Audi one-two at Silverstone six-hour
R18 takes Tourist Trophy at opening round of World Endurance Championship
After an hour spent swapping positions with his team-mate, world champion Benoit Treluyer, McNish swept past for the final time, finishing the race less than four seconds ahead and, in doing so, claiming both the race victory and this year’s RAC International Tourist Trophy.
The one-two for Audi represents a continuation of the team’s LMP1 dominance, with closest rival Toyota’s lead TS030 hybrid, driven by Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Stephane Sarrazin, finishing a lap behind the two R18s.
In the LMP2 class, the rain shower that hit the race in the third hour (and reminded us that we'd forgotten to bring any sort of weatherproofing) spelled disaster for the number 26 G-Drive car, then being driven by John Martin, who span his car on the exit of the final turn, clouting the pit wall and ending his race. That gifted the lead to the number 25 Delta-ADR car driven by Tor Graves, Antonio Pizzonia and James Walker, who duly went on to win the class.
Meanwhile, there was triumph for the thundering Aston Martin V8 Vantages in both GTE classes, with Darren Turner, Stefun Mucke and Bruno Senna claiming victory in GTE-Pro, and Christoffer Nygaard, Kristian Poulsen and Allan Simonsen taking the GTE-Am victores, both having qualified first in their respective classes. Kamui Kobayashi and team-mate Toni Vilander piloted their Ferrari458 Italia to second in the GTE-Pro class, and the Chevrolet Corvette of Patrick Bornhauser, Julien Canal and Fernando Rees took second in GTE-Am. Sadly, though, the works-supported Manthey Porsche 991 RSR cars made their GTE-Pro debut with less of a bang and more of a gentle phut, struggling to match the pace of the Astons and coming in with fourth- and sixth-place finishes in their class of six. Let's hope their fortunes improve later in the season so that the celebratory tone of the 911's 50th anniversary year can be maintained!
[Images: Prime Exposures]
"BUT" there will be a limit on fuel that can be used per lap, I think its about 4 litres for diesel and 5 litres for petrol, and further reductions on tank capacity.
So for the 2014 season you are going to see more manufacturers coming into the series, including Porsche, and the rumours are Porsche have signed Mark Webber on a 5 year deal.
You may also see formula one engines being used in this series as there is no rules saying they cant, so things look very good for Le Mans 2014
"BUT" there will be a limit on fuel that can be used per lap, I think its about 4 litres for diesel and 5 litres for petrol, and further reductions on tank capacity.
So for the 2014 season you are going to see more manufacturers coming into the series, including Porsche, and the rumours are Porsche have signed Mark Webber on a 5 year deal.
You may also see formula one engines being used in this series as there is no rules saying they cant, so things look very good for Le Mans 2014
FIA WEC - Silverstone - April 2013 by hdrflow, on Flickr
FIA WEC - Silverstone - April 2013 by hdrflow, on Flickr
FIA WEC - Silverstone - April 2013 by hdrflow, on Flickr
More pics from me on Flickr.
Hopefully pics are allowed in this thread. Mods, please kick me if not.
As usual, was cold and wet at Silverstone. But was great racing.
The porsche set-up was very impressive on sunday: for 2 cars, they had about 5 transporters. They seem to be taking the GT class very seriously
i struggled to follow the wec p2 and gt,s this weekend ,was it me or does silverstone not have the ability to use the postion lights on the car doors ?
I was only there for the Sunday WEC race, why is it that the new Silverstone pit complex and straight seems that there is no atmosphere, the podium is miles away from the crowds, and you need binoculars to see anyone on the podium. you cant see all the pits from the opposite side because most of the pit straight is below the level of the track. and last but probably the worst thing about the pits is if you want to get there from the other side of the track you either have to walk miles to get there or get the bus !! why o why didn't the cost in a walk way tunnel into the new development.
All the market stalls selling memorabilia and merchandise were behind the pits so they didn't get my business.
I was only there for the Sunday WEC race, why is it that the new Silverstone pit complex and straight seems that there is no atmosphere, the podium is miles away from the crowds, and you need binoculars to see anyone on the podium. you cant see all the pits from the opposite side because most of the pit straight is below the level of the track. and last but probably the worst thing about the pits is if you want to get there from the other side of the track you either have to walk miles to get there or get the bus !! why o why didn't the cost in a walk way tunnel into the new development.
All the market stalls selling memorabilia and merchandise were behind the pits so they didn't get my business.
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