Audi complete 1-2 finish at COTA
The #2 Audi Sport Team Joest crew of Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer picked up from where they left off at Le Mans by taking a well-judged victory in the fourth round of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship at COTA today.
The 2014 Le Mans 24 Hour winners took the chequered flag 53.016s ahead of the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro driven by Tom Kristensen, Lucas Di Grassi and Loic Duval, making it a very good day for Audi Sport Team Joest.
Completing the podium was the pole sitting #8 Toyota TS 040-Hybrid, driven by Sebastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Nicolas Lapierre. They still lead the drivers points table albeit with a reduced margin now of 11 points, ahead of Fässler, Lotterer and Tréluyer.
It was a thrilling 6 hours of frantic endurance racing with the first hour featuring some incredible lap times from pole setter Sebastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota. He rapidly pulled away from the chasing pack, even surviving a spin.
However, when a localised heavy rain storm descended on the track many cars spectacularly skated off the circuit and with standing water on parts of the circuit the red flag flew.
With both Toyota’s and the #20 Porsche having suffered excursions just before the red flag was shown, both Audi R18 e-tron quattros and the #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid then engaged in a battle for supremacy at the front of the field.
Each took turns leading the race, with Jani driving particularly impressive stints in the mid portion of the race to out the #14 Porsche in contention.
Ultimately though it was the #2 Audi that benefitted most from double stinting its tyres in the opening 90-minutes and completing the race without any mistakes and with slick pit stops. The drivers also benefitted from a ‘weather spotter’ at the top of the distinctive COTA tower on the infield of the circuit.
LMP1-L
The #12 Rebellion Racing team of Nicolas Prost, Nick Heidfeld and Mathias Beche took an easy victory in the LMP1-L class after a trouble free run. The sister #13 Rebellion R-One-Toyota was forced to retire in the penultimate hour.
Claiming second place on its debut was the #9 Lotus entered CLM P1/01-AER. After an initially difficult weekend Christophe Bouchut, James Rossiter and Lucas Auer rewarded the hard work of the Romanian entered squad by taking the chequered flag.
LMP2
LMP2 saw a tremendous race with all four of the five entries entrants leading the race and being in with a chance of victory at various stages.
The KCMG Oreca-Nissan led in to the first corner, but most importantly also out of the last too, but it had to fight every metre of the way to secure an historic first win for the Hong Kong registered team. Richard Bradley, Matt Howson and Tsugio Matsuda were delighted with their victory, fighting back after a mid-race spin by Matsuda when he attempted to wrest the lead from Mediani’s #27 SMP Racing Oreca-Nissan.
SMP Racing had a mixed day, with a solid second place for the #27 car but a retirement for the all-Russian #37 entry after damage from an on-track incident. The runners-up position for Nicolas Minassian, Maurizio Mediani and Sergey Zlobin, ensured that the Zlobin further extends his lead at the top of the driver standings to 27-points.
Completing the podium in the LMP2 class was the Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX 038-Honda after an impressive race which saw it lead at two separate stages, in the hands of Ryan Dalziel.
The G-Drive Ligier JS P2 Nissan of Olivier Pla, Julien Canal and Roman Rusinov were delayed after contact with Mediani. The team worked well to repair the car and it took 10-points for fourth position.
50,334 fans enjoyed a memorable Lone Star Le Mans weekend with some thrilling action once again provided by the FIA World Endurance Championship. The next round takes place on 12th October at Fuji Speedway in Japan.
23:06:34 : Aston #98 wins GTE Am from #95 Aston and #88 Porsche
23:05:41 : Oreca #47 wins LMP2 from #27 Oreca and #30 HPD
23:04:52 : Aston #97 wins GTE Pro from #92 Porsche and #51 Ferrari
23:03:35 : Rebellion #12 wins LMP1-L
23:03:01 : Chequered Flag - Fassler in #2 Audi wins LMP1 from #1 Audi and #8 Toyota
22:59:48 : Leader #2 on his last lap
22:53:54 : Leading #47 Oreca in P2 has missing number panel light
22:49:32 : Stanaway in #95 Aston takes 2nd in GTE Am from #88 Porsche
22:48:53 : Fuel only for #2 - now leads by 40 seconds from Di Grassi
22:47:56 : Porsche #14 reported to have lost full engine power
22:46:34 : Fassler into the pits
22:45:45 : Buemi retakes Lieb for 3rd place
22:43:53 : Aston #98 now leads GTE Am from #88 Porsche
22:43:12 : Buemi drops to 4th behind Lieb
22:42:29 : Buemi into pits - Di Grassi into 2nd place
22:39:28 : Lieb also now passed by Di Grassi for 3rd
22:38:33 : Turner back into the lead of GTE Pro after Pilet pits
22:36:25 : Buemi up to 2nd passing Lieb
22:33:00 : Fassler leads by 1min 9 secs from Lieb with 10 secs back to Buemi
22:30:16 : Turner pits from lead of GTE Pro - Pilet retakes lead
22:21:37 : Fassler leads by 58 seconds but has one more stop to make
22:18:07 : Fuel only for #14 Porsche
22:17:36 : Leader Lieb into pits - Fassler retakes the lead
22:16:35 : Aston #97 retakes lead in GTE Pro from Porsche #92
22:15:10 : Porsche #14 leads by 0.877 of a second from #2 Audi
22:12:46 : Di Grassi pits and remains 3rd
22:01:14 : 27 of 29 starters still running with one hour to go (#13 Rebellion and #37 Oreca in their pit garages)
21:58:38 : Oreca #47 retakes 2nd in P2
21:53:08 : Porsche #14 retakes lead after #2 stops
21:47:29 : Buemi now in Toyota #8
21:46:57 : Davidson in #8 into pits and loses 3rd to Di Grassi
21:45:03 : HPD #30 pits from lead of P2 #27 Oreca retakes lead
04:39:59 : Ferrari #71 also has long pit stop
04:36:20 : Porsche #91 into its garage
04:35:46 : Aston #97 takes lead in GTE Pro after long stop for #91 Porsche
04:30:43 : Porsche #88 takes lead in GTE Am from #95 Aston
Full results can be found HERE
Sam Smith
Photos: CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS (AUSTIN, TEXAS, USA), 6 HOURS OF CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS, RACE, SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2014. 1) Grand Marshal Gerard Larrousse presented the trophies for 1st and 2nd place to the winning Audi Sport Team Joest drivers; 2) Rebellion Racing''s No.12 won the LMP1-L category; 3) KCMG's ORECA 03R Nissan took its first FIA WEC victory today.
