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Le Mans / ALMS
LE MANS: WEC Debrief, Sao Paulo
John Dagys breaks down some of the key storylines from last weekend’s FIA WEC Six Hours of Sao Paulo...
Toyota scored its maiden victory with the TS030 Hybrid in only its third race. (Photo: Toyota Racing)
TOYOTA’S TRIUMPH — It came a lot sooner than many had expected. But after a dominant performance Saturday at Interlagos, Toyota walked away with its first victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship, only three months after debuting its new gasoline-hybrid prototype.
Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre, co-drivers of the No. 7 Toyota TS030 Hybrid, combined to lead 231 of the 247 laps. It could only be described as a convincing first victory that has no doubt raised more than a few eyebrows, especially in a day that saw both Audi R18s run without any significant issues.
“It’s fantastic for the team,” Lapierre said. “Since the beginning of the year we knew it was a fast car, but we struggled with reliability in Le Mans. At Silverstone we showed our pace and we came away with the second place. So coming here, Alex did a wonderful job in qualifying getting our first pole position and then we were able to pull away.”
The lone Toyota nearly had a two-lap lead at one point, but a late stop for a splash of fuel with five minutes remaining reduced the margin of victory to one-minute over the No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, which had won the previous two rounds of the season.
While the No. 1 diesel-hybrid Audi struggled with excessive tire wear, the Toyota had to overcome a fuel mileage deficiency, which had its gasoline-powered LMP1 car pitting three to four laps earlier than the once all-dominant diesel brigade.
“The race itself went exactly to plan,” said Toyota Racing technical director Pascal Vasselon. “Compared to Silverstone, we have been able to manage our fuel consumption much better, which was made easier by our quick pace. Both Alex and Nicolas drove fantastically; they were extremely fast and also very impressive through the traffic.”
The flawless run translated into a historic day for the Japanese manufacturer, which scored its first victory in a FIA world championship race since the 1999 Rally of China, and first in the international endurance scene since the mighty Toyota TS010 at Monza in 1992.
“This is an incredible day for all of us in the team. To stand on the top step of the podium has been our dream and to achieve this is only our third race is a dream come true,” said Team President Yoshiaki Kinoshita.
“This has been more than a six-hour race because this started for us in January and finishes now in September with our team on the top step of the podium. Thanks to everyone involved in this project; so much hard work has gone into this and victory makes it all worthwhile.”
The big question heading into the Six Hours of Bahrain at the end of the month is whether Audi can respond? While they may already have already locked up the Manufacturers’ World Championship, there are still three rounds up for grabs, with the fight for bragging rights heading into 2013 being far from over.
"The fight is on for us for all of the next races," said Audi's Allan McNish, who finished third in Sao Paulo with Tom Kristensen and Lucas Di Grassi. "We've got to go home and try and improve because that's what motor racing is about. "When you get knocked down, you have to get back up and get back in there fighting. That's what the next race in Bahrain is going to be about."
NOTES FROM THE PADDOCK
** The Six Hours of Sao Paulo has been hailed a success by everyone involved, with the event, promoted by Emerson Fittipaldi in partnership with the city of Sao Paulo, attracting a race-day crowd of 25,000 people. Fittipaldi said: "I have been receiving extremely positive comments, from people who have been racing for many, many years. Everybody is very happy to see the WEC and I think we have a great future in Brazil."
** While the 2013 FIA WEC calendar will not be released until the next FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting on Sept. 28, series CEO Gerard Neveu confirmed this weekend that Interlagos will return next year on August 31. It was initially believed Brazil would kick off the 2013 season, but now looks more likely for an European round instead.
** Work also continues on the revival of the European Le Mans Series for next year, with further information regarding the class structure, format and calendar expected to come within the next month. ELMS teams will end their shortened 2012 season at next month’s Petit Le Mans.
** Despite the big victory last weekend, Toyota has reaffirmed its commitment to only running a single car entry for the remainder of the year. Budget constraints have ruled out a two-car attack at its home round in Mt. Fuji, Japan next month.
** With Ryan Dalziel still in with a shot of the GRAND-AM championship, the Scot will miss the next FIA WEC round in Bahrain, which falls on the same weekend as the Rolex Series season finale at Lime Rock Park. Tom Kimber-Smith, who subbed for Stephane Sarrazin at Le Mans, will fill-in for Dalziel aboard the No. 44 Starworks Motorsport HPD-ARX-03b, which rides on a streak of three class wins in five races.
