Who has made the dragon dance in Shanghai? (part 1 of 2)
Shanghai has been on the FIA WEC’s schedule since the start and it has offered up some interesting races and facts from among its winners since 2012. Find out here more about the winners from 2012-2014 (part 1 of 2).
More usually seen at the tail end of the championship, when title fights are intensifying by the minute, this year’s 6 Hours of Shanghai (16-18 November) is round five of the Super Season. Not that that will detract from the spectacle ahead!
Will SMP Racing break through for a podium finish? Will Ferrari take its first win in GTE Pro? Will BMW climb to the top step? Will ORECA maintain its winning form in China? Will Porsche secure an Am victory for the first time?
2012 – Toyota Racing/ADR-Delta/Aston Martin Racing/Larbre Competition
Toyota Racing’s Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre combined as a duo to take victory in the TS030 Hybrid at the final race of the inaugural FIA WEC season. In the 10-strong LMP2 category, the ORECA 03 Nissan of ADR-Delta took victory (John Martin/Tor Graves/Mathias Beche) against some strong opposition. In a lean LMGTE Pro class, the Aston Martin Vantage of Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke won for the first time, while in Am it was the Corvette C6 ZR1 run by Larbre Competition (Patrick Bornhauser/Julien Canal/Pedro Lamy) which claimed the top of the podium.
2013 – Audi Sport Team Joest/G-Drive Racing/Aston Martin Racing/8Star Motorsports
Audi’s R18 e-tron quattro secured its only WEC victory in China (André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer/Marcel Fässler) ahead of Audi and Rebellion, while G-Drive Racing’s Roman Rusinov/John Martin/Mike Conway claimed the winners’ laurels with an ORECA 03 in LMP2. Aston Martin Racing took a dominant 1-2 in GTE Pro, with just 0.5 seconds between the Vantages of winners Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke and their team mates, and American team 8Star Motorsports (Enzo Potolicchio/Rui Aguas/Davide Rigon) did the same in GTE Am in a Ferrari 458 Italia.
2014 - Toyota Racing/G-Drive Racing/Porsche Team Manthey/Aston Martin Racing
Toyota Racing took its second win in Shanghai and sealed its first World Endurance Championship, with the Drivers’ world title going to Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi in the TS040 Hybrid. G-Drive Racing won LMP2 for the second consecutive year (Roman Rusinov/Julien Canal/Olivier Pla), but this time with a Ligier JS P2 Nissan. Porsche’s iconic 911 RSR in the hands of Frederic Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet broke through for a first GTE Pro victory in China, while Aston Martin Racing (Paul Dalla Lana/Pedro Lamy/Christoffer Nygaard maintained its winning streak, this time in the GTE Am specification Vantage.
