Borrowing some of the eloquent words of the late, great Brian Kreisky and his intros to some of the great races of the past, here at Spa, in the first iteration of the World Endurance Championship, the glory days, the thunder of Group C sports cars, from back in the 1980s, as we kick off a new season in 2021 for the FIA World Endurance Championship.
"You could say, the town of Spa in Belgium, is founded on water. Deep in the Ardennes forest, south of Liege, it is the world's original health resort. It owes it's existence to the abundance of natural springs in the area, and people have been coming to Spa, to take the water, since as early as the 16th century. Nowadays, the town has a worldwide fame for an entirely different reason. Up in the hills just south of Spa, lies a race track so scenic and so challenging to the driver's, it has become the spiritual home of European motor racing.
Spa Francorchamps. Perhaps the most beautiful rendezvous of the FIA World Endurance Championship year. Set in the magnificent pine forests of Belgium's Ardennes mountains, the track twists, climbs, and dives, around almost seven kilometers in a spectacle, essentially, of speed. One of Europe's fastest circuits, Spa has a classic greatness about it, which both drivers and spectators, look forward to, each year. It is a combination of long, hard straights, and neck wrenching downhill corners, as the new Le Mans Hypercars will subject their drivers to sheer speed, and we find out how the new cars from Toyota and Alpine, handle and perform, in their first race ever."
This is a completely new era, with new cars, and we saw in qualifying, that Toyota (who are three-time and defending champions in WEC) are ready and raring to mount another challenge. Will Alpine, the French performance car manufacturer that gained fame in the 1960s, stand up to the test? We await, still, the arrival of Glickenhaus, and their new Hypercar. That machine is still undergoing much testing and fine tuning and could show up for the great 24 Hours of Le Mans in August. That is their target, as they are continually refining the automobile to make it last for the duration of the 24 hour Grand Prix of Endurance.
But, that is in the future. This is the present. This is, the lid lifter of the 2021 FIA WEC season. We are in the dawn of a new era on this May Day. The competition will be majorly fierce today and throughout the season. We have Martin Haven, Graeme Goodwin, and Allan McNish in the booth, as well as Louise Beckett and Duncan Vincent in the pit lane. This is a short season, with half a dozen races, but half of those will pay extra points. You can't drop the ball from day one. Points scoring will be critical. Such a gorgeous day here at Spa Francorchamps as we get ready to go.
If you are going to have a problem, this is the race to probably have that get in the way. The penalty for a mistake here at Spa is massive. We've lost both contenders from Project 1 and their Porsche team. Game over for those boys. Day one, and they don't even go to the grid. They binned it on both sides of the garage. Oh dear! Mike Wainwright and GR Racing have also binned it, slamming the wall at Malmedy, at the Piff Paff. Good grief! Hopefully Mike Wainwright will get the car back to pit lane. Jeepers creepers! We also see the #77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19. Christian Ried had a massive wreck in qualifying yesterday at Eau Rouge, while the car was completely rebuilt.
So, a good deal for Christian Ried, (who has run all 66 FIA WEC races), alongside Matt Campbell and Jaxon Evans. Porsche are on pole in GTE Pro with the #92 factory car, with Kevin Estre, the Frenchman starting the car. In LMP2, Filipe Albuquerque is on the pole in the #22 United Autosport Oreca. Ah. There are tons of contenders to look at. Toyota at the front of the grid as usual. Toyota #7 starts on the pole for the new Hypercar era, the two Toyota's and the new Alpine. Jose Maria Lopez says tire degradation will be big. A heavier car is the new Toyota Hypercar, and also, they have a new tire for it.
#7 ahead of #8. The Alpine will also face a large challenge. Oliver Gavin, also, after a decorated career, is racing his final event today before retiring. He has been racing for more than 30 years. Oliver Gavin will take the middle stint in the #63 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R with Antonio Garcia. They had planned to race at Portimao in June as well, but they won't race there I don't think. Fuel and a new driver, are into the car. No formalities. Just getting ready for the race. Oh dear. That #86 Porsche doesn't look good. At least it came back on the flatbed truck.
Cold, slick tires, are made of wood and not rubber, or so it seems. Tires have to have a happy medium. Too hot or too cold are not good. The pressures were not up to snuff. They have to be able to repair the car in an hour before the race starts, otherwise, they are out. The Belgian national anthem plays in the background as the teams prepare the cars. Hypercar, is covering Le Mans Hypercar and will encompass LMDh which will debut in IMSA in a couple more years. Phil Hanson, polesitter in LMP2, will start that car for the United Autosport team. He and his team mates want the lead in class at the start of the motor race.
