TAG Heuer Porsche confirmed Pascal Wehrlein is OK after his heavy crash in the Sao Paulo E-Prix on Saturday. The reigning Formula E champion flipped into the outside wall on the exit of Turn 6 after contact from Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy, who …
TAG Heuer Porsche confirmed Pascal Wehrlein is OK after his heavy crash in the Sao Paulo E-Prix on Saturday.
The reigning Formula E champion flipped into the outside wall on the exit of Turn 6 after contact from Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy, who was unable to make the turn after sustaining damage in a bump with Maxilian Guenther moments earlier.
A huge crash for our reigning world champion Pascal Wehrlein as he came together with Nick Cassidy
In a bulletin issued to media, Porsche confirmed Wehrlein was uninjured, but that he had been taken to a local hospital for precautionary checks.
“It is with huge relief that we are able to confirm that Pascal is okay after the on-track incident in race one of the new season,” said a Porsche spokesman. “He’s been taken to hospital for some final checks.”
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Speaking of the incident, Wehrlein’s teammate Antonio Felix da Costa – who finished the race in second – expressed his relief that Wehrlein was all right and said the incident highlighted how far motorsport safety has come.
“I think it’s a reminder that our sport is dangerous,” he said. “It’s a reminder that we have to race with respect amongst everyone. I’m not at all putting fault to either Nick or Pascal, I’m sure both of them are very fair drivers.
“I’m glad that he’s is okay, but it’s a good reminder that what we do is dangerous, and we need to race with respect. Our cars are getting faster, some of these tracks are tight, are bumpy. We need to know how to go side by side. I’m just glad to see that he’s good and that the safety of these cars is very good.”
Porsche Motorsport has confirmed that the Iron Dames will return to the marque in the start of a new multi-year partnership with the all-female squad. It marks the beginning of a new initiative to promote women in motorsport. The partnership …
Porsche Motorsport has confirmed that the Iron Dames will return to the marque in the start of a new multi-year partnership with the all-female squad. It marks the beginning of a new initiative to promote women in motorsport.
The partnership includes the promotion of long-time Iron Dame driver Michelle Gatting to Porsche contracted driver. The Danish racer will be joined by Switzerland’s Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy from Belgium, and French driver Célia Martin. The four drivers will compete across the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Michelin Endurance Cup (GT Daytona), FIA World Endurance Championship (LMGT3), European Le Mans Series (LMGT3) and Asian Le Mans Series (GT). The latter series gets it start next weekend at Sepang.
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Iron Dames will partner with Team Manthey for WEC where Gatting, Bovy and Martin will make up the core squad, and Proton Competition in the other series. Gatting, Bovy and Frey will be the core driver lineup for the Michelin Endurance Cup.
“Porsche stands for a culture of equal opportunities and diversity. Encouraging women to get involved in motorsport and then supporting them in open competition is something we value highly,” said Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport.
“In this context, we’ve seen that the Iron Dames project is well-structured and was very successful in recent years Since our customer teams have already celebrated victories with the Iron Dames, we’re now taking the next logical step. We’re very confident that the collaboration in all series will reap excellent results and we can highlight our contribution to supporting female racing drivers with victories and podium finishes.”
Launched in 2018 by Deborah Mayer, Iron Dames has been competing in worldwide endurance racing, and is the first all-female team to win a race in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Bovy, Frey and Gatting captured the final GTE-Am victory in the 2023 season-ender in Bahrain (main image). That victory came in a Porsche 911 RSR 19.
“It’s an honor to join forces with such a renowned brand as Porsche Motorsport, who share the same goal of leaving a lasting legacy in motorsport while driving forward progress,” said Mayer. “The Iron Dames Project has always been rooted in the power of dreams to overcome barriers. Our journey is not just about competing at the highest level, but also about proving that the door to the racing world is open to everyone with passion and determination.
“From 2025, we aim to set new benchmarks together, to empower women in endurance racing, support upcoming female drivers, change perceptions and inspire the next generation. ‘Porsche X Iron Dames’ provides more than a fresh impetus for women in motorsport, it sends a powerful message that every dream is worth pursuing, no matter how ambitious. I look forward to seeing Célia, Michelle, Rahel and Sarah racing Porsche cars all over the world again and to seeing the ‘Every Dream Matters’ movement flourish with them.”
