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The eighth, and penultimate, round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship will be held at the impressive Shanghai International Circuit close to China’s largest city.

With all of the titles still yet to be decided, the 6 Hours of Shanghai on Sunday 5 November could be the race for some of the 2017 champions to be revealed.

Once again 26 cars will make the trip to the second stop in Asia.  The 5.451km (3.387mile), 16 turn track is technically challenging and known to be hard on tyre wear so strategy will be more important than ever in the fight for success.

Porsche Still On Track for World Title

While Toyota’s 1-2 result in Japan earlier this month slowed Porsche’s bid for a third successive FIA World Endurance Manufacturer’s Championship, the German manufacturer still holds a 58.5 point advantage with just two races remaining. 

Victory in Japan for the No.8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID crew has enabled Kazuki Nakajima and Sébastien Buemi to close the gap in the World Endurance Drivers’ Championship to 39 points to leaders Brendon Hartley, Earl Bamber and Timo Bernhard.  As long as the Porsche crew leave China with more than 26 points ahead of their rivals they will be declared champions at the end of the 6 Hours of Shanghai.

Advantage Ferrari for 2017 World Crown

Ferrari now holds a 47-point lead over Porsche in the GT FIA World Endurance Manufacturer’s Championship following the success of the ‘Prancing Horse’ in Fuji.  However the race in China has proven a tough nut to crack for the Italian manufacturer, never winning the LMGTE Pro class in Shanghai in the five previous attempts.  Aston Martin and Porsche have taken two wins each, and last year victory went to Ford.

There are no changes to the strong driver line ups in the LMGTE Pro category, and leaders of the GT Drivers’ Championship Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado of AF Corse will be looking to extend their lead over the Porsche GT pairing of Frederic Makowiecki and Richard Lietz.

Home interest in LMP2

Vaillante Rebellion’s win in Fuji has closed the gap to long-time LMP2 class leaders to just 10 points, but all eyes in China will be on the two teams with a home interest – Jackie Chan DC Racing, which head the LMP2 FIA World Endurance Teams Trophy race, and CEFC Manor TRS Racing.

Team owner and global movie star Jackie Chan will be present in Shanghai to support local drivers David Cheng and Ho-Pin Tung and the whole team, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans winning no38 ORECA 07 Gibson crew will be keen to stretch the gap to the chasing Vaillante Rebellion and Signatech Alpine Matmut teams behind them in the points’ battle.

LMGTE Am closer than ever

In LMGTE Am it is now even closer between the teams at the top and each race is as unpredictable as the next! 

Just three points now separate the championship-leading Clearwater Racing team from Singapore from Dempsey Proton Racing and Aston Martin Racing.  Will these three lead the way in Shanghai, or will Spirit of Race repeat its Japanese success?

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The rain continued to fall throughout the day and with heavier rain on the way the qualifying session was brought forward by 30-minutes. 

On a wet track the competitors taking part in the 6 Hours of Fuji, Round 7 of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship, found it hard to find any grip.  Several cars spun but there were no major incidents in the tricky conditions.

LMP1: Porsche Takes Step Closer to 2017 Title

The no2 Porsche of championship leaders Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley took a step closer to securing the 2017 world title by taking pole position in Japan. 

It was the second pole for the car and Hartley but the debut pole position for Bamber.  The two Kiwi drivers set a combined lap time of 1m35.160, just 0.071s ahead of the no1 Porsche of Andre Lotterer and Neel Jani. 

The no8 Toyota of Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi were close to the two Porsches , finishing the session with a 1m35.355, just 0.195s behind the no2 Porsche 919 on pole position. 

The no7 Toyota didn’t fare as well, finishing 1.47 seconds off the pace.

LMGTE PRO: Debut 2017 Pole for Porsche GT Team

The no91 Porsche 911 RSR of Fred Makowiecki and Richard Lietz took the new for 2017 car’s first pole position in the WEC with an average lap time of 1m47.577.  The Porsche duo finished ahead of the two Ford GTs with the no67 Ford of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell 0.441 seconds behind the pole sitter, with the no66 Ford just 0.121s behind their teammates.

LMP2: Vaillante Rebellion 1-2 in the Rain

The no13 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca 07-Gibson of Nelson Piquet Jr and David Heinemeier Hansson finished at the top of the LMP2 standings with a debut pole for the car and the drivers.  The 1m44.196 average lap was 0.729 seconds quicker than the rest of the field led by their teammates Bruno Senna and Julien Canal in the no31 Oreca07. 

Championship leaders Thomas Laurent and Ho Pin Tung were third fastest in the no38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca-Gibson with a 1m45.078, 0.849s ahead of round 6 winners Andre Negrao and Nico Lapierre in no36 Signatech Alpine A470 in fourth.

