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Le Mans / ALMS
LE MANS: Audi Sweeps WEC Six Hours Of Bahrain
Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer, Marcel Fassler claim fourth FIA WEC victory of the year...
Audi Sport Team Joest recorded its first 1-2 finish since Le Mans following a dominant performance in Bahrain. (Photo: John Dagys)
Despite a valiant effort by Toyota, Audi cruised to its fifth FIA World Endurance Championship victory of the season in Saturday's Six Hours of Bahrain.
The sizzling day-into-night enduro on the Island Kingdom saw a dominant performance by the No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, which scored a one-lap victory over the sister pole-sitting machine driven by Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen.
Following their breakthrough first victory in Brazil, Toyota bridged out to a 30-plus second lead early on, but lost six laps in the third to replace faulty illuminated number plates.
While Nicolas Lapierre worked the No. 7 Toyota TS030 Hybrid back up to fourth, contact between the No. 21 Strakka Racing HPD ARX-03a of Jonny Kane knocked the Toyota out of the race with 80 minutes to go.
Toyota's retirement gave clear sailing for Audi to pick up its first 1-2 finish since the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
"In the beginning it wasn’t an easy race for me," Lotterer said. "I drove a double stint and managed to catch up with the Toyota again. I was able to close the gap up to twelve seconds but was very exhausted then.
"But we exerted pressure. Maybe our rivals took a higher risk as a result and in the end retired due to a mistake."
Despite a dominant performance, the Audis did not prove to be bullet-proof in the extreme heat, as the No. 2 car of McNish and Kristensen lost nearly 2 laps in the first hour due to a brake overheating issue and malfunctioning headlights.
Three hours later, the nose had to again be replaced on the No. 2 car for the same problem, while Fassler's second-to-last stop also saw a front bodywork change.
"We had to change the car’s nose once because we’d lost an aerodynamic component," Fassler said. "Because we had less downforce and more understeer as a result, we changed the front bodywork for safety reasons.
"The race went a bit in our direction because the Toyota, and unfortunately our team-mates too, had various problems.”
Strakka's Kane and co-drivers Nick Leventis and Danny Watts brought their HPD home in third overall, the British team's best finish to date in the FIA WEC, while the No. 12 Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60 Toyota of Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani finished fourth.
Electrical gremlins, the common issue among many teams today, also bit JRM, which retired in the final hour.
After a hard-fought early battle, but commanding mid-race performance, Starworks Motorsport appeared to have its fourth LMP2 class victory of the year in the bag.
However, Stephane Sarrazin's HPD ARX-03b failed to fire up during its final stop with 50 minutes to go, sending the championship-leading car to the garage for attention to the car's starter motor.
While Sarrazin rejoined after a two-lap delay, it handed the win to the No. 49 Pecom Racing Oreca 03 Nissan of Nic Minassian, Pierre Kaffer and Luis Perez Companc, who enjoyed flawless run.
The No. 23 Signatech Oreca 03 Nissan of Franck Mailleux, Olivier Lombard and Jordan Tresson finished a season-high second, despite a late rally by Sarrazin, who came within two seconds of Mailleux in the closing laps.
Starworks' third place finish keeps the American squad at the top of the championship standings, but now 23 points ahead of Pecom, which celebrated its maiden class victory on Saturday.
PHOTOS: FIA WEC Six Hours of Bahrain
The sizzling day-into-night enduro on the Island Kingdom saw a dominant performance by the No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, which scored a one-lap victory over the sister pole-sitting machine driven by Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen.
Following their breakthrough first victory in Brazil, Toyota bridged out to a 30-plus second lead early on, but lost six laps in the third to replace faulty illuminated number plates.
While Nicolas Lapierre worked the No. 7 Toyota TS030 Hybrid back up to fourth, contact between the No. 21 Strakka Racing HPD ARX-03a of Jonny Kane knocked the Toyota out of the race with 80 minutes to go.
Toyota's retirement gave clear sailing for Audi to pick up its first 1-2 finish since the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
"In the beginning it wasn’t an easy race for me," Lotterer said. "I drove a double stint and managed to catch up with the Toyota again. I was able to close the gap up to twelve seconds but was very exhausted then.
"But we exerted pressure. Maybe our rivals took a higher risk as a result and in the end retired due to a mistake."
Despite a dominant performance, the Audis did not prove to be bullet-proof in the extreme heat, as the No. 2 car of McNish and Kristensen lost nearly 2 laps in the first hour due to a brake overheating issue and malfunctioning headlights.
Three hours later, the nose had to again be replaced on the No. 2 car for the same problem, while Fassler's second-to-last stop also saw a front bodywork change.
"We had to change the car’s nose once because we’d lost an aerodynamic component," Fassler said. "Because we had less downforce and more understeer as a result, we changed the front bodywork for safety reasons.
"The race went a bit in our direction because the Toyota, and unfortunately our team-mates too, had various problems.”
Strakka's Kane and co-drivers Nick Leventis and Danny Watts brought their HPD home in third overall, the British team's best finish to date in the FIA WEC, while the No. 12 Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60 Toyota of Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani finished fourth.
Electrical gremlins, the common issue among many teams today, also bit JRM, which retired in the final hour.
After a hard-fought early battle, but commanding mid-race performance, Starworks Motorsport appeared to have its fourth LMP2 class victory of the year in the bag.
However, Stephane Sarrazin's HPD ARX-03b failed to fire up during its final stop with 50 minutes to go, sending the championship-leading car to the garage for attention to the car's starter motor.
While Sarrazin rejoined after a two-lap delay, it handed the win to the No. 49 Pecom Racing Oreca 03 Nissan of Nic Minassian, Pierre Kaffer and Luis Perez Companc, who enjoyed flawless run.
The No. 23 Signatech Oreca 03 Nissan of Franck Mailleux, Olivier Lombard and Jordan Tresson finished a season-high second, despite a late rally by Sarrazin, who came within two seconds of Mailleux in the closing laps.
Starworks' third place finish keeps the American squad at the top of the championship standings, but now 23 points ahead of Pecom, which celebrated its maiden class victory on Saturday.
PHOTOS: FIA WEC Six Hours of Bahrain
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