Метка: Fuji

Ferrari aiming for clarity over WEC restarts after failed Spa appeal

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Ferrari is hopeful of a clarification of rules governing World Endurance Championship restarts after the loss of its appeal against the failed protest of the results of May’s Spa round.

The Italian manufacturer has expressed confidence that what it regards as a grey area in the sporting regulations will be addressed as a result of last week’s ruling from the FIA International Court of Appeal. 

The ICA’s judgement of the case heard on 3 September throwing out Ferrari’s appeal contained a clause ordering “the competent sporting authority [the FIA] to draw, as appropriate, the consequences of this ruling”.

Ferrari has always insisted that its protest of the stewards’ decision to restart round three of the 2024 WEC in Belgium beyond the scheduled finish time was partially motivated to achieve a clarification of the regulations. 

It argued that the WEC sporting rules as they stand are not clear. 

“The appeal and the ruling has opened the way for a clarification, which is needed,” Batti Pregliasco, team manager of the factory Ferrari AF Corse Hypercar squad told Motorsport.com. 

“What they are saying is that there is a grey area, that it is not clear.

“We need to clarify what we can call a bug in the regulations or some poor wording that caused the interpretation on our side, and not only on our side. 

“I think we can have a clarification in the rules for next year in the sporting regulations or perhaps from the WEC Committee [which rules on matters concerning the series].

“That is very important, because whether the race can restart or not can affect a lot in terms of strategy.”

Safety Car

Safety Car

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

BMW has joined the call for a clarification of the regulations. 

BMW M Motorsport boss Andreas Roos said: “If there is something that is not 100 per cent clear, for sure we have to clarify it. 

“I haven’t made my mind up which way it should go; it just has to be clear.”

Restarting the Spa round in May after the scheduled finish time, set for 19:00, was unprecedented in the history of the WEC since its rebirth in 2012. 

The stewards invoked a clause in the sporting rules that states: “If the circumstances so require the stewards may take the decision to stop and/or modify the race time set. This may not exceed the time of the competition [meaning six hours in the case of Spa].”

Ferrari argued in its unsuccessful protest and subsequent appeal that this clause did not allow for the race to be restarted outside of its original timeframe. 

The need for extensive barrier repairs after a stoppage early in the penultimate hour prevented a resumption within the 13:00-19:00 timeframe laid down for the event, but the stewards decided to restart the race beyond the scheduled finish. 

A further one hour and 44 minutes of racing — the remaining time on the clock at the stoppage minus the time it took for the cars to line up on the start-finish straight — began at 19:10.

The two factory Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercars had been running 1-2 when the race was red-flagged after four hours and 13 minutes. 

Ferrari ended up finishing third and fourth with its #50 and #51 cars after the winning #12 Jota Porsche 963 LMDh and the second-placed #6 factory Porsche Penske Motorsport entry leapfrogged the Italian cars. 

The two Porsches had pitted just before the red flag, so made up most of the time lost because the race was restarted under the safety car and then moved to the front when the cars ahead of them made their next scheduled pitstops. 

The FIA has been contacted for comment.



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Toyota has made it “easier” for us to win 2024 WEC titles

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Porsche driver Matt Campbell believes Toyota has made it “easier” for the German manufacturer to win the World Endurance Championship this year.

Campbell made the comments after the penultimate round of 2024 WEC at Fuji, where Toyota’s best-placed car in the standings retired after a collision with the #5 Porsche 963 LMDh.

Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID was battling with the #5 Porsche of Campbell for seventh place when they came to blows at Turn 3, sending both cars into retirement.

While the #5 Porsche was never realistically in the title fight and hence had little to lose, the #7 entry Kobayashi shared with Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway was Toyota’s best hope of winning the drivers’ championship and had only a 12-point deficit to overcome to the other factory Penske car.

Kobayashi was subsequently handed a suspended drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable crash.

To make matters worse for the Japanese manufacturer on home turf, its second car driven by Ryo Hirakawa was involved in a separate run-in with the winning #6 Porsche 963 of Kevin Estre in the final hour, picking up a drive-through penalty that left it a distant 10th at the finish.

Combined, the two incidents have left Toyota virtually out of the fight for the drivers’ title, while leaving it with a 10-point deficit in the manufacturers’ race with just the Bahrain finale to run.

Campbell said he did not expect Kobayashi to be so aggressive while battling with him for position, but feels the incident only served to shift the balance away from Toyota in the championship fight.

