As promised, here are the abbreviated highlights/race report from the latest race on the calendar for the FIA World Endurance Championship. The FIA WEC visits Mexico, for the first time, and the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. Formula 1 came back here to race, last year, after a 23 year hiatus. But now, it is the turn of the stars and cars of the FIA World Endurance Championship to have a go at this speedway.
The grid is a good one. Six hours on the clock. Red lights on. Red lights out. Green lights, on! The 6 Hours of Mexico is underway! We see the #4 CLM entry making up places right off the line. But it is the two Audi's that are going for the lead, right here, right now. This 2.674 mile layout has hosted international and domestic sports car races before. So, it's not the first go around on this track for these types of cars, but it is the first visit by the rocket ship hybrid LMP1 cars of the WEC to Mexico. 17 corners are packed into this track and should provide for loads of action as we get started. Ah! The leading Audi has run wide. Andre Lotterer makes the pass on his team mate, and it is unclear who is driving the second Audi right now.
We watch the CLM ByKolles car coming up through the field. We know that the privateer LMP1 cars do not have the hybrid energy boost that the factory cars do, that gives the driver 500-600 extra horsepower at the push of a button. But, the LMP1 privateer cars still have very slippery aerodynamics on them. Straight line speed is paying off for the CLM ahead of one of the two factory Toyota's. Audi still runs 1-2 as we are just getting started here in Mexico. The LM GTE cars are beginning to catch the runners in LMP2. In LM GTE Am, there's a change for the lead as Ben Barker in the #86 Gulf Racing Porsche 911 RSR moves ahead of Patrick Long in the #88 Abu Dhabi Racing Proton Porsche 911 RSR.
Barker is sharing with his regular co-drivers and fellow Britons Michael Wainwright and Adam Carroll. Those guys lead LM GTE Am at this stage, as we see a huge Ford vs. Ferrari battle through the tight turns here at Hermanos Rodriguez. There's a bit of a shemozzle in turns thirteen and fourteen. As Andre Lotterer leads in Audi #7, there's a battle for second between the sister #8 Audi started by Lucas Di Grassi, and the #2 Le Mans winning Porsche 919 Hybrid, currently in the hands of Brendon Hartley. A spin for one of the Ford GT's after the earlier action we saw. Deary me! It's the #66 Ford GT of Stefan Mucke and Olivier Pla, that has had all the dramas this weekend, while it's been smooth sailing for the sister car #67 of Marino Franchitti, Andy Priaulx, and Harry Tincknell.
Was Olivier Pla pushed off the road by one of the Ferrari 488's? This incident happened just beyond the stadium section of the course. Pla is back in the race with no damage. Ben Barker is steaming right along in LM GTE Am, holding off a challenge from the Pro entry AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE in the hands of James Calado. Car #51 for AF Corse if you are keeping score at home. Porsche has a 1-2-3 sweep going in LM GTE Am with Patrick Long, Joel Camathias, and Ben Barker are the drivers in those respective automobiles. The best front engine car is Emmanuel Collard. Check that. Collard, is in the #83 AF Corse entry which is the older Ferrari 458 Italia, which has it's engine in the rear of course.
In the race's first hour, Audi dominated. Again we watch the just described little nudge between the Ferrari and the Ford. No action from the race stewards for that one. Racing incident. The LMP2 battle began to heat up. There was a penalty assessed to Aston Martin #98 for contact with one of the AF Corse Ferrari's. #98 is shared by Paul Dalla Lana, former Formula 1, and sports car veteran, Pedro Lamy, and Matthias Lauda, son of F1 world champion and Mercedes F1 ambassador, Niki Lauda. Audi and Porsche continue to battle for the lead as Andre Lotterer chases down the #1 Porsche.
Problems for SMP Racing. A cut tire for their #27 BR01 Nissan. A duo is sharing that car in this race. Nicolas Minassian of France, a driver who is vastly experienced in sports cars, and Italian Maurizio Mediani. These two are the regular drivers for the SMP squad in their LMP2 program. Brendon Hartley, meanwhile puts Porsche #1 into second spot. A full course yellow flag. Cars having not pitted, can do so now. Luca di Grassi is having some minor problems with the #8 Audi as the #26 G Drive Oreca Nissan is running consistently. Not sure who is at the wheel there. It's the usual threesome of Roman Rusinov, Rene Rast, and now, Brit Alex Brundle, son of former Formula 1 and sports car driver and rival to the late, great Ayrton Senna in junior formulae, Martin Brundle.
The SMP BR01 Nissan tipped the #31 ESM Ligier JS P2 Nissan of Chris Cumming, into a spin. Cumming shares the sister ESM entry with Ryan Dalziel and Pippo Derani. Mark Webber takes over the lead as Audi #8 does a touch of off road racing, over the curbs. The Toyota's have not been on the pace, but have been at the sharp end of the field. Kazuki Nakajima had a brief period in the top three in the order. Nakajima has battled with Neel Jani who took over the #2 Porsche 919 from Romain Dumas. Shades of Le Mans, albeit, in a whole different context. Kazuki Nakajima wants to make an inside pass on Neel Jani, but runs out of room in the esses, and has to recover, allowing Jani to keep the spot. Jani says, "thank you very much, Kaz."
