The six hours of Spa: a breathless sprint which saw the victory of Toyota over Porsche.
The six hours of Spa are the second rendez-vous of a championship which counts nine endurance races, and above all the last dress rehearsal before the 24 hours of Le Mans. The belgian race started on Saturday May 6th under a radiant sun. After its pole position, the #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid took the lead at the rolling start, followed by two Toyota (#8 and #7), the second Porsche 919 and the third Toyota.
As a useful reminder, the hybrid LMP1 prototypes are running two aerodynamic packages:
– one designed for Le Mans with low downforce
– the other with higher downforce for twistier tracks
Porsche had opted to run its low downforce package for the Silverstone and Spa races, while Toyota won in Silverstone with its high downforce configuration and came to the belgian Ardennes with a third car (#9) equipped with its Le Mans body (see detailed comparison). Twenty minutes into the race, the five cars were running wheel to wheel then two Toyotas took the lead, followed by the two Porsche 919s. The warmer track conditions seemed to benefit the high downforce Toyota TS050, while the fastest Porsche (#1 with Lotterer at the wheel) was struggling with excessive tire wear.
Overtaken by the other 919, Porsche chose to alter its strategy and change driver and tires at the first pit stop, Nick Tandy taking over from its team mate. The two Porsche LMP1 however did not manage to catch up with the two high downforce Toyotas during the first four hours of the race, while staying ahead of the third TS050 and its low downforce package.
The end of the afternoon saw the return of gray skies and a significant drop in temperatures. The #2 Porsche gained pace and started to catch up then take the lead at the occasion of pit stops. A win was a distinct possibility when, one hour to the checkered flag, Brendon Hartley hit an Alpine LMP2 in the bus stop chicane breaking zone. A light contact which forced nonetheless a change of the nose and an unscheduled pit stop, just too soon to complete the race. A final pit stop was necessary, forcing a last pit stop a dozen minutes before race end, and rolling back the 919 to the 3rd place on the podium.
Toyota bags a nice 1-2 finish after 173 laps of the 7 km track, the #8 car driven by Sébastien Buemi crosing the finish line 2 seconds ahead of the Kobayashi, with the #2 Porsche finishing third 35 seconds behind. The race showed however how close the two teams are. The high downforce Toyota kept the Porsches in check throughout the race, but their Le Mans spec car took a distinct fifth place.
This was not lost on the Toyota drivers, looking rather disappointed in spite of their position on the two highest podium steps. Buemi declared candidly that his car never found its pace throughout the week-end and only owed victory to a slow puncture that afflicted the #7 car driven by Kobayashi and Conway. That pair looked distraught to have missed a win by sheer bad luck. And the Porsche drivers look dismayed not to be able to beat the Toyota TS050 on a track more favorable to their low downforce configuration.
For all of these racing drives, only one goal: Le Mans. Spa was an important and necessary life size test, but the 24 Hours race reigns supreme in the endurance world and at the pinnacle of motorsports. None of these eight drivers crossed the line in Spa with the expected result, or a decisive performance establishing a clear hierarchy for Le Mans.
In the LMP2 category, nearly all teams compete with Oreca 07/Gibson cars, with the notable exception of one remaining Ligier. The drivers line up is of prime quality, with names such as Bruno Senna, Nelson Piquet Jr, Jean-Eric Vergne, Romain Dumas or Oliver Jarvis. No less.
Very similar and fiercely fast cars, an array of top notch drivers, a gorgeous track, all ingredients for a motorsports feast were present. The fight for the win confronted the Valliante Rebellion, Jackie Chan and G-Drive teams, with the latter finally winning ahead of the Bruno Senna’s Rebellion.
In the GTE Pro category, Ford competes against Ferrari, Aston-Martin and Porsche’s brand new 911 RSR with a mid mounted engine. The two Ferrari 488 GTE rapidly took the lead, tailed by the two Ford GTs. This race resulted in showing a clear hierarchy with Ferrari ahead of Ford, Porsche and Aston finishing last. Porsche’s bet to sacrifice the qualifying session to spare tires for the race was therefore not successful. Pedro Lamy took the win in the GTE Am class with his Aston Martin Vantage, ahead of the 2016 Porsche 911 RSR of team Dempsey-Proton.
The official results are available on the FIA WEC website.
Photo Gallery – Aston Martin Vantage
Afficher la galerie de photosPhoto Gallery – Ferrari 488 GTE
Afficher la galerie de photosPhoto Gallery – Ford GT
Afficher la galerie de photosPhoto Gallery – Porsche 911 RSR
Afficher la galerie de photosPhoto Gallery – Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1
Afficher la galerie de photosPhoto Gallery – Toyota TS050 Hybrid
Afficher la galerie de photosPhoto Gallery – LMP2 & LMP1
Afficher la galerie de photosPhoto Gallery – the Porsche LMP1 boxes
Afficher la galerie de photosPhoto Gallery – the Porsche GTE Pro boxes
Afficher la galerie de photosLinks
Forum topic – Official FIA WEC results – Pictures from the qualifying session