GT FIA World Endurance Drivers Championship down to the wire Seven teams will head to the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain with a chance of winning FIA World Endurance Championship LMGTE Pro and AM titles, in what promises to be a thrilling conclusion to the 2017 season.  Firstly, a look at the FIA GT Drivers’ title chase, and the battle for the LMGTE Pro Teams Trophy.  After an action-packed 6 Hours of Shanghai, the battle for the GT FIA World Endurance Drivers Championship remains wide open, with drivers from four cars from three manufacturers still in with a chance.  To read about the battles for the GT Drivers' Championship, which Ferrari's James Calado and Alessandro  Pier Guidi are currently leading by two points, click HERE To see all the latest points' standings click HERE Retrouvez ICI tous les articles de notre site en version française

Aston Martin, Dempsey-Proton or Clearwater Racing in GTE Am? The fight for the LMGTE Am Team and Drivers’ Trophies has been the tightest yet seen with just 11 points separating the top three Teams and 19 points between the top three driver pairings.  A third victory of the season in Shanghai took Aston Martin Racing trio Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda and Paul Dalla Lana back to the top of the standings, 10 points clear of the Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Matteo Cairoli, Marvin Dienst and Christian Ried.  From a deficit of one-point heading into the weekend, the No.98 Aston Martin crew turned the title race on its head with a maximum 26-point score, meaning they can wrap up a long-awaited first championship with third place in Bahrain, even if the Porsche wins and takes pole position.  The Clearwater Racing Ferrari 488 GTE of Matt Griffin, Keita Sawa and Weng Sun Mok remains in mathematical contention despite a costly collision with the Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA of Tristan Gommendy in China. However, they will need their main rivals to strike serious trouble if they are to bring home a fairy-tale title in the Singaporean team’s first season in the WEC.

Aston Martin bids farewell to the Vantage It may be the oldest car in the field, but the Aston Martin Vantage will bow out of the FIA World Endurance Championship at the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain as one of the series’ most enduringly successful machines.  Built at Prodrive in Banbury (some 15 miles/24 km from Silverstone), the Vantage GTE can trace its roots back to 2008, but has continued winning in its final year before being replaced by a newer model next season.  Aston Martin Racing celebrated pole in both the LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am classes in China, while a third GTE Am victory of the season put Pedro Lamy, Paul Dalla Lana and Mathias Lauda in command of the title race as the final race of the year approaches.

Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain: A race not to be missed!

• 6 Hours of Bahrain FIA FIA World Endurance Championship Racing
• At 11/14/2017 07:33:00 p.m.
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Ferrari clinches the GT FIA World Endurance Manufacturers Championship as Ford takes win in Shanghai after epic duel Ford take win after epic duel; Ferrari seals GT Manufacturers’ title Ford scored a hard-fought victory at the 6 Hours of Shanghai today as Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell claimed their second LMGTE Pro win of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship season. In doing so, the British duo thrust themselves back into championship contention in their No.67 Ford Ganassi Team UK Ford GT.  Priaulx and Tincknell finished ahead of the No.91 Porsche 911 RSR of Frédéric Makowiecki and Richard Lietz, and claimed a second win in as many years at the Shanghai International Circuit. An enthusiastic crowd of 58,000 spectators over the weekend at Shanghai International Circuit saw a memorable event and went home having witnessed an incredible race which was full of action, drama and tension.  The win came after Tincknell performed a heroic rear-guard action when he came under intense pressure from the Porsche in the fifth hour. When Lietz’s 911 RSR was hit by the No.7 Toyota, driven at the time by José Maria Lopez, it freed up Tincknell and he brought the car home to claim the maximum points haul.  Ferrari’s third and sixth place finishes in the class were enough to seal the GT FIA World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship for the Prancing Horse, the No.51 Ferrari 488 GTE of Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado taking the final podium place today.  The GT Drivers’ Championship will not be settled until the final race at Bahrain in two weeks’ time but today’s result in Shanghai sees Calado and Pier Guidi’s lead diminished as the consistent Makowiecki and Lietz axis scored a remarkable sixth podium points score of the season. The gap is now just two points between the two pairs.  One of the two non-finishers in the race was the No.92 of Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre which suffered the cruel blow of an engine failure in the third hour while in the lead of the GTE field.  For all classifications and timing CLICK HERE Retrouvez ICI tous les articles de notre site en version française

