Toyota Extends Championship Lead after Winning 6 Hours of Monza

The 6 hours of Monza drew a crowd 65,000+ over the weekend. Track temperatures were hot all weekend, putting the cars on grid to the test as they tackled the 6 hours of Monza. Mike Conway, Jose-Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi crossed the finish line in the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid 16.250s ahead of the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari 499P Hypercar driven by Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina in relief. Toyota Gazoo Racing started the season off strong but have since fallen under the radar in terms of race wins due to Ferrari’s recent dominance. This was not the case in Monza. With a nearly 17 second lead at the end Toyota has made the statement that they are very much in charge in the title fight. Toyota currently sits 26 points ahead of Ferrari in the championship points standings.

In third place came the No. 93 Puegeot 9X8 driven by Jean-Eric Vergne, Paul Di Resta and Mikkel Jensen. This 3rd place finish is the team’s best result of the year. It is also their best result since they joined the World Endurance Championship in 2022.

LMP2

The No. 28 JOTA P2 car took the win after a thrilling final 60 minutes of racing. In a misfortunate happening, the No. 31 WRT ORECA car was leading the race with just over 20 minutes remaining when the car suffered an engine failure. The failure handed the win to JOTA. The No. 28 car is the only car to finish on the lead lap in class. The car completed 193 laps.

LMGTE Am

The No. 33 Corvette Racing car secured the LMGTE Am championship after finishing 4th at the 6 Hours of Monza. The top three was locked out by Porsche. Dempsey – Proton Racing, Iron Lynx and GR Racing completed a 1-2-3 finish respectively for the manufacturer.

Full results are listed below

The No. 07 Toyota Gazoo GR010 secured pole in qualifying for the 6 hours of Monza. The No. 7 finished ahead of the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse in second and the sister Toyota Gazoo No. 8. In LMP2, the No. 41 Team WRT headed the class ahead of the No. 28 JOTA in second and the No. 22 United Autosports Car. In LMGTE Am the No. 85 Iron Dames took pole in class. Full qualifying results are available below.

The FIA have released BoP technical guides for the upcoming racings in Monza, Fuji and Bahrain. After a dominant performance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans the Ferrari 499p Hypercars will receive a double hit in the performance category for Monza. The new technical guidelines state that Ferrari must add 5 Kilograms (11 pounds) of weight and reduce maximum power by 12 kilowatts (16 Horsepower). We anticipate this double penalty will have noticeable effect on the car for Monza. Cadillac has received the most dramatic changes for Monza. They are allowed to shed nearly 31 pounds in weight. However, the Cadillacs will also see a 15 kilowatt (20 Horsepower) max power reduction. The team also appears to be limited with stint energy as well receiving a 15 MJ reduction in max stint energy.

The Glickenhaus 007 has the least dramatic change. They will received a 3 MJ bump in maximum stint energy. You can find the complete BoP for Monza, Fuji and Bahrain below.

For information on coverage be sure to visit WEC Broadcast Coverage

The 24 Hours of Le Mans has concluded. Fans poured into Le Mans in record attendance with over 325,000 people visiting the venue over the weekend. The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P took the Hypercar crown. The No. 51 Ferrari fought tooth and nail to secure the win in their first return since 1973. The No. 08 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 had remained in striking distance since the 12 hour mark. However, at the 16 hour mark the No. 08 suffered a slow leaking puncture which saw the Ferrari ahead.

At the 20 hour mark the Ferrari experienced a hybrid charging issue that allowed the No. 08 car to retake the lead and make up lost time due to the puncture. However, the Ferrari was able to find the pace towards the end of the stent to pull away from the pack. The demise of the Toyota came after a spin out resulted in major damage to the car late in the race. While the Toyota Gazoo team was able to make repairs. The time lost proved to be too great despite finishing on the lead lap. After navigating back markers the Ferrari was able to create a 1m27.792 gap to the No. 08 Toyota.

Cadillac Held its Own in the Race

Behind the two leaders were the No. 02 and No. 03 Cadillac Racing V-Series.Rs. The two cars had basically held the P3 and P4 positions for the entire second half of the race pacing off of one another. The finish was incredible for the Cadillac camp’s V-series.R 24 Hours of Le Mans debut. In contrast the Porsche Penske team has a race to forget. The Porsches led the race early but issues plagued the team throughout the race.

The No. 75 car suffered a fuel pump failure early on. The No. 6 Porsche 963 crashed at Porsche Curves with Kevin Estre at the wheel. The car then suffered further lost time due to a battery charging issue.  The sister No. 5 car was in contention for a top five place until a broken driveshaft in the race’s closing hour dropped the car to ninth. The car would not recover to fight for a top 5 finish. There were 3 Hypercar retirements in the race.

