FIA WEC Spa 6 Hours (spoiler alert)

The Porsches are fast, no doubt, but have so far proven fragile too.

It will be interesting to see how Hulkenberg does in his first putting for Porsche as well.

Toyota for some reason seem to be wrong footed so far this year and now Nakajima sidelined
with a neck injury after his Thursday practice shunt, the World Champions look vulnerable.

Will be watching as this is the best racing on the planet.

BHW

 

Another excellent race.

After 12 hours of WEC racing so far this season, what did they say, only 8 minutes of
yellow and no safety car periods.

Unfortunately, spec racers stuck behind a safety car for endless hours does not make
for good racing.

BHW

 

Was a good race.

 

Amazing how much more exciting than F1 (IMO) these WEC races have become...

 

I missed it again, I'm pissed. Gotta find a highlights reel somewhere. Those Porsches need to fix their reliability issues if they want to win at La Sarthe this year...

 

Still got 4 hours left on dvr. I love it. These races are fantastic and I find them much more entertaining than f1 lately.

 

Missed it! I thought it was Sunday!

 

For some reason, they run the WEC event at Spa on Saturday. IIRC it was the same last
year.

With only eight races on the WEC calendar, there cannot be a let-up from the teams. On the
strength on the series though, they'd be smart to expand the schedule a bit to include more
of the traditional European tracks like Monza, Imola, Paul Ricard, Brands Hatch, Hockenheim,
Barcelona or Jerez.

The WEC cars would also be spectacular at Bathurst Australia as there are no dates in
Australia or South America this year.

BHW

 

Interlagos is usually in the calendar, but they have some renovations going on there this year, and they changed it from being one of the last races to being the first next year, so no WEC here in Brazil this year. Can't wait for next year, though...

 

Thanks for that information.

Was just reading elsewhere that Bahurst isn't one of the FIA's "Tier 1" level circuits and
there would have to be a lot of upgrades, particularly in the pits in order to be in compliance.

With this in mind, Sebring and Daytona wouldn't qualify either.

BHW

 

They keep those traditional tracks in Europe for the ELMS.

Europe has 4 WEC races, North America one, and Asia 3.

But 8 races isn't enough for a full championship, IMO.

 

Could Mount Panorama really accommodate LMP1 safely as it is? I have my doubts.


Just look the trouble the Nordschleiffe has with the GT3; they had to introduce speed limits (!!) in some sectors.

 

Audi celebrates second WEC season victory at Spa

• Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer win again
• Good debut in fourth place for newcomer René Rast
• Audi extends lead of the standings before Le Mans 24 Hours

Following the thrilling season opener of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Great Britain, Audi was unbeatable again in Belgium. On the challenging track at Spa, Marcel Fässler (CH), André Lotterer (D) and Benoît Tréluyer (F) proved their class again on clinching their second victory this season and tenth WEC success in total.

In the presence of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Management, Technical Development, AUDI AG, Audi extended its lead in round two of the Championship. Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer had traveled to Spa with an advantage of seven points. Now, before the season’s pinnacle event, the Le Mans 24 Hours on June 13 and 14, their advantage amounts to 14 points. After starting from position four, the 2012 World Champions had stayed on the heels of the front runners and improved to third place during the first laps. Marcel Fässler spinning in the first hour temporarily cost car number ‘7’ one position but the Swiss and his team-mates made a quick recovery.

Four hours into the race, André Lotterer in the hybrid sports car took the Audi into the lead for the first time. The 54,000 fans in the Ardennes witnessed a gripping battle for position one that saw the lead change after each pit stop. The battle came to a head in the final stages. 90 minutes before the end, Benoît Tréluyer took the top spot from Porsche driver Marc Lieb, benefiting from the efficient combination of the V6 TDI engine and e-tron quattro hybrid drive, new aerodynamics for Le Mans, as well as tire wear being lower compared with the competition. The Frenchman saw the checkered flag with an advantage of 13.424 seconds. “What a race,” Tréluyer said. “It was a tough lights-to-flag job, just like at Silverstone, but it was huge fun and we’re already looking forward to Le Mans.”

Car number ‘8’ was doing well at first too. Loïc Duval (F), who races together with Lucas di Grassi (BR) and Oliver Jarvis (GB), initially improved to position two. An electrical defect that required two pit stops, with the front hood and an electronic control unit being replaced, cost the squad several minutes four hours into the race. In the last hour, the team had to replace the front hood again after damage caused in a duel. In the final sprint, Oliver Jarvis slid into a gravel trap. “We showed a good pace and are taking that home as a positive from Spa,” said Loïc Duval. “Of course it’s a shame that we lost ground due to some issues. But I’m still optimistic that our run of bad luck is going to end at Le Mans.”

The driver trio of car number ‘9’ achieved a gratifying result. The hybrid race car contested the race with a different body version for higher aerodynamic downforce that had already been used at Silverstone. Audi used the race at Spa for a technical comparison of both concepts with respect to Le Mans and the other WEC rounds. Filipe Albuquerque (P) and Marco Bonanomi (I) and their team-mate René Rast (D) started the race from eighth place. The German debuted in Audi’s LMP1 race car and in Audi Sport Team Joest impressed with consistently good lap times. When car number ‘9’ lost its left-hand side window three hours into the race the team replaced the left door at the next pit stop. Despite this small repair job, the driver squad had improved to fourth place when the checkered flag fell. “Driving the Audi R18 e-tron quattro in a race for the first time was awesome,” Rast said. “We delivered a result that I’m very happy with. Now our next big task is coming up at Le Mans.”

“As in the season opener, the WEC again delivered super-thrilling racing,“ said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich in summing up the event. “I congratulate our winners and the whole team on this first-class achievement. They turned an endurance race into a sprint and did an impeccable job. A big thank you goes to the other two driver teams as well. I’m sorry that number ‘8’ was lacking that little bit of fortune that’s needed in a race. Our trio in ‘9’ ultimately complemented the result for Audi by a good position.”

In exactly four weeks from now, the track at Le Mans is on Audi Sport’s event calendar. At the official test day on May 31, the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro will have its first outing on the ‘Circuit des 24 Heures’ that is open only on the test day and during the race week. Two weeks after the test day, the 24-hour race as the pinnacle event of the FIA WEC season will be held there.

Race results

1 Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer (Audi R18 e-tron quattro), 176 laps
2 Dumas/Jani/Lieb (Porsche) +13.424s
3 Bernhard/Hartley/Webber (Porsche) –1 lap
4 Albuquerque/Bonanomi/Rast (Audi R18 e-tron quattro) –2 laps
5 Conway/Sarrazin/Wurz (Toyota) –3 laps
6 Hülkenberg/Bamber/Tandy (Porsche) –3 laps
7 di Grassi/Duval/Jarvis (Audi R18 e-tron quattro) –8 laps
8 Davidson/Buemi (Toyota) –14 laps
9 Dolan/Evans/Tincknell (Nissan) –15 laps
10 Yacaman/Derani/Gonzalez (Ligier) –16 laps

 

The Porsche Audi battle for the lead position was fantastic. Two very different cars, strong in different parts of the track, trading positions. Now that's what I call racing.

Too bad we can't see F1 adopt a similar outlook towards engines.

 

There is one BIG problem with these races.
They are too long to be this damn exciting! It's ridiculous! How am I supposed to have 6 hours to just sit glued to the TV?

Best racing anywhere. From turn 1 they are on it. And gee whiz, they happen to be actually relevant to the real world too, just as was the point from the start.

 

DVR is your friend. I'll watch a 6 hour race over the course of the weekend when I'm lounging.