The alliance between Porsche Motorsport and Iron Dames is set to continue for several years. Plans are already in the pipeline for the project to be closely linked to the German sports car manufacturer’s successful junior development pyramid. The aim is to link the national support programs in the Porsche one-make cups, the central Junior Program of Porsche Motorsport and the recently introduced “Iron Dames Young Talents” initiative. The aim is to create a path for young talent from karting to top-tier racing.
Porsche may not have had its best day in GTP, but it doesn’t get much better than a double victory at Indianapolis in the GT categories. Not only did AO Racing overcome a qualifying penalty to take its third GTD PRO victory of the season, but Wright …
Porsche may not have had its best day in GTP, but it doesn’t get much better than a double victory at Indianapolis in the GT categories. Not only did AO Racing overcome a qualifying penalty to take its third GTD PRO victory of the season, but Wright Motorsports took the GTD win, the first for Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer, joined by Jan Heylen for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s six-hour Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Laurin Heinrich had the fastest time in Saturday’s qualifying session, but post-session tech found that the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R didn’t meet the minimum ride height rules. Nevertheless, Heinrich and Michael Christensen recovered nicely, moving steadily through the field and drove to a 12.527s margin of victory over the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3 of Mike Rockenfeller and Harry Tincknell.
“I think starting from the very back and knowing that many cars in front of me were Bronze drivers or slower drivers, it’s easy to get overambitious,” Heinrich said of advancing through the field. “I really told myself that I want to hold a bit back and don’t rush too much because I knew it’s a long race, six hours, and we knew rain was coming. That was my approach. I wanted to get them one by one, and I think that worked out pretty well.
“Soon I realized I had good pace and fuel saved when I needed, and when I needed to attack, I took them one by one. … It’s also good for me to prove it to myself that I can do something like this.”
Rockenfeller qualified the No. 64 Mustang third, but found himself at the front after a bit of yo-yoing through the field. It was the final pit stop that proved decisive, though, as the AO crew got Christensen out of the pits in first and he used the clear track in front of him to good effect. Rockenfeller and Tincknell matched their second-place finish at VIR in the last outing.
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“Rocky had a really good start and it looked like we were capable of running up front,” said Tincknell. “The rain gradually picked up, and we made a good strategy call to go to wets. We were behind the safety car for a long time, so the team decided to box and put on new tires. I hopped into the car and the stop sent us to the back. I had a lot of fun moving through the field. This was the second time I’ve ever driven this car in the wet, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. The car performed really well and sliced through the field.
“I made it up to podium position, and we decisively changed back to slicks. That phase of the race brought us to the lead. Some lapped traffic kept me on my toes, and I was challenged by a competitor behind me. I was giving it every single ounce I could. Unfortunately, we came out of the final pit second. The car is really showing its strengths across all conditions.”
Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R took third ahead of Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3.
Heart of Racing doubled up on its GTD PRO effort by moving the second Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo from GTD, but still the best that Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas could do was fifth in the No. 23 Aston. It allowed Heinrich and AO to stretch their championship lead over Gunn and Heart of Racing to 99 points. A tough day for the No. 01 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 meant an eighth-place finish for Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen, all but eliminating Sellers and Snow from the championship as they now have a 219-point deficit going into Petit Le Mans.
It’s always good when the only sight your competition sees is the tail of your car. Once again Wright Motorsports bounced back from a hard recent go and slip-slided to a win at the Brickyard. Jake Galstad/Lumen
The No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R had an impressive debut at Daytona, but the mid-season has been fraught with struggles. The No. 120 led the class for most of the Indy race, with Heylen driving the final stint and taking a 2.465s victory over a charging Robby Foley in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 he shared with Patrick Gallagher and Jake Walker.
Adelson started 15th in the 22-car GTD field, but advanced steadily to hand the car to Heylen in fifth. Heylen took it to the front before turning it over to Skeer for a double stint before taking the car to the finish. Overall, the No. 120 Porsche led 140 laps of the 207 they completed.
“Usually, it’s just survive and stay on the lead lap and try to stay as high up in the pack as you can,” Adelson said. “Today I really felt like I made a difference. The driver order, after that, just with the yellows and the rain, it just made sense to keep me in for the first 1h30m, 1h40m, and hand off to Jan and have Elliott double and have Jan finish because we wanted him to finish.”