#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki

#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

“Thanks to Toyota [we are in a strong position], they’ve probably made it a little bit easier for us [for us to win the titles],” the Australian told Motorsport.com.

“For me I was surprised by the move and the incident because it also took them out and made it a lot harder for them [to win the title].

“For us, obviously we’ve still got to be able to do a good job in Bahrain, no doubt about that but obviously now it’s a bit more of a bridge there [between us and Toyota].”

Estre and his team-mates Laurens Vanthoor and Laurens Vanthoor now enjoy a 35-point lead in the drivers championship over drivers in the #50 Ferrari 499P LMH, Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina. Kobayashi, de Vries and Conway have slipped to third in the #7 Toyota, facing a 37-point shortfall to the Porsche trio.

In the manufacturers’ battle, Porsche has gone from trailing Toyota by 11 points to leading the championship by 10, a 21-point swing in its favour over the course of the Fuji weekend.

There will be a total of 39 points on offer (including the bonus point for pole) in the eight-hour Bahrain finale compared to 26 for a regular WEC round.

While the drivers’ championship is effectively in the bag for Porsche, Estre believes securing a double title in 2024 will not be a “walk in the park” for the Stuttgart marque, especially with Bahrain’s abrasive track surface set to play into the hands of rival Toyota.

“We know that we have a comfortable lead,” he told the official WEC YouTube channel. “The manufacturers’ is the most important thing for Porsche for sure, for us [drivers] as well.

“It’s great to have the lead in both championships and have some gap, but Bahrain is a tough track, longer race and difficult on the tyre.

“We have to stay out of trouble, execute well as we did the whole season and we’ll be good.

“It’s definitely not gonna be a walk in the park there, the others are going to make it hard for us, but we are well prepared.”

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Gounon set for further WEC race outing with Alpine

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Jules Gounon is set to graduate from his role as Alpine’s official World Endurance Championship reserve to take a race seat at Bahrain in November for a second consecutive weekend.

The move is part of the same plan, put in place at the beginning of the season, that resulted in Gounon replacing Paul-Loup Chatin in the #35 Alpine A424 LMDh for last weekend’s Fuji round, Motorsport.com has learned.

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This time it calls for the Mercedes-AMG factory driver to take the place of Charles Milesi, Alpine’s star performer at this month’s Austin and Fuji WEC races, in the #35 Hypercar class entry run by the factory Signatech team. 

Alpine has so far yet to confirm Gounon’s role for the Bahrain 8 Hours on 2 November. 

The 29-year-old Frenchman, who subbed for the injured Ferdinand Habsburg in #35 at the Imola and Spa WEC rounds in April and May respectively, appears to be in contention for a race seat at the Signatech Alpine squad next year. 

Speculation to that effect was fuelled by his promotion to the race line-up at Fuji, which was devised to give him “the opportunity to continue his Hypercar learning process”, according to Alpine.

The Renault brand’s motorsport boss, Bruno Famin, wouldn’t confirm that changes in the Alpine WEC line-up are under consideration for 2025. He repeated the phrase “one thing after the other” when asked. 

#35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Jules Gounon

#35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Jules Gounon

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Gounon, whose father Jean-Marc finished second at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1997 driving a GTC McLaren F1 GTR, has never made any secret of his aspirations to compete at the highest level of sportscar racing. 

He described going for victory in the WEC and at the Le Mans 24 Hours as “my biggest goal and my biggest dream”.

But he said he preferred to talk about Fuji when questioned in Japan last weekend about a possible full-time future with Alpine. 

He confirmed that he remained under contract to Mercedes as part of its GT3 roster for one more year in 2025, but insisted that this would not necessarily prevent him for racing for Alpine in the full WEC alongside his commitments with the German manufacturer. 

“It could be a possibility,” he said. 

Gounon revealed on the announcement of his deal with Alpine in February that he had travelled to the home of Mercedes-AMG head of customer racing Stefan Wendl “to beg him to let me do this adventure with Alpine”. 

He also revealed at that time that there had been discussions about a full-time ride in the WEC with Alpine for 2024.

“Mercedes has been fantastic for me over the past three years and it wouldn’t have been fair to go against them,” he said.   

There is still uncertainty over Mick Schumacher’s place at Alpine for next year. 

