Rebellion Racing scored a dominant victory in the 2020 FIA WEC Six Hours of CoTA. The team’s #1 R-13 Gibson ran unchallenged throughout, finishing ahead of the two Toyotas that were strangled by the Success Handicap system.
While the Rebellion team, which will stop racing after Le Mans this year, will celebrate long into the night after its second victory of the season, this was one of, if not the most uneventful LMP1 races in the history of the category. Bruno Senna, Norman Nato and Gustavo Menezes had a clear pace advantage and were untouchable.
The only question mark in this one was whether or not the Toyotas could save a fuel stop at the end, vaulting the #8 TS050 HYBRID back into the lead just before the finish, but they didn’t. Rebellion, who had to change the car’s engine ahead of qualifying, managed the race perfectly, and while it had to push, the win never looked in doubt.
Rebellion didn’t even feel the pressure momentarily during cautions, as the race featured zero safety car or full-course yellow periods. It was also the fourth time in WEC history that every car finished classified.
Toyota’s #7 TS050 finished third. The car was pegged back by the handicap more than the sister car, and therefore was a non-factor here. In this instance, with only three cars in the category, all racing to different handicaps, it created a clear gap in pace and therefore potential, between the runners. A race to remember for Rebellion, which has begun its farewell tour with a win, a race to forget for everyone else.
“We won, we did it, incredible effort from the whole team, especially the mechanics who changed the engine before qualifying!” Gustavo Menezes said after scoring a win at home. For him it continues his perfect run of form in the WEC at CoTA, the American now has three poles, fastest laps and wins in three appearances. “It’s a fairytale,” he told DSC.
Change in strategy pays off for United
In LMP2 United Autosports continued picked up from where it left off in Bahrain at the end of last year. It recovered from pace issues in the opening stint caused by the team using worn tyres at the start, to take a comfortable second victory of the season after a classic yo-yo LMP2 race for multiple contenders.
Paul Di Resta was in the #22 ORECA for the start and finish, and was forced to make an early stop because he was losing so much time in the early laps complaining of a tyre pressure issue (though it turned out to be the team using worn rubber), putting the team out of sequence for almost the entire race.
The team was convinced it would have to make a late splash and therefore be fighting for a podium rather than a win, but by the end of the race, it emerged that the other contenders had to splash too.
“We had a miscalculation during the first stint, that made it painful, and we had to go off sequence. In the end, we won, and we have the next race soon, so we will reset for Sebring,” Di Resta said.
Di Resta, Filipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson were rapid and didn’t put a foot wrong in this one, and as a result, crossed the line more than 20 seconds ahead of the chasing pack. Behind the two JOTA-run ORECAs scored Goodyear a double podium.
Its #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing example looked the stronger of the two throughout, Will Stevens, Gabriel Aubry and Ho Pin Tung taking second as a result. The #38 JOTA 07 completed the podium, beating the Racing Team Nederland ORECA to third after the Dutch team was forced to make an additional pit stop to ensure Gentlemen driver Frits van Eerd completed his minimum drive time late in the race.
Dane Train dominant in Pro
The GTE classes were entertaining throughout, really came alive in the final hour and were both won by Aston Martin Vantages. After a tough week on the news front for the British marque, which revealed that it was postponing its Le Mans Hypercar programme indefinitely before the meeting began, the wins today for its works team and customer TF Sport will feel oh so sweet.
Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen took the victory in Pro, extending their points lead in the class. The #95 was the car to beat in qualifying and all race long. Thiim crossed the line 4.2 seconds ahead of the No. 92 Porsche but none of the other cars in the class truly challenged for the win.
“I need a beer now! That was one hell of a job, two double stints, wow. I didn’t expect the Porsche to keep up as they double stinted tyres at the end. It was pedal to the metal but we won, yeeeeha!” Thiim exclaimed.
It was a strong finish for Michael Christensen and an unwell Kevin Estre in the #92 Porsche to take second. Early in the race, it appeared that the #97 Aston had the pace to make it a 1-2 finish, but Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin faded towards the end.
The Porsche took second, with the #51 AF Corse Ferrari of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi coming home third after Calado forced his way past Lynn at Turn 12 in the final minutes.
Corvette Racing debuted the C8.R in the WEC this weekend, but it was unable to challenge for any sort of result. The car was significantly off the pace all weekend, which will have come as a source of frustration as it spent the entire race fighting to stay ahead of the GTE Am runners rather than battling with its Pro class rivals. But this appearance was more about accumulating mileage and data on the C8.R; the chassis used here was also brand new.
Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller finished sixth, ahead of only the #91 Porsche that suffered an electronic issue which caused a shifter problem that required a full battery change and behind the #71 AF Corse Ferrari which also had a quiet day and finished fifth.
“Obviously we were very far off the pace, but we have learned and taken things away from this experience with the new Corvette. For sure we were down on power but there are other areas where we can improve,” said Magnussen.
“In a race like this, you have a chance to play around a little bit with different setups and you can try some different things… look at what other teams are doing, how the other cars are handling, where they are strong and where we need to be stronger. As tough as this race was, I’m excited for Sebring. It should be better with the things we’ve taken away from this weekend.”
TF bounces back after Bahrain DNF to win in Texas
GTE Am came down to the final hour. Early in the race the No. 56 Project 1 Porsche controlled proceedings but Egidio Perfetti lost a lot of time in the fourth hour and fell to third, making it a straight fight between the two Aston Martin teams in the class for the victory.
The #98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage looked to have the advantage in the final stint with Ross Gunn at the wheel, but a hard-charging Charlie Eastwood in TF Sport’s car wouldn’t give in and after a lengthy scrap forced his way through at T13 with 21 minutes remaining, scoring the British team its third win of the season. It comes at a crucial point in the season too, putting them back in the Am title race with three races remaining.
“It was so close between us and the #98 all day,” Charlie Eastwood said post-race. “The battle at the end was intense for more than 20 minutes. I needed to make the move quickly to calm the team in the garage down. The final run to the flag felt like it took forever.”
The #56 Project 1 Porsche came home third ahead of the #83 AF Corse Ferrari which was tied for the lead in the points coming into the weekend with Project 1’s No. 57 Porsche. Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Felipe Fraga had a disastrous outing, the polar opposite to the big win for the crew back in Bahrain last year, a gearbox issue costing the team 10 laps in the garage.
Featured image courtesy of FIA WEC
