The spectators can still have fun as we are continuing under yellow. Here at Fuji, pack your wellies because it will be a long, wet day. Wet weather does mean great racing. There were concerns about standing water. But, it's the spray and fog that is more worrisome than any standing water. Kazuki Nakajima says the weather won't clear up. The four and a half hour mark is important. You have to get to a certain distance for full points even if the race does not go to it's full six hour distance. Toyota runs 1-2 and could be picking up a win in their home race. Any cars that are trapped between the safety car and the class leader or the overall leader, you are given the wave by. The rules are the same in IMSA as they are here in FIA WEC.
Darkness is one thing. But, darkness and fog are even worse. We could still call this race before it ends. Trundling around at slow speeds for an hour and a half would be pretty boring. It might clear up yet. Miguel Molina and Matt Griffin, both in Ferrari's, are battling for position. Some of the younger fans have probably seen enough racing with this bad weather and would rather go home and take a nap. There are drag races down the front straightaway here. Brendon Hartley of course won the Petit Le Mans last weekend, and he is here now, but then, he'll be off to Austin, Texas, to fill the Toro Rosso seat in Formula 1. Carlos Sainz Jr. will now race for Renault. Sebastien Buemi is not happy that he didn't get the F1 drive and he was balked by Hartley during qualifying.
Switch channels from FS2 to FS1 to see the rest of the race, and if you can't, well, have a good evening. Pit road is open, but there's a red flag. Will this race even restart? Let's check the highlights. We have had fog and rain since the beginning of this one. Patrick Dempsey waves the green flag. There were laps run behind the safety car asnd when they went to green, it was Porsche and Toyota. Nelson Piquet Jr. spun. Then came a fierce scrap between Buemi and Lotterer. Porsche makes contact and needs a new nose.
SignaTech Alpine has had a great race as Toyota takes the fight to Porsche on Toyota's home tracki that they own. Red flag for 32 minutes. Then, pit stop time for Earl Bamber and some unpredictability. More rooster tails from the tires. Ben Hanley and Oliver Jarvis had a battle inj LMP2 before another yellow flag. Conditions continued to ebb and flow. Rain has been the story. A Ferrari 1-2 in LM GTE Am, while Ferrari has been going toe to toe with Porsche in LM GTE Pro. We are getting down to the final races of the year. An hour or so ago, already, was the dodge 'em cars incident between Mathias Beche and Jean Eric Vergne.
James Rossiter has run well today, making his debut in WEC after racing in Super GT here in Japan. We are past the 90 minutes remaining mark. We'll update you soon here with what is going to happen as the cars are stopped in pit lane with 90 minutes to go. This has been a strange race to say the very least. This is the second red flag of the day. We are in a full points race. How long will we be under the red flag? Will the race continue? Lots of discussion going on up and down the pit lane. Team managers are discussing driver changes. You cannot change drivers under a red flag. The engineers and the strategists are driven crazy. When you need hibachi, you just have to have hibachi. Get something to eat. But don't necessarily drink any sake or Ichiban beer yet.
For a track this compact, you'd think we're talking about Spa or Le Mans with micro climates. We see that here at Fuji, too. It did not seem like Jean Eric Vergne took Mathias Beche out. The crash was a racing deal. Toyota runs 1-2 which is a great headline in their home race. Porsche will not cliuch the championship today. The battle will go to the next race in China in three weeks, that we will have more details about at the end of this blog post. No official word yet whether this race will continue.
Rain is usually welcome at a race to add drama. But today it has been very excessive. Emmanuel Collard is a veteran racer and he hopes this race gets going again. Collard will soon break the record for most appearances at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Kazuki Nakajima wants to stop the race, unlike Emmanuel Collard who wants to continue racing. Edoardo Freitas and Gerard Neveu discuss their options. They'd like to restart the race, but the drivers think otherwise. 100R is a 100 radius corner that goes downhill. Each category of car takes a different line. The lack of grip makes things really greasy.
There's a river under the bridge, too, that could cause aquaplaning. It has been wet ever since the teams arrived here as we remain under our second red flag of this event. This is a strange race. Drivers do want to see this race get back underway. Marco Sorenson walked 2,000 meters up Mount Fuji. Wow. Mount Fuji leaves it's impression. Marco Sorenson and Nikki Thiim are seventh in LM GTE Pro. The Aston's have not been a factor today. Darkness is not far away. This has been a strang race today. Really strange.
