Motorsport is still a relatively new concept for Chinese fans, compared to Europe for example, but the huge number of fans who attended the 6 Hours of Shanghai in November last year show that endurance racing is being both embraced and enjoyed. More than 28,000 fans came to Shanghai International Circuit and saw several tremendous on track battles in the penultimate race of the 2013 season, a marked increase on the inaugural visit in 2012.
LMP1 and LMP2
Toyota Racing’s Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre took their 3rd victory of 2012 in Shanghai, the TS030 Hybrid being untroubled by the two Audis after the first corner of the first lap. The No.2 R18 e-tron quattro headed the No.1 entry to the chequered flag but not to the WEC Drivers’ championship title which went to André Lotterer, Benoît Tréluyer and Marcel Fässler. One year later all the positions were reversed, but it wasn’t an easy race victory for the trio in the No.1 Audi R18 who battled right to the end with Wurz and Lapierre’s Toyota. Third place for the No.2 Audi crew of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval was enough to secure them the 2013 Championship title.
Within the LMP1 Privateer category there was drama to the final lap in 2012 as Rebellion Racing’s No.12 Lola-Toyota entry of Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani ground to a halt with just eight minutes of the race to run. There was some consolation for the Swiss team as the No.13 entry came through to win with Chinese driver Cong Fu ‘Frankie’ Cheng standing proudly on the podium alongside his team mates Andrea Belicchi and Harold Primat. JRM and Strakka Racing completed the podium in 2012, but Belicchi, Mathias Beche and Nicolas Prost had it all to themselves in 2013, finishing 4th overall.
In LMP2, victory in 2012 went to the ADR-Delta ORECA 03 Nissan of John Martin, Tor Graves and Mathias Beche ahead of Starworks Motorsports’ HPD-Honda and OAK Racing’s Morgan Nissan. An early puncture for the American entry and a general mix up in the LMP2 order kept everyone guessing from start to finish. In 2013 G-Drive Racing’s ORECA 03 Nissan’s line up of John Martin, Mike Conway and Roman Rusinov put on a dominant display to take their 3rd win of the season ahead of the OAK Racing Morgan Nissan of Pla-Brundle-Heinemeier-Hansson, the class providing a close battle throughout.
LMGTE Pro and Am
In the LMGTE Pro class the finishing order in 2012 was Aston Martin-Porsche-Ferrari - Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke prevailing in the Aston Martin Vantage V8 over Richard Lietz and Marc Lieb in the Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche. The Anglo-German driving partnership repeated their success in 2013 after a tremendously exciting class battle, winning by the narrowest of margins over Senna-Lamy-Stanaway in the sister Aston Martin. Bergmeister and Pilet’s Porsche AG Team Manthey 911 rounded out the podium last November.
There was a very different look to the LMGTE Am podiums from 2012 to 2013. Larbre Competition’s Corvette C6R was the class winner in the inaugural 6 Hours of Shanghai with Julien Canal, Patrick Bornhauser and Pedro Lamy at the wheel. They beat Team Felbermayr Proton’s Porsche and Krohn Racing’s Ferrari 458 Italia. One year on in the Am category it was the Ferrari of 8Star Motorsports which secured class victory, Enzo Potolicchio, Rui Aguas and Davide Rigon setting the pace here ahead of the IMSA Matmut Porsche of Narac-Vernay-Palttala and Aston Martin’s Campbell-Walter-Hall-Adam.
FIA WEC Fastest Race Laps
2012
LMP1 N.Lapierre Toyota TS030 Hybrid 1:48.815 180.3 kph
LMP2 M.Beche ADR Delta ORECA 03 Nissan 1:55.214 170.3 kph
LMGTE Pro S.Mücke Aston Martin Vantage V8 2:05.146 156.8 kph
LMGTE Am M.Cioci AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari 458 Italia 2:05.900 155.9 kph
2013
LMP1 B.TréluyerAudi R18 e-tron quattro1:49.066 179.9 kph
LMP2 M.Conway G-Drive Racing ORECA 03 Nissan 1:56.375 168.6 kph
LMGTE Pro B.Senna Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 2:04.819 157.2 kph
LMGTE Am P.Ruberti Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR GT3 2:06.227 155.5 kph
Fiona Miller
Photo: SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT (SHANGHAI, CHINA), 6 HOURS OF SHANGHAI. 1) Fans flooded into the circuit for the driver autograph session; 2) Roman Rusinov's jump for joy on the LMP2 podium; 3) Aston Martin's Turner and Mucke won in LMGTE Pro for the second consecutive year.