#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Mick Schumacher

#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Mick Schumacher

Photo by: Andreas Beil

The former Haas Formula 1 driver, who has dovetailed his role as Mercedes’s test and reserve with racing for Alpine in the WEC this year, has repeatedly refused to commit to remaining in the series in 2025. 

He is still insisting that a return to a full-time race seat in F1 remains his priority even though there are now only two berths vacant. 

“I am still looking at F1,” he said. “My plans for next year are pretty open: nothing is confirmed, nothing is done.”

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F1 champion Jenson Button expresses doubt about WEC future

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Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button is refusing to commit to staying in the World Endurance Championship in 2025, as he hasn’t decided how long he wants to compete professionally in motorsport.

The comments mark a change in stance from the Jota driver, who previously stated he saw WEC as a two-season programme after returning to full-time competition for the first time since 2019.

Asked if he had held conversations with Jota about remaining with the team next year when it morphs into the factory Cadillac operation, Button told Motorsport.com: “We have talked, yes. So we will see.”

Pressed on whether he was positive about the outcome of those discussions, he gave a cryptic reply: “Well, it depends upon what outcome I want. I’m positive about getting the outcome I want.

“No, we will see. It’s something we are discussing.”

When questioned over whether he would like to remain in the WEC next year, he added: “Ah, that’s a different conversation. I can’t say anything more.

“I’m very proud of this team for what they did this year in such a short space and in the top category but there is much more to achieve.

“Working with a manufacturer is a big deal. A manufacturer like GM and Cadillac is big. They are there to win. The big one is Le Mans, but also the world championship as well.”

#38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: Jenson Button

#38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: Jenson Button

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Since the second of his two campaigns in the SUPER GT series in 2019, Button had made sporadic appearances in a wide variety of series, including NASCAR Cup, IMSA SportsCar Championship and Extreme E.

After competing at Le Mans last year in Hendrick Motorsports’ Garage 56 entry with a modified Chevrolet Camaro LS1 NASCAR Cup car, he signed up for the full WEC season with Jota’s expanded Porsche customer team.

The 2009 F1 champion has shown impressive progression since the start of the season in Qatar six months ago, securing a best finish of sixth at last weekend’s Fuji round with team-mates Phil Hanson and Oliver Rasmussen.

Alongside his primary commitments in WEC, he also races historic cars for leisure and was recently seen at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion in Laguna Seca.

Button, who turns 45 next year, was coy about how long he would continue to compete in top-line motorsport as a professional driver.

Quizzed about his future, he said: “I mean, I don’t know, It’s a tricky one. I have a family now, I wouldn’t want to race seriously for many more years.

“I will always race for fun. I love racing classic cars. They are very mechanical for me, I’m really enjoying that.

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“So there is always going to be a racer in me who wants to carry on racing till I’m in my 50s. But that won’t be professionally.

“I’m sure you lose the edge, I don’t know. [But] it doesn’t feel like I have yet.”

Asked what will help him decide whether he wants to race next year or not, he added: “That’s it [if I want to race next year or not].”

Jota, which has so far run Porsche 963 LMDh cars on a customer basis in the Hypercar class, will take over the mantle of Cadillac’s factory WEC team from Chip Ganassi in 2025.

The British outfit will be entering two examples of the Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh in the series, and Motorsport.com understands that there will be room for three non-GM drivers in the line-up.



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BMW confident it can fight for wins in WEC after podium breakthrough

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BMW now has the «pace to fight for wins» in the World Endurance Championship with its M Hybrid V8 LMDh, WRT team boss Vincent Vosse believes.

Vosse made the statement after the #15 WRT BMW shared by Marco Wittmann, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor took M Hybrid’s first WEC Hypercar class podium with second place behind Porsche in last Sunday’s Fuji 6 Hours.

«We had the pace to fight the Porsche and fight for the win but P2 is still good, we’ll take that,» Vosse told Motorsport.com.

«We proved that we are now in the mix, that we can compete.»

BMW’s Fuji performance, which also encompassed the M Hybrid’s best WEC qualifying performance with third position for Vanthoor, came after a step forward was made last time out at Austin earlier this month.

The best of the BMWs at the Circuit of The Americas, the #20 car shared by Rene Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde, was on course for fifth before a penultimate-hour drive-through penalty and then sixth before the car stopped a lap too late at its final pit call and was penalised again for going over its energy allocation for the stint.