All the prototypes are together, and all of the GTE Pro cars, in the same pot. So, they will have to exist alongside each other, the Hypercars, and the GTE Pro cars at the very least. Where will the lower ranked drivers slot in? That's a good question. The quicker GTE cars have come to the fore. Also, with the prototypes, stay with the long game, at the end of the year. There will be battles in both Hypercar and LMP2. In corners like Eau Rouge, Raidillon, Les Combes, that's where the Hypercars are really quick and the LMP2's are also quick in spots. But the deal is with LMH, they have to be fault free. What will the reliability be?
My fan hat tells me this is going to be a mega motor race. No margin for error in any of the classes to be totally honest. Nice to see the Corvette C8.R, the #63, with Antonio Garcia, and Oliver Gavin, racing his final event today before he retires. There's no better track than Spa to go for it. Look out for Ben Keating as well in the vibrant, baby blue Aston Martin, car #33. Keating, the American, sharing with Frenchman Dylan Pereira, and Brazilian Felipe Fraga. GR Racing will fix their car. Now, the teams are coming to the grid. So, we are going to get ready to start, soon.
Be adaptable. Motorsports have been able to survive the pandemic. Ah. No chance to fix the #86 Porsche. They will be scratched from this race, and so will of course, Team Project 1. Three brand new Porsche's, out of the race. Just devastating. Everyone is here because this is a passion. It is not a job. It is a passion. We are on the final formation lap before the race begins. Let's go. It is time t get the new Hypercar era underway. Miro Konopka in the ARC Bratislava LMP2 car is in pit lane. That's the #44 Ligier JS P217. Miroslav Konopka from Slovakia sharing with British drivers Tom Jackson and Darren Burke.
OK. We are getting ready for a start. Form up, side by side. This it. It's time to race, now. Red lights, on. Red lights, out. Go! Mike Conway leads and here comes Phil Hanson on one of the Toyota's, as Miguel Molina locks up the brakes and they dive into Eau Rouge for the first time of asking. Robert Gonzalez is all over the road and the straight line speed of the Toyota's have made the LMP2 cars work harder, but they will be in the fight through the twisting corners. Phil Hanson wants the speed. Romain Rusinov has just moved ahead of Andre Negrao. Negrao in the Alpine A480 Hypercar. Sebastien Buemi is being monstered by Phil Hanson, down to the lowest point on the track.
Through Stavelot, into Blanchimont, and into the Bus Stop again. The hybrid boost deployment is different and the new motor in the Toyota has less power, more on the same level as LMP2. Oh dear. A fuel leak for ARC Bratislava. Not good. Porsche leads Ferrari in LM GTE Pro. The Alpine is not boosted by hybrid power. Ben Keating in the Aston Martin has moved around Antonio Garcia. Ben Keating is not a professional racing driver. He is a car salesman in Texas in the United States. The Porsche is finding breathing room over the Ferrari's. But Phil Hanson is still glued to both of the new Toyota GR010 Hypercar's.
This is the first time, with the Corvette, where Antonio Garcia and Oliver Gavin are driving together. LMP2, those cars are fastest in sector two as we see Francois Perrodo racing Paul Dalla Lana. Dalla Lana has a new livery on the Aston Martin, and has new co-drivers. Francois Perrodo is moving up nicely as well. The Ferrari's are far better in the race than in qualifying. Matt Campbell is also moving up. We also see another competitive run for one of the other Aston Martin's. Tomonobu Fujii is one of the drivers. Also, we have Cetilar Raing in a Ferrari. Now then, the GTE Pro battle is heating up. Ferrari's and one of the Porsche's.
Car #20 runs wide in Les Combes, one of the LMP2 entries. That's the Danish High Class Racing Oreca. An all Danish lineup. Meantime, DragonSpeed, G-Drive, and WRT, are battling in LMP2. Juan Pablo Montoya vs. John Falb vs. Robin Frijns. These first ten minutes have been hectic. If the race settles down, we will talk more about driver lineups. Now, Phil Hanson leads Giedo van der Garde in LMP2. Andre Negrao taking the Alpine Hypercar around. He has been a rapid LMP2 driver but now, he has this new Hypercar. He has equalled the speed of the Toyota's on the previous lap.
The Hypercars are not as quick as the old LMP1 cars and the same will be true of the LMP2 racers. Porsche have said, in a GT car, it is really hard for the prototypes to get by a quickly driven GTE car. John Falb has raced at Spa a number of times. Juan Pablo Montoya has not raced here since his Formula 1 days. Montoya driving for DragonSpeed. Antonio Garcia is closing up on Miguel Molina and Richard Lietz. Garcia has been running as quickly as the Ferrari's, while Kevin Estre in the Porsche is quickest at 2:14 dead. Four and a half sets of tires available for the race in GTE Pro.