LMGTE AM: First Pole For Clearwater Racing Ferrari

The no61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari F488 of Matt Griffin and Weng Sun Mok scored their first pole position in the WEC in the wet conditions at Fuji Speedway.  Griffin set the early pace before handing over to Mok to consolidate their position at the top of the LMGTE Am time sheets.   The Ferrari was 0.326s ahead of the no77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Christian Ried and Matteo Cairoli, which, in turn, was just 0.050s ahead of the no98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage of Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana.

Round 7 of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Fuji, is due to start at 11h00 (local) / 04h00 (CET)

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The rain that has been a significant feature of the 6 Hours of Fuji weekend since Friday morning caused disruption during the race with Round 7 of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship cut short after four and a half hours of running, with seven safety car periods, one Full Course Yellow and two red flags.

The no8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson scored a home win for the Japanese manufacturer, their first victory since Round 2 in Belgium.  It was a double celebration for Toyota as the no7 TS050 finished in second place ahead of the two Porsche 919s led by the no1 car.

Ferrari also took the challenge to Porsche after the two 911 RSRs were dominant in the wet conditions in Free Practice and Qualifying.  The no51 AF Corse F488 of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi took their third victory to take the lead in the FIA GT World Endurance Driver’s Championship and help extend Ferrari’s lead in the manufacturer’s title race.  Porsche finished 2nd and 3rd, the German manufacturer’s best result this season.

In LMP2 the no31 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca of Bruno Senna, Nico Prost and Julien Canal finished ahead of the rest of the nine car field in an exciting drawn out battle with the no36 Signatech Alpine A470 and the no38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca-Gibson.

In LMGTE Am it was a Ferrari 1-2 with a debut victory for the no54 Spirit of Race F488 of Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Miguel Molina.

RACE

With water laying on the track, steady rain falling from the skies and misty conditions at Turn 1, the 6 Hours of Fuji began behind the safety car for the first 15 minutes of the race.  Once the race went green the no2 Porsche of Earl Bamber took advantage of the pole position to pull away from the no1 car of Andre Lotterer. 

Sebastien Buemi in the no8 Toyota started to challenge Lotterer for second and the Swiss driver made his move at T10.  In the slippery conditions the two cars touched as the Toyota went ahead and one of the Porsche’s dive planes broke off the car.  Lotterer continued but the damage did affect the handling of the Porsche and the no7 Toyota of Kamui Kobayashi was also able to slip by.

The no13 Vaillante Rebellion of Nelson Piquet Jr spun at the first corner from pole position, dropping the Brazilian down the order and allowing his teammate Bruno Senna to take the lead in the no31 Oreca. The two Jackie Chan DC Racing Orecas were behind Senna, with Alex Brundle in the no37 Oreca leading the chase.

The no36 Signatech Alpine of Nicolas Lapierre was forcing its way back up the field in the tricky conditions, passing the no38 Oreca of Oliver Jarvis and then getting on terms with Alex Brundle’s Oreca.  The two battled and swapped places over the next two laps before Lapierre got past and made the move stick.

In LMGTE Pro the no91 Porsche 911 of Richard Lietz made a good start from pole with Harry Tincknell in the no67 Ford just behind.  Michael Christensen in the no92 Porsche also made a good start moving up two places on the opening fast lap of the race.  The no61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari of Keita Sawa was leading the LMGTE Am class, the Japanese driver using his local knowledge to fend off the attentions of Francesco Castellacci in the no54 Spirit of Race Ferrari.

With 50 minutes of the race run the weather started to close in again with heavy rain and mist reducing visibility.  The second safety car of the race was deployed and the field bunched up behind the Audi R8 for the next 30 minutes before Race Control declared a Red Flag.

Track conditions improved and the race resumed 35 minutes later with the no2 Porsche pitting and the no8 Toyota taking over the lead of the race.

The no67 Ford GT of championship leader Andy Priaulx was handed a 1 minute stop and go penalty after the British driver missed the red light at the end of the pitlane.  This was the first of a couple of mishaps.  Later in the race the Ford GT collided with the race leading Porsche of Kevin Estre, which resulted in a right rear puncture that pitched the car into the barriers under braking at Turn 1.  The car was recovered under a Full Course Yellow period.  The Ford was repaired and finished the race 8th in class.

The no31 Rebellion of Bruno Senna was being caught by Lapierre’s Signatech Alpine for the lead of LMP2 and it looked like the Frenchman was going to catch the lead car but a spin at the final corner dropped the Alpine A470 back into the clutches of the 3rd placed no24 CEFC Manor TRS Racing Oreca of Ben Hanley.  The no37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca of Alex Brundle retired with a suspected alternator failure.