Vosse revealed that WRT and BMW were unsure whether they could follow up on that at Fuji, a track on which the M Hybrid had never previously raced or tested.

#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann

#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann

Photo by: Andreas Beil

«There was clearly a change of track characteristic, but we showed here with our best results in qualifying and the race that we are continuing to make progress.

«We are improving every little thing, the team, the car and the drivers’ understanding of the car, and the Balance of Performance has also helped us,» explained Vosse. «We were not the quickest today, but we were up there and we did our job.»

Vosse suggested that BMW could have won the race at Fuji but for a broken left rear rim when Marciello was involved in an incident with Cadillac driver Earl Bamber in hour three.

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Because Marciello had to pit early to hand over to Vanthoor it removed the strategic advantage the car had gained by stopping under the first Virtual Safety Car that led into a full safety car.

Asked if BMW is going to the 2024 WEC finale in Bahrain to win the race, Vosse was non-committal.

«At least we are going to Bahrain with confidence that we are going to be somewhere up there,» he said.

«To say we are going to win would be difficult because Hypercar is so competitive now. Step after step we are getting there, but to win everything needs to be perfect and today for us it wasn’t because we had the broken rim.»



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Peugeot’s WEC pace still «not brilliant» despite best result of the year

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Peugeot says a double points finish in the Fuji World Endurance Championship round doesn’t mean it has made a breakthrough, as the 9X8 2024 is still «not brilliant» on pure pace.

A strong final stint on fresh tyres propelled the #93 Peugeot 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar of Mikkel Jensen, Nico Muller and Jean-Eric Vergne to fourth place in Sunday’s Japan event, just three seconds off the final spot on the podium.

It marked the first top-five finish for the upgraded 9X8 that debuted at Imola in April as well as the French marque’s best result in WEC since it finished on the rostrum with the previous version of the car in Monza last year.

But Peugeot’s technical director Olivier Jansonnie warned that the team shouldn’t get carried away with its showing at Fuji Speedway, as the result wasn’t representative of the car’s true speed.

«Look at the lap times, it’s still not looking brilliant in terms of pace, to be honest,» he said. «But we managed to compensate [for] that and get this P4.

«There is a bit of luck involved in that [as well], to be honest. We have been very unlucky in some races, [but] at some point it’s also changing [our way].

He added: «[The result] is a boost. We have been through some very hard times with no results, lots of pressure since Sao Paulo and Austin – especially Austin was a very bad race for us.

#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Mikkel Jensen, Nico Muller, Jean-Eric Vergne

#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Mikkel Jensen, Nico Muller, Jean-Eric Vergne

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

«We always operate [on] the same [level]. This time we managed to align it with things and our competitors made some mistakes and that really helps.»

Both Peugeot entries were running outside of the top 10 at the midway point of the six-hour enduro, as the team focused on saving tyres for a late assault.

The strategy paid dividends when a stoppage for the Lamborghini SC63 in the penultimate hour reset the order, wiping out Peugeot’s deficit to the frontrunners and giving it a massive tyre advantage over its direct rivals.

Jensen was running 10th at the beginning of the final hour, having already completed his last pitstop by then, and was able to charge through the field to climb to fourth, passing the #12 Jota Porsche 963 of Norman Nato in the closing stages of the race.

Loic Duval, Paul di Resta and Stoffel Vandoorne claimed eighth place in the sister Peugeot, securing their first points finish of the year.

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A collision between the #7 Toyota and the #5 Porsche Penske 963, as well as penalties for the #8 Toyota and the #35 Alpine, also contributed to their rise near the front.

Jansonnie said that it wasn’t easy for Peugeot drivers to make sacrifices in the early stages of the race in the hope of making a comeback later.

«[We are] happy with the strategy, we made a couple of gambles during the race,» he said.

«We knew we had saved more tyres than others in the [final] pitstops, so we just had a bit more pace at the end of the race. But it required some drivers at the beginning of the race to try to keep the tyres for the end.

«We still kept pushing on track even if the lap times were not coming because we knew that in the end, we would have fresher tyres.

«It was a big team effort and the performance of the drivers in the last stint was amazing as well. So in all, very happy with that.»



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Ferrari and Toyota concede WEC drivers’ title to Porsche

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Ferrari and Toyota have conceded the World Endurance Championship drivers’ title to Porsche with one race left to run after Sunday’s Fuji round. 

