Audi has claimed victory in Saturday’s WEC Six Hours of Spa, following one of the most attrition-filled and unpredictable races in the history of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Oliver Jarvis took the No. 8 Audi R18 across the line two laps ahead of the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Romain Dumas, which completed nearly the entire race without full hybrid power.
It was only one of the numerous issues to hit the factory prototypes, with every LMP1 hybrid having made at least one trip to the garage, if not retiring, over the course of the battle-scarred race.
The No. 8 Audi took over the lead with less than two hours to go when Kazuki Nakajima’s No. 5 Toyota TS050 Hybrid suffered engine failure, when out front by nearly 1 lap.
It came just one hour after the sister Toyota Gazoo Racing entry retired, also with engine issues, but triggered by an electronics gremlin for the No. 6 car, which went to the garage early following contact with another car.
With both Porsches hitting trouble and the No. 7 Audi delayed by multiple trips to the garage for a broken floor, temperature issues and on-track incidents, it helped pave the way for the No. 8 car to take the win.
However, it wasn’t completely clear sailing for Jarvis, as he too, visited the garage in the final hour, while under the race’s one-and-only safety car period, to change the car’s rear deck.
The Englishman lost one lap of his three-lap lead, but ultimately did not factor into the result.
Jarvis and co-driver Lucas Di Grassi both claimed their first career WEC victories, alongside 2013 World Champion Loic Duval.
The No. 2 Porsche, which encountered hybrid issues with just 15 minutes into the race, finished 2nd, benefiting from the large rate of attrition from the other factory prototypes.
Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb often ran more than five seconds off the pace as a result, but logged a consistent race to retain their championship lead.
The No. 13 Rebellion R-One of Matheo Tuscher, Dominik Kraihamer and Alexandre Imperatori scored a shock third place overall result for Rebellion Racing.
It was the team’s second straight overall podium finish, although first time on the actual podium after inheriting third following post-race scrutineering at Silverstone.
The No. 12 Rebellion entry came home fourth, with the No. 7 Audi completing the top-five overall after a late-race collision with the No. 43 RGR Sport by Morand Ligier JS P2 Nissan.
Defending World Champions Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard had a horrid race, with two consecutive left-front punctures in the second hour, followed by gearbox issues that kept the No. 1 Porsche in the garage for most of the race.
A gusty three-wide pass for the lead by Nicolas Lapierre in the closing minutes propelled Signatech Alpine its first LMP2 class victory of the season and the first for the Alpine A460 Nissan.
Lapierre was locked into a battle with Pipo Derani in the No. 31 Tequila Patron ESM Ligier JS P2 Nissan, who managed to pass the Frenchman with less than 10 minutes to go.
However, Lapierre caught back up after Derarni got stuck in traffic and passed him while on the outside of Marino Franchitti’s No. 67 Ford GT to retake the lead and class win in dramatic fashion.
Lapierre finished 3.579 seconds ahead of Derani, with a last-lap move by Roberto Merhi on Filipe Albuquerque giving the No. 45 Manor Oreca 05 Nissan its first podium finish in WEC competition.
RESULTS: WEC Six Hours of Spa
