The #36 Alpine Elf Team A480 Gibson scored its second victory in the WEC Championship this season. André Negrao, Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere took the top spot of the podium, some 2.7 seconds ahead of the #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 hybrid shared by Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa. The #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 hybrid driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez took third place, some two laps behind the winning car. That car lost significant time after suffering significant damage and incurring a 90 second stop and hold penalty following contact in the fifth hour as Kobayashi tried to defend from the eventual winning car.
With this result, the Alpine drivers extended their lead in the WEC Drivers Championship to 10 points while Toyota keeps first position in the WEC Constructor Championship.
Further down in the Hypercar ranks, the Glickenhaus 007 LMH led the first half of the race very convincing but retired after suffering a turbocharger failure. The two brand new Peugeot 9X8s encountered several technical problems (including electronics issues for the #93 and power steering problems for the #94). The best of the two Peugeots ended in 33rd place overall after running reliably for more than half of the race.
In LMP2, the race was closely fought throughout as up to five cars were in contention for the lead even during the final hour of the race. In the end, the #41 Real Team By WRT shared by Rui Andrade, Ferdinand Habsburg and Norman Nato scored their first victory this season. The #38 Jota Oreca 07 Gibson shared by Roberto Gonzalez, Antonio Felix Da Costa and Will Strevens ended in second position, only one second behind the winning car and eight seconds ahead of the #10 Vector Sport driven by Nico Muller, Ryan Cullen and Sebastien Bourdais. It is Vector Sport’s first podium in the WEC this season while Jota remains ahead in the LMP2 Endurance Trophy.
There were problems for the initially hugely competitive #22 United Autosports Oreca (Throttle sensor) and the #31 WRT car (radiator).
The #64 Corvette Racing C8R driven by Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy took top place in the LMGTE Pro category by dramatically saving on fuel at the end of the race. The #52 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO driven by Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco took second spot of the podium, some 19 seconds behind the winning car and 28 seconds ahead of the #51 sister car shared by Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado.
Finally in the LMGTE Am category, the #77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR 19 shared Christian Ried, Sebastian Priaulx and Harry Tincknell won. The pole sitting car, the #85 Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE Evo driven by Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy took second position while the #46 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR 19 shared by Matteo Cairoli, Mikkel Pedersen and Nicolas Lautwiller took final spot on the podium.
Once green light was lit, pole sitter Romain Dumas led the race ahead of Sebastien Buemi in #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, Jose Maria Lopez in the #7 sister car and Mathieu Vaxivière in the #36 Alpine A480 Gibson. Towards the end of the first hour of racing though, Buemi reported some electric issues with his car and slipped several positions.
At the top of the second hour, Mathieu Vaxivière in the #36 Alpine A480 Gibson overtook the #7 and grabbed second position while Dumas extended his lead to thirty seconds before pitting and leaving the wheel to Pipo Derani. The #8 gradually regained pace, raised to fourth position while the sister car #7 managed to regain second position.
As the race entered its third hour, the #708 led the #36 and the #7 by a significant gap of 50 seconds. That gap came down abruptly as the race was impacted by several race incidents including the one of Henrique Chaves in the #33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage.
The #708 then pitted under safety car and lost the lead to the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid driven by Mike Conway while the #8 raised to third position. Things got even worse for the #708: first, the American prototype was called in for a drive through penalty after speeding up under Full Course Yellow. As it slipped to fourth position, the Glickenhaus suffered turbo problems and retired.
At the top of the fourth hour, Mike Conway in the #7 Toyota led the sister car #8 driven by Brendon Hartley and Nicolas Lapierre in the #36 Alpine by just a handful of seconds. The three cars pitted towards the end of the fourth hour and positions changed again with the #36 leading the #8 and the #7 by a very narrow margin.
With 90 minutes left in the race, the top three cars swapped positions in the pits this time, with the #7 leading the #8 and the #36.
The #36 eventually managed to overtake the #8 on track. Moments later though, as Mathieu Vaxiviere challenged the #7 for the lead, Kobayashi closed the door to the Frenchman in the start/finish straight. The #7 suffered damages to its right rear tyre and bodywork. The Japanese car pitted for repairs and lost a lap while the #36 took the lead of the race and cruised to the checkered flag. The #7 was eventually given a 90 second stop and go penalty for causing that collision.
Meanwhile in LMP2, pole sitter Will Owen in the #22 United Autosport Oreca 07 Gibson kept the lead ahead of Rui Andrade in the #41 Real Team by WRT and Louis Deletraz in the #9 Prema Orlen Team Oreca 07 Gibson when green light was lit. The three cars fought for first place throughout the first hour of racing.
On lap 24, as the #41 slipped to fourth position after being overtaken by the #1 Richard Mille Racing driven by Charles Milesi, the #9 took the lead of the category by overtaking the #22.
At the top of the second hour, the top three cars pitted a second time. The #9 kept its lead ahead of the #1, the #22 and the #41 Real Time by WRT Oreca 07 Gibson now driven by Ferdinand Habsburg.
Right after the leading cars third stop, the #22 driven by Filipe Albuquerque regained the lead ahead of the #41 and the #9 now driven by Lorenzo Colombo by just a few seconds. These three cars swapped positions for the lead several times during the third hour of the race while the #28 Jota Oreca 07 Gibson, the 34 InterEuropol Competition Oreca 07 Gibson and the #1 closed the gap with that group.
After mid race, the #22 lost several positions following a throttle sensor issue while the #1 driven by Paul-Loup Chatin had contact with the #9 at turn one. The #1 slipped down in the ranks before encountering gearbox issues while the #9 was given a drive though penalty.