Toyota could still win their home race. We await their decision on continuing in the WEC. Toyota continues to lead ovrall. Ferrari still dominates both GTE classes. Only three cars are out. Another great veteran driver, Pedro Lamy, also wants to race. Race marshals are still looking at the weather conditions. Less than 55 minutes on the clock now as the red flag continues. Gerard Neveu says there is still hope to restart this race, but it does not look promising. There are no support races here at Fuji. But fans get to go on track tours on a bus while the cars are out practicing.
They've just had their first track safari here at Fuji and the fans loved it. Circuit safari. Buy a ticket, get on a bus, and run a controlled session on the track. It's a regular deal in Super GT in Japan. We all await the decision of race control, with 45 minutes left. Is the fog lifting? Yannick Dalmas is a four-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner and he is also a drifting fan, drifting the Audi R8 safety car. He's testing the grip levl. Be happy in your work. Track conditions look like they are improving.n The front straightaway is the highest elevation on this track. The fog is impenetrable. The TV cameras concetrate the effect, but it's wicked fog out there.
Dalmas will report to race control. We'll see what happens. This track has a 1.5 kilometer front straightaway. There's lots of tradition here at Fuji as far as sports car racing. Engines have fired on the track. But there's been no announcement given about restarting this race. Maybe some of the teams need to keep temperature in the cars. The hybrid cars take preparation before they can restart with the batteries, motor generator units, and energy recovery systems. Again, Ford #67 has had a fraught race today. They tested at Bahrain as well for the season finale at the end of November.
We will wait 'til the 30 minute mark to make the decision, if the fog is lifting. If there is no improvement they'll say, "forget it", and call the race off. There's still a lot of fog out there. We are duly bound to remain here and report on the end of the race. The weather forecasters nailed it. That being said, the track looks raceable now. We have 26 minutes left on the clock. Time is of the essence. The fog just won't lift off the front straightaway. This track was supposed to be an oval, a superspeedway. Well, on an oval, you can't race in the rain. We mentioned the legendary race here in 1976 which was the Formula 1 championship.
In 2013, they ran eight laps, waited two hours, ran another eight laps, declared a winner, and changed the rules because it was a very bizarre race. We are at 75% distance which would make this race official. We watch action from earlier in the day, seeing Sebastien Buemi race Andre Lotterer. The race appears it will be resumed in 13 minutes. If the fog lifts, we'll probably get some green flag action. The cars will be circulating behind the safety car. This ought to be a sprint to the finish. The #2 Porsche is in it's pit box while the other cars are on the front straightaway.
James Calado and some of the other drivers do not seem pleased about restarting this race. The drivers are getting rid of water off the soles of their shoes. Ten minute board, on the grid. This decision will be discussed. Someone has to sit down with Gerard Neveu, Edoardo Freitas etc. to see how they arrived at the decision to send cars out with so few minutes to go in the race. We're here, let's get the show back on the road for a dash, even though time is running out. You can't criticize the decision. There's effort and revenue to put this racing show on.
We are not critiquing the decisions of race control. If what is motivating them is to give the fans their money's worth, that's awesome. We just need to know the process. The drivers remount, and cars will roll shortly so we can put this one to bed. The fog is coming back. The cars will leave the grid, and cars go straight to parc ferme. The race cannot be restarted. The celebrations begin! Toyota wins it! Another win for Toyota, and in their home race. Can they catch the #2 Porsche with two races to go in the championship?
If the race did restart, with the championship at stake, would there have been a crash? There was a window of time, and that window, closed. We were hopeful of the clouds lifting. But, the race is done and dusted now. Wow. What a day! This was a bizarre race to be sure and the most bizarre sports car race yours truly has written about in a long time. So, your winners are:
Overall/LMP1: #8 Buemi/Nakajima/Davidson Toyota TS050 Hybrid
LMP2: #31 Prost/Canal/Senna Oreca 07 Gibson
LM GTE Pro: #51 Calado/Pier Guidi Ferrari 488 GTE
LM GTE Am: #54 Flohr/Castellaci/Molina Ferrari 488 GTE
Spirit of Race wins for the first time in LM GTE Am. Kazuki Nakajima takes a lap of honor as the cars head back to parc ferme for tech inspection and for the drivers to celebrate. Kazuki Nakajima has to be happy to win his home race. Rebellion also raced at Petit Le Mans before coming here of course. So, we move on to the 6 Hours of Shanghai in Shanghai, China, coming up in three weeks.
It was mathematically possible for any of the four championships to be decided here at Fuji, but none were. So, we've had ourselves a spectacular race here at Fuji Speedway. See you from Shanghai, in three weeks or so. Sayonara, and good night, from Japan.
No comments:
Post a Comment