6 Hours of Shanghai: GTE Pro teams news round up
Aston Martin Racing - No.97 1st, No.99 2nd
Aston Martin Racing has finished in first and second place in the GTE Pro class and third in the GTE Am class in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Six Hours of Shanghai to lead a total of five championships going into the final round.
The result puts Aston Martin at the head of the World Cup for GT Manufacturers title race, while the victorious #97 Vantage GTE climbs to the top of the Trophy for GTE Pro Teams standings. Drivers Darren Turner (GB) and Stefan Mücke (DE) also took control of the World Cup for GT Drivers.
With its #96 Vantage GTE having finished third in class – its fourth consecutive podium – Aston Martin Racing leads the Trophy for GTE Am Teams while British duo Jamie Campbell-Walter and Stuart Hall maintain their lead of the Trophy for GTE Am Drivers.
With just one round of the 2013 championship to run in three weeks’ time (30 November) at the Six Hours of Bahrain, Aston Martin Racing will be aiming to clinch all five titles to cap off a hugely successful year that has so far delivered eight race victories and a perfect haul of seven double pole positions.
The #97 team arrived in Shanghai with the aim of repeating their 2012 race victory. Turner and long-standing team-mate Mücke secured pole position in their V8-powered Vantage GTE and maintained that lead throughout the six-hour race to score 26 valuable points and clinch the championship lead.
“That was a fantastic result, but it wasn’t easy,” comments Turner. “The competition is so tough, especially from our own cars – the #99 gave us a real run for our money. The qualifying session was the hardest of the year, so to take pole and an extra point was great. The car was brilliant for most of the race. I had one difficult stint, but we managed to maintain the lead and take the race win, which is what we needed to do.”
Hot on the #97’s heels was the #99 of Pedro Lamy (PT), Bruno Senna (BR) and Richie Stanaway (NZ), which finished just 0.6 seconds behind after six hours to take second place and collect 18 valuable points towards the World Cup for GT Manufacturers.
Senna, who finished the race for the #99 team, comments: “That was a brilliant race. We took it right up to the wire with the #97 team. It’s great to be up on the podium stood next to Darren, Stefan, Pedro and Richie and we’ve collected points towards the Manufacturers’ championship so everyone at Aston Martin Racing can celebrate tonight.”
John Gaw, Team Principal, comments: “We came to Shanghai knowing from last year that the car was strong here and, although it was very disappointing what happened to the #95 car after an exemplary weekend by all involved with that team, it was good to get the job done with the other cars. We go to the final round of the Championship in Bahrain in three weeks' time in a stronger position than when we arrived here in Shanghai.
“We have to say a big thank you to Michelin. All the cars this weekend were of a similar performance on their fastest laps, but the nature of this circuit means that tyres play a key role over the length of a six-hour race and the combination of the Aston Martin and Michelin proved a successful one this weekend.
“We know from last year that Shanghai was our second best circuit in this area and Bahrain our strongest so we look forward with relish to the opportunity to complete the job and achieve the key targets we set ourselves at the start of this year.”
From Aston Martin press release
Photo: SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT (SHANGHAI, CHINA), 6 HOURS OF SHANGHAI, SATURDAY 9TH NOVEMBER 2013, RACE. From left to right on the LMGTE Pro podium: Aston Martin Racing's Simon Edwards, Richie Stanaway, Pedro Lamy, Bruno Senna, Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke and Porsche AG Team Manthey's Patrick Pilet and Joerg Bergmeister.
Porsche AG Team Manthey - No.91 3rd, No.92 6th
A successful first outing in China for the Porsche 911 RSR. At the six-hour race on the Shanghai International Circuit, the penultimate round of the sports car World Endurance Championship WEC, Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Pilet (France) scored third place in the GTE-Pro class with the GT racer from Weissach fielded by Porsche AG Team Manthey. For the Porsche works drivers, this marked the fourth podium result of the season after Le Mans, Sao Paulo and Fuji. Their factory pilot colleagues Marc Lieb (Germany) and Richard Lietz (Austria) saw the flag in sixth at the wheel of the second 911 RSR.
The sports car race on the Formula 1 circuit in the megacity delivered gripping action to the flag. It was only shortly before the finish that Joerg Bergmeister managed to overtake the third-running Ferrari and defend this position over the last laps. No such happy end, however, for Le Mans winners Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz: After a strong qualifying performance, they headed into the race from a promising second grid row of the GT field, but ultimately had to settle for sixth place.
A keen observer of the race in Shanghai was gymnastics star and Porsche driver Marcel Nguyen. As a guest of Porsche AG Team Manthey, the double silver medallist from the 2012 Olympic Games watched the action from the pits, after previously having Marc Lieb give him a detailed explanation of the 911 RSR. Marcel Nguyen also enjoys huge popularity in China and signed just as many autographs before the race as the race drivers themselves.
Patrick Pilet (#91): “Third place is a good result. Joerg and I did everything we could and we drove a perfect race. We didn’t make the slightest mistake. It was really difficult with the tyres which deteriorated badly on this track. We lost five-tenths per lap in the final fast sector and it’s easy to calculate what that adds up to over 168 laps.
Joerg Bergmeister (#91): “We can be satisfied with third today. At the beginning of the race we experienced hefty handling problems, but with increasing grip and lower temperatures our car got better. Ultimately, we were able to match the pace of our rivals.”
Marc Lieb (#92): “When you start from position three and finish on sixth it’s of course rather disappointing. Early on in the race we were clearly not fast enough. But later it got better. It would be nice if everything ran perfectly at a race.”
Richard Lietz (#92): “We went really well in qualifying. Over four, five laps we were able to match the pace of the competition, but then we lost too much ground. The tyres deteriorated too much. Now we have to see if that was due to the set-up or the high temperatures. I’m sure that we’ll know this by Bahrain, draw our conclusions and then do better at the season finale.”
From Porsche AG press release
Photo: SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT (SHANGHAI, CHINA), 6 HOURS OF SHANGHAI, SATURDAY 9TH NOVEMBER 2013, RACE.