LMGTE teams news round up after 6 Hours of Sao Paulo
Aston Martin wins in Sao Paulo to end successful 2014 season (Pro and Am)
Aston Martin Racing has ended the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) on a high with two wins in the Six Hours of Sao Paulo, the final race of a season that saw the team take two WEC titles and a 24 Hours of Le Mans class win.
The #97 Vantage GTE of Darren Turner (GB) and Stefan Mücke (DE) started the race from pole position following a fantastic qualifying session for the team, that saw all four Vantage GTEs qualify within the top five GTEs overall. It was an exciting battle all the way to the finish line with the Aston Martin swapping places with the Ferraris and Porches numerous times.
In the GTE Am class, it was the #98 Vantage GTE driven by Pedro Lamy (PT), Paul Dalla Lana (CA) and Christoffer Nygaard (DN) that took the class win. Despite running in the GTE Am class, Lamy and Nygaard qualified the car in fourth place overall in the GTE pack to start from the front of the GTE Am grid.
To read the full story from Aston Martin including what their drivers had to say, click HERE
Porsche 911 RSR second in exciting season finale
A successful conclusion to the Sports Car World Endurance Championship WEC for Porsche Team Manthey: With a strong performance at the gripping six-hour race in Sao Paulo, the French Porsche works drivers Frédéric Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet scored second in the fiercely competitive GTE-Pro class at the wheel of their Porsche 911 RSR. With this, the pair notched up another podium result with the 470 BHP GT racer from Weissach to add to the two double victories at Silverstone and Shanghai. In the manufacturers’ championship, Porsche secured runner-up honours.
Witnessed by over 50,000 spectators at the Autodromo José Carlos Pace, the number 92 Porsche 911 RSR got away cleanly amongst the front-runners in temperatures reaching 28 degrees Celsius. After a good qualifying performance, Frédéric Makowiecki took up the last race of the season from the first grid row and treated the Brazilian fans to some breath-taking fights for positions and spectacular overtaking manoeuvres. His teammate Patrick Pilet snatched the lead for the first time early in the third hour.
With an hour to the flag, Makowiecki was running at the front of the GT field before pulling into the pits for the last refuelling stop and driver change. As dusk turned to darkness, Patrick Pilet returned to the track in third and launched a furious pursuit. But after pushing his way up to second place, a safety car phase which lasted until the end of the race robbed him of the chance of victory. This caution phase was triggered by a serious accident in which the Porsche LMP1 pilot Mark Webber was involved.
To find out more about Porsche Team Manthey’s Brazilian exploits, and what their drivers had to say, click HERE
FIA WEC: Ferrari takes GT Constructors’ title and it’s a new triple victory
Ferrari wins the GT Constructors’ title in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Following the GT Drivers’ title for Gianmaria Bruni - Toni Vilander and the GTE Pro Team crown for AF Corse (both in Bahrain, penultimate seasonal round) Ferrari takes the world championship in the best competition for GT cars. At the end of the “6 Hours of Sao Paulo”, last race in the WEC 2014, the GT Constructors’ title becomes fact and it’s a new triple victory.
Already in 2012 and 2013, Ferrari, AF Corse and Gimmi Bruni (with the help of Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander) won everything they could win. With the final checkered flag of the WEC 2014, once again, the season is winning by definition as show the win in the “24 Hours of Le Mans” (GTE Pro category) for the Ferrari 458 Italy #51 of Bruni-Vilander and Fisichella.
For more AF Corse news about the race and its championships, click HERE
Top 5 place for Prospeed Competition
It was an intense and thrilling final round of the World Endurance Championship in Brazil. The last race of the World Championship had all the traits of a thriller; not only up front where Porsche clinched its first ever victory in LM P1, but also in the LM GTE Am class. It was in this class that ProSpeed Competition had entered a Porsche 911 RSR for the French trio comprised out of François Perrodo, Manu Collard and Matthieu Vaxivière. Following a strong performance put in by the trio, although at times flavoured with several race incidents and a puncture, the Belgian team rounded off the season with a top-5 in a heavily fought class. ProSpeed Competition can look back on an excellent initial campaign in this World Championship, with amongst others a pole position in the USA and a podium place in Japan.
To read more about Prospeed's race in Sao Paulo, go to their website HERE
