FIA WEC – Toyota Dominate race, but disqualified post race…

World Endurance Championship leaders, Toyota claimed their third win in a row at Silverstone to later be disqualified from result. This hands Rebellion Racing a 1-2 finish overall. GTE Pro win was taken by #51 AF Corse Ferrari.

Toyota ran another superb race, as expected it dominated the 6 hour affair on Sunday afternoon. Despite being the only 2 hybrids on the grid they still found competition in each other, spending majority of the race on the same bit of track and weaving amongst the lapped traffic. Eventually it would be a floor issue that cost the #7 time in the pits that would gift the lead back to the #8 in the final hour of the race. As the race came to a close, the gap had stretched out to 19 seconds, a comfortable lead for the #8 of Alonso Buemi and Nakajima.

10:30PM and a stewards decision is released, Toyota Gazoo Racing #7 and #8 are disqualified for breach of skid block regulations.
This hands the win in accordance to regulations to Rebellion #3 of Mathias Beche, Thomas Laurent and Gustavo Menezes. The #1 Rebellion is promoted to second place to make it a Rebellion 1-2 over all. Rounding out the podium is the #17 SMP racing BR1 of Stephan Sarrazin and Egor Orudzhev.
This is the first podium to not hold a Hybrid car since 2012, since the very start of the WEC there has always been a hybrid on the podium.

The start of the race saw some bottom clenching moments for a SMP and Rebellion. The #17 SMP machine and #3 Rebellion had a coming together at turn 1, the Rebellion was put into a spin in front of the whole field and the SMP car had to run out wide to not be collected by anyone else. The #11 SMP however avoided all the mishaps and headed into the loop in third place with the #10 Dragonspeed right on it’s tail.

As the first hour continued the British hopes of seeing Jenson Button finish on the podium was still a possibility but as Mikhail Aleshin accelerated out of Luffield, the cars exhaust billowed out huge plumes of smoke that smelt of a soon to be expiring engine. It didn’t even make it back to the pits before it had to be pulled off onto the grass. Buttons podium chances gone once again, in the last 2 races he’s never actually made it into the race itself.

LMP2 pretty much remained unchanged from the start, #37 leads the way from the #29 Racing team Nederland and the #38 sits in third, since lap 1 the field has remained pretty much unchanged. Just into the second hour and the #38 managed to fight past the Racing Team Nederland Dallara making it a 1-2 for the Jackie Chan DC squad.

GTE Pro provided the action as always from the very start. The #66 Ford Chip Ganassi had to take avoiding action for the out on control LMP cars leaving the door wide open for a great start by the #92 Porsche of Kevin Estre, followed through by the #95 and #97 Aston Martin. As the first hour continued the #66 was fighting back hard battling it’s way back up the field, the #71 Ferrari also was pushing hard and sometimes literally pushing as it fought its way past the much improved Aston Martin’s.

In GTE AM the TF Sport Aston Martin got the better jump at the start and taking the lead into the loop over the Project 1 Porsche and the #77 Dempsey proton Porsche. The TF Sport lead was short lived though as the Project 1 Porsche fought it’s way back up to pass the TF sport Aston Martin to take the lead once again.

3 hours down and 3 hours to go see’s the #7 Toyota leading the way in a close battle with it’s sister #8 car. The Hybrid powered machines have now pulled a 2 lap lead over the traditional powered LMP1 cars.
Rebellion have fought their way back into 3rd and 4th overall as the #11 SMP retired with engine problems and the #17 has began to lose the pace it once showed at the start.
Attrition was showing already only 3 hours into the race #10 Dragonspeed had spent an extensive amount of time in the pits dropping it right down the order with constant niggling problems arising on the car.
#4 ByKolles CLM was retired after losing control to avoid the #50 Labre Ligier which was adhering to the FCY speed limits a little to abruptly leaving no where to go for the ByKolles CLM. The car left the circuit and made contact with the barriers and spun back into the centre of the circuit.

LMP2 saw little change but enough to alter the front. #37 suffered a puncture and lost time getting back to the pits, it’s sister the mighty #38 was promoted to the front with the TDS machine in 2nd and 3rd place was now the championship leading Signatech Alpine still holding on even though the lack of pace to the leaders, something it’s struggled with all weekend so far.

GTE Pro was was constant shuffle as teams strategies played out. #67 was now leading the way thanks to Andy Priaulx’s strong pace fighting his way back up the field from the start. #66 was back up into 3rd position in class but the two Chip Ganassi cars were split by the #51 AF corse Ferrari who had played strategy in the FCY and Safety car to jump up and split the two fords at the top of the field.

GTE Am saw the Project 1 car back in the lead once again, still battling with the TF sport Aston Martin as it has done since the opening lap of the race. #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche is in 3rd position still and hanging nicely to the top 2 as the race passed the midway point under safety car.

The second half of the race saw little change in the prototype classes in the race, LMP2 saw the #37 climb back up the field after it’s puncture. The Final hour ticked on by the #37 was getting close to the #38, they crossed the line in a 1-2 finish separated by only 2 seconds. #38 has won two years in a row at Silverstone, JOTA who look after the JCDC machine certainly know how to run a car at silverstone. #36 Signatech crossed the line in 3rd to keep scoring strong points for the championship.

GTE Pro still was a close fight all the way to the finish. #51 AF Corse Ferrari had made it’s own luck all race and played every bit of strategy into their own Hands to give them a class win.
the podium was undecided all the way until the last 20 minutes of the race. #67 had fought its way back up through the field after the bad start it had. the final big battle of the race was between the #67 Ford and the #92 Porsche. These two had been close for a while but as we reached the 30 minute to go mark, Ticknell was in the car pushing for the next podium spot. Coming out of chapel onto the hangar straight Ticknell got the better run to give him the tow coming down the hangar straight, braking into Stowe Christensen covered the inside but Tincknell had other ideas and gave it everything around the outside where the cars would trade paint, not once not twice but three times would bump before braking into the vale chicane side by side and still holding place before Christensen forced Tincknell wide onto the run off area of club where the ford would rejoin ahead of the Porsche to claim and hold the final podium position.
#91 would cross the line in second position but would later be disqualified for a ride height infringement thus promoting the #67 to second in class and the sister Porsche #92 up into third place in class.

GTE was far from settled throughout the second half of the race.
Dempsey proton Racing #77 wasn’t the quickest but it definitely worked strategy and stuck to the endurance idea of racing, staying out of trouble and the pits will get you to the front.
Patrick Lindsey was leading in the Project 1 Porsche when Johnny Adam jumped onboard the #90 TF sport Aston Martin, Adam made short work of the Project 1 Porsche and began to pull out a lead maxing out at 16 seconds.
That battle would even out and the gap neutralise before the big blow hits them. Both cars entered the pits under safety car when the lights were red. The stewards gave out a 75 seconds stop and hold penalty to both competitors handing the lead of the class to the #77 Proton Dempsey gifting them a healthy lead to cruise home to a class win.
#90 would come home second in class, a great result for the TF outfit but third still wasn’t settled.
Pedro Lamy onboard the #98 Aston Martin racing Vantage was being hunted down by Bergmeister and were battling around a second apart all the way til the last lap.
Bergmeister was pushing the whole way to finally make it through on the last lap to claim the final podium position, a really strong performance from the team and great improvement at the Silverstone weekend.