The two manufacturers chasing the German marque in the Hypercar classification have admitted that their chances of taking the crown at November’s Bahrain finale are over after points leaders Lauren Vanthoor, Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre took victory in the penultimate round of the series in Japan. 

There are 39 points up for grabs over the Bahrain 8 Hours WEC weekend on 2 November and the Ferrari crew of Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen and Antonio Fuoco have fallen 35 points in arrears of the Porsche drivers, while Toyota’s Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries are 37 points back.  

“For me it is game over,” said Ferrari sportscar racing technical director Ferdinando Cannizzo after the Italian manufacturer’s championship-challenging crew could only finishing ninth in their 499P Le Mans Hypercar at Fuji.  

“I’m not saying we are giving up — we will try to work miracles,” he added. “We need to have the car at its best, make everything perfect and put three cars on the podium.

“Mathematically it is possible, but the chances are very poor.”

Cannizzo also suggested that Ferrari’s chances of taking the manufacturers’ title were over after the marque fell 27 points behind Porsche at Fuji.

David Floury, Cannizzo’s counterpart at Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, offered a similar opinion following a non-score for the Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMH Kobayashi and de Vries share with Mike Conway after the first-named crashed with Porsche driver Matt Campbell. 

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Conway is fourth in the classification, tied with Campbell and team-mates Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowieci, after missing the Le Mans 24 Hours in June through injury. 

“Clearly for the drivers’ championship we are more or less out of contention,” Floury said. 

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries, #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 — Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries, #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor

Photo by: Andreas Beil

But the Frenchman insists that there is all to play for in the manufacturer’s championship in which Toyota are only 10 points adrift of Porsche. 

“It is still open in Bahrain and for sure we will be pushing,” he added. 

Estre asserts that it will be important for him and his team-mates to keep their “feet on the ground” in Bahrain.

“You can never be confident because if we have a bad race and one of the others has a perfect race, they can win,” he told Motorsport.com.

“We can be confident that if we keep doing what we have been doing the whole year we will have a very good shot and we don’t need to risk anything.”

Should the Ferrari win in Bahrain and take pole position, then Estre and his team-mates would only need to finish eighth to seal the title. 

If the Toyota was to win and take the point for pole, then they would only be required to finish 10th, which would give them the title on countback with more second places.



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Hirakawa was ‘blocking me everywhere’ in Fuji despite blue flags

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Porsche’s Kevin Estre felt Toyota rival Ryo Hirakawa was “blocking me everywhere” despite being shown blue flags on an outlap in Sunday’s Fuji WEC race.

Long-time race leader Estre encountered the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID of Hirakawa at the beginning of the sixth hour after the Japanese driver came into the pits relatively early for his final pitstop.

Driving the #6 Porsche Penske 963 LMDh, Estre continued to close in on Hirakawa, who was first shown a blue flag at the Turn 8 kink. But after running nose to tail at the Dunlop chicane, Estre and Hirakawa made contact at the long Turn 15 hairpin, with the Toyota driver subsequently running off the track.

Rejoining the circuit, Hirakawa briefly moved ahead of Estre into Turn 16, before the Porsche driver finally accelerated clear of him on the main straight to put a lap on him.

Speaking after clinching his second win of the year together with team-mates Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer, Estre claimed that Hirakawa had no intention to let him by easily despite being obliged to do so.

The 30-year-old was later deemed guilty of ignoring blue flags and handed a drive-through penalty by the stewards.

“The #8 Toyota came out on cold tyres, at least on one side [of the car],” Estre explained. “It was a bit slower and it was about to get one lap down and he definitely did not drive to let me [by]. He blocked everywhere and I had to pass him, and he passed me, and so on.

“It was quite hot, we had a little contact in Turn 15. So they threw stuff at us but we are stronger this year. So they keep throwing but somehow they don’t succeed, which is great for us.”

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre

Photo by: Andreas Beil

Hirakawa was running fourth on merit before pitting and would have regained the lap he lost to Estre after the Porsche driver made his own stop later in the final hour. But the drive-through penalty meant the #8 GR010 Hybrid Hirakawa shared with Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley could finish no higher than 10th, costing Toyota the lead in the manufacturers’ standings to Porsche.

Hirakawa admitted that he did not want to make it easy for Estre to lap him, but felt that the French driver also deserved to be penalised for pushing him off the track.

“I knew that I was fighting with car #6,” he said. “When I saw in mirror car #6, I tried to focus on my tyre prep. Of course I would not go easy on them.

