WEC: Audi victorious at 6 Hours of Silverstone after thrilling fight with Porsche

By Apr 12, 2015, 1:34 PM EDT
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Audi has won the opening round of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship at Silverstone on Sunday following a thrilling fight with Porsche that saw the race be decided in just the final few laps.

The no. 7 car of Marcel Fassler, Benoit Treluyer and Andre Lotterer claimed the LMP1 class win having fended off the advances of the no. 18 Porsche and the no. 1 Toyota in the final few minutes of the race. At the checkered flag, just 14.8 seconds separated the three manufacturers after six hours of racing.

After going one-two in qualifying on Saturday, Porsche looked poised to make an impressive start to the season, and led the early stages with the no. 17 car piloted for the first stint by Mark Webber.

However, the Australian’s hopes of claiming the first win of the year were quickly dashed due to a problem with the rear drivetrain on the car, causing him to retire the car after 90 minutes.

In the sister no. 18 Porsche, Marc Lieb moved into the lead, but soon found himself embroiled in a battle with the no. 7 Audi, which had fought back at the hands of Treluyer from a poor start caused by a lack of telemetry.

Despite having the straight line advantage, Porsche struggled to pull away from Audi in the corners, creating some fascinating racing throughout the race as the no. 1 Toyota circled behind, ready to pounce should the two leading cars come to blows.

Porsche looked to get the jump on both Audi and Toyota by pitting six times instead of seven, with the no. 18 making its final stop with 50 minutes to go in the race. Neel Jani was tasked with bringing the car home, but Marcel Fassler was pushing on at the front for Audi, trying to create a gap before a final splash and dash pit stop.

However, his efforts were hindered when the stewards at Silverstone deemed the no. 7 car to have gained an advantage by running off track, going wide at the final corner to avoid a GT Aston Martin Racing whilst battling with the no. 18. This left Fassler with a pit stop and a stop/go penalty to serve in the final 20 minutes of the race.

After being given the hurry-up by his engineer, Leena Gade, Fassler completed his two stops and remarkably retained his lead, emerging with a 11 second advantage over Jani with just 12 minutes remaining. Jani pushed on, cutting the gap in half, but eventually ran out of time.

With a record 201 laps on the board and eight pit stops completed, Fassler crossed the line in the no. 7 Audi to win the 6 Hours of Silverstone and clinch the RAC Tourist Trophy, the oldest trophy in motorsport.

“For sure it was really exciting to do these nice fights with Neel,” Fassler said after the race. “A good race with a good end for us.

“I actually don’t know why we got this stop and go penalty, but in the end it was good. I’m just happy to be back on the top step of the podium.”

Jani was just 4.6 seconds behind Fassler at the line, whilst Sebastien Buemi began his title defence in third place, 14.8 seconds down on the race winner. The no. 2 Toyota finished fourth ahead of the no. 8 Audi as both cars hit trouble across the course of the race. The ByKolles car retired with 116 laps on the board during its debut weekend in LMP1.

In LMP2, the G-Drive team made good on its pre-season form and practice showings by claiming a one-two finish in class. The no. 26 Ligier car finished 16 laps down on the lead LMP1 car in fifth overall, with Sam Bird crossing the line first ahead of Pipo Derani in the no. 28 car. Extreme Speed Motorsports completed the class podium with the no. 30 in third place ahead of the all-British no. 42 entry from Strakka Racing.

Defending GT WEC champion Gianmaria Bruni kicked off his title defence in style by winning the GTE Pro class in the no. 51 AF Corse Ferrari, enjoying an advantage of ten seconds over the no. 91 Porsche Team Manthey car at the flag. Davide Rigon and James Calado completed the podium for AF Corse in the no. 71 as Aston Martin Racing finished fourth fifth and six with the no. 95, the no. 97 and the no. 99 respectively.

Pedro Lamy, Paul Dalla Lana and Mathias Lauda did manage to bring some joy to Aston Martin Racing, though, by winning the GTE Am class ahead of AF Corse’s no. 83 and the SMP Racing no. 72. With just 30 seconds separating the top three in class, it was another close affair.

At the start of what looks poised to be the WEC’s biggest season to date, Silverstone played host to an incredible feast of racing on Sunday as the LMP1 titans all laid claim to their title bid. However, a very good omen for the no. 7 car is the fact that the winners of the 6 Hours of Silverstone have always gone on to win the world championship.

The second round of the WEC season takes place at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on May 2.

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).