Jani has a 7.3 second gap in third place. No real drama in the second hour. So, let us move now, to hour three. Race organizer and driver Ricardo Gonzalez is pleased as punch to have this race in Mexico as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship, for sure, because he is the race promoter and driving for the home team, RGR Morand in LMP2. Toyota's challenge is now down to one car. One bullet in the gun. Kazuki Nakajima has retired his TS050 Hybrid, because the hybrid system, packed up. Game over for Nakajima. More drama for Toyota #6 as Mike Conway at the wheel, was swiped by one of the ESM Ligier Nissan's, and the ESM machine gets the worst of it. Conway is sent to the sin bin by the stewards, for a penalty due to that contact.
At the front, Porsche and Audi continue their scrap and it looks like Audi regains second spot in the overall. Whoops! The RGR machine, who is crowd darling car of the fans here in Mexico, loops it. The battle in LMP2 sees argy bargy fisticuffs as Ricardo Gonzalez was sent spinning. Porsche and Audi both in the pit lane for scheduled stops. More spins in LMP2 and a case of bumper cars between ESM and SMP. The Aston Martin and the Proton Porsche in GT take evasive action onto the runoff area in the corner. Full course yellow flag, and there will be penalties for this LMP2 altercation.
A late decision was made by Brendon Hartley, to not pit. But, he was approaching the pit lane timers just before jerking the Porsche 919 back onto the road. Crossing the separation line between the pit and the track is unsafe in the judgment of the stewards, and he'll get a stop/go penalty, losing the lead. We move next, to the fourth hour. No call was made on the Ferrari and Ford touch from earlier on as #66 is in pit lane. Rain began to fall in hour four, and there was debris on the road. What do you do when there is debris on the road? Throw a full course yellow. Timo Bernhard did the same thing as Brendon Hartley earlier, approaching asking, "should I pit? Should I pit?" Then. at the last possible second, saying, "um, no."
This communication breakdown or judgment error cost Porsche #1 a stop/go penalty. More scrapping at the front between the usual suspects. Porsche vs. Audi. Porsche have the pace in dry conditions. Then the rain came down, and the #2 Porsche kicks up some dust going off line. Actually, Loic Duval at the controls of Audi #8 was fervently defending his line on the road. Porsche 1-2. Rain starts to come down. Audi, in the lane, to swap to rain tires. Oliver Jarvis takes over the aforementioned #8 car from Duval. Full wet tires for both Porsches.
But now, it's gone pear shaped for Audi. Oliver Jarvis, spins. Why? The left front wheel bearing, locked up and failed entirely. This wheel lock up, pitches Jarvis into a frightening spin! He nearly hits the wall, and the DHL billboards at over 200 miles an hour, and is jolly lucky he saved that car from certain disaster. Aston Martin's running liner stern as #95 was in the lead in LM GTE Pro for a while, with Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorenson at the wheel. They stayed on slick tires and lost the lead to their team car in class, the #97 V8 Vantage shared by Richie Stanaway, and Darren Turner.
The #2 Porsche loses part of the right rear fender. Things go from bad to worse for Nicki Thiim, as he hits a damp patch in a corner, and sails off the road at high speed, before the inevitable, and... ker-runch! Into the barrier he goes, bending the Audi billboards, and also, crumpling the left rear tail section of his Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Through the drizzle, Audi #7 begins to fight its way back into contention. Andre Lotterer runs well on the Michelin intermediate tires that are sans tread. But then, it's true. The skies over Mexico City, open in a huge way!
It's a short shower, but leaves the speedway wet. This race was full of unknowns at the beginning. With the rain falling, no one knows what tires to chose before the end of this one. Wets? Slicks? Intermediates? All of them were used. Oh dear! Andre Lotterer, than, crashes the #7 Audi out of second! Rene Rast leads LMP2 for G Drive Racing. But, in the final hour, their hopes of a class win, evaporated. Kaboom! With a flash of fire, a brake disc explodes, sending Rast spinning off the road. No brakes. Not good.
The fairy tale could come true and the home team, the #43 RGR Sport By Morand Ligier Nissan would win in LMP2! Abu Dhabi Proton, with Patrick Long finishing the race out, wins LM GTE Am. Long's team mates Khaled Al Qubaisi and David Heinemeier Hansson are sure to celebrate this one, too. Darren Turner gives Aston Martin the win in LM GTE Pro, for the #97 car, sharing with Richie Stanaway. RGR wins LMP2! This news will excite fans in Mexico City and all over the country! The home heroes, have done it! Kudos to Ricardo Gonzalez, Filipe Albuquerque, and Bruno Senna! Porsche wins overall. World Champions, Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber, and Brendon Hartley, give Porsche the W in Mexico City!
Overall/LMP1: #1 Bernhard/Webber/Hartley Porsche 919
LMP2: #43 Gonzalez/Albuquerque/Senna Ligier JS P2 Nissan
LM GTE Pro: #97 Stanaway/Turner Aston Martin V8 Vantage
LM GTE Am: #88 Al Qubaisi/Heinemeier Hansson/Long Porsche 911 RSR
Adios, from Mexico. The next FIA WEC race, is in the United States, at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, coming up in less than two weeks.
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