Aston Martin takes dominant victory in LMGTE Am The LMGTE Am category will go also down to the wire in Bahrain as the No.98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 of Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda and Pedro Lamy took a third win of the season and a 10-point lead in the championship.  Gulf Racing UK took their best ever WEC result with Ben Barker, Nick Foster and Khaled Al Qubaisi – subbing for team owner/driver Mike Wainwright - combining to take second position in the No.86 Porsche 911 RSR.  The Dempsey Proton Racing run Porsche was third after it recovered from contact with an LMP2 car in the opening hour. Christian Ried, Marvin Dienst and Matteo Cairoli therefore still keep in touch with the Aston Martin trio as the 2017 season reaches its conclusion at the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain in two weeks’ time.  The race into the night will be on Saturday 18th November. Provisional classifications can be found HERE and race facts HERE.

Ferrari clinches GT World Manufacturers' title as Ford wins in Shanghai

• 6 Hours of Shanghai Drivers FIA World Endurance Championship Sport
• At 11/05/2017 07:12:00 p.m.
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A dominant victory in the penultimate round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota was not enough to prevent Porsche from winning the World Manufacturers’ Championship today in Shanghai.  Second place for the No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid crew of Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley gave them a well-deserved 2017 FIA World Endurance Drivers’ title with one round remaining. It is Bernhard and Hartley’s second championship title (first in 2015) and Bamber’s first.  Toyota’s No.8 TS050 HYBRID of Kazuki Nakajima, Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi led a convincing display by the Japanese manufacturer, although the result could have been very different in terms of the race result and the championship situation had the No.7 Toyota of José Maria Lopez not clashed with one of the leading GTE Pro cars in the final hour.  The result saw the Japanese car forced to pit and the two Porsche 919 Hybrids move up to second and third, while the delayed Toyota ultimately came in fourth. It was Toyota Gazoo Racing’s fourth win of the season meaning that the eight races have been completely split between the Japanese marque and their rivals Porsche, with one round remaining.  Rounding out the podium in Shanghai was the No.1 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Neel Jani, André Lotterer and Nick Tandy. Their race was compromised in the first hour when Tandy slowed with a throttle sensor issue.  It was an ultra-successful day for Porsche as they also took the FIA World Endurance Manufacturers Championship, and as with the Drivers’ title it was also the third consecutive time Porsche has lifted the trophy.  An enthusiastic crowd of 58,000 spectators over the weekend at Shanghai International Circuit saw a memorable event and went home having witnessed an incredible race which was full of action, drama and tension.  For all classifications and timing CLICK HERE Retrouvez ICI tous les articles de notre site en version française

Vaillante Rebellion take epic LMP2 contest  One of the best ever LMP2 races was won by the No.31 Vaillante Rebellion squad in Shanghai as Bruno Senna, Nicolas Prost and Julien Canal triumphed for the third time this season.  In a race of incident and excitement Senna laid the foundations for the win which takes him and Canal to the lead of the championship by four points (Prost having missed a race earlier in the year).  Their chief rivals during the race were the Jackie Chan DC Racing trio of Oliver Jarvis, Ho-Pin Tung and Thomas Laurent. The three-time category winners had seemed to have built a race-winning platform after a stellar double stint from Jarvis, but then a fraught final two hours saw a collision between their No.38 ORECA 07 and the No.26 G-Drive Racing car. Damage to the front of their car meant they eventually finished in fourth position.  Runners-up in Shanghai today were the Signatech Alpine crew of Nicolas Lapierre, Gustavo Menezes and André Negrão. Today’s result keeps Menezes in outside contention for the LMP2 Drivers’ crown.  Making it two Vaillante Rebellion entries in the top three was the No.13 car of Nelson Piquet Jr, David Heinemeier-Hansson and Mathias Beche. They recovered from contact on the opening lap to score their second podium position of the season, with Dane Heinemeier Hansson having a particularly strong race. The final round of the 2017 WEC season is the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain which will race into the night on Saturday 18th November.  Provisional classifications can be found HERE and race facts HERE.