Stoffel Vandoorne has also moved past John Falb with Romain Rusinov next up followed by Giedo van der Garde and Alex Brundle and wow, we can see the RealTeam LMP2 car of Esteban Garcia going off the road, a rookie driver. Matt Campbell meanwhile, moves past Paul Dalla Lana and Tomonobu Fujii also, moves up in the TF Sport/D'station Aston Martin in GTE Am. Oh dear. A spin for the RealTeam Racing LMP2 car and he gets a tap through Brussels corner from the Ferrari. Pro and Am drivers in GT take the same points.
Andre Negrao has to change his engine mapping either to save fuel or to gain more power. The Alpine has not yet been able to attack the LMP2 car on the straightaway. This is an enigma for the Alpine team. They can't carry as much fuel compared to what Balance of Performance says they can. Christian Ried has his hands full with Tomonobu Fujii. Get out of the way! That is the Aussie, Matty Campbell actually. Juan Pablo Montoya scrapping with Robin Frijns. Turn up the boost little by little. Step it up, just a taste. With the Alpine, the fuel tank has some leftover fuel it just can't take.
Argy bargy, look, between the #777 Aston Martin and the #83 Ferrari. Tomonobu Fujii vs. Francois Perrodo. United Autosports run seven seconds ahead of Racing Team Nederland at this juncture. Sebastien Buemi is being told to swap places with Mike Conway. Buemi is second. Conway is leading. Buemi has not made a move yet. We don't know. It could be Buemi on the radio, yelling at his team, "he's holding me up!" Mike Conway will have to have a massive lift or miss a shift or something.
Toyota wants to go 1-2 in this race, you darn well better believe they do. But, there's a long, long way to go. We've got just over 20 minutes on the board. They work past the second Dempsey Proton #88 Porsche with Andrew Haryanto from India at the controls. Ah. Buemi has moved past Conway. This is on the downhill end of the circuit, towards Pouhon. Buemi is faster than Conway and that's why the Toyota driver's have swapped places. Battle for ninth now, G-Drive vs. Jota, and this is in LMP2. There's also a scrap for third spot in GTE Pro. Antonio Garcia still chasing Richard Lietz and Miguel Molina. John Falb battling Roberto Gonzalez.
Roberto Gonzalez is in his fourth season in FIA WEC. Falb is being chased by lady racer Beitske Visser as well for the Richard Mille team. Miguel Molina has Richard Lietz, look, right on his six. Whoa! Double contact in a sandwich there, look, between the Iron Lynx Ferrari and a couple LMP2 entries. Sheesh! That was the Iron Lynx car and the all female "Iron Dames" entry. In GTE Am, Ben Keating is being monstered by Matt Campbell. They stopped at diametric opposite ends of the grid. Tomonobu Fujii is also right in this scrap as we have a local yellow on exit of La Source.
It was for debris. Meanwhile, the plot thickens in GTE Pro. Richard Lietz wants a good run but Miguel Molina has a tad more straight line speed. The Porsche is stable in the middle, but the Ferrari has the speed and the Corvette continues to hang tough. Now, the LMP2 cars have low drag aero, less power, and are heavier. Be bold. Be daring. Juan Pablo Montoya is closing up on Roman Rusinov. In a replay of the start, there was a squeeze play between the #24 PR1 car and the #70 RealTeam car in LMP2. Sebastien Buemi and Mike Conway are right with each other. How will traffic evolve in the next 20 laps?
The worst thing Toyota can do, is have their two cars fight each other, when they are just five seconds up the road from third spot. Meanwhile, the GTE Am plot thickens as Ben Keating is still leading Matt Campbell. Paul Dalla Lana in the #98 Aston Martin Vantage is being warned about track limits as well. Ben Keating is delivering nd continues to do what he always does. He has run very well on double duty with prototypes and GT cars in the Rolex 24 at Daytona for the last couple of years as well. It's a darn shame, also, to not have Egidio Perfetti in the race today. Tomonobu Fujii has run well in Super Taikyu, Super GT, Asian Le Mans Series, and now, FIA WEC. We continue to watch the battle too, between John Falb and Beitske Visser in LMP2.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled program and GTE Pro. The scrum here, is between Ferrari and Porsche. Ah. Darn it. We see it only briefly before coming back to GTE Am as Matt Campbell holds on by his fingernails over Ben Keating. Campbell hangs tough on the outside and Keating was fortunately being gentlemanly. No dodge 'em cars, thankfully. Keating runs wide and swaps with Fujii, running deeply into Rivage. Sebastien Buemi leads Mike Conway now by 1.4 seconds. We could see LMP2 pit stops coming up. Also, the #91 Porsche could be getting set for a driver change, as Richard Lietz will hand over to Gianmaria Bruni.
