2018-19 FIA WEC 6h Spa (Round 1)

FIA World Endurance Championship Spa…

After five years of Silverstone Circuit being the venue for the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the Circuit du Spa-Francorchamps hosted the first round of the 2018-2019 WEC Super Season.

While Porsche’s withdrawal from WEC at the end of 2017 left Toyota as the sole team in the LMP1 Hybrid category, there was increasing competition in the privateer LMP1 and LMP2 categories along with the prospect of close battles in the LMGTE PRO and LMGTE Am classes.

Arguably the most notable attraction of the 6 Hours of Spa was Formula 1 ace Fernando Alonso making his WEC debut in the Toyota Gazoo Racing team at the wheel of the #8 car (with co-drivers Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima) in his quest to claim the Triple Crown of Motorsports.

Attention gathered around the Manor team, which moved up to LMP1 for 2018 after competing in LMP2 during 2017. The team only set installation laps in both cars during a Thursday practice session before being forced to withdraw both of its cars due to a major backer’s non-payment to chassis supplier Ginetta. However, it is understood that the situation would be resolved in time for the team to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Alonso showed early signs of promise by setting the fastest time in the first free practice session, later inheriting ostensibly pole position for qualifying in LMP1 by virtue of Toyota’s sister car (setting the fastest qualifying time) being excluded from the session due to fuel flow irregularities. Signatech Alpine’s #36 car topped LMP2 in qualifying. In the LMGTE classes, the #67 Ford GT fronted the PRO class whilst the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche 911 RSR led the AM class. Friday’s qualifying session was marred and invariably delayed by DragonSpeed’s Pietro Fittipaldi crashing heavily at Raidillion, sustaining fractures to both legs though he is expected to make a full recovery after surgery. Due to irreparable damage to the chassis, DragonSpeed’s LMP1 challenger would not start the race.

Sebastien Buemi led pack at the start of the 6 Hours of Spa though his lead would be hindered by an early incident at Les Combes though a rapid recovery allowed the race to resume quickly. Being forced to start from the pit lane due to its lap times being deleted, Mike Conway at the wheel of the #7 Toyota had an uphill battle though he an teammates Kobayashi and Lopez would bring the car up to second position outright. While the #7 and #8 Toyotas would race each other with the former closing down on the latter, a pre-race agreement would see the #7 car ease off chasing its sister car after the final pit stop. This allowed Alonso to claim victory at his WEC debut with teammates Buemi and Nakajima, his first major race victory in almost five years, though the Spaniard had to nurse his car to victory due to an overheating gearbox. While the #1 Rebellion would claim 3rd place in LMP1 -driven by Neel Jani, Andre Lotterer and Bruno Senna – the car would be disqualified for a technical infringement discovered in post-race scrutineering. Mathias Beche, Thomas Lauren and Gustavo Menezes of the #3 car would be promoted to 3rd in the LMP1 standings as a result.

Victory in the LMP2 category was taken by the #26 G-Drive Racing team, piloted by Roman Rusinov, Jean-Eric Vergne and Andrea Pizzitola over the 6-hour race. Their 22 and 34 second leads over 2nd and 3rd placed cars respectively belied greater pace over the course of the race as a final-hour safety car diminished the minute+ lead held between 1st and 2nd in LMP2.

The LMGTE PRO category saw a fiercely competitive battle between the Ford Chip Ganassi UK and Porsche GT teams though the #67 car (driven by Harry Tincknell) would be forced to retire under a crash not dissimilar to that of Fittipaldi the day before though Tincknell would walk away from his Ford. The sister car would eventually win the LMGTE PRO class with Olivier Pla, Billy Johnson and Stefan Mucke taking the top step of the podium. Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda went on to win the LMGTE AM category by a narrow margin.

The second round of the FIA WEC Super Season will take place at the 86th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 16th/17th June 2018.