Calado and Pier Guidi take well-judged win; Dempsey-Proton claim second Super Season victory
Ferrari took a well-judged victory in the LMGTE Pro category at the 6 Hours of Silverstone after a typically close battle through the 6-hour race.
The LMGTE Pro category again saw a thrilling multi-manufacturer battle as reigning GT World Champions James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi took their first win of the Super Season in the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo. 60,240 enthusiastic fans saw the action over the weekend at Silverstone as the world’s most spectacular sportscars put on another thrilling show.
Calado and Pier Guidi capitalised on a clever tyre and fuel saving strategy in the early phase of the race which allowed them to take control in the penultimate hour.
Taking the runners-up position on the track was the No.91 Porsche 911 RSR driven by Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz. The pair fought back from a difficult qualifying session yesterday to cut through the field. However, following post-race technical checks the No.91 Porsche was disqualified due to failing the minimum ground clearance measurement test.
This moved up the No.67 Ford GT of Harry Tincknell and Andy Priaulx to second place and the No.92 Porsche 911 RSR of Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre to the final podium position.
Priaulx drove a brilliant first few stints and took the lead from the No.92 Porsche driven by Kevin Estre. However, the car lost out during the Safety Car period and it was left to Tincknell to make a spectacular last hour pass on Michael Christensen in the No.92 Porsche.
Aston Martin Racing therefore finished the LMGTE Pro race in fourth position with the new model Vantage of Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin after a much stronger performance in this third round of the FIA WEC.
BMW Team MTEK took more points in its first WEC season as Martin Tomczyk and Nicky Catsburg came in fifth. Problems struck the pole sitting Ford GT of Olivier Pla and Stefan Mücke as they finished sixth after being forced to replace a door during a pit stop.
LMGTE Am saw a second consecutive victory for the No.77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR as Christian Ried, Julien Andlauer and Matt Campbell sealed the maximum points.
The trio celebrated another win after making the most of misfortune suffered by early leaders TF Sport Aston Martin and Team Project 1 Porsche which were both penalised for wrongly entering the pitlane before it officially opened during the Safety Car procedure.
Both entries recovered with TF Sport grabbing second place, as in Spa, and Team Project 1 taking their first WEC podium in third after Jorg Bergmeister made a stunning last lap move on Aston Martin Racing’s Pedro Lamy.
The next round will be the 6 Hours of Fuji at Fuji Speedway in Japan on Sunday 14th October.
Click HERE for the provisional race results
