The six-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps (BE) is far more than just the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC: The race on May 6 is known as the dress rehearsal for Le Mans. The Porsche LMP Team enters in Spa, as well as at the 24-hour classic in Le Mans (June 17/18), two Porsche 919 Hybrids with the same six works drivers. Reigning world champion Neel Jani (CH) has the number 1 on the car he shares with André Lotterer (DE) and Nick Tandy (GB). The number 2 sister car belongs to Earl Bamber (NZ), Timo Bernhard (DE) and Brendon Hartley (NZ). After finishing second and third at the season’s opening round in Silverstone (GB), Porsche heads to the Ardennes mountains leading the manufacturer standings.
“We had a strong team performance in Silverstone that we can be proud of but came up six seconds short of the win,” commented Hartley. “We will all work extremely hard to climb one step higher on the podium in Spa. We expect another close battle but will arrive there with confidence.”
Regarding the aerodynamics of the Porsche 919 Hybrids, the focus remains on preparing for the season’s highlight in France. The aero package with low downforce, however, provides some advantages in Spa on the long flat-out sections. Also on top of the job list is sheer power because the 7.004 kilometre long Grand Prix circuit offers huge altitude differences.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will race with three TS050 HYBRID cars for the first time when the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) heads to Belgium for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps this weekend.
Having won the first race of the year, at Silverstone last month, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing is ready for one of its three home WEC events; the Spa circuit is located just 120km from the team’s headquarters in Cologne, Germany.
Spa also represents the final competitive action before the highlight of the WEC season; the Le Mans 24 Hours on 17-18 June. With that in mind, the team will utilise both of its permitted 2017 aerodynamic configurations.
The 30-car WEC field is divided into four classes for prototypes and GT sports cars. The six-hour race gets underway on Saturday 14:30 hrs
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