No. 8 Toyota crew edge closer to title with Sebring 1000 win

Sebastien Buemi, Fernando Alonso and Kazuki Nakajima, drivers of the No. 8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID, edged closer to claiming the 2018/19 FIA WEC Drivers' World Championship tonight, with a comfortable win in the series' return to Sebring.

The trio were able to cruise to victory in the heavy rain that arrived during the final half hour, ahead of their title rivals in the sister Toyota, which lost valuable time in the pits to repair damage following an off for Jose Maria Lopez midway through the race.

“It was interesting but tough for me in the end. We knew we had a gap so I didn’t take any risks,” said Nakajima. “The track was so slippy, like ice! On the start straight I couldn’t even go flat. I’m so happy to finish without damage on the car.”

Unfortunately, the sixth round of the ‘Super Season’ was another race with very little competition in the LMP1 ranks, with fans forced to look elsewhere for excitement. Luckily, on a night where both prototype classes left a lot to be desired, the GTE categories delivered the goods, especially at the end when the conditions threw a spanner in the works.

Behind the two Toyotas, was the No. 11 SMP Racing BR1, which crossed the line 10 laps back from the winning car after recovering from an early mechanical issue. The No. 3 Rebellion Racing crew looked set to finish third, but faded late in the race with its own mechanical issues.

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While there was a clear gap between the privateer and factory cars in LMP1 on pace, the nature of the grueling Sebring circuit played a huge part in making it a relatively forgettable race; it was a real war of attrition in the non-hybrid ranks.

Only four cars finished in LMP1, and two of those were heavily delayed. The other four retired, the No. 17 SMP Racing BR1 crashed out at Turn 1 early in the race after a light shower caught out Igor Orudzhev, and the No. 1 Rebellion R-13 and DragonSpeed BR1’s days came to an end with mechanical issues.

While it wasn't an inspiring run for the non-hybrid runners, it was at the very least a valuable endurance test for the privateers ahead of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

In LMP2, Jackie Chan DC Racing scored its fifth win of the season, and a crucial win for Dunlop over Michelin in the LMP2 tire war. However, the team will be slightly disappointed that the No. 38 crew of Stephane Richelmi, Gabriel Aubry and Ho-Pin Tung didn’t finish first here.

It was a disastrous outing for the LMP2 points leaders, leaving the new-look crew of Jordan King, Will Stevens and David Heinemeier Hansson in the No. 37 sister car to fly the flag for the team up front and continue its near-perfect form.

“I can retire now with a 100% record in sports car racing!” LMP2 newcomer King said. “Everyone did so well -- it was stressful at the end, but we gave Will enough of a buffer.”

The aforementioned No. 38 ORECA suffered a major title blow, after having to overcome electrical and transmission issues early in the race, and later a stop to have its driver door replaced. The car finished, but last in the class.

While the No. 38’s title rivals in the Signatech Alpine A470 didn’t win, Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Pierre Thiriet did collect a strong haul of points by finishing second, and are now leading the standings with two races to go.

Completing the podium was the DragonSpeed ORECA, which recovered well after a tough outing. The crew was in the wars throughout, suffering tire issues and losing time due to offs into barriers, but still earned silverware thanks to other runners in the class falling even further back from the winning car.

Racing Team Nederland’s Dallara looked likely to take a podium during the first half of the race, but it all unravelled for the Dutch squad after losing 12 minutes in the pits in the final third.

GTE Pro on the other hand, provided plenty of action all the way to the end, especially when the rain came down hard...

Cars from BMW, Ford, Ferrari and Porsche were all in the running for the GTE Pro win throughout the race, and after hours of clean, hard racing, the No. 91 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR of Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz took the win ahead of the No. 81 MTEK BMW.

The win was secured for Porsche by quick pit work when it mattered most, the No. 91 911 of Gianmaria Bruni leapfrogging the No. 82 BMW of Nicky Catsburg at the final set of stops to take the lead when much of the field came in to change from slicks to wets.

Once Bruni and Catsburg rejoined, they were together on track, just a second apart, but there was no time for Catsburg to reclaim the lead. The TDS Racing ORECA of Loic Duval brought out a safety car with just over 10 minutes to go, after hitting the barriers at Turn 10 hard, which would last until the end of the race, making it a slightly anti-climactic finale.

“It was a difficult decision for everyone to change tires because you didn’t want to lose time,” said Patrick Pilet. “But there was too much water so it was the correct choice -- the boys changed the tires so quick and we were able to get past the BMW in the pits.”

At the Rolex 24 back in January BMW took a dramatic and somewhat lucky win in GTLM when the rain came down at the end; this time the Bavarian brand was on the other end of late-race confusion and a drastic change of weather.

The No. 67 Ganassi UK Ford, which led the class for two-thirds of the race, before being passed on track by the aforementioned BMW and Porsche finished third, ahead of the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 which narrowly missed out on a podium.

No. 67 drivers Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito will head home from Florida wanting more after looking so strong early, the trio despite their best efforts falling back as the temperature dropped and the night hours wore on.

The two factories that faded into obscurity, interestingly, were the two that opted to sit out the pre-event test. Corvette Racing's guest-entered C7.R finished eighth, and the pair of Aston Martin Vantage AMRs crossed the line a distant ninth and 10th. It was a deflating performance for the British team especially, after showing such promise with a breakthrough win last time out at Shanghai.

GTE Am was won by the No. 77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche, Matt Campbell, Christian Reid and Julian Andlauer rising to the top after a race-long battle with the Spirit of Race Ferrari and Team Project 1 Porsche that finished second and third respectively.

Spirit of Race’s Ferrari at times looked the class of the field, fighting for the lead early in the race. But it wouldn’t recover after a penalty was handed to the team for Giancarlo Fisichella punting Jorg Bergmeister’s Project 1 Porsche off at Turn 1 in a scrap for the top spot.

Project 1, too, was unable to regain control of the class fully after Bergmeister’s off into the barriers. Third is nevertheless a well-deserved result for the crew, who had to overcome real adversity during race week when its original 911 burned to the ground in the pre-event test.

The mechanics worked overtime throughout the opening days of the meeting prepping a brand-new 911 RSR that was shipped to the USA from Europe on short notice. A podium will, therefore, serve as a welcome reward for all the effort put in behind the scenes.

Next up on the schedule is the second 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps of the 2018/19 'Super Season' in May.

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