Shanghai – Race: Rebellion first!

Certainly, it is partly artificial. Rebellion largely benefited from the success handicap, which gave them a two-second-per-lap margin over Toyota. However, history will remember that the Swiss team won the first victory for a private non-hybrid car in WEC at the 2019 4 Hours of Shanghai fair and square. Indeed, during the 2018-2019 season, Rebellion had already won the 6 Hours of Silverstone but only on paper, after the disqualification of the two Toyotas for non-compliance. This time, it was on the track (and with the new sporting regulations) that the Swiss team triumphed. Enough to bring tears to the eyes of Hugues de Chaunac, the head of Oreca, who also earned his first victory as a constructor.

After the free practice sessions, it was thought that the race would be a walk in the park for Rebellion, given their dominance in the timings. But during qualifying, they appeared “slow” despite their pole position. Performances that surprised Toyota greatly. The tire performance issues seemed to be confirmed at the start of the race. Norman Nato missed his start and found himself in the last position, while the Ginetta cars took the lead.

Rebellion found its rhythm thanks to Gustavo Menezes after the first pit stop. The American climbed up to take the lead after 1 hour and 15 minutes of racing. The Ginetta cars, which generally had the same pace as Toyota, faced some minor issues during their stops and fell back. The hierarchy then stabilized. The Rebellion of Norman Nato, Gustavo Menezes, and Bruno Senna led ahead of the Toyota No. 8 of Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, Brendon Hartley, and the No. 7 of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, Jose Maria Lopez. The latter was penalized with a drive-through for overtaking before the starting line.

Even with better fuel consumption, Toyota couldn’t seize its chance at the end of the race, particularly due to the only Full Course Yellow of the race, one hour before the finish.

GTE-Pro: Ferrari wins at the Ferrari

This famous race neutralization was caused by the puncture of the Aston Martin No. 95 tire, marking the turning point of the race in GTE-Pro. Up until then, the duo Nicki Thiim/Marco Sorensen had been leading the race since the start. And who took advantage? Ferrari, of course! As is often the case in WEC, the beautiful Italian car had been almost invisible. Rarely left behind, rarely the fastest, but always lurking. Thanks to AF Corse’s always impeccable strategy and the drivers’ reliability. The recipe for their five championship titles. This time, the duo Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado emerged victorious.

A historic victory as well since it’s Ferrari’s first in Shanghai in the WEC, after seven years of drought. The Prancing Horse also opens its account this season.

Behind was the main battle of the race, all categories combined. It was a head-to-head match between the Aston Martin No. 97 of Alexander Lynn/Maxime Martin and the Porsche No. 91 of Gimmi Bruni and Richard Lietz, joined by the Porsche No. 92 of Kevin Estre and Michael Kristensen after its ten-second penalty midway through the race. The three were neck and neck until Porsche gained the upper hand in the final stint thanks to better tire management.

LMP2: Another First!

Four historical hours of Shanghai. In LMP2, the Jota team with Roberto Gonzales, Antonio Felix Da Costa, and Anthony Davidson secured the first victory for Goodyear tires in the WEC. The race was led from start to finish by the British team, marking a return to success under its name after several years of absence. They finished ahead of the Jackie Chan DC Racing team with Gabriel Aubry, Ho-Pin Tung, and Will Stevens. United Autosport came in third despite an early pit stop, driven by Phil Hanson, Felipe Albuquerque, and Paul Di Resta. Towards the end of the race, Thomas Laurent nearly clinched victory with his Signatech Alpine, but the French driver spun out while trying to overtake a backmarker. Lastly, it’s worth noting the retirement of pole-sitter Cool Racing due to telemetry issues.

GTE – am: TF Sport aims for a repeat victory

Its dark red color has been a hit in the paddock since its debut. But it will also start to scare its competitors. The Aston Martin of TF Sport secures its second consecutive victory, thanks to the trio Salih Yoluc, Charles Eastwood, and Jonathan Adam. They led the race masterfully from the end of the first hour of the race. They are ahead of the Porsche No. 57 from the Project One team (Ben Keating, Larry ten Voorde, Jeroen Bleekemolen) and the Aston Martin Racing No. 98 (Paul Dalla Lana, Darren Turner, Ross Gunn).