New to the FIA WEC last year was the hugely impressive and Circuit of The Americas, the purpose-built road racing track in Austin, Texas. The venue remains on the calendar for 2014, and the 6 Hours of the Circuit of The Americas will be the fourth round of the championship – the first race after the summer break following the 24 Hours of Le Mans. An added excitement for fans will be that the WEC round races into the night, the series sharing the track with the United Sportscar Championship.
An instant hit with drivers up and down the field, the 3.427-mile (5.515 km) circuit features the very recognisable ‘stars and stripes’ of the US national flag painted on the run-off areas… the race is as popular with photographers as it is with drivers! Warm and humid weather conditions are to be expected, although last year’s inaugural race weekend featured some rain too; the
The No.2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Loïc Duval claimed the top step of the podium at the Texan track, 23 seconds ahead of the No.8 Toyota Racing TS030 Hybrid of Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Stéphane Sarrazin. One lap behind, after a race disrupted by incidents and accidents, was the No.1 Audi. The LMP1 Privateer entry of Rebellion Racing’s Mathias Beche, Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Prost, a model of reliability and consistency, was fourth.
The LMP2 class provided some very close racing once again and at the chequered flag a well-deserved, second victory of the season went to the No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA 03 Nissan of Mike Conway, Roman Rusinov and John Martin. In second place was the No.49 Pecom Racing ORECA 03 Nissan entry of Luis Perez Companc, Nicolas Minassian and Pierre Kaffer while the No.32 Lotus Praga T128 of Thomas Holzer, Dominik Kraihamer and Jan Charouz claimed its first podium finish of the season.
Fred Makowiecki and Bruno Senna put on a dominant display of driving in the No.99 Aston Martin Vantage V8 to claim victory in LMGTE Pro, despite being put under persistent pressure by the two AF Corse entries. Just 15 seconds behind them in second place was Gianmaria Bruni and Giancarlo Fisichella in the No.51 Ferrari 458 Italia, the category never failing to deliver excitement and tension as demonstrated by the scant 1.7 seconds gap to third-placed Vilander and Kobayashi in the No.71 Ferrari.
The LMGTE Am class was also an Aston Martin affair, Jamie Campbell-Walter and Stuart Hall giving the No.96 its second class win of the year. The British drivers duelled throughout the race with their Aston Martin Racing team mates in the No.95 entry: Nicki Thiim, Kristian Poulsen and Christoffer Nygaard. The Danish trio pushed the Britons right to the very end, finishing 1.7 seconds behind the winners and 57 seconds in front of the No.76 IMSA Performance Matmut 911 GT3 RSR of Narac and Vernay.
FIA WEC Fastest Race Laps
2013
LMP1 B.Tréluyer Audi R18 e-tron quattro 1:47.375 184.9 kph
LMP2 M.Conway G-Drive Racing ORECA-Nissan031:54.559 173.3 kph
LMGTE Pro K.Kobayashi AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia 2:03.520 160.8 kph
LMGTE Am Nicki Thiim Aston Martin Vantage V8 2:04.830 159.1 kph
Photo: CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS (AUSTIN, TEXAS, USA), 6 HOURS OF CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS, SUNDAY, 22ND SEPTEMBER 2013. The No.99 Aston Martin Vantage V8 of Bruno Senna and Fred Makowiecki.