LMP2

The No. 34 LMP2 car from Inter Europol Competition found the pace to edge out previous race leaders in their maiden 24 Hours of Le Mans. The class win comes after the team had secured their first podium at Spa. In second was the No. 41 Team WRT car who led the class for portions of the race. The top two cars were the only cars on the lead lap in the class. Duqueine Racing took P3 to round out the podium.

LMGTE AM

The No. 33 Corvette secured its third class win of the season at Le Mans. The Corvette was the only car in class to finish on the lead lap in a dominant performance for the American side. In second was the No. 25 RT by TF Aston martin Vantage and in third the GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19. The podium left just out of grasps for the P4 finishing No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 as the team fell 5.312 seconds behind at the end of the race.

Full Race Results are Below

The FIA ​​WEC will travel to Italy next for round five in Monza which takes place 7 – 9 July.

At the half way mark of the 24 Hours of Le Mans the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P led the race. The Ferrari led by 3.701 seconds ahead of the No. 08 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010. Despite an earlier spin, the No. 51 car was able to recover under safety car and full course yellows to retake the lead. In third was the No. 02 Cadillac V-Series.R. The No. 07 Toyota Gazoo was forced to retire from the race which cut the manufacturers chances of a 1-2 finish. Both Toyota’s had been dominant in 2023 but now their chances of winning at Le Mans are down to one car. The No. 75 Porsche Penske had an oil pump failure which also saw the car retire from the race before the 12 hour mark.

In LMP2 there were 4 cars that had retired from the race. Those competitors include the No. 14 Nielsen Racing and No. 13 Tower Motorsports cars. As well as the No. 923 Racing Team Turkey and the No. 63 Prema Racing cars. The No. 30 Duqueine Team MLP2 car led the class at the half way mark. Track debris littered the track just before the 12 hour mark. Tire and track temperatures continued to drog in the night. Multiple drivers had issues with grip in varous parts of the circuit.

In LMGTE AM, 8 cars had retired from the race due to various issues. The No. 56 Project 1 AO Porsche 911 RSR-19 led the class by 8 seconds. 7 cars were on the lead lap. 4 of them were Porsches.

Full 12 Hour Mark of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Classification is Listed Below

The No. 50 Ferrari 499P will start the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans in pole position. Antonio Fuoco had the the fastest lap in the half-hour shoot-out. The No. 51 sister car was second fastest to lock out the front row of the grid in Saturday’s 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary race. The session was red flagged due to a fire involving the No. 03 Cadillac V-Series.R. The Cadillac was third fastest but was relegated down the order due to event rules require their fastest lap time to be deleted.

In LMP2 the No. 48 IDEC Sport Oreca secured in class pole. Paul Loup-Chatin set a 3m32.923s to secure pole. In LMGTE AM the Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari takes the in class fastest lap with Alessio Rovera setting a 3m51.877s. The race starts at 10:00am EST on Saturday June 10th 2023.

Full Hyperpole Results are below

US and Canada based coverage is available through Motortrend.

The Le Mans 24 hour race takes place this weekend and the cars have officially completed qualifying 1 to set positions for the new Hyperpole qualifying format. The Hyperpole format will feature a 30 minute session with free choice or tires. No stops are expected and the way the race ends will dictate the top of the starting grid for the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans and the top 8 for the race on Saturday. The positions in 9th and below for each class are set on the grid for the start of the race on Saturday afternoon. The teams that qualified are as follows:

The 8 Hyperpole qualifiers in the Hypercar class

1. Ferrari 499P #50 Ferrari AF Corse – Antonio Fuoco / Miguel Molina / Nicklas Nielsen
2. Ferrari 499P #51 Ferrari AF Corse – Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi
3. Toyota GR010 Hybrid #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing – Mike Conway / Kamui Kobayashi / José María López
4. Toyota GR010 Hybrid #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing – Sébastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryō Hirakawa
5. Porsche 963 #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport – Dane Cameron / Michael Christensen / Frédéric Makowiecki
6. Porsche 963 #75 Porsche Penske Motorsport – Felipe Nasr / Mathieu Jaminet / Nick Tandy
7. Cadillac V-Series.R #3 Cadillac Racing – Sébastien Bourdais / Renger Van Der Zande / Scott Dixon
8. Cadillac V-Series.R #2 Cadillac Racing – Earl Bamber / Alex Lynn / Richard Westbrook

