bigbadbrother
10-12-2014, 09:53 PM
John Dagys
Toyota claimed a dominant victory in Sunday's FIA WEC Six Hours of Fuji, taking a 1-2 result for the pair of factory prototypes on home soil.
Anthony Davidson took the No. 8 Toyota TS040 Hybrid to a 25.627-second victory over the sister entry of Stephane Sarrazin, in a race that saw the Japanese manufacturer led virtually from the start to finish.
Pole-sitter Sebastien Buemi took control early following a frantic opening few laps that saw both LMP1-H rivals Audi and Porsche lead briefly, although unable to put together the overall pace.
An unscheduled stop for the No. 20 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Mark Webber, who had a slow puncture, saw the No. 7 Toyota of Kazuki Nakajima move into second, with the pair of TS040s never relinquishing the position in the remaining five hours.
The commanding run was rewarded with Davidson and Buemi's third victory of the year, which sees the duo extend their lead in the Drivers' World Championship and Toyota retake the LMP1 Manufacturers' Championship with three rounds still to go.
The No. 7 entry of Nakajima and co-drivers Sarrazin and Alex Wurz ended up two laps ahead of the No. 20 Porsche of Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard in third, which stretched the fuel mileage in the closing stages.
Power issues slowed both Porsches through the middle stages but showed pace in the end, with the No. 14 entry coming home in fourth and the pair of Audis finishing a distant fifth and sixth after a challenging race for the two-time and defending series champions.
LMP1-L class honors came down to a last-man-standing affair, following issues for all three of the lightweight prototypes, including an inferno for the Lotus CLM P1/01 AER in the final hour.
Christophe Bouchut escaped injury after his Lotus caught fire and nearly burned to the ground on pit lane.
The car was running second in class just moments before the leading No. 13 Rebellion R-One Toyota was wheeled to the garage with rear damper failure.
Mostert, Morris make history by winning the Bathurst 1000
Dominik Kraihamer rejoined and limped the No. 13 car to the class win, despite briefly stopping on track with electrical issues.
Kraihamer and co-drivers Andrea Belicchi and Fabio Leimer finished 20 laps behind the overall winner in 11th. It marked the trio's first class victory of the year.
The No. 12 Rebellion entry lost more than 50 laps early with sensor issues and turned the remainder of the race into a test session, making multiple trips to the garage.
G-Drive Racing's Olivier Pla, Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal took top honors in LMP2, giving the Ligier JS P2 its maiden victory.
It didn't come without a fight, as Pla got around the No. 47 KCMG Oreca 03 Nissan of Alexandre Imperatori to re-take the lead with less than 20 minutes to go after he was forced to make an unscheduled stop due to a left-rear puncture.
The OAK Racing-run entry, however, held control for the majority of the race prior to the late-race drama, with Pla having taken the lead in the opening hour after surging from fourth in class on the grid.
Imperatori and co-drivers Richard Bradley and Matt Howson settled for second in class, just five seconds behind the winning G-Drive entry, with the No. 35 OAK Morgan-Judd of Alex Brundle, Gustavo Yacaman and Keiko Ihara coming home third.
Contact was made between Yacaman's Morgan-Judd and the No. 27 SMP Racing Oreca Nissan of Sergey Zlobin while battling for the final podium position late in the fifth hour, much to the aggravation of the Russian driver.
However, no penalty was called. The pair of SMP Racing entries completed the top-five in class.
OAK's Ihara, meanwhile, becomes the first female driver to claim a podium finish in FIA WEC competition.
AF Corse claimed a 1-2 finish in GTE-Pro, while Aston Martin Racing swept the GTE-Am class.
Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander took their No. 51 Ferrari F458 Italia to their third class victory of the season, following a fight with the No. 99 Aston Martin, as well as the sister AF entry in the Pro ranks.
Vilander edged out the No. 71 Ferrari of teammate James Calado by 2.902 seconds to take top honors, with the pole-sitting No. 99 Aston Martin Vantage GTE of Alex MacDowall settling for third in class.
The Aston of Fernando Rees led early, getting around Bruni for the top spot midway through the opening hour. The fight continued between MacDowall and Vilander, although the race ultimately going in favor of the Prancing Horses.
Bruni and Vilander extend their lead in the Drivers' Championship heading into next month's round in Shanghai.
The No. 71 Ferrari of Calado and Davide Rigon was second, ahead of the MacDowall, Rees and Darryl O'Young-driven Aston, which completed the podium in third.
Trouble hit the No. 97 Aston Martin and No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR after colliding on the opening lap, which saw both entries lose time with unscheduled stops for repairs.
It gave the No. 91 Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR of Richard Lietz and Joerg Bergmeister clear sailing for a fourth place result in class.
GTE-Am class honors for the third time this season went to the No. 95 Aston Martin entry of Nicki Thiim, David Heinemeier Hansson and Kristian Poulsen, leading a 1-2 for the British manufacturer.
The "Dane Train" fought all race with the pole-sitting sister No. 98 entry of Pedro Lamy, Christoffer Nygaard and Paul Dalla Lana, which ended up settling for second in class.
The No. 75 Prospeed Competition Porshce 911 RSR of Emmanuel Collard, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Francois Perrodo were third after a late battle with the No. 88 Proton Competition Porsche of Klaus Bachler, which saw the Austrian settle for fourth in class.
The six-hour race ran green, other than for a brief Full Course Yellow to retrieve debris, which lasted less than three minutes.