“Adam was definitely in the most changing conditions out there, and ultimately he did an unbelievable job driving through the field in the middle of the rain and chaos to put us in a strong position. Then it became the job of both Jan and myself just to minimize any losses,” added Skeer.
The drivers hadn’t really been comfortable with the car after missing most of the first practice session due to contact. Even in qualifying, they felt they still hadn’t made the right calls. For the race, the car was great in all conditions.
“I think we really didn’t have the right setup on the car, and we didn’t get it right for qualy either, so we kind of threw the kitchen sink at it … but in a very calculated way with a lot of intent in every single change,” Adelson said. “I have to give a really strong shout out to the guys at Wright Motorsports because they really pulled a rabbit out of the hat with that one and gave us an incredible, incredible car that worked great in the dry, worked great in the wet. It was comfortable to drive. It was just amazing.”
Kenton Koch, Mikael Grenier and Mike Skeen finished third in the No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes AMG that saw its first victory in the most recent race at VIR, ahead of the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan driven by Loris Spinelli, Misha Goikhberg and Devlin DeFrancesco. Championship leaders Winward Racing with Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje were fifth.
That fifth-place finish means Ward and Ellis don’t go into the finale with the championship in hand, but they only need to start the race to secure the title.
Sebastien Bourdais was buoyed by his pole run in qualifying for today’s six-hour TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It brought a glimmer of hope that the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R isn’t eliminated from the …
Sebastien Bourdais was buoyed by his pole run in qualifying for today’s six-hour TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It brought a glimmer of hope that the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R isn’t eliminated from the championship.
At the same time, he recognizes that Porsche Penske Motorsport, currently one-two in the championship, seems to be able to pull out a good result in any circumstance.
“They always seem to come back from the dead,” Bourdais said with a laugh. “So every time you think they’re pretty much done there, they come back and finish on the podium or win the race. It’s the beauty of IMSA — it’s never over. But at the same time, they haven’t had a single bad race so far this year, and we’ve already had one DNF and one that looked like a DNF.
“So, yeah, we need help for sure. If the stars align, and we get a little lucky, then everything’s possible. On pure results, if they finish placed, then it’s very much over.”
Indy first-timers
Ben Barker, driving the No. 55 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 with Giammarco Levorato and Corey Lewis, is one of several drivers in the field making their debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and RACER sought out his first impressions.
“First time to the to the mecca of motorsport in the U.S., and yeah, it’s pretty amazing. Like the whole complex is pretty crazy. It’s an exciting little track and lots of cars, so it’s going to be busy.
“It’s short, it’s it’s not loads to it. But equally, there’s quite a lot of combined corners sections that you really have to think about your car placement. Trying to learn the track [in the first practice session] with lots of cars was a bit tough, so I didn’t really get in a proper flow.”
Proton Competition’s Ben Barker is among the drivers making their Indianaplois bows. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images
Weather wondering
Who knows? Every time we think rain or thunderstorms will impact a race, we’re wrong. The chance of rain has ebbed since yesterday, and now the forecast predicts only a slim chance toward the end of the race. It’s also going to be considerably cooler than the past couple of days.
The greater impact, if the storms that rolled through Friday evening are any indication, is from lightning. Lightning strikes within a certain radius of the track will bring a red flag.
Drive time
The minimum drive time for GTP and GTD PRO in the six-hour race is 30m. Minimum drive time for LMP2 and GTD is 1h30m. Maximum drive time for all classes is four hours.
Tire allocations
GTP and LMP2 have seven sets of Michelin hard-compound tires between qualifying and race. GTD PRO and GTD have nine sets for the event. Rain tires, which have a chance of coming into play, do not count against the allocations.
How to watch and listen
The race will be broadcast in its entirety, beginning at 11:30 a.m ET on Peacock, with the NBC broadcast kicking in at 3 p.m. ET. Audio coverage from IMSA radio will be on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com, and SiriusXM (XM 206, Web/App 996)
With two races left, one team is in the driver’s seat for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship titles, and that driver’s seat was built in Weissach and carries a gold crest. Porsche Penske Motorsport is on the brink of both the driver and …
With two races left, one team is in the driver’s seat for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship titles, and that driver’s seat was built in Weissach and carries a gold crest.
