While most of the paddock relaxed late last night after a tough day at the track, the tacticians' and strategists' brains were working overtime in preparation for today – race day at Shanghai International Circuit.
Experienced endurance racing observers and commentators have two big questions that are set to be answered later this afternoon.
1. Will Toyota and Porsche be able to complete the race with just five fuel stops should conditions allow?
2. Will Audi attempt to double stint their tyres and lighter fuel loads and attempt to claw back some of the speed disadvantage to their opposition?
Of course there are dozens of other questions but these are the key ones should the race be dry and safety car/full course yellow free.
Reaction to these questions was mixed and understandably non-committal in the paddock this morning as the ‘grandmasters of FIA WEC’ started to think about their 'checkmate' racing moves.
“Double stinting the tyres for us will be out of the question for sure,” said #7 Toyota Racing driver Kazuki Nakajima. “For us doing the race on five fuel stops would be right on the edge as to how much fuel we can save obviously. It is a tricky one as there are lots of potential variables too.”
Over at Porsche Team, Romain Dumas was open to the suggestion when asked after qualifying, saying: “We will see what happens. We will have our race plan and we will have a long discussion and do what is best from a strategy standpoint, as always.”
At Audi Sport Team Joest, often the masters of adapting strategies and making the most of the conditions, there was a feeling that a gamble on tyres might be worth a risk for the race.
“It is a close call and we will see if we can double stint the tyres,” said Lucas Di Grassi. “There is a lot of uncertainty if we can do it because the track actually has a high (tyre) wear rate. We expect much more ‘marbles’ as usual off line so we will see what the best solution is.”
As usual there is so much intrigue in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The one certainty? An absolutely riveting race, all the way through the 27 car grid.
Sam Smith
Photo: CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES (LE MANS, FRANCE), 24 HEURES DU MANS, 14 JUNE 2014. The Toyota Racing team carrying out a pit stop.