PHOTOS: FIA WEC Six Hours of Sao Paulo
Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre, co-drivers of the No. 7 Toyota TS030 Hybrid, combined to lead 231 of the 247 laps. It could only be described as a convincing first victory that has no doubt raised more than a few eyebrows, especially in a day that saw both Audi R18s run without any significant issues.
“It’s fantastic for the team,” Lapierre said. “Since the beginning of the year we knew it was a fast car, but we struggled with reliability in Le Mans. At Silverstone we showed our pace and we came away with the second place. So coming here, Alex did a wonderful job in qualifying getting our first pole position and then we were able to pull away.”
The lone Toyota nearly had a two-lap lead at one point, but a late stop for a splash of fuel with five minutes remaining reduced the margin of victory to one-minute over the No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, which had won the previous two rounds of the season.
While the No. 1 diesel-hybrid Audi struggled with excessive tire wear, the Toyota had to overcome a fuel mileage deficiency, which had its gasoline-powered LMP1 car pitting three to four laps earlier than the once all-dominant diesel brigade.
“The race itself went exactly to plan,” said Toyota Racing technical director Pascal Vasselon. “Compared to Silverstone, we have been able to manage our fuel consumption much better, which was made easier by our quick pace. Both Alex and Nicolas drove fantastically; they were extremely fast and also very impressive through the traffic.”
The flawless run translated into a historic day for the Japanese manufacturer, which scored its first victory in a FIA world championship race since the 1999 Rally of China, and first in the international endurance scene since the mighty Toyota TS010 at Monza in 1992.
“This is an incredible day for all of us in the team. To stand on the top step of the podium has been our dream and to achieve this is only our third race is a dream come true,” said Team President Yoshiaki Kinoshita.
“This has been more than a six-hour race because this started for us in January and finishes now in September with our team on the top step of the podium. Thanks to everyone involved in this project; so much hard work has gone into this and victory makes it all worthwhile.”
The big question heading into the Six Hours of Bahrain at the end of the month is whether Audi can respond? While they may already have already locked up the Manufacturers’ World Championship, there are still three rounds up for grabs, with the fight for bragging rights heading into 2013 being far from over.
"The fight is on for us for all of the next races," said Audi's Allan McNish, who finished third in Sao Paulo with Tom Kristensen and Lucas Di Grassi. "We've got to go home and try and improve because that's what motor racing is about. "When you get knocked down, you have to get back up and get back in there fighting. That's what the next race in Bahrain is going to be about."
NOTES FROM THE PADDOCK
** The Six Hours of Sao Paulo has been hailed a success by everyone involved, with the event, promoted by Emerson Fittipaldi in partnership with the city of Sao Paulo, attracting a race-day crowd of 25,000 people. Fittipaldi said: "I have been receiving extremely positive comments, from people who have been racing for many, many years. Everybody is very happy to see the WEC and I think we have a great future in Brazil."
** While the 2013 FIA WEC calendar will not be released until the next FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting on Sept. 28, series CEO Gerard Neveu confirmed this weekend that Interlagos will return next year on August 31. It was initially believed Brazil would kick off the 2013 season, but now looks more likely for an European round instead.
** Work also continues on the revival of the European Le Mans Series for next year, with further information regarding the class structure, format and calendar expected to come within the next month. ELMS teams will end their shortened 2012 season at next month’s Petit Le Mans.
** Despite the big victory last weekend, Toyota has reaffirmed its commitment to only running a single car entry for the remainder of the year. Budget constraints have ruled out a two-car attack at its home round in Mt. Fuji, Japan next month.
** With Ryan Dalziel still in with a shot of the GRAND-AM championship, the Scot will miss the next FIA WEC round in Bahrain, which falls on the same weekend as the Rolex Series season finale at Lime Rock Park. Tom Kimber-Smith, who subbed for Stephane Sarrazin at Le Mans, will fill-in for Dalziel aboard the No. 44 Starworks Motorsport HPD-ARX-03b, which rides on a streak of three class wins in five races.
PHOTOS: FIA WEC Six Hours of Sao Paulo
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