Porsche Penske Motorsport is on the brink of both the driver and team championships. In order for Porsche to not end the season with the manufacturer’s title, the PPM drivers would have to violate Racing Rule No. 1 (Don’t. Hit. Your. Teammate!) in the two remaining races, tomorrow’s six-hour tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks and Motul Petit Le Mans. The No. 7 and No. 6 Porsche 963s are one-two in the championship and while nothing is guaranteed, the chances of another team overtaking both are pretty slim.
That’s especially true if the team can display the first-and-second-place dominance it showed last year at Indy. While that’s unlikely in the second year at the Speedway, a win by either car would effectively put the championship out of reach.
There’s a possible 165-point swing in each race; for that gap to occur, one car has to take pole and win, the other has to finish last in both qualifying and race. For that to happen once … possible. For it to happen two races in a row would be ridiculousness on the highest level.
The No. 7 with Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron has 2386 points. The No. 6 of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy is 100 points back. PPM’s closest challengers are the two Cadillac Racing teams, the No. 01 V-Series.R of Chip Ganassi Racing, Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande (185 points behind the No. 7); and the Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken-driven No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing entry (242 points back).
The No. 7 leads the team’s charge. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
Those are pretty big gaps to overcome. Even the 100-point gap between PPM teams is tough, especially given the No. 6’s record in endurance races. If you’re Nasr and Cameron, or PPM as a team, it’s a pretty nice position to be in.
“I would say you’re never comfortable … it has to be every time in a race car, you’re trying to maximize the package, regardless if you’re leading the championship or second,” says Nasr. “I think it’s more how you manage the risk in a race and making the right decisions.
“And I don’t see the reason we should we should change any of the approach we’ve been having all season long. Car 7 has had a strong run all year long, with plenty of podiums, two victories in our pocket, so it’s been working pretty well. And I don’t see the reason to change any of that approach.”
Being in a strong position as the championship heads to a close is one thing. Having a teammate between you – both in the points and on track – is even better.
“For sure, it’s better to have a sister car second in the championship. And you know, as a driver and for the whole Porsche Penske motorsport team, all I can say is we are all working towards the same goal, which is to prioritize the team and manufacturer win,” Nasr adds.
The drivers in the No. 6 have the same priorities – make sure PPM wins the drivers and teams titles, and Porsche take home the manufacturer trophy. But Jaminet and Tandy would like to be the driver champions … and if the No. 7, or better yet both cars – goes into the finale under no threat from the Cadillac squads, the gloves are off.
“We need to see where we’re going to be, but if it’s the same gap, and the P3 car especially is further away, let’s say then everybody’s doing their race,” declares Jaminet. “They don’t need our help … I think we’ve been helping them quite a bit this year already, so we’ve done our part of the job. And I think from now on, we go racing and try to do best we can on car 6, and especially if we arrive [at Road Atlanta] with a bigger gap to P3, then the championship is done anyway, so it’s going be one of the two cars. So it’s good for us.”
At this point, it’s probably unnecessary for PPM to play favorites; but they will if they think it needs to be done. In the most recent GTP round at Road America, the No. 7 was chasing the No. 6 for the victory. But the No. 7 was under intense pressure from Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06; trying to orchestrate a different PPM finishing order could have ended up in a loss for both.
The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura is applying the pressure. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
“I think our goal is to maximize points coming out of Indy, and ideally we have a championship locked up before we go into the last race,” explains PPM Managing Director Jonathan Diuguid. “But we don’t control everything. I think as we looked at the points championship, we talked about team orders and everything in Road America.
“And to be honest, the battle was so tight right there … I think if we swapped the cars, we probably had a chance of losing the win, which we weren’t prepared to do. So I think the main focus is the manufacturers championship. In that regard, it doesn’t matter if the 6, or the 7, or even the Proton or [JDC-Miller MotorSports] cars win in IMSA, that’s the goal, to get the manufacturer championship.
“I think specifically at Road America with the pressure the 10 car was applying, there was just no opportunity to do it. I think if it was a different scenario, we likely would have; but in that regard, our focus was to make sure a Porsche won the race.”
And a Porsche did. While another 30 points for the No. 7 would have made the gap harder to close, the fact that PPM and Porsche have two cars in excellent position for the title that can be lost only in the most unlikely of circumstances is a dream, especially considering the position the team and manufacturer were in 18 months ago.