Toyota wins in Shanghai; Porsche seals World Championships

• Championship FIA FIA World Endurance Championship Racing’s Shanghai Sport
• At 11/05/2017 06:29:00 p.m.
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Ferrari clinches the GT FIA World Endurance Manufacturers Championship as Ford takes win in Shanghai after epic duel Ford take win after epic duel; Ferrari seals GT Manufacturers’ title Ford scored a hard-fought victory at the 6 Hours of Shanghai today as Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell claimed their second LMGTE Pro win of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship season. In doing so, the British duo thrust themselves back into championship contention in their No.67 Ford Ganassi Team UK Ford GT.  Priaulx and Tincknell finished ahead of the No.91 Porsche 911 RSR of Frédéric Makowiecki and Richard Lietz, and claimed a second win in as many years at the Shanghai International Circuit. An enthusiastic crowd of 58,000 spectators over the weekend at Shanghai International Circuit saw a memorable event and went home having witnessed an incredible race which was full of action, drama and tension.  The win came after Tincknell performed a heroic rear-guard action when he came under intense pressure from the Porsche in the fifth hour. When Lietz’s 911 RSR was hit by the No.7 Toyota, driven at the time by José Maria Lopez, it freed up Tincknell and he brought the car home to claim the maximum points haul.  Ferrari’s third and sixth place finishes in the class were enough to seal the GT FIA World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship for the Prancing Horse, the No.51 Ferrari 488 GTE of Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado taking the final podium place today.  The GT Drivers’ Championship will not be settled until the final race at Bahrain in two weeks’ time but today’s result in Shanghai sees Calado and Pier Guidi’s lead diminished as the consistent Makowiecki and Lietz axis scored a remarkable sixth podium points score of the season. The gap is now just two points between the two pairs.  Placing third in Shanghai today was the pole-sitting No.95 Aston Martin of Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen which led briefly in the early stages. One of the two non-finishers in the race was the No.92 of Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre which suffered the cruel blow of an engine failure in the third hour while in the lead of the GTE field.  For all classifications and timing CLICK HERE Retrouvez ICI tous les articles de notre site en version française

Aston Martin takes dominant victory in LMGTE Am The LMGTE Am category will go also down to the wire in Bahrain as the No.98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 of Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda and Pedro Lamy took a third win of the season and a 10-point lead in the championship.  Gulf Racing UK took their best ever WEC result with Ben Barker, Nick Foster and Khaled Al Qubaisi – subbing for team owner/driver Mike Wainwright - combining to take second position in the No.86 Porsche 911 RSR.  The Dempsey Proton Racing run Porsche was third after it recovered from contact with an LMP2 car in the opening hour. Christian Ried, Marvin Dienst and Matteo Cairoli therefore still keep in touch with the Aston Martin trio as the 2017 season reaches its conclusion at the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain in two weeks’ time.  The race into the night will be on Saturday 18th November. Provisional classifications can be found HERE and race facts HERE.