Toyota claimed a dominant victory in Sunday's FIA WEC Six Hours of Fuji, taking a 1-2 result for the pair of factory prototypes on home soil.
Anthony Davidson took the No. 8 Toyota TS040 Hybrid to a 25.627-second victory over the sister entry of Stephane Sarrazin, in a race that saw the Japanese manufacturer led virtually from the start to finish.
Pole-sitter Sebastien Buemi took control early following a frantic opening few laps that saw both LMP1-H rivals Audi and Porsche lead briefly, although unable to put together the overall pace.
An unscheduled stop for the No. 20 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Mark Webber, who had a slow puncture, saw the No. 7 Toyota of Kazuki Nakajima move into second, with the pair of TS040s never relinquishing the position in the remaining five hours.
The commanding run was rewarded with Davidson and Buemi's third victory of the year, which sees the duo extend their lead in the Drivers' World Championship and Toyota retake the LMP1 Manufacturers' Championship with three rounds still to go.
The No. 7 entry of Nakajima and co-drivers Sarrazin and Alex Wurz ended up two laps ahead of the No. 20 Porsche of Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard in third, which stretched the fuel mileage in the closing stages.
Power issues slowed both Porsches through the middle stages but showed pace in the end, with the No. 14 entry coming home in fourth and the pair of Audis finishing a distant fifth and sixth after a challenging race for the two-time and defending series champions.
LMP1-L class honors came down to a last-man-standing affair, following issues for all three of the lightweight prototypes, including an inferno for the Lotus CLM P1/01 AER in the final hour.
Christophe Bouchut escaped injury after his Lotus caught fire and nearly burned to the ground on pit lane.
The car was running second in class just moments before the leading No. 13 Rebellion R-One Toyota was wheeled to the garage with rear damper failure.
Mostert, Morris make history by winning the Bathurst 1000
Dominik Kraihamer rejoined and limped the No. 13 car to the class win, despite briefly stopping on track with electrical issues.
Kraihamer and co-drivers Andrea Belicchi and Fabio Leimer finished 20 laps behind the overall winner in 11th. It marked the trio's first class victory of the year.
The No. 12 Rebellion entry lost more than 50 laps early with sensor issues and turned the remainder of the race into a test session, making multiple trips to the garage.
G-Drive Racing's Olivier Pla, Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal took top honors in LMP2, giving the Ligier JS P2 its maiden victory.
It didn't come without a fight, as Pla got around the No. 47 KCMG Oreca 03 Nissan of Alexandre Imperatori to re-take the lead with less than 20 minutes to go after he was forced to make an unscheduled stop due to a left-rear puncture.
The OAK Racing-run entry, however, held control for the majority of the race prior to the late-race drama, with Pla having taken the lead in the opening hour after surging from fourth in class on the grid.
Imperatori and co-drivers Richard Bradley and Matt Howson settled for second in class, just five seconds behind the winning G-Drive entry, with the No. 35 OAK Morgan-Judd of Alex Brundle, Gustavo Yacaman and Keiko Ihara coming home third.
Contact was made between Yacaman's Morgan-Judd and the No. 27 SMP Racing Oreca Nissan of Sergey Zlobin while battling for the final podium position late in the fifth hour, much to the aggravation of the Russian driver.
However, no penalty was called. The pair of SMP Racing entries completed the top-five in class.
OAK's Ihara, meanwhile, becomes the first female driver to claim a podium finish in FIA WEC competition.
AF Corse claimed a 1-2 finish in GTE-Pro, while Aston Martin Racing swept the GTE-Am class.
Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander took their No. 51 Ferrari F458 Italia to their third class victory of the season, following a fight with the No. 99 Aston Martin, as well as the sister AF entry in the Pro ranks.
Vilander edged out the No. 71 Ferrari of teammate James Calado by 2.902 seconds to take top honors, with the pole-sitting No. 99 Aston Martin Vantage GTE of Alex MacDowall settling for third in class.
The Aston of Fernando Rees led early, getting around Bruni for the top spot midway through the opening hour. The fight continued between MacDowall and Vilander, although the race ultimately going in favor of the Prancing Horses.
Bruni and Vilander extend their lead in the Drivers' Championship heading into next month's round in Shanghai.
The No. 71 Ferrari of Calado and Davide Rigon was second, ahead of the MacDowall, Rees and Darryl O'Young-driven Aston, which completed the podium in third.
Trouble hit the No. 97 Aston Martin and No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR after colliding on the opening lap, which saw both entries lose time with unscheduled stops for repairs.
It gave the No. 91 Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR of Richard Lietz and Joerg Bergmeister clear sailing for a fourth place result in class.
GTE-Am class honors for the third time this season went to the No. 95 Aston Martin entry of Nicki Thiim, David Heinemeier Hansson and Kristian Poulsen, leading a 1-2 for the British manufacturer.
The "Dane Train" fought all race with the pole-sitting sister No. 98 entry of Pedro Lamy, Christoffer Nygaard and Paul Dalla Lana, which ended up settling for second in class.
The No. 75 Prospeed Competition Porshce 911 RSR of Emmanuel Collard, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Francois Perrodo were third after a late battle with the No. 88 Proton Competition Porsche of Klaus Bachler, which saw the Austrian settle for fourth in class.
The six-hour race ran green, other than for a brief Full Course Yellow to retrieve debris, which lasted less than three minutes.