“We’re proud,” declares Urs Kuratle, Porsche’s director Factory Racing LMDh. “Obviously, we know how much work it was and what we did, in hindsight, but also we are really proud about those positions. One-and-a-half years ago, it looked different, and it’s nice to see how things are coming together now and the work – and it was a lot of work – everybody put into the these things, how that comes into place and now it starts to work.
“We are nowhere near finished with the whole thing, we still have to make further steps, optimize it more and the car, but I think we can be proud, not only me, but everybody in the team.”
With an overall win for the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 and a second-place finish for Manthey Pure Rxcing’s 911 LMGT3 R 992 in LMGT3 today in the 6 Hours of Fuji, the storied German brand is on the cusp of a truly remarkable feat: a clean …
With an overall win for the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 and a second-place finish for Manthey Pure Rxcing’s 911 LMGT3 R 992 in LMGT3 today in the 6 Hours of Fuji, the storied German brand is on the cusp of a truly remarkable feat: a clean sweep of every World Endurance Championship title in 2024.
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In Hypercar, Andre Lotterer, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor dug deep, won from fifth on the grid and as a result, have opened up a 35-point lead heading into the Bahrain finale. With a maximum of just 39 points now on offer, barring a total disaster, the FIA Hypercar drivers’ world championship is theirs.
“We knew we had a chance this weekend,” said Vanthoor. “In Brazil and America, we were conservative and we didn’t take risks because we had a lead to protect. Today, though, we needed to capitalize — things felt good and we pushed with a good strategy.”
This time, it was Porsche that was perfect at Fuji. JEP/Motorsport Images
It was a near-perfect run from the No. 6, the only real blemish on the day an off at Turn 1 with the end in sight after AC liquid leaked onto the brake pedal, causing Estre’s foot to slip and miss the braking point. Aside from that, it was another flawless performance that adds to an impressive set of results in 2024 for the points leaders, including a victory in Qatar and three additional podiums.
That consistency means only one other crew remains in contention: Ferrari’s No. 50 trio of Miguel Molina, Antonio Fuoco and Nicklas Nielsen. Today’s race was a struggle for the Le Mans winners, who could only manage ninth. The 499P, once again, lacked outright pace on the Fuji circuit. The recent Evo Joker update did nothing to improve the team’s prospects on this occasion and the timing of the late-race safety car also cost it dearly.
In the middle portion of the six hours, the No. 50 did work its way to the front and led a chunk of the race. The team on the strategy desk opted to put Nielsen on a full set of fresh tires and let him loose to gain track position. He stormed to the front and for a time it looked like a masterstroke.
But race control’s decision to neutralize the field in the fifth hour to recover a stranded Lamborghini proved to be a major setback when on older tires the 499P simply didn’t have the pace to match or better the cars at the sharp end. Consequently, the No. 50 crew now has to win in Bahrain to have any shot at glory, and in the manufacturers’ battle, Ferrari needs to overcome a 27-point deficit.
Ferdinando Canizzo, the team’s head of endurance race cars, insists Ferrari hasn’t given up, but he acknowledged after the race realistically, it’s “game over.”
Hertz Team JOTA made Porsche’s day even sweeter by wrapping up the FIA WEC Hypercar World Cup for private teams. JEP/Motorsport Images
As for Toyota’s contenders in the No. 7 GR010 HYBRID — Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries — their title dreams are all but over, and on a day in which they hoped to claim a 10th win in 11 WEC races on home soil.
Instead, the No. 7 retired. Kobayashi’s overly ambitious move on the No. 5 Porsche at Turn 3 late in the race led to terminal damage, leaving himself and his full-season teammate 37 points adrift. To make matters worse, the sister car also lost out on a podium to a penalty for ignoring blue flags.
Not all is lost for Toyota, as it remains in the manufacturers’ hunt, 10 points behind Porsche. But make no mistake, this was a disastrous weekend for a brand which has become accustomed to winning major races and titles regularly. All of a sudden, it needs a standout weekend in Sakhir — and a fair share of luck — to come away with anything.
Adding to Porsche’s Hypercar successes, Hertz Team JOTA’s No. 12 963 wrapped up the Hypercar World Cup for private teams today. A fifth-place finish for Norman Nato, Will Stevens and Callum Ilott and a calamitous outing for the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari was enough to seal it.
