WEC: Toyota back on track 🎥
DOUBLE WIN IN FUJI Two months after the disqualification in Silverstone, Toyota's double win at the 6 Hours of Fuji was undisputed. The car with Sébastien Buemi was second this time, the Rebellion team with Neel Jani third. Despite further limitations in their performance, the two Toyota TS050 Hybrids outperformed the private LMP1 teams at the home track [...]
Despite further limitations in their performance, the two Toyota TS050 Hybrids were highly superior to the private LMP1 teams on their home track at Fuji. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López won the fourth round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) despite having to start from the back of the LMP1 field.
The reason: After his qualifying lap, the Spaniard was 8.7 km/h too fast at the entrance to the pit lane. So, to their own surprise, Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Fernando Alonso inherited pole position after their absolute best time had been cancelled for disregarding the track limits (Buemi).
Thanks to all-wheel drive and hybrid
In the rain, Kobayashi was back in second position behind his compatriot Nakajima within two laps of the start. The different tire changes and safety car phases soon led to a total of four lead changes between the two Toyota teams over the course of the six hours in increasingly better weather.
Before the final third of the race, the positions were taken, with Alonso/Buemi/Nakajima staying behind their teammates this time. At the finish, the only two LMP1 hybrid factory cars were just 11.44 seconds apart.
For Toyota, it is the sixth home victory in seven outings so far since 2012. Sébastien Buemi himself only finished second for the first time this year.
Sébastien Buemi: "Our teammates were simply a tad faster. However, a caution phase cost us around 1 minute and 20 seconds, which played into their hands. But they deserved the win, the whole team did a super job."
With victories at Spa and Le Mans and second place in Japan, Alonso, Buemi and Nakajima lead the WRC with 84 points ahead of their teammates with 71 points.
Rebellion still remains the second force
As in the previous races, the two Rebellion R-13 cars were the second force over the distance, although the two BR1-AER cars of SMP Racing from Russia, driven by Jenson Button and Stéphane Sarrazin, put up a tough fight for a long time.
While the car of the subsequent Silverstone winners (due to the disqualification of the Toyota) was eliminated by an accident of Gustavo Menezes on lap 24, André Lotterer, Neel Jani and Bruno Senna soon claimed third position. They did not relinquish this position until the finish.
In the WRC interim standings, the two Rebellion Racing teams are now third and fourth with 63 and 51 points respectively.
Neel Jani: "Basically, it was the first problem-free race of the season for our car, in which we clinched third place under our own steam. That's as good as it gets for Rebellion against Toyota. No matter how you intervene in their performance, an LMP1 hybrid still has potential. On the other hand, we have to be careful that SMP doesn't catch up with us, they've made enormous progress. Their cars just aren't as stable as ours yet. It's getting more difficult with every race, so we have to continue to develop as well."
The highlights of the 6 hours of Fuji shows this video:
http://www.facebook.com/fiawec/videos/1166881456783224
Class wins for Porsche
In both GT classes, Porsche teams won with the 911 RSR. In LM GTE Pro, the top four cars from Porsche, BMW, Ford and Ferrari were separated by just 50 seconds after six hours.
The 2018/19 cross-season World Endurance Championship continues on November 18 in Shanghai (China).