At the top of the fifth hour, the top three cars were within three seconds with Esteban Guttierez in the #34 leading Edward Jones in the #28 and Norman Nato in the #41. They were soon joined in the leading group by the #38 Jota Oreca 07 Gibson and the #10 Vector Sport Oreca 07 Gibson.
With one hour left into the race, Will Stevens in the #38 led the #34 driven by Alex Brundle and Nico Muller in the #10. The #28 meanwhile lost all its chances for a possible win after having contact with the #92 between the two Lesmo curves.
With thirty minutes left in the race, Will Stevens had less than a one second advantage on Ferdinand Habsburg in the #41. Habsburg eventually managed to take first position as the race came to an end.
Rui Andrade: “I couldn’t hope for a better weekend. We had a good car, the crews did an amazing job. At some point, the race got very confused, with a lot of yellow and safety–car periods but the strategy was perfect and we could cut over our rivals in the last pit stop, with 20 minutes to go. I am very tired, because I drove a lot, but very happy.”
Norman Nato: “All in all, it was a good weekend: good qualifying, good pace and good start of the race. Then, it was a little bit of a rollercoaster, with a lot of strategy changes, because of incidents, but the team did an incredible job and we were very quick on track and in the pits. After Le Mans, it was important to do well.”
Ferdinand Habsburg: “I’m very happy to be back winning with Team WRT. We had a fast car and we were quick but I really think that today we won because we were very quick in pit stops. We had all which was required to do well, but the key factor was the pit stops and the guys, they worked so hard and did such a fantastic job, that’s why I got a little bit emotional after the race…”
Algarve Pro racing toughed out the win in LMP2 Am for Rene Binder, Stephen Thomas and James Allen in what was the most closely fought podium in the field, the leading trio separated by just 3 seconds at the flag, a fault-free run from the Portuguese-flagged effort coming home ahead of the #83 AF Corse car, their effort blunted a little after Nick Nielsen tagged Christophe Ulrich into the gravel. The #35 Ultimate trio would complete the podium.
Meanwhile in LMGTE Pro category, the pole sitting car – the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO kept first position when green light was lit. The #51 essentially kept that lead ahead of Nick Tandy in the #64 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8R and the #52 sister car driven by Antonio Fuoco during the first hour of racing.
Eighty minutes into the race, Fuoco managed to overtake Tandy. Ten minutes later, the #64 lost an additional spot to the #92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR 19 driven by Kevin Estre.
Top cars pitted during the third FCY episode as the race entered its third hour. Half way through the race, the #51 kept leading the race ahead of the #52 sister car while the #64 Corvette C8R driven by Tommy Milner regained third spot.
With 90 minutes left into the race, drama hit the category as the #51 was given a 5s stop and go penalty for failing to provide race data. The car slipped to fourth in the category while the sister car inherited the lead. Meanwhile, the #62 and the #92 respectively raised to second and third position. The #92 was challenged for third place by the #51: both cars had contact at Turn 1 while fighting for third position. More contacts occurred between the two cars later on in the lap including multiple contacts to the rear of the Ferrari from the Porsche into T4, 4th cars unable to keep to the racing surface as a result, the #92 was given a drive through penalty.
The #52 Ferrari, which had led comfortably, seemingly able to fend off the threat from behind surprised almost everyone and pitted for fuel in the last five minutes of the race while the #64 Corvette, in the hands of Nick Tandy, carried on to the chequered flag with very little fuel left in its tank.
Tommy Milner: “I can’t believe it. The Ferraris seemed to be a lap better than us on fuel than what we could do. The team gave Nick a fuel number that seemed impossible to me, but he was just barely making it. At some point, I guess they thought they couldn’t go and we were sitting here thinking they had it in the bag. Obviously that wasn’t the case!”
Nick Tandy: “With two laps to go, I saw a red car coming in and didn’t know which one. I asked if it was the 52 and the team said it was. Like Tommy said, we basically gave up with about 30 minutes to go because we had to hit a stupid fuel number to make it. But we did!”
Finally in the LMGTE Am category, pole sitter Sarah Bovy took the lead of the race when the red lights went out. The #85 Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE EVO then lost a position to the #33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR driven by Ken Keating who, unlike Bovy, opted not to pit during the early FCY episodes.
After that episode, the #33 stayed ahead of the #85 while Christian Ried in the #77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR 19 raised to third position.
At the top of the third hour, the #33 had to take a drive through penalty for speeding up in the pit lane. That temporarily allowed Sarah Bovy to regain the lead of the LMGTE AM category until she pitted and handed the wheel of the #85 to Michelle Gatting. After exiting the pits, the Dane was less than two seconds behind Henrique Chaves in the #33. Chaves defended his position but was called in for a fifty second drive through penalty after speeding in the pit lane.
Two and a half hours into the race, Gatting regained the lead of the category, some 30-35 seconds ahead of the #77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR 19 driven by Sebastien Priaux.
Things then got a lot worse for the #33 as the car crashed after lifting off over sausage curbs at the track’s second chicane. The driver was uninjured. This frightening incident triggered a safety car episode.
We are all happy to see Henrique Chaves able to step out of his TF Sport Aston Martin after this dramatic crash at Variante Roggia.#WEC #6HMonza @OfficialTFSport pic.twitter.com/vYqiXRgTvi
— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) July 10, 2022
The gap between the #85 and the #77 then came down significantly but the Iron Dames Ferrari remained ahead of the Dempsey Proton Porsche during the fourth and fifth hour of the race.
With one hour left into the race, the #77 eventually managed to overtake the #85 as the Ferrari lost significant time pitting when the race suddenly returned to green at the end of the Alpine/Toyota incident Full Course Yellow episode. A late refueling pit stop for the #77 did not change that order and the Porsche was able to cruise to the chequered flag without being challenged for victory.
