WEC: The report on the 6 Hours of Austin

LMP1: at the end of boredom

The success ballast achieves its main objective: preventing Toyota from running away with the competition, as it is intrinsically much superior to Rebellion. But when it comes to on-track battles, there’s little to speak of. This season, we mainly witness an alternation of positions depending on each team’s penalty.

In Austin, it was even more striking. Without the Ginetta, there were only three cars left on the track. And in terms of pace, the Rebellion was far ahead of the Toyota #8, which significantly outperformed the Toyota #7. In a race like this where everything ran like clockwork, there were no twists to keep things interesting. Only the better fuel consumption of the Japanese cars provided a semblance of suspense.

In accounting terms, Rebellion did what was necessary to stay in the game: win. Thanks to its second victory of the season, the Swiss team is now less than one win away from the championship leader, the Toyota #7. The latter, third in Austin, remains ahead thanks to its victory in the most important race, the 8 hours of Bahrain (38 points).

LMP2: The Poor Result That’s Too Much for Alpine?

When it doesn’t want to… Alpine started the race perfectly. Pierre Ragues, the silver driver (the least strong) of the car, took the lead after an hour and a half. But fate disagreed. A few minutes later, the brake disc exploded. A very rare problem, which cost the French team a lap. Without a safety car, they were never able to make it up. As a result, only a sixth place, which may be prohibitive for the championship.

As Alpine, the defending champion, still hasn’t won and only has two podium finishes in five races. They now find themselves thirty points behind the leader, which is more than a single classic victory. Fortunately for them, Alpine is used to spectacular season endings. They must achieve an excellent result at Sebring (38 points) in March to remain in contention before Le Mans (50 points).

United Autosports, on the other hand, made the best move of the weekend by taking the lead in the championship, thanks to a second consecutive victory. They even finished on the podium in every race. Who can boast of a better series? Jackie Chan DC Racing. The Chinese team finishes second for the fourth consecutive time and is also second in the championship, just four points behind.

GTE-Pro: Sorensen and Thiim in a State of Grace

As usual, the GTE-Pro led to an intense battle. Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen, however, were far from these considerations. The Aston Martin #95 duo led the race from start to finish, maintaining a lead of around fifteen seconds, until the last hour when the gap narrowed to less than five seconds. A perfect race, which is starting to become a habit. The two men achieved their third victory in five races, including two consecutive ones. In such a tight category, that matters. And thanks to the ongoing battle behind, they are widening the gap in the championship. A 26-point lead, more than a classic victory. A win at Sebring next March would almost assure them the title.

Their success is a testament to the progress made by the Aston Martin Vantage. Last year, during its first season, it was unable to maintain a proper pace for more than one stint on dry conditions due to excessively rapid tire wear. The English manufacturer focused primarily on this issue during the off-season. The Aston is now the car to beat.

Less stellar were the results of the Corvette, Porsche #91, and Ferrari #71. For the first mentioned, there’s no concern. Debuting in WEC with drivers unfamiliar with the car, the C8.R was there to prepare for Sebring and especially the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Porsche of Lietz and Bruni, fighting for the podium, experienced a gearbox problem and finished in last place. An incident that diminishes their title hopes.

But we can attribute it to bad luck. On the other hand, the Ferrari #71 has another race off the pace. Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina were never able to join the fight for the podium this weekend, with the added setback of going off track. Only a second place in Bahrain salvages a disappointing season. The duo seems out of the running for the title.

	Drivers	Team	Car	Points
1	Sorensen/Thiim	Aston Martin Racing #95	Aston Martin	109
2	Pier Guidi/Calado	AF Corse #51	Ferrari	83
3	Christensen/Estre	Porsche GT Team #92	Porsche	82
4	Lynn/Martin	Aston Martin Racing #97	Aston Martin	77
5	Bruni/Lietz	Porsche GT Team #91	Porsche	69
6	Rigon/Molina	AF Corse #71	Ferrari	55

GTE-Am: With TF Sport, It’s All or Nothing

The TF Sport Aston Martin #90 is the darling of the season with its magnificent red livery. It has the hood to match. This weekend, the team claimed their third victory of the season after an epic battle with the official Aston Martin #98. The conclusion came twenty minutes from the end, thanks to an opportunistic overtaking maneuver by TF Sport in the traffic.

Despite their three successes, the trio Yoluc, Eastwood, Adam does not lead the championship. Since last year with TF Sport, it’s all or nothing. Apart from the three victories this season, the team has experienced a retirement and a sixth place. In contrast to the AF Corse #83 of Collard, Perrodo, and Nielsen, which has never fallen below fourth position and leads the race for the title. However, nothing is decided yet, as the top four are within twelve points of each other.

	Drivers	Team	Car	Points
1	Perrodo/Collard/Nielsen	AF Corse #83	Ferrari	85
2	Yoluc/Eastwood/Adam	TF SPort:#90	Aston Martin	83
3	Dalla Lana/Turner/Gunn	Aston Martin Racing #98	Aston Martin	78.5
4	Keating/Bleekemolen	Team Project 1 #57	Porsche	73.5
5	Watson/Wainright/Baker	Gulf Racing #86	Porsche	49
6	Perfetti/Cairoli/Horr	Team Project 1 #56	Porsche	44
7	Ishikawa/Beretta/Cozzolino	MR Racing #70	Ferrari	43
8	Ried/Campbell/Pera	Dempsey Proton Racing #77	Porsche	42.5
9	Castellaci/Fisichella/Flohr	AF Corse #54	Ferrari	35
10	Grimes/Mowlem/Hollings	Red River Sport #62	Ferrari	16
11	Curtis/De Leener/Preining	Dempsey – Proton Racing #88	Porsche	12.5

Image of the Day: Suicide Attack

Big boys time.#WEC #6HCota @FerrariRaces @AMR_Official pic.twitter.com/IWqLLBBJJn

— WEC 🤠 🇺🇸 (@FIAWEC) February 23, 2020