Despite a very short break between the previous Super Season and the first iteration of the new, northern-hemisphere-winter-straddling FIA World Endurance Championship format, there was still something of a ‘back-to-school’ feeling during the first day of the 2019-2020 season.
Faces old, new and returning all seemed optimistic for the year; one man who falls into the latter of those three categories is new Toyota Gazoo Racing signee Brendon Hartley.
Hartley: Shocked by F1 departure, but happy to be “home”
The New Zealander makes his return to the WEC this weekend, and although he said he was ‘shocked’ not to be in Formula 1 following his season with Toro Rosso, he seemed happy with his new challenge with the reigning champions. He said: “It’s great to be back. I’m shocked not to be in F1, but I feel like I’ve come back home here in the WEC paddock. It has been interesting integrating into a team that I was competing against in the past, but they’ve all been very welcoming.”
When asked about Equivalence of Technology just moments after Norman Nato took the #1 Rebellion to the top of the timing sheets in first free practice, Hartley acknowledged that there had been criticism of the balance last season, and conveyed hope for a competitive season: “We want a close fight. We want to race wheel-to-wheel and look in the mirrors more than we did last time.”
Guy Smith relishing his WEC challenge
Another returnee is Guy Smith; although Silverstone marks the 2003 Le Mans winner’s WEC debut, it’s also his comeback from a short-lived retirement, just 15 months on from bowing out of his M-Sport Team Bentley seat in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. Smith said: “I’ve not driven a race car for over a year, and the last car I drove was of course a GT3. So it’s my first time in a prototype for some time, and it’s like jumping on the treadmill to do a sprint, from a standstill.
“Many of the circuits I’ve never raced on, despite being an old man. So I’m excited to face those challenges at places like Fuji and Shanghai.
“As for this weekend, we have to be realistic, as the Ginetta – though a great car – isn’t as developed as the Toyota or the Rebellion. We’re almost going to treat it like a test session. Hopefully we can keep getting better, and be more and more ready to fight as we get closer to Le Mans.”
Smith also discussed the difficulty of ‘unlearning’ his GT3 style, after adapting to the Bentley over several seasons. Pointing a finger in the direction of Red River Sport’s Johnny Mowlem, Smith said: “Ask this guy about it, he knows how hard it is to change from prototype to a GT and back to prototype again!”
Cue the quick-witted reply from Mowlem, who has often handled multiple cars during a meeting: “Trying doing it in the same weekend, mate!”
Alex Lynn: Am cars help big time
After a fond farewell to old Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE car at Le Mans following 11 years of loyal service, the newer Vantage is now GTE Am-eligible, meaning a car each for both the factory-run Am outfit and TF Sport.
While discussing setup with DSC, GTE Pro driver Alex Lynn touted the usefulness of the expanded data pool offered by the additional Vantages: “[The Am cars] help big time. It helps a lot. We’ve got Darren and Ross in the Am car, and they’ve been really great with the development of the Pro car anyway, so it’s really great to have those guys and the two extra cars on the track to learn from.”
Lynn also said after his stint in second practice that he felt the car was close to where it needed to be for the race, despite the Astons tailing the (admittedly very close) GTE Pro field in the session – perhaps it’ll be race pace where the #95 and #97 hit their true stride on Sunday afternoon.
Rigon on GTE Pro: “Let’s hope somebody joins us!”
AF Corse Ferrari driver Davide Rigon is ready for another season of competition in the GTE Pro class, and while the level of the teams are as high as ever, the Italian is hopeful that another outfit can join the sharp end of GTE in the near future.
Rigon told DSC: “Last year was fantastic with a ten car GTE Pro entry. This year is not so amazing, but we know that the level is very high. We try our best to beat them, and I think it will be just as hard, but there aren’t as many cars to race – let’s hope somebody joins us!”
With Le Mans in June and the Season 8 prologue in July, the momentum never halted for the WEC paddock, and Rigon seems to have enjoyed the tempo of the schedule: “It’s good like this, we keep going! Even a month is a long time to be home. Okay, I was busy with other things, as I also work on the Formula One simulator, but I’m happy to be back here.”
Rigon and #71 AF Corse teammate have tasted success at this circuit already in 2019, with a win for SMP Racing in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. This was before the resurfacing of Silverstone took place, and the Italian has echoed the thoughts of many in the paddock on the work.
He said: “I was here in May with Blancpain, before the resurfacing, and the circuit is now much more grippy and smooth. It’s better for us; more grip is always better, and the tyre consistency looks better too. I think they did a very good job.”