The 8 Hyperpole qualifiers in LMP2

1. Oreca 07-Gibson #28 JOTA – David Heinemeier-Hansson / Oliver Rasmussen / Pietro Fittipaldi
2. Oreca 07-Gibson #41 Team WRT – Rui Andrade / Robert Kubica / Louis Delétraz
3. Oreca 07-Gibson #63 Prema Racing – Doriane Pin / Daniil Kvyat / Mirko Bortolotti
4. Oreca 07-Gibson #48 Idec Sport – Paul Lafargue / Paul-Loup Chatin / Laurents Hörr
5. Oreca 07-Gibson #10 Vector Sport – Ryan Cullen / Gabriel Aubry / Matthias Kaiser
6. Oreca 07-Gibson #47 Cool Racing – Reshad de Gérus / Vladislav Lomko / Simon Pagenaud
7. Oreca 07-Gibson #923 Racing Team Turkey – Salih Yoluc / Tom Gamble / Dries Vanthoor
8. Oreca 07-Gibson #9 Prema Racing – Bent Viscaal / Juan Manuel Correa / Filip Ugran

The 8 Hyperpole qualifiers in LMGTE Am

1. Ferrari 488 GTE Evo #83 Richard Mille AF Corse – Luís Pérez Companc / Alessio Rovera / Lilou Wadoux
2. Ferrari 488 GTE Evo #54 AF Corse – Thomas Flohr / Francesco Castellacci / Davide Rigon
3. Chevrolet Corvette C8.R #33 Corvette Racing – Nicky Catsburg / Ben Keating / Nicolas Varrone
4. Aston Martin Vantage AMR #25 ORT by TF – Ahmad Al Harthy / Michael Dinan / Charlie Eastwood
5. Ferrari 488 GTE Evo #57 Kessel Racing – Takeshi Kimura / Scott Huffaker / Daniel Serra
6. Aston Martin Vantage AMR #55 GMB Motorsport – Gustav Dahlmann Birch / Marco Sørensen / Jens Reno Møller
7. Ferrari 488 GTE Evo #21 AF Corse – Simon Mann / Julien Piguet / Ulysse de Pauw
8. Ferrari 488 GTE Evo #74 Kessel Racing – Kei Cozzolino / Yorikatsu Tsujiko / Naoki Yokomizo

Ferrari on Top

Despite dominance in every race this season by Toyota, it was the Ferrari’s and that triumphed in qualifying. Ferrari AF Corse took a 1-2 in qualifying practice as No.50 Ferrari 499P Hypercar driven by Antonio Fuoco sets 3m25.213s. This time was just 0.199s ahead of sister Ferrari 499P. he Toyotas settled for 3rd and 4th. The qualifying session was red flagged twice. The first stoppage was for a collision between Filipe Albuquerque in No. 22 United Autosports LMP2 car and No.36 Alpine ELF Team car driven by Matthieu Vaxiviere. The second red flag was flown for an accident involving the No.37 Cool Racing Oreca-Gibson with Malte Jakobsen aboard. All drivers appear to be ok.

Full qualifying resuts can be found here:

The teams will head out for one more practice session before Hyperpole. After Hyperpole there will be two more free practice sessions before the race.

For more coverage check out 24 Hours of Le Mans

The World Endurance Championship has released a Balance of Performance (BoP) bulletin regarding Hypercar entries into the 100th 24 hours of Le Mans endurance race set to take place next weekend.

Toyota, Ferrari, Cadillac and Porsche have had their minimum weights raised for the race with Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans hypercar, receiving the most harsh adjustment at 37 kilograms of added weight compared to the mere 3 kilograms imposed on Porsche. The change was somewhat expected due to a Toyota GR010 winning the opening three rounds of the 2023 WEC season. Ultimately the public isn’t informed on the specifics behind the changes.

Toyota Cadillac and Ferrari were all given minor stint energy increases. The changes appear to be open ended and may be adjusted based on ongoing investigation by the race stewards. The FIA does not provide teams with specific reasons for these types of changes.

The official bulletin is below.

For more information be sure to visit the WEC website.

The FIA World Endurance Championships announced that tire warmers would be banned for the 2023 season. Naturally there were may mixed opinions on the matter. The most pressing being driver safety. It appears the FIA have had a change of heart for the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans. The ban on tire warmers has been lifted for the 2023 24 hours of Le Mans. The change comes after multiple complaints at the 6 Hours of Spa. The reversal of the ban will be effective for all three classes on grid.

The ban was originally started to reduce the carbon impact of the series. However, some do not agree the impact outweighs the safety of the drivers. Racer.com reported that, Antonello Coletta, the head of Attiva Sportive GT stated, “Starting from the assumption that the rules are the same for everyone and that we abide by them, I think we need to reflect on the ban on tire warmers. It’s a common opinion in the paddock and among professionals, not to mention the drivers, that this situation has become dangerous. At Spa, there have been many accidents and extreme episodes due to cold temperatures and changeable weather, and it’s time to do some serious thinking on the matter because it has major ramifications for safety.

He Continued Discussing the Temperature Swings in a 24 Hour Race

“We are on the eve of a decisive race like the 24 Hours of Le Mans where, overnight, temperatures are low and speeds very high. It’s not just an issue for us. The accidents involved different cars, from different classes, driven at the time by both professional and gentleman drivers. This situation had already been predicted some time ago.”

