From left to right: Batti Pregliasco, Team Manager of AF Corse (hidden by trophy), Rui Aguas, Emmanuel Collard and Francois Perrodo
The keyword for LMGTE Am champions Emmanuel Collard, Rui Aguas and François Perrodo in 2016 was ‘consistency.’ Their No.83 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia was not always the quickest car in the class, winning only once all season, but crucially made the finish at all nine races and collected the maximum 50-points at Le Mans to put one hand on the title.
On no fewer than six occasions the Ferrari finished second, only failing to make the podium at COTA. By contrast, their chief rivals in the No.98 Aston Martin Vantage, Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda were frequently the quickest car in the class, taking no fewer than six pole positions and an impressive five victories. The only time they lost out to the No.83 Ferrari in a straight fight came at the Silverstone season-opener, the Aston Martin Racing team’s first outing using Dunlop rubber.
However, while the Canadian-Portuguese-Austrian trio had the edge on speed, they suffered costly DNFs at Le Mans and Mexico which meant the destiny of the title was not in their own hands heading into the final round at Bahrain.
A dramatic pole position in the dying embers of qualifying gave Dalla Lana and Lamy the point they needed to keep the title alive, but it only caused AF Corse’s title celebrations to be postponed by 24 hours. Collard, Aguas and Perrodo only had to finish to be guaranteed of the title and ran a conservative race to third, while engine failure for the No.98 Aston finally ended for good their slim hopes of championship success.
The No. 88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR was the only other to win, coming out on top on the WEC’s first visit to Mexico and again in Bahrain. AMR’s final round retirement gave Khaled Al Qubaisi and David Heinemeier-Hansson second in the points standings, but the Porsche might have posed more of a challenge to the No.83 Ferrari had it not been for a suspension problem at Silverstone which cost them a near-certain victory.
With Klaus Bachler replaced by Patrick Long at Le Mans, Al Qubaisi and Heinemeier-Hansson again came close to beating the Ferrari for the top WEC-registered team, but a late charge from Collard saw the Frenchman take second spot in the final hour, which resulted in a decisive 14-point swing.
However, the Porsche really came into its own again in Bahrain, as Long pressured Lauda into a spin and led the rest of the way, seeing off a late challenge from stablemate Wolf Henzler in the identical KCMG model he shared with Christian Ried and Joel Camathias.
It was the No.78 crew’s fifth consecutive podium, but the points lost as a result of an identical failure to their sister car at Silverstone and a technical exclusion from the Nürburgring meant the KCMG trio were not a factor in the title race.
Another solid competitor, which just needed a touch more luck, was Gulf Racing. Ben Barker improved greatly over the season in the Porsche 911 and put in some great performances, ably backed up by Adam Carroll and team owner/driver Mike Wainwright.
