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Le Mans / ALMS
LE MANS: WEC Debrief, Fuji
John Dagys breaks down the key storylines from last weekend’s FIA WEC Six Hours of Fuji...
50,000 fans turned out for the first FIA WEC weekend in Japan, which went the way of home favorites Toyota. (Photo: John Dagys)
STARWORKS, REBELLION CLINCH TITLES — Sunday’s Six Hours of Fuji marked an historic occasion for a pair of prototype teams, as both Starworks Motorsport and Rebellion Racing locked up their respective FIA Endurance Trophies, one race before the season finale.
For the Peter Baron-owned Starworks squad, their LMP2 world title capped off a dream season that’s included not only class victories at the Twelve Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans, but also the GRAND-AM North American Endurance Championship, inaugural Rolex Series winners at Indy, as well as a runner-up finish in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
WATCH: Starworks Wins WEC LMP2 Championship
"This is an incredible achievement for Starworks Motorsport,” Baron said. “It all began when Enzo came to the shop last October. We were bored and came up with this crazy idea to go win a World Championship, and that dream is now realized.
“There has to be so much thanks along the way to Enzo for having the trust and faith in us to put this entire program together. It hasn't been easy but all of the hard work from the whole crew has paid off. We're really happy to bring home a championship for HPD, Venezuela and Starworks."
Making the accomplishment even more significant, Starworks’ title marked the first World Championship for an American entry since 1968, when Ford took its legendary GT40 to the International Championship for Makes in the WSC.
The title also came as HPD’s first World Championship, and while Enzo Potolicchio, Ryan Dalziel, Stephane Sarrazin and super sub Tom Kimber-Smith couldn’t celebrate as drivers champions, their efforts were certainly recognized within the team in what’s been a season to remember for Starworks.
Rebellion enjoyed an equally dominant year in its category, with the Anglo-Swiss squad placing as the highest LMP1 privateer in five of the seven races, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
A fourth place finish overall for the team’s No. 12 Lola B12/60 Toyota of Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost last weekend was good enough to lock up the title heading into next weekend’s season finale in Shanghai.
"I think you would have struggled to write a better script, really," team manager Bart Hayden said. "To win the teams' championship with a Toyota engine at Fuji, on the same day the Toyota works car wins the race overall, you couldn't have scripted it better. I'll sort of pretend that we didn't win it in Bahrain on the basis of trying to get a better result here!
"It's a combination of five or six years of evolution and growth of this team and the strengthening... I think we've stepped up as a team. You can see from the results that we've had this year, it's been a fantastic season for us. To win it with one race to go is a fairly emphatic position. It feels fantastic."
CATCHING UP WITH OAK RACING — With OAK Racing returning to the LMP1 ranks last weekend with its Oak-Pescarolo, now powered by HPD’s venerable 3.4-liter V8 engine, questions came up about the French squad’s 2013 plans.
Team manager Sebastien Philippe filled in SPEED.com with some details on the team and constructor’s potential programs for the next year and beyond.
What has the interest level been like for customer sales of the Morgan LMP2 car for 2013?
“The market is quite difficult at the moment. But of course we're talking with a lot of teams. I think quite a few of them are interested in our car. I think we've shown that the potential is there. But at the moment, nothing is signed.”
Has the merger between the American Le Mans Series and GRAND-AM for 2014 affected sales for next year?
“In America, nothing will move in 2013 because of that. For the long-term, maybe it can be good news. But for the very short term, for a manufacturer like us, it's not good news. 2013 will be a dead year for selling cars. I would love if they can explain what they want to do from 2014, not only for us, but for all of the teams.”
What about the team’s plans? Are you looking to continue in the ELMS?
“I don't know anything about the ELMS at the moment. I don't know the calendar; I don't know the regulations. Of course we could be interested. Hopefully we will have a schedule next weekend at Petit. After that, we'll think about what we can do there. At the moment, you cannot say. We need to know many things, it's difficult at the time.”