Time will tell if safety continues to remain an issue after Le Mans. The FIA may need to find other ways to reduce its carbon foot print. If crashes continue the FIA will need to balance driver safety with reducing carbon emissions.

You can find more information on the 24 Hours of Le Mans at fiaWEC.com

Here we provide a recap for the 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Toyota Gazoo takes another win in the World Endurance Championship season.

2 Hour Mark

Hypercar

After an early lead the No. 50 and No. 51 Ferrari 499Ps started to fall back opting to run wet tires. The No. 07 Toyota Gazoo GR010 which started on slicks found the more beneficial strategy and was able to pass the Ferraris claiming the lead at the 2 hour mark. Cadillac Racing had an impressive start as the No.3 Cadillac V-Series.R runs second with Renger van der Zande starting on slicks and capitalized on improved track conditions. However the day ended early for the No. 03 when Van der Zande crashes heavily at Eau Rouge. He was unscathed from wreckage after a suspected steering issue. The crash triggered a very long safety car period under which some cars pitted.

As the race approached 3 hours the Ferraris had dropped to sixth after No.51 499P driven by Antonio Giovinazzi fought back through as wet tires overheated in drying track conditions and then they struggled to get slicks up to temperature after a tire change. No.50 Ferrari was in seventh. The Penske Porsche 963s held second and fourth place at the 2 hour mark.

LMP2

The No. 27 United Autosport Oreca 07 lead the 31 Team WRT by 2.5s at the 2 hour mark. Tom Blomqvist drove the No. 27 with little to no challenge. Blomqvist sees Team WRT Robin Frijns make a push nearing the 3 hour mark but Blomqvist holds. The No. 10 Vector Sport Oreca 07 retired from the race after losing a rear wheel on course.

LMGTE-Am

Wet tires were seemingly a better option for the LMGTE-AM cars to start on. However, race leader Ben Keating in No.33 Corvette C8.R lost the lead after switching to slicks and losing pace. Tomonobu Fuji in the No.777 D’Station Aston Martin inherited the lead but the Japanese racer receivesd a drive-through penalty for making contact with Sarah Bovy in Iron Dames Porsche.

4 Hour Mark

Hypercar

The Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010s found a groove at the 4 hour mark. The No.07 Car retains the lead as the No. 8 car fought up through the field to run 1-2 for the team. Disappointment struck for Porsche Penske as the No. 6 963 driven by Laurens Vanthoor retired due to a mechanical failure. The No. 4 Floyd Vanwall driven by Jacques Villeneuve collides with the LMGT3-Am No.54 AF Corse Ferrari at Blanchimont and the cars both retire, bringing out the third safety car in the process. Both drivers were unhurt.

LMP2

Team WRT takes the lead at the 4 hour mark. The Team WRT Sister car fought through the field to finish the 4 hour mark in second place. The No. 28 Jota driven by Oliver Rasmussen made a late challenge. He ultimately was able to make the pass at Eau Rouge after a hard fought battle. The battle resulted in side by side action until the next braking zone. The No.23 United Autosports car that led early in the race loses out in safety car period and fell to sixth. JOTA lose several positions in fourth hour losing momentum as their strategy call proves to be incorrect.

LMGTE-Am

Lilou Wadoux in the No.83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari took the lead from No.88 Dempsey Proton Porsche. However, the No. 88 fought back to retake the lead at the 4 hour mark. The Iron Dames Porsche stays in third and had the pace to stay in contention for the podium. Driver Rahel Frey completed an amazing stint cutting into the front runners’ lead.

Race Results

Hypercar

Toyota Gazoo Racing complete the 1-2 for the win at the 6 hours of Spa. The Toyotas dominated from the 2 hour mark on. No. 51 Ferrari was able to salvage early weekend success and secured P3 to round out the hypercar podium. The No. 05 Penske Porsche and No. 3 Cadillac completed the top 5. The No. 50 Ferrari retired from the race.

LMP2

The No. 41 Team WRT with Louis Deletraz, Rui Andrade and Robert Kubica claim their first race win of the season on WRT’s home track. The team retains their success from 2022. The sister car was not able to hang on for the 1-2 finish after both cars led at the 4 hour mark. United Autosports continued their successful 2023 campaign with a P2 finish with the No. 23 car.

LMGT3-Am

The No. 83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo wins the class with their first win of the 2023 season. Lilou Wadoux becomes the first women to win in a WEC Class. Corvette Racing whom have had a strong presence on track all year finish in second with another podium for 2023. The ORT by TF Aston martin Vantage AMR took third in the class to complete the podium. The top 3 cars were the only cars on the lead lap of the in class race.

Full Results can be found below.

For more information on the race result visit World Endurance Championship.