototypes compete on two continents this weekend — in the GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Long Beach and in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in the six-hour race at Portimao in Portugal — the Cadillac Racing teams are looking forward to the 24 Hour of Le Mans and working toward success in the world’s biggest endurance race.

For Action Express Racing, that will be a new experience. And while its No. 3 will see action in the six-hour race at Spa in two weeks’ time, Chip Ganassi Racing will run that car alongside its No. 2, with support and observation by key AXR personnel.

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“We’re fortunate to have the opportunity with CGR at Spa,” said AXR director of operations Chris Mitchum, who will travel to Spa for the race. “We will be much more than an interested watching party. Bill Keuler, our crew chief, will work on the 3 car with the Ganassi group. We’ve all gotten to this one-team point where we know each other and work together well.

“Not being a WEC team nor competing in the WEC, there are a lot of nuances that we know we don’t understand. One of our biggest goals is to understand the tech and inspection process. Having Bill as a mechanic on the ground to go through that and having myself there to watch the bigger picture and understand the flow is important to understand what the WEC officials are looking for and how the other teams operate. We want to take in as much as we can, and this is the best we can do without actually operating a car there.”

That won’t be the only preparation for Le Mans, as the team will do an endurance test at Road America with drivers Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken — the victorious trio from the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

“CGR is doing an endurance test. We’re doing a two-day test at Road America with all three drivers with our WEC car, so that’s our Le Mans preparation. That will work out well,” Mitchum explained. “They’ll drive the car they’re going to drive at Le Mans, use the seat insert they use. We’ll work though all our test procedures, and GM has a tight list of things that need to get accomplished. I think in doing that, it’s the best preparation we can have with the landscape as it is.”

The logistics in conducting a multi-continent campaign, especially with the current supply chain issues and shortage of spares, is challenging, although Mitchum notes that the capabilities to move cars and equipment is much more advanced than the last time he looked at going to Le Mans 15 years ago. But the team still has to get the car from the Road America test to France, and much of the other equipment and spares are already on the way.

“We have some great partners that we’re utilizing. You end up dividing your thought process between what parts and pieces you can operate in IMSA without them here and what parts and pieces you need,” Mitchum said. “Our biggest challenge is how do we operate at the spares level we want, on two different continents effectively at the same time. You don’t want to just air freight everything; you have to be realistic. Our sea container with support pieces and parts that we need left when we landed here in Long Beach and then we’ll air freight our car just after Laguna.”

The team will still have a car in the U.S., the one it will race in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. But the team will have everything it needs to keep going should the worst happen.

“We will still take our primary car, a spare tub and all the spares we need so that we operate on our disaster-times-two plan the same as we would in IMSA as we would over in France. We’ve outfitted the inside of that sea container so if we need to do some fabrication work, we can use it as a workshop. There is not a stress level of how is it going to come together; it’s constant attention.”

Mitchum and the team are realistic in their expectations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. What they do expect is to learn as much as possible in order to be better when Action Express competes there again.

Hartley keeps Toyota on top in final Portimao practice

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No. 8 GR010 HYBRID set the pace in the third and final practice session of the weekend in Portimao ahead of qualifying, with a 1m31.795s from Brendon Hartley. The Kiwi’s time came after a flurry of fast times from the hypercar …

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No. 8 GR010 HYBRID set the pace in the third and final practice session of the weekend in Portimao ahead of qualifying, with a 1m31.795s from Brendon Hartley.

The Kiwi’s time came after a flurry of fast times from the hypercar runners in the opening 10 minutes, where Ferrari’s Alessandro Pier Guidi briefly topped the screens.

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The pack was closer during this session as a whole, with the No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P splitting the two Toyotas in the running order with Pier Guidi’s quickest lap. The top seven were also within 1.2 seconds.

Perhaps the most encouraging sign from this final 60-minute practice run was the improvement in outright speed from Peugeot’s 9X8s. To this point, both of the French manufacturer’s cars had struggled to make an impression with lap times, but in FP3 the No. 94 was able to set the fourth fastest time, a 1m32.783s from Nico Müller which was within a second of the No. 8’s benchmark. It was also over a second faster than any lap set by the 9X8 on Friday.

That meant the No. 94 was quicker than the No. 50 Ferrari, the Cadillac and both Penske Porsches, plus the two non-hybrid runners. Will Peugeot’s knowledge of the circuit with the 9X8 from testing, plus its upgraded gearbox put it in the mix when we see the cars gunning for pole later today?

The top five in the standings was completed by the Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, ahead of the Vanwall which set an impressive 1m32.922s to go sixth.

The pair of Penske Porsches continued to struggle for outright speed, its 963s ending up eighth and ninth, though the team, like Ferrari, has been focusing on improving the car’s tire wear on longer runs during the on-track sessions thus far. It will be interesting to see what times the 963 is capable of in qualifying, with new tires and low fuel.

LMP2, meanwhile, was topped yet again by Vector Sport, which set the pace in Free Practice 2 yesterday. The British team appears far more at home here than it did in Sebring, Gabriel Aubry extracting good times from its ORECA.

His best on this occasion was a 1m34.265s, to put him marginally quicker than the first of the two WRT ORECAs — the No. 41 — which slotted in second and third with their hot laps.

The No. 48 HERTZ Team JOTA 07 was fourth, with the No. 22 United example fifth.

In GTE AM, the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO ensured a Ferrari topped each session ahead of Qualifying this weekend. The quickest tour of the track was set by Davide Rigon, a 1:40.426.

The Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari ended up second, with the first of the other manufacturer customer teams, Iron Dames, third. The FP1 and FP2-topping Kessel Ferrari would end up fifth, behind the Iron Lynx Porsche.

The session featured a handful of incidents, including a red flag with 24 minutes remaining after a collision at the hairpin. Gustavo Menezes in the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 collided with the No. 25 Alpine ORECA while trying to get past up the inside.

The hit damaged the left rear of the ORECA, puncturing Memo Rojas’ tire, which did damage to the bodywork while he tried to limp back to the pits. Unfortunately, Rojas was unable to make it all the way back, stopping on track, and bringing the session to a halt while trackside crews lifted the car onto a flatbed.

This came moments after a spin for the other Alpine, being driven by Julien Canal at the time, at the hairpin, which caused minor contact between the Iron Dames Porsche and No. 28 JOTA ORECA which were trying to avoid the Alpine that was stranded facing the wrong way at the corner exit.

Next up is qualifying, which is due to get underway at 3:30pm local time.

RESULTS