“And then car #6 just pushed me off at Turn 15. That’s it. Apparently, I had an infringement for a blue flag. I think I had [done] nothing wrong.

“When I heard there was an investigation for car #8 and car #6, I thought maybe car #6 gets a penalty because he pushed me off. Was a bit of a surprise.”

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor

Photo by: Andreas Beil

In its report, the stewards stated that “car 8 was shown blue flag on multiple occasions and should have not continued to fight with car 6 in turn 13-14-15-16”.

But Toyota’s technical director David Floury was unimpressed by the decision to penalise Hirakawa, insisting that he wasn’t given enough time to let Estre pass him.

The sanction was particularly significant as it has left Toyota facing a 10-point deficit to Porsche in the manufacturers’ standings with just the Bahrain finale season to run.

“Once again we can question the decisions that were taken against us,” he said. “Clearly [with] blue flags you get a penalty when you have a blue flag for two sectors [and] we get the blue flag [for the] first time in Turn 8.

“We were offsetting the strategy because we had decided to cut short that stint to go for a full stint at the end of the race with new tyres. So we were offset virtually, we were like 25-30s behind car #6 and not a full lap [down].

“In any case, we got a blue flag in turn 8, which is the first time, and he [Estre] pushed us off in Turn 15. We left room for him to go by, he hit us, pushed us off track and we get a penalty because we made contact with him.

He added: “I would like to understand because I’ve clearly not seen the same action recently and it’s becoming a lot [more difficult] this season.

“I’ve seen more penalties for yellow flag infringement in that race than in the last four seasons altogether. This is a consequence of the fact that in Austin we complained about this situation.

“Clearly not happy with [how] the sporting aspects are handled.”

Incidentally, the other cars from Toyota and Porsche were also involved in a collision, with Kamui Kobayashi taking the blame for the collision that put the #7 GR010 HYBRID out of the race.

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Kobayashi takes blame for Porsche clash as Toyota exits WEC drivers’ title race

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Kamui Kobayashi has accepted blame for the clash with Porsche’s Matt Campbell at the Fuji 6 Hours that effectively removed Toyota from contention in the World Endurance Championship drivers’ title race.

The Japanese told Motorsport.com after the penultimate round of the 2024 WEC on Sunday that “the penalty came to me, so obviously it was my fault”, in reference to the suspended drive-through awarded after the race to the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar he shared with Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries.

Kobayashi and Campbell were battling over seventh place late in hour five at Fuji when they came together at the left-hand Turn 3 that leads into the fast 100R corner.

Campbell had pulled alongside the Toyota into the braking zone for Turn 1 at the beginning of lap 163, got the cutback on Kobayashi through Turn 2 and appeared to have sealed the move by the time they arrived at Turn 3.

Kobayashi hit Campbell as he tried to regain the position, with the cars making contact for a second time as they spun across the asphalt run-off. Both cars immediately returned to the pits where they were retired.

Toyota offered a similar interpretation of the late incident, with its technical director David Floury commenting: “It was our fault: we have nothing to complain about. Clearly we were too far behind and we made contact with the #5 Porsche — we were a bit too aggressive.”

Meanwhile, Campbell described Kobayashi as “obviously the one who was at fault”. He added: “I was completely clear: that wasn’t a passing opportunity from that far back and he just hit me in the rear.”

#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki

#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki

Photo by: Andreas Beil

The Australian rued the luck of Porsche Penske Motorsport’s #5 car crew at Fuji. Team-mate Frederic Makowiecki was hit up the rear by the the customer AF Corse Ferrari 499P LMH when Robert Kubica locked up at the start of the second lap of the race.

Campbell suggested that he and Makowiecki, who shared the car with Michael Christensen, were “innocent bystanders both times”.

The non-score has left Kobayashi and de Vries 37 points behind Fuji race winners Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer in the #6 Porsche 963 LMDh, with just 39 up for grabs in the Bahrain 8 Hours on 2 November.

Kobayashi and de Vries had gone into the Fuji event only 12 points behind Estre, Vanthoor and Lotterer and tied in second position with the factory Ferrari crew of Antonio Fucoo, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen.

Ninth place for the Ferrari trio means they are now 35 points behind the leaders ahead of the Sakhir round.

Conway lies fourth in the Hypercar class championship because he missed the Le Mans 24 Hours in June through injury.



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