#91 could go for new tires and a driver change while the #92 can double stint their tires and keep Kevin Estre in the car for a double stint. Loic Duval is back in the FIA WEC today in LMP2, for RealTeam Racing in that #70 car he is sharing with Norman Nato and Esteban Garcia. Phil Hanson will pit for fuel only according his engineer Gary Robertshaw on the radio. Whoops! The Cetilar Ferrari has spun on the exit of the Bus Stop. Roberto Lacorte gets shoved by Paul Dalla Lana. Porsche #91 locks the brakes and slides up the escape road. That's an official escape road instead of a runoff area.
Robert Lacorte has spun again. He likely has a punctured tire. He's rotated that automobile and does not hit anything. Pit stop time now for both United Autpsports and Racing Team Nederland. No driver changes. Pit stop time now too for DragonSpeed and for High Class Racing. A quicker stop by Racing Team Nederland. The TDS team has a quicker refueling stop than United Autosport. TDS Racing are majorly good on pit stops. Now, the #25 G-Drive car has damage on the car and there's steam emanating from the sidepod as well. Not good. That's the John Falb, Rui Andrade, Roberto Merhi car.
There's a flood of LMP2 cars in the lane. It's like a train station down there with comings and goings. Stoffel Vandoorne, Roberto Gonzalez, and more. So, United Autosports and Racing Team Nederland lead the class as Beitske Visser and Patick Kelly pit as well. A black and white passing flag for Sebastien Buemi and also a warning and a penalty for Paul Dalla Lana, for ignoring the passing flags. Alpine in the lane in Hypercar as Sebastien Buemi and Mike Conway lead the motor race, half a second apart. The Alpine does not have the fuel consumption that the Toyota's do.
Tomonobu Fujii has won at Le Mans in an Aston Martin festival race and has run in NLS at the Nurburgring as well. The sister #25 G-Drive car of John Falb had huge damage to the sidepod and he will have to re-enter the lane to continue fixing the damage. Rusinov and Montoya battle for third in LMP2. Romain Rusinov is a half a second ahead. Stoffel Vandoorne is also in the battle in the #28 Jota Sport entry. He is closing in on Rusinov and Montoya as they battle the Ben Keating Aston, and Ben Keting spins, and thank God he doesn't hit anything! Keating was innocent as he spins through Pouhon. Rusinov wants the racing line, but Montoya won't give it to him, and Keating is an innocent bystander.
Juan Pablo Montoya will have to stop in the sin bin at some point if the stewards say so. Poor old Ben Keating was just trying to stay out of the way as Stoffel Vandoor is catching Roman Rusinov. Vandoorne has to be careful of the front for grip and the rear tires. No dice through Blanchimont and into the Bus Stop. Alex Brundle and Robin Frijns battle for sixth in LMP2 as well. Pit stop time for the leading Toyota of Mike Conway. Sebastien Buemi stays out and Conway is in from second place. Toyota are staggering the strategy here or so it appears.
Andre Negrao is being told he can push on his tires with no degradation. They are screaming around the track at 100%. But, more power will allow Andre Negrao to get more out of the car. For the rest of this stint, put a wee bit more energy into this. Robin Frijns dives in on Alex Brundle and Frijns is sixth in LMP2, chasing down Stoffel Vandoorne. Toyota #8 in the lane, Sebastien Buemi. A crewman, checking the car, while it is being fueled up and he's down and away? Nope. Stop the car to check something before the release. Now, Buemi is ahead of Conway! Wowzers!
Drive through penalty for Paul Dalla Lana. He is having trouble keeping the car on the aggregate. What's that all about? Now, the fuel man was checking to see if he'd gotten all the fuel in the tank. He is being told on the radio, "go, go, go!" For a full stint stop, you need 35 seconds of fuel for the Hypercar and the GTE Pro cars as well. Porsche #91 also pits. Info t the pit lane from Edoardo Freitas, Race Director, as #98 is penalized for contact with the #47 Ferrari, the Cetilar Racing automobile. Now, Goanmaria Bruni, I believe, is in the #91 factory Porsche. Toyota did take the fuel probe out of the tank early. That was weird.
The team is debriefing with team boss Pascal Vasselon, asking, "how do we not make this same mistake again?" Was that an unsafe release? The mechanic was out of the way with the fuel hose or so it seems. But was he behind the line demarcating the pit box separating from the garage. Porsche #91 of Gianmaria Bruni has just begun his stint. Richard Lietz says that Porsche has the top speed, but it is harder to race behind a prototype. You destroy the front tire and lose the downforce. Porsche are still in the game. They changed left side tires only according to their strategy.
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