Philippe confirmed to SPEED.com that their LMP2 car will continue to be known as a Morgan next year, and that its contract with HPD for the LMP1 engine supply runs through the end of 2013, meaning that OAK would likely have a presence in WEC again.
PHOTOS: FIA WEC Six Hours of Fuji
For the Peter Baron-owned Starworks squad, their LMP2 world title capped off a dream season that’s included not only class victories at the Twelve Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans, but also the GRAND-AM North American Endurance Championship, inaugural Rolex Series winners at Indy, as well as a runner-up finish in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
WATCH: Starworks Wins WEC LMP2 Championship
"This is an incredible achievement for Starworks Motorsport,” Baron said. “It all began when Enzo came to the shop last October. We were bored and came up with this crazy idea to go win a World Championship, and that dream is now realized.
“There has to be so much thanks along the way to Enzo for having the trust and faith in us to put this entire program together. It hasn't been easy but all of the hard work from the whole crew has paid off. We're really happy to bring home a championship for HPD, Venezuela and Starworks."
Making the accomplishment even more significant, Starworks’ title marked the first World Championship for an American entry since 1968, when Ford took its legendary GT40 to the International Championship for Makes in the WSC.
The title also came as HPD’s first World Championship, and while Enzo Potolicchio, Ryan Dalziel, Stephane Sarrazin and super sub Tom Kimber-Smith couldn’t celebrate as drivers champions, their efforts were certainly recognized within the team in what’s been a season to remember for Starworks.
Rebellion enjoyed an equally dominant year in its category, with the Anglo-Swiss squad placing as the highest LMP1 privateer in five of the seven races, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
A fourth place finish overall for the team’s No. 12 Lola B12/60 Toyota of Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost last weekend was good enough to lock up the title heading into next weekend’s season finale in Shanghai.
"I think you would have struggled to write a better script, really," team manager Bart Hayden said. "To win the teams' championship with a Toyota engine at Fuji, on the same day the Toyota works car wins the race overall, you couldn't have scripted it better. I'll sort of pretend that we didn't win it in Bahrain on the basis of trying to get a better result here!
"It's a combination of five or six years of evolution and growth of this team and the strengthening... I think we've stepped up as a team. You can see from the results that we've had this year, it's been a fantastic season for us. To win it with one race to go is a fairly emphatic position. It feels fantastic."
CATCHING UP WITH OAK RACING — With OAK Racing returning to the LMP1 ranks last weekend with its Oak-Pescarolo, now powered by HPD’s venerable 3.4-liter V8 engine, questions came up about the French squad’s 2013 plans.
Team manager Sebastien Philippe filled in SPEED.com with some details on the team and constructor’s potential programs for the next year and beyond.
What has the interest level been like for customer sales of the Morgan LMP2 car for 2013?
“The market is quite difficult at the moment. But of course we're talking with a lot of teams. I think quite a few of them are interested in our car. I think we've shown that the potential is there. But at the moment, nothing is signed.”
Has the merger between the American Le Mans Series and GRAND-AM for 2014 affected sales for next year?
“In America, nothing will move in 2013 because of that. For the long-term, maybe it can be good news. But for the very short term, for a manufacturer like us, it's not good news. 2013 will be a dead year for selling cars. I would love if they can explain what they want to do from 2014, not only for us, but for all of the teams.”
What about the team’s plans? Are you looking to continue in the ELMS?
“I don't know anything about the ELMS at the moment. I don't know the calendar; I don't know the regulations. Of course we could be interested. Hopefully we will have a schedule next weekend at Petit. After that, we'll think about what we can do there. At the moment, you cannot say. We need to know many things, it's difficult at the time.”
Philippe confirmed to SPEED.com that their LMP2 car will continue to be known as a Morgan next year, and that its contract with HPD for the LMP1 engine supply runs through the end of 2013, meaning that OAK would likely have a presence in WEC again.
PHOTOS: FIA WEC Six Hours of Fuji
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