That of course, wasn’t the only title win for Porsche this evening, as Manthey Pure Rxcing wrapped up the LMGT3 teams’ championship and Joel Sturm, Alex Malykhin and Klaus Bachler took the drivers’ title with yet another dazzling performance.
The dream season continued for Manthey Pure Rxcing. JEP/Motorsport Images
The team’s decision to keep Malykhin in the car for over two hours early in the race and conserve tires proved to be the right one; it left Bachler with fresh rubber and a chance to attack at the end. Crucially, though, they capitalized on the dose of luck they were served in the form of a perfectly timed safety car. Despite hauling 40 kilos of ballast down the pit straight each lap, the advantage that gave them ultimately meant they found themselves fighting for a podium from 14th on the grid.
Pure Rxcing’s achievements this season deserve real recognition. In its debut WEC season, the Edgar Kochanovskij-led team has managed to orchestrate one of the most ruthless campaigns in the championship’s history. Second place at Fuji means the Le Mans 24 Hours is still the only race the No. 92 has finished off the podium. But missing out on a strong double points haul in France, as it’s turned out, didn’t matter in its pursuit of the title.
In the shorter races, the Pure Rxcing crew have met every challenge thrown their way and put together a fairytale run. As a reward for their efforts, Malykhin, Bachler and Sturm head to Bahrain as champions with the pressure off, knowing a memorable night awaits them at the end-of-season beach party.
For Porsche, the 2024 FIA WEC season has been one for the ages. Pure Rxcing and Cadillac-bound JOTA have played their part in its pursuit of all five titles. Now it’s over to Penske to finish the job.
The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 set the fastest time in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s first practice session of the weekend at Fuji Speedway, Laurens Vanthoor completing a 1m30.561s early on to put himself and his …
The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 set the fastest time in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s first practice session of the weekend at Fuji Speedway, Laurens Vanthoor completing a 1m30.561s early on to put himself and his championship-leading teammates quickest by a hundredth of a second.
Toyota’s No. 8 GR010 HYBRID ended up second on the timing screens in Hypercar with a 1m30.571s from Ryo Hirakawa, while Ferrari’s Le Mans-winning No. 50 499P made it three manufacturers in the top three.
Completing the top five were the sister factory Porsche and Toyota’s No. 7 car, which ended up fourth and fifth, with marginally faster laps in the hot, humid weather than the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari which won last time out at COTA. Peugeot’s No. 94 sister car ended up seventh, with the fastest of the Alpine A424s — the No. 35 — eighth.
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Further down the order the No. 93 9X8 slotted in 16th, the car completing just 31 laps — the fewest in the class — after missing time early due to engine checks in its pit box.
In LMGT3 it was a strong start to the weekend for United Autosports, its No. 95 McLaren GT3 EVO topping the times with a 1m40.528s. The No. 95 did however bring out FP1’s only red flag in the final half hour, after stopping at Turn 10 after Marino Sato had contact with the Cadillac.
The pair of Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3s completed the top three with the No. 55 ahead of the No. 54, both within 0.2s of the McLaren.
Will Sunday’s Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas produce a sixth winner in six races in FIA WEC Hypercar? It certainly feels that way. This weekend in Texas the competition has been hotter than the local climate, with the Hypercar field …
Will Sunday’s Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas produce a sixth winner in six races in FIA WEC Hypercar? It certainly feels that way.
This weekend in Texas the competition has been hotter than the local climate, with the Hypercar field seemingly as close as it’s ever been. Throughout practice and qualifying multiple contenders have emerged, all quietly confident they’ll be in the mix tomorrow.
Ferrari has been the most bullish about its prospects. The double Le Mans winners expected to be competitive before FP1 got underway, the characteristics of the COTA circuit seemingly a good match for the 499P’s strengths.
And its high expectations, as it’s turned out, are not unfounded. The No. 51 and No. 83 combined for a front-row lockout this afternoon with rapid times in the 1m50s. The No. 50 crew — who are in the running for the drivers’ title — were not far off either, their fast time within half a second of the sister car.
Antonio Fuoco, who qualified the No. 50, admitted to RACER that he didn’t quite put it all together in the Hyperpole session, but added that he feels comfortable ahead of the race. The No. 50 will start fourth, with the other 499Ps around it and ahead of its championship rivals from Toyota and Porsche who could only muster times good enough for ninth and 14th respectively.