All stories on the 2017 season are available online on the official FIAWEC website at www.fiawec.com

Ferrari clinches GT World Manufacturers' title as Ford wins in Shanghai

• 6 Hours of Shanghai FIA World Endurance Championship Shanghai
• At 11/05/2017 06:11:00 p.m.
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Porsche's Bamber and Hartley claim pole at Fuji  Porsche LMP Team's Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley combined to take a second pole position of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship season at a wet Fuji Speedway this afternoon.  The Kiwi duo set an average of 1m35.160s in the No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid to head the sister No.1 car by just 0.071s in a thrilling session.  The extra point achieved by the No.2 crew for pole today sees them extend their title lead to 52pts with just a maximum of 77 now to play for. This means that they just have to finish ahead of the No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing crew of Sebastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima in the race tomorrow in order to seal the 2017 Drivers' crown. To read the whole report on LMP1 and LMP2 qualifying including Vaillante Rebellion's route to class pole  CLICK HERE For all classifications and timing CLICK HERE Retrouvez ICI tous les articles de notre site en version française

Porsche GT take second GTE pole of the season Porsche GT Team's Frederic Makowiecki and Richard Lietz claimed a first pole position of the season at Fuji today after making the most of their mid-engined No.91 Porsche 911 RSR.  Makowiecki set the outright quickest time of 1m47.573s before Lietz lapped a shade quicker to ensure an average of 1m47.577s. The French/Austrian alliance headed the GT points leading No.67 Ford Chip Ganassi pairing of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell by 0.441s.  While it was Makowiecki and Lietz’s first pole of the 2017 FIA WEC season it was Porsche GT Team's second after the No.92 car took a maiden top spot at Nurburgring in July. For all the news on LMGTE qualifying including Clearwater Racing's first LMGTE Am pole CLICK HERE

First WEC Circuit Safari a huge success The first WEC Circuit Safari took place this morning at Fuji Speedway with 5 buses on track at the same time as the WEC race cars in a special 10-minute controlled session!  Four of the 44-seat buses were full of passionate Japanese endurance fans allowing them to be in the middle of the action and closer than ever to the competitors within the WEC. Several drivers were able to give the ‘thumbs up’ sign to the passengers as they passed to the delight of the fans!  CEO of the FIA World Endurance Championship Gerard Neveu said: “We were very happy to work with our local promoter to hold the first Circuit Safari in the WEC, and it’s great to hear that it was such a success for fans, teams and media alike.  “The fans who come to Fuji Speedway are so passionate and loyal to endurance racing and the WEC, and – just as at all our races – we are always looking for different ways to engage with them. This was the perfect solution here in Japan, and perhaps Circuit Safaris are something we will now look at doing at some of our other races around the world.”

Porsche sweep pole positions for 6 Hours of Fuji

• Drivers FIA World Endurance Championship Porsche GT Team's Racing Sport
• At 10/14/2017 07:02:00 p.m.
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When to see all the action  The action begins on Friday 13 October with two free practice sessions on the challenging and fast Fuji Speedway track. A third and final practice will take place ahead of qualifying on Saturday 14 October, and the 6 Hours of Fuji will run from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on Sunday 15 October. A full timetable can be found HERE which includes details of the Circuit Safari just before Free Practice 3 on Saturday. Full details for fans on Fuji Speedway's website. Entry list can be found HERE Find out where and how to see the 6 Hours of Fuji on TV across the world by clicking HERE Retrouvez ICI tous les articles de notre site en version française

Meet Japan's WEC warriors... Ahead of the 6 Hours of Fuji, meet the Japanese FIA WEC's aces and find out how they compare with some of the past racing names from the Land of the Rising Sun… Kazuki Nakajima, Kamui Kobayashi and Keita Sawa are among the names; to read the whole story CLICK HERE

New Toyota concept car reinforces WEC technology crossover Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) is set to unveil its GR HV SPORTS concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show 2017 which starts just 10 days after the 6 Hours of Fuji, the 7th round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship.  The sports car features several key areas of technology which have been developed and honed through Toyota’s WEC motorsport programme, demonstrating perfectly how manufacturers positively benefit from involvement in the top level of endurance racing.  The GT HV SPORTS concept will be powered by THS-R (Toyota Hybrid System-Racing) that is infused with hybrid technology refined by the TS050 Hybrid, and will also feature LED headlights, aluminium wheels, and a rear diffuser similar to the TS050 Hybrid. Toyota say that the design evokes its bond with motor sports.

