Button hails ‘faultless’ Fuji performance by title-winning Hertz Team JOTA
For Hertz Team JOTA, the 6 Hours of Fuji earlier this month marked cause for a double celebration, with the British outfit’s best two-car finish of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign – from its worst starting position – ensuring the succes
Qualifying around the challenging Japanese circuit was a tricky affair for Hertz Team JOTA, with Will Stevens (#12) and Phil Hanson (#38) respectively taking the start of the race from down in 16th and 17th in the Hypercar field.
The former then found himself delayed by a collision ahead on lap two, but wasted little time in fighting back – pulling off some combative passes along the way – with Hanson in hot pursuit.
Battles with Alpine, Peugeot and Ferrari followed – with both JOTA entries despatching Jean-Éric Vergne in one fell swoop – before Callum Ilott and Jenson Button took to the wheel. The pair were ensconced solidly inside the top ten approaching the midway point, as Ilott starred by overhauling the title-chasing #50 Ferrari prior to setting off after the sister scarlet machine ahead.
In the closing stages, the two Porsche 963s were engaged in a multi-car scrap over the bottom step on the rostrum, which also comprised the #35 Alpine, #50 Ferrari and #8 Toyota. In the cockpit of the #12, Norman Nato worked his way to the front of that squabble and looked set to be rewarded with a podium finish, only to have to give best to a charging Mick Schumacher in the #36 Alpine and Mikkel Jensen in the #93 Peugeot just a few laps from the chequered flag.
Fifth place for the Spa Francorchamps-winning car nonetheless proved more than enough to secure Hertz Team JOTA the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams for the second consecutive season, with Oliver Rasmussen winding up barely two seconds further back in sixth.
The 2024 WEC campaign will conclude at the beginning of November with the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain, where the #38 crew will endeavour to leapfrog the #83 AF Corse Ferrari and #99 Proton Competition Porsche to steal second spot in the final privateer standings.
“Given where we were after qualifying, that was a fantastic result,” commented Sam Hignett, who founded the ELMS and ALMS title-winning team – ten times a podium-finisher in the 24 Hours of Le Mans’ LMP2 category – back in 2000.
“Obviously, when you see the car running in third overall you have high hopes, but to finish fifth and sixth was fantastic. We were still lacking pace, but the strategy from the engineers and the dedication of the drivers got us the result.”
“A faultless race by Hertz Team JOTA,” echoed 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Button. “I think we should be happy with fifth and sixth in terms of how we executed. It was probably our best race this year as a team, with no mistakes by anyone.
“We weren’t unlucky like we have been in many races this year, but the thing that hurts the most is that the out-and-out pace just isn’t there for us. We were a little bit disappointed by that, but there is loads of information to look at to try to improve for the final race in Bahrain.”