If either of the two cars that made it onto the front row wins tomorrow, it will be their first victory of the season. For the No. 51, the associated stats may come as a surprise. If Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi convert their first WEC Hypercar pole into a victory it would mark their first trip to the top step of the podium since the centenary Le Mans 24 Hours last year. To achieve that they’ll need to produce a metronomic run and hope team orders don’t come into play.
But Ferrari isn’t the only marque that impressed in qualifying. Yet again Cadillac was strong and will start third with its V-Series.R. It’s been a frustrating season for the American-flagged, Ganassi-run team, which all too often has shown pace on qualifying day only to struggle in the race.
With the No. 2 qualifying in the top four for a fourth race in a row, no questions remain about the V-Series.R’s ability to produce pace over a single lap. Instead, the spotlight is on race pace. In the post-session mixed zone, Alex Lynn appeared as motivated as ever to score a breakthrough result for the team.
“I said in the debrief to the team, ‘We’re good at having a good Saturday, well done, we’ve done it again, but let’s focus on banking a result tomorrow.’ That’s all we want, we want to nail a result on the table tomorrow night that we can be happy with, whether that’s P5, P6, a podium or a win,” he said. “We need to execute tomorrow because so far this season we haven’t done that, we need a result we deserve on home turf.”
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What about Alpine? Charles Milesi was red hot in Hyperpole and put the No. 35 A424 fourth on the grid. For the first time, the French constructor looks poised for a big result, and just two races on from its disastrous outing at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Both A424s could have ended up in the mix for pole too had Mick Schumacher not found himself blocked by other cars and distracted by a wasp in the cockpit during his qualifying run aboard the No. 36.
“I had a wasp and two Ferraris blocking me — not a smooth session,” he told RACER. “On my fastest lap, I had the No. 51 in front, and on my first push, I had the No. 83 in front.
“As for the wasp, it appeared on the lap I got blocked — it was flying around and ended up sitting on the windscreen for a bit. Then it came towards my face so I opened the door and slapped it and it flew out. I got yelled at! And I’ve never had that before… It was unfortunate because we had good pace.”
A wasp kept Mick Schumacher from showing the Alpine’s full potential. JEP/Motorsport Images
Then there’s BMW, for the first time since qualifying at Le Mans, WRT’s M Hybrid V8s look like they’ve taken a step forward in performance terms. They will start seventh and eighth and could find themselves coming away with the Bavarian brand’s best results of the season if everything goes to plan.
As the Hypercar field matures and the BoP process evolves, digging deep for hauls of points on weekends where everything isn’t going your way has never been more important. It would not be a shock to see either the No. 6 Porsche, No. 50 Ferrari or No. 7 Toyota find a way to win tomorrow because there are no safe bets anymore. It’s becoming more and more challenging to get a true read of the form book pre-race with every passing race weekend and the WEC’s top class is all the better for it.
“I think it’s still a very open race, with some weather which can come into play — thunderstorms, I think, there is still a chance,” Hypecar points leader Kevin Estre noted.
It’s a similar story in LMGT3. With Heart of Racing’s Aston Martin on pole for the first time and the three cars locked in the race for the title fourth, 10th and 16th, a repeat of the Manthey and WRT show that’s been stuck on a loop since Qatar feels unlikely here in Austin.
Championship leader Alex Malykhin, who put the Pure Rxcing Porsche on the second row of the grid, seemed as relaxed as Fuoco, despite the team being in the weeds of what he describes as the toughest race of the season so far.
“The pressure is on our rivals — they have a 25-point gap to close and will need to take more risks than us. If we score points, we will leave here happy,” he said. “This is the next stage in the title battle.”
With that, the stage is set for Lone Star Le Mans and all the ingredients are in place for another memorable race.
Urs Kuratle, the director of factory LMDh racing at Porsche, says the German brand will be sad to see Hertz Team JOTA switch to competing with Cadillac at the end of the current season. While Porsche was aware of the British team’s switch to …
Urs Kuratle, the director of factory LMDh racing at Porsche, says the German brand will be sad to see Hertz Team JOTA switch to competing with Cadillac at the end of the current season.
While Porsche was aware of the British team’s switch to becoming Cadillac’s service provider for its two-car factory Hypercar effort long in advance of the news becoming public, Kuratle admits that the marque is still disappointed that JOTA’s time as a 963 customer team is coming to an end.