One week to go to 6 Hours of Fuji

• 6 Hours of Fuji Circuit Safari FIA World Endurance Championship Motor sport Racing
• At 10/08/2017 09:58:00 p.m.
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Porsche take third straight 1-2 in COTA   Porsche LMP Team continued its winning momentum at the 6 Hours of COTA with a third consecutive 1-2 on Saturday at the sixth round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship. Earl Bamber, in the No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid, crossed the finish line just 0.276s ahead of stablemate Nick Tandy in the No.1 car to claim a fourth consecutive victory for he and teammates Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley.  The trio extend their title advantage and helped Porsche to pull away further from Toyota in the Manufacturers' standings.  Held in challenging hot and humid conditions, the race was an epic strategic contest which saw the rhythm of the race swing from Porsche to Porsche. The 2017 rule change, which brought down the allocation of six sets of tyres to four for qualifying and the race, saw the teams challenged with choosing when to double-stint their Michelin tyres in the hot temperatures. To read the whole report CLICK HERE For all provisional results CLICK HERE Retrouvez ICI tous les articles de notre site en version française

Ferrari fight hard through to GTE victory Ferrari No.51 488 GTE won today’s 6 Hours of COTA in +33oC Texan temperatures, but it was no easy run for Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado on the way to their second victory of the season.  The duo had a race-long fight with the No.95 Aston Martin Vantage, the No.92 Porsche 911 RSR and the sister No.71 Ferrari 488 GTE, with the lead changing between them due to tyre strategies.  The No.51 survived a scare with 11 minutes to go when Pier Guidi was forced to take the risk of returning at high speed to the pits due to a puncture. The risk paid off and quick pit work by AF Corse saw the Ferrari driver come out just ahead of Michael Christensen’s Porsche which eventually finished 5.6s behind in second place – the No.92’s best result of the season so far. To read all the GTE news and details CLICK HERE

Signatech Alpine Matmut wins LMP2 despite late scare Reigning LMP2 champions, Signatech Alpine Matmut, took a North American double as the French team followed up their Mexico City podium with victory at COTA. For Lapierre and Menezes it was also a second victory in Texas in as many years.  Menezes, the sole American driver in the field this year, was especially delighted to claim another maximum score on home ground.  There was a late scare for Les Bleues though as they were forced to change the rear bodywork section with just 12-minutes of the race remaining. Gustavo Menezes though had enough in hand and was able to take the chequered flag with a comfortable margin ahead of the Vaillante Rebellion pair of ORECA-Gibson entries.  The title leading No.38 Jackie Chan DC Racing of Oliver Jarvis, Thomas Laurent and Ho-Pin Tung took fourth position.

Aston Martin claim LMGTE Am victory In LMGTE Am, Aston Martin Racing’s No.98 Vantage of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda won for the second time this season, 50s ahead of nearest rival, the No.61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari.  After a dramatic first few hours to the race, the trio came through to a solid finish to keep the lead of the LMGTE Am Drivers’ championship battle, four points ahead of the No.77 Dempsey Proton Racing crew who had a difficult American race.  Clearwater Racing maintained its consistently strong form to take more valuable points, while Spirit of Race’s No. 54 Ferrari 488 GTE came home in third place in class. For Francesco Castellacci, Thomas Flohr and Miguel Molina, it was their best result of the season and their first WEC podium.  The next round will be the 6 Hours of Fuji on the 15th October. CLICK HERE for provisional results, HERE for championship classifications and HERE for race facts.

Porsche take 1-2 in COTA; Ferrari fight hard through to GTE victory

• Ferrari FIA FIA World Endurance Championship Porsche
• At 9/17/2017 12:45:00 p.m.
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