A third Safety Car period was declared when the weather closed in again but this time racing resumed 25 minutes later As the race reached the half way point the no8 Toyota was still leading the race from the no1 Porsche of Nick Tandy.  The no7 Toyota of Jose-Maria Lopez was challenging Tandy for third while the championship leading no2 Porsche of Brendon Hartley was a distant fourth.

The two Ferraris were leading with the no51 F488 of Alessandro Pier Guidi 6 seconds ahead of Davide Rigon in the no71 car. 

Just past the third hour the weather closed in again bringing out the safety car again for 20 minutes.  At the restart the no13 Vaillante Rebellion of Mathias Beche and the no25 CEFC Manor of Jean-Eric Verne clashed fighting for track position and the Rebellion smashed into the wall at T3.  Beche was OK but the car was badly damaged, so the Safety Car came back on track once again for another 15 minutes.

With two hours remaining the no91 Porsche of Fred Makowiecki was leading from the no51 F488 of James Calado with Calado getting the jump on the Porsche at the restart following the Full Course Yellow to recover the no67 Ford GT. 

The no8 Toyota of Kazuki Nakajima was leading by 16 seconds from the no7 TS050 of Mike Conway, with the no1 Porsche of Nick Tandy just 1.3 seconds behind but the no8 had completed just two stops compared to three for the other two cars.

With 1 hour and 40 minutes remaining the sixth Safety Car was deployed due to the weather and ten minutes later the second red flag was given.  All the cars lined up on the start finish straight and waited to see if the weather would allow the race to be concluded under green flag conditions.  After another hour and 20 minutes the race was declared and the cars were led around for the final time by the safety car.

The 1-2 for Toyota has closed the gap to Porsche to 58.5 points with 88 points still available from the two remaining races in Shanghai and Bahrain.  The championship leading no2 Porsche crew of Brendon Hartley, Timo Bernhard and Earl Bamber finished 4th, one lap behind the Toyotas, and now lead by 39 points, with 172 points to 133 points for Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima.

The victory for the no51 Ferrari has propelled James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi into the lead of the GT FIA World Endurance Driver’s Championship, the Anglo Italian pairing on 120 points, 5 points ahead of Fred Makowiecki and Richard Lietz.  Ferrari extend their points lead to 47 points, with the Italian manufacturer on 238 points with Porsche in second on 191.

The gap in the LMP2 standings has closed to just 10 points with the 3rdplaced no38 Jackie Chan DC Racing crew of Ho Pin Tung, Oliver Jarvis and Thomas Laurent on 145 points with the no31 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca of Bruno Senna, Nico Prost and Julien Canal on 135 points.

The LMGTE Am Team Championship is now led by the no61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari on 149 points with the no77 Dempsey-Proton racing Porsche in second on 147 points and the no98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage on 146.  The drivers classification is led by Christian Ried, Marvin Dienst and Matteo Cairoli on 141 points, with Mathias Lauda, Paul Dalla Lana and Pedro Lamy on 140 points.

Round 8 of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship will take place on Sunday 5th November in China with the 6 Hours of Shanghai.

 

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The rain that affected both free practice sessions yesterday continued to provide some challenging conditions for the third and final practice ahead of qualifying for the 6 Hours of Fuji, Round 7 of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship.

The no8 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 of Sebastien Buemi set the quickest time of the weekend so with the Swiss driver recording a 1m35.414.  The two Porsche 919s were second and third quickest with the championship leading no2 919 Hybrid 0.850 seconds behind the lead Toyota.

The two Porsche 911s continued to lead the way in the LMGTE Pro category with Fred Makowiecki setting the best time of the session of 1m47.724 in the no91 Porsche, 0.6 seconds ahead of the no92 911.  The no67 Ford GT was third quickest, two tenths ahead of the no51 Ferrari.

The no37 Jackie Chan DC Racing of Alex Brundle topped the LMP2 timesheets for the second time with the British driver setting a 1m43.745 late in the session to bump the no13 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca of Nelson Piquet Jr off the top spot. 

The no31 Vaillante Rebellion of Bruno Senna was third quickest, just ahead of the championship leading no38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca of Oliver Jarvis.

The no77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Matteo Cairoli was quickest with the newly liveried ‘Pink Ribbon’ Patrick Dempsey charity colour schemed car, 0.6 seconds ahead of the no61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari.

With heavy rain forecasted later today, qualifying for the 6 Hours of Fuji has been brought forward by 30-minutes and is now scheduled to begin at 14h00 (local) / 07h00 CET today.

 

         

 

 

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