WEC: Toyota dominates, Cool surprises 🎥
SEASON START IN SILVERSTONE The world champions seamlessly followed up their success at Le Mans with a double victory in England. There was a surprising Swiss success at the start of the eighth WEC season in the LMP2 class. As the three-minute highlights show, the spectators in England experienced a varied race, also thanks to the changeable weather conditions. This resulted in [...]
As the three-minute highlights show, the spectators in England experienced a varied race, also thanks to the changeable weather conditions. For the first time, the race at Silverstone lasted only four hours instead of the usual six.
The FIA and the promoters from Le Mans used various parameters to bring the performance of Toyota's only factory car and the private LMP1 competitors from Rebellion and newcomer Ginetta closer together. The Toyota TS050 Hybrid, for example, has to weigh 99 kilograms more and spend the same amount of time at the fuel pump as its competitors with larger fuel tanks.
2nd place for Sébastien Buemi
Over the distance, however, Toyota was unbeatable. The eighth and once again multi-year season of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) began with a clear one-two for the world champions.
However, first place did not go to the two-time Le Mans winners and world champion drivers Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and newcomer Brendon Hartley (replacing Fernando Alonso) but to their teammates Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López.
Number #7, which started from pole position, was in the lead six times for a total of 79 of the 129 laps completed, the defending champions' #8 twice for 39 circuits. The two cars crossed the finish line with a difference of just 1.9 seconds.
Rebellion without Swiss driver
Because Toyota refueled first due to an early caution period and thus the refueling intervals differed, both Rebellion R-13s starting from the second row briefly took the lead. The British team under the Swiss flag, which continues to be financed by Alexandre Pesci from Geneva, no longer has any Swiss drivers after the departure of Neel Jani (who is concentrating on Formula E with Porsche) and the dismissal of Mathias Beche.
The trio of Berthon/Derani/Duval finished third overall with a lap down, while Senna/Menezes/Nato had to settle for tenth place after a problem with the power steering.
Cool victory for Cool Racing
There was an unexpected Swiss victory in the LMP2 class. The Swiss-French team previously competed in the European Le Mans Series and is expanding its commitment to the WEC in 2019. Nicolas Lapierre and Antonin Borga took class victory in an Oreca 07-Gibson at the first attempt. Retired the previous day in the ELMS due to an accident, Alexandre Coigny, who had been scheduled as the third driver, had to watch on medical advice.
Lapierre, a professional and team leader who lives on Lake Geneva, is a dual citizen (F/CH), Borga and Coigny are Swiss, as is the experienced sports director Iradj Alexander. The team is based in France, where team boss Patrick Barbier also comes from.
The fact that they are now leading the LMP2 world championship ahead of Signatech Alpine and other teams with strong drivers initially caused almost disbelief among all members of Cool Racing. They can now enjoy this feeling to the full until the second round of the season in Fuji/Japan in mid-October.
