FIA WEC 2015 – Round 6 – 6 Hours of Circuit of Fuji

FIA WEC: all the emotions from the 6 Hours of Fuji

Posted: 13.10.2015
Source: Ferrari

Oyama, 13 october – Relive all the emotions of the 6 Hours of Fuji, sixth round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), with the great victory of the world champions “Gimmi” Bruni and Toni Vilander, on the AF Corse Ferrari no. 51, the podium finishes of the 458 Italias number 71 (Calado-Rigon) and 83 (Collard-Perrodo-Aguas), both fielded by AF Corse, and the disappointment of crew of number 72 of SMP Racing’s Andrea Bertolini, Viktor Shaytar and Aleksey Basov, leader of the Am class but slowed by a stop&go penalty for speeding in the pitlane and later on by a puncture.

FIA WEC: The Ferrari of Bruni and Vilander back to winning ways at Fuji

Posted: 11.10.2015
Source: Ferrari

Oyama, 11 October – Maybe bad luck is finally over. The Ferrari of AF Corse pulled off a stunning win on Sunday at the 6 Hours of Fuji, Japan, the third last round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC). In the shadow of the famous mountain, “Gimmi” Bruni and Toni Vilander overcame the bad weather to beat the Porsche no. 92 of Patrick Pilet and Frederic Makowiecki and the other Ferrari of James Calado and Davide Rigon who won some important points for the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

GTE-Pro. The race began after half-an-hour behind the Safety Car due to the heavy rain. At the start James Calado did well to keep first place in front of Vilander although the Porsches soon overtook the Finn, with the bad conditions possibly favouring the German cars. Porsche also managed to take first place as intermittent rain stopped the track from drying out. In this situation car no. 51 decided not to waste time, stopping twice just for fuel and keeping the same tyres, with Vilander at the wheel for over three hours. The decisive move came two and a half hours from the finish, when at the first full pit stop dry tyres were fitted on the car, now in the hands of “Gimmi” Bruni. It was the same with car no. 71, while the two Porsche decided to stick with wet weather tyres. After a bit of a struggle to warm the tyres, this turned out to be the right decision. The Porsches had to return to the pit to change tyres allowing the two 458 Italias to take first and third places, which after a spin by Porsche no. 92 became second. In the final stages Bruni had everything under control, while James Calado was involved in a great fight with Porsche no. 92, which managed to overtake the English driver with just four minutes to go. Ferrari has extended its lead to 13 points in the constructors’ table, while all four drivers made up ground on Richard Lietz (Porsche), who is now only 7 points ahead of Rigon-Calado and 16.5 in front of Bruni-Vilander.

GTE-Am. It was a less successful day than usual in the GTE-Am class. Car no. 83 AF Corse secured a podium finish with François Perrodo, Rui Aguas and Emmanuel Collard, while SMP Racing’s championship leaders were unlucky. Andrea Bertolini, Aleksey Basov and Viktor Shaytar suffered a puncture after they had already had to serve a 30-second stop&go penalty for speeding in the pitlane. However, the 458 Italia crew still has a 29-point lead over their closest rivals and at Shanghai, at the end of the month, could wrap things up with a race to spare.

FIA WEC: All-Ferrari front row at Fuji

Posted: 10.10.2015
Source: Ferrari

Oyama, 10 October – All the Ferraris put in a superb performance in qualifying at the 6 Hours of Fuji, the third last round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC). The Prancing Horse monopolised the front row in the GTE-Pro class, while taking second and fourth place in the GTE-Am. However, the race is long and full of unknowns, beginning with the rain, which should be falling at the start although we don’t know how heavily.

GTE-Pro. Toni Vilander and Davide Rigon began the GTE-Pro qualifying in Ferraris no. 51 and 71 of AF Corse. The Finnish world champion clocked 1:38.647 on his first attempt, while the Italian driver of car no. 71 immediately put in his fastest time of 1:38.445. Vilander bested this with 1:38.4431 on his second lap. At that point James Calado and “Gimmi” Bruni took over the two 458 Italias. Calado got the best out of the car with a time of 1:38.145, the fastest of the day, and an aggregate time of 1:38.295, while it was harder going for Bruni who stopped the clock at 1:38.376, securing second place for crew of the no. 51 with an aggregate time of 1:38.403.

GTE-Am. The two Ferraris in the GTE-Am class came second and fourth. Viktor Shaytar and Aleksey Basov drove championship leader car no. 72 in qualifying, with Italy’s Andrea Bertolini set to join them for the race. The Russians recorded two excellent laps of respectively 1:39.798 and 1:40.458, taking second place on the grid with 1:40.128. The 458 Italia no. 83 AF Corse was fourth, driven by Emmanuel Collard (1:39.893) and François Perrodo (1:41.139) in an overall time of 1:40.516. Rui Aguas will join them for the race. The Chevrolet of Larbre Competition driven by Roda-Ruberti-Sylvest clocked the fastest time in the class of 1:39.901, while overall pole position went to the Porsche of Bernhard-Webber-Hartley. The race will start on Sunday at 11 am local time (4 am CET) and will end at 5 pm (10 am CET). Rain at the start is almost a given, making the result even harder to predict.

FIA WEC: Ferrari at Fuji in search of a fight back

Posted: 09.10.2015
Source: Ferrari

Oyama, 9 Oct  – Three weeks after the race at the Circuit of the Americas, the WEC world championship is back on track for the sixth of this season’s eight rounds, at Fuji, Japan. Four Ferraris will be involved in the race, two in the GTE-Pro class and two in the GTE-Am.

AF Corse on the counterattack. In the GTE-Pro, the 458 Italias of AF Corse will need to stage a comeback. Davide Rigon and James Calado, with car no. 71, are the best-placed crew in the standings, 11 points behind Porsche driver, Richard Lietz. Reigning world champions “Gimmi” Bruni and Toni Vilander are also not out of contention and a win could propel them back into the title race. However, both crews are above all aiming to help secure the main goal of victory in the World Constructors’ Championship, where Ferrari is still two points ahead of Porsche.

GTE Am. In the GTE-Am class SMP Racing’s Ferrari crew, Aleksey Basov, Viktor Shaytar and Andrea Bertolini, won the last three races, including the Le Mans 24 Hours and can now just concentrate on protecting their lead without taking unnecessary risks. This certainly does not mean that the two Russians and the Italian won’t do everything possible to achieve an amazing fourth consecutive win. The other car in this category, the no. 83 AF Corse, is again looking for a podium finish. Rui Aguas, also involved in the Asian Le Mans Series race, will be kept busy at Fuji, helping teammates Emmanuel Collard and François Perrodo. Qualifying will take place between 1.40 pm and 2 pm local time (6.40 am – 7 am CET), while the race will start on Sunday at 11 am (4 am CET) and end six hours later at 5 pm local time (10 am CET).