Audi victorious at Silverstone and win the Tourist Trophy
A nail biting end to the 6 Hours of Silverstone saw the nr2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Allan McNish sweep past the nr1 Audi of world champion Benoit Treluyer with just five minutes of the race remaining to win the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship and also add the names of Audi, McNish, Duval and Kristensen to the 108 year Tourist Trophy roll of honour.
The LMP2 victory went to Silverstone based team Delta-ADR as Antonio Pizzonia took the chequered flag with nearly a one lap advantage over the nr24 OAK Racing Morgan Nissan.
Aston Martin Racing celebrated its centenary in style after a dominant display in both the LMGTE Pro and Am classes. Darren Turner, Stefan Mücke and Bruno Senna ran a flawless race to win the Pro class in their No.97 Vantage V8, having led the race from start to finish.
In LMGTE the Danish trio of Alan Simonsen, Christian Nygaard and Kristian Poulsen were equally convincing in LMGTE Am, finishing a full three laps ahead of the No.50 Larbre Corvette of Patrick Bornhauser, Julien Canal and Fernando Rees.
Full results and classifications can be found http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com
ENDS
HOUR 5 RACE FACTS
• 16:59:56New fastest lap by McNish of 1.42.926 on lap 163
• 16:59:18In GTE Pro #97 Aston leads by a lap and in LMP Am #95 Aston still leads by over a lap
• 16:57:56In LMP1 McNish now leads Treluyer by 8 secs, in LMP2 #25 leads by 47 secs
• 16:56:48New fastest lap by Allan McNish of 1.43.381 on lap 160
• 16:55:5230 secs stop and go for #45 Oak Morgan for infringement at pit stop - car not remaining on wheels when refuelled
• 16:54:17#32 Lotus has stop and go for having too many people working on tyre change
• 16:52:48#25 Oreca retakes lead of LMP2 on it's 147th lap, Pizzonia driving
• 16:50:34#35 Morgan had starter motor trouble - now 5th in LMP2
• 16:49:02#24 Oak Morgan takes lead of LMP2 on it's 146th lap
• 16:41:35McNish retakes lead from Treluyer on lap 152
• 16:40:47New fastest lap for McNish in #2 Audi on lap 146 of 1.43.486
• 16:39:17Marc Lieb closing on Fred Makowiecki for 3rd in GTE Pro
• 16:37:10Working in pits on rear of #35 Oak Racing Morgan, still in 3rd place in LMP2
• 16:34:3790 minutes to go and Audi #1 still leads by just 2 seconds
• 16:33:33Reported that Qualifying sessions at Spa will be 10 minutes longer after yesterday's problems
• 16:32:32Rain forecast for about 5pm?
• 16:29:51Manager of #45 Oak Morgan to report to race control
• 16:23:4745 second stop and go for #50 Larbre Corvette for overtaking under yellow flags
• 16:20:01Leading Audi's stopping on lap 141/2 - McNish into #2, Treluyer into #1
• 16:16:04Manager of #32 Lotus to report to race control
• 16:15:14Rebellion Lola's running 5th and 6th but 5 laps of the lead
• 16:10:48#95 Aston GTE Am leader pits and Kristian Paulsen takes over
• 16:02:49#88 Porsche stop and go penalty for speeding in pit lane
Photo: SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT (TOWCESTER, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, UK), 6 HOURS OF SILVERSTONE, SUNDAY 14TH APRIL 2013. The winning No.2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Loic Duval at today's 6 Hours of Silverstone.