“We are extremely sorry to lose JOTA from the customer stable,” he told RACER. “They put in great performances, which was good for Porsche, won the race at Spa and achieved more positive results. It’s a shame to lose them but the step they are taking is understandable.
“On a personal note, I will miss going into the JOTA garage on race weekends. They are a really great bunch of people and it’s a shame that we will lose those guys and access to that garage.”
JOTA’s departure comes at an interesting time for Porsche’s 963 program. On one hand, the factory effort with Penske is going from strength to strength. On the other, the customer program looks set to shrink due to the level of budget required serving as a barrier to entry for aspirant teams and a lack of space on the grid in the FIA WEC.
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“We are in discussions on how we want to replace, or if we want to replace JOTA’s cars going forward,” Kuratle said. “The difference between the WEC and IMSA in this instance is that there are more spots available in IMSA’s GTP class. That makes IMSA the place to be for customers and there’s not much we can do about that.
“We will see how it goes. We have Proton and JDC and we are in contact with different people. It’s still not a huge market; there are not 10 teams asking for a car.”
Interestingly, with fewer customer cars in circulation, the task of rolling out updates for the 963 going forward will become be easier, but the loss of JOTA coincides with a change in stance from the German marque on implementing “joker” updates for its car.
With Penske leading both the IMSA and WEC manufacturers’ championships, Porsche isn’t quite as eager to bring substantial changes to a car which is winning races regularly, in its second year of competition and still maturing.
“The [planned] crankshaft change is done (not happening), and that’s clear, and we are discussing other things, but there will be no major updates on the car for next year,” Kuratle confirmed.
“In the off-season, we will focus on rest for our people, though there are still things we need to work on operationally. We need to build up cars, too, ahead of January and Daytona.”
The FIA World Endurance Championship teams rolled out onto Circuit of The Americas for the first time in four and a half years with opening practice for Sunday’s Lone Star Le Mans. Matt Campbell ended up with the fastest lap of the session with the …
The FIA World Endurance Championship teams rolled out onto Circuit of The Americas for the first time in four and a half years with opening practice for Sunday’s Lone Star Le Mans. Matt Campbell ended up with the fastest lap of the session with the No. 5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963.
Conditions were sunny and very warm for the first 90-minute session of the weekend, which was interrupted by a red flag for a stalled car, and then a full course yellow to retrieve the stranded No. 60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 of Claudio Schiavoni down at Turn 19. Race control added five more minutes of track time to the session near the end.
Antonio Fuoco was the first driver to crack into the 1m54s in his factory red No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari with a 1m54.118s, but he would soon be surpassed by the privateer No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica. The Pole set a 1m54.034s, his time also coming within the first 30 minutes.
But it wouldn’t finish as a Ferrari 1-2, as Oliver Rasmussen turned in a 1m54.051s in the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963 — just 0.017s back of Kubica’s time.
Then, with less than two minutes left, Campbell set the fastest time at 1m53.574s, putting the factory Porsche on top. Rasmussen was third fastest in what was encouraging start to the weekend for the No. 38 JOTA crew, which is celebrating 50 years of Mobil 1 with a commemorative livery this weekend.
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The two factory Ferrari AF Corse 499Ps finished fourth and fifth — the No. 50 of Fuoco ahead of the No. 51 of Antonio Giovinazzi.
Alex Lynn was sixth fastest in the No. 2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, just edging out Hypercar championship co-leader Kevin Estré in the No. 6 Penske Porsche that slotted in seventh, with Rene Rast eighth in the No. 20 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8. The No. 15 WRT BMW, and No. 7 Toyota completed the top 10 in Hypercar.
In LMGT3, the No. 55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 driven by Alessio Rovera was the fastest in this session with a 2m06.253s. The No. 88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang of Dennis Olsen landed in second position, 0.2s behind the class-leading car (2m06.475s). The sister car, the No. 77 Ford Mustang driven by Ben Barker, was third fastest (2m06.723s).
Further down in the LMGTE ranks, the No. 60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán LMGT3 EVO2 had a difficult session as Claudio Schiavoni stopped on track at Turn 19 for an extended period because of technical issues.
It was a quiet session for the championship leading car, too. The No. 92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Aliaksandr Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler was the slowest car in the session with a 2m08.421s set by Bachler after completing 34 laps.
Free Practice 2 starts this afternoon at 5:10pm local time.
