The disappointment felt by Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander about their performance in qualifying was more than compensated for today by the victory of the Italian-Finnish pairing in the LMGTE Pro category of the 6 Hours of Fuji.
It is the third win for the drivers of the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia in the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship season and further extends their lead at the head of the championship for GT Drivers. The result came despite Bruni having to serve a drive-through penalty for exceeding the limits of the track.
The duo led home a Ferrari 1-2 as their team mates in the No.71 Ferrari, Davide Rigon and James Calado, had a superb race and recorded their best finish of the season by finishing second, just 2.9 seconds behind. The two red Prancing Horses had raced in tandem for much of the race after seeing off the challenge of the No.99 Aston Martin of Alex MacDowall-Darryl O’Young-Fernando Rees. The Vantage V8 finished third in class after a strong performance and the trio were delighted to record their first podium of the season.
The Porsche Team Manthey 911 RSRs had a difficult race, appearing to struggle with tyre wear more than their competitors. The No.91 of Jörg Bergmeister and Richard Lietz – making his return to FIA WEC competition for the first time since shattering his elbow two months ago – finished fourth in the Pro class, but their team mates in the No.92 (Frédéric Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet) lost six laps in the pits for repairs following a first-lap clash with the No.97 Aston Martin Vantage of Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke. The Aston Martin was classified fifth in class and the German driver claimed the fastest lap of the race.
Also taking their third win of the 2014 season was the No.95 Aston Martin of Kristian Poulsen, David Heinemeier Hansson and Nicki Thiim. The Danish trio had a flawless race and were rarely headed after the first hour, leading home another 1-2 as their team mates in the No.98 and winners of the previous round of the Championship – Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Christoffer Nygaard – took the second step on the podium.
Third in the LMGTE Am category was the No.75 Prospeed Competition Porsche 911 RSR of François Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Matthieu Vaxivière, the French line up surviving an early penalty for a jump start. The Porsche finished three laps down on the two Aston Martins but third place would have been much closer had the No.81 AF Corse Ferrari of Michele Rugolo, Stephen Wyatt and Andrea Bertolini not suffered from a driveshaft failure after 169 of the GTE classes’ 208 completed laps.
Just 0.66seconds behind the No.75 Porsche was the No.88 of Proton Competition with the No.61 AF Corse Ferrari rounding out the finishers in today’s 6 Hours of Fuji. Over the weekend, 51,000 ardent Japanese fans have enjoyed the sights and sounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship and all the competitors will be keen to move on to the sixth round, the 6 Hours of Shanghai, as the championship battles become ever-more intense.
CLICK HERE for the results from Round 5 of the FIA World Endurance Championship - 6 Hours of Fuji
CLICK HERE for the provisional classifications after Round 5
10:07:39 Fastest lap of race by Mark Webber in #20 Porsche with 1:27.759
17:06:00 In GTE Am #95 Aston wins by 67 seconds from #98 Aston and #75 Porsche
17:04:57 In GTE Pro #51 Ferrari wins by 3 seconds from #71 Ferrari and with #99 Aston in 3rd
17:03:40 Rebellion #13 wins LM P1-L
17:03:16 In P2 #26 Ligier wins by 5 seconds from #47 Oreca and #35 Morgan
17:02:24 Toyota #8 takes win by 25 secs from #7 Toyota and #20 Porsche
17:00:02 Final lap
16:59:27 Leader on his penultimate la
16:51:29 Audi #2 unlaps itself from Audi #1
16:50:07 Rebellion #13 stopped on circuit but resumes
16:44:07 Rebellion #12 back out again 57 laps behind
16:41:59 Porsche #14 still in 3rd ahead of #1 Audi
16:40:53 Porsche #14 into pits - Lieb stays in
16:39:14 Ligier #26 retakes lead in P2 from #47 Oreca
16:37:34 Toyota #7 into pits - Sarrazin into car #8 Toyota retakes lead
16:34:46 Toyota #7 takes lead
16:34:07 Leading Toyota #8 into pits - Davidson stays in
16:31:17 Porsche #20 takes 3rd from Porsche #14
16:27:02 Audi #1 into pits - Duval stays in
16:25:29 Ligier #26 had to change left rear tyre
16:22:52 Oreca #47 takes lead in P2
16:22:14 Rebellion #12 pushed into garage again - now 51 laps behind leader
16:21:21 Unscheduled stop for P2 leading #26 Ligier
16:20:36 Only 10 seconds between #51 leading GTE Pro and #71 in 2nd place
16:12:52 Pla now driving P2 leader #26 Ligier
16:11:27 P2 leader #26 Ligier into pitlane
16:07:56 Bouchut was driving #9 Lotus
16:07:02 Audi #2 into pitlane
16:06:30 Lotus/CLM #9 on fire in pitlane
16:05:32 Oreca #27 has damage to it's nose
16:04:11 In GTE Am #95 Aston leads #98 Aston by 30 secs with #75 Porsche in 3rd
16:03:20 In GTE Pro #51 Ferrari leads #71 Ferrari by 16 secs with #99 Aston in 3rd
16:02:21 In P2 #26 Ligier leads #47 Oreca and #35 Morgan
16:01:26 With one hour to go #8 Toyota leads by 23 secs from #7 Toyota with #20 Porsche 3rd
16:00:32 Ferrari #81 stops on circuit
15:59:49 Morgan #35 retakes 3rd in P2
15:57:47 Oreca #27 retakes 3rd in P2 but hits #35 Morgan
15:54:53 Ferrari #90 is the only retirement so far - 26 cars remain Rebellion #12 is last - 40 laps down
15:46:19 Porsche #20 takes 3rd place
15:45:36 Porsche #14 into pits Lieb into car in 3rd place
15:43:21 Morgan #35 into pits from 3rd in P2
15:41:06 Toyota #7 into pits Nakajima stays in
15:40:06 Toyota #8 into pits Davidson into car
15:31:47 Audi #1 into pits Duval into car
15:31:14 With 90 minutes to go #51 Ferrari leads GTE Pro and #95 Aston leads GTE Am
15:30:21 With 90 minutes to go #8 Toyota leads LM P1 #26 Ligier leads P2
