FIA WEC, 6 Hours of Fuji – Post Race
An Emotional Day

Wow, what a race, and what an event! Gerard Neveu noted that this was the benchmark event for the WEC going forward and he’s right; Sebring and Le Mans are established classics but the FIA WEC is a brave new world with history of its own to write and this was a very good starting point. 50,000 fans came to see this one over the weekend and, for once, that’s a believable figure from an international sportscar race!

Toyota’s second WEC win - this time on what is very much home ground - was emotionally charged for all concerned, but for no-one more so than Kazuki Nakajima. The local hero set pole, fastest lap and of course shared the winners’ laurels for this one.

And it was a double win for Toyota as Rebellion brought home both the race win (for the #12 Lola Toyota of Neel Jani and Nico Prost) and the LMP1 Privateers Championship – a very proud day for Bart Hayden and his crew; many of whom will now be travelling to Atlanta, where they’ll look to add a further significant piece of silverware to the 2012 trophy cabinet.

Their performance all season has been top drawer - technically, logistically and on track. The old man would have been proud, but he’d have been prouder still that his boy won this one.

The Drivers Championship goes to the wire; the #1 crew though extend their advantage. The title now theirs to lose, but there are still six hours of racing to get through in Shanghai!

In LMP2 there was a race win for ADR-Delta and their Oreca Nissan that was, if anything, even more emotionally charged.  The death on Wednesday of Tor Graves’ father Bob, a lifelong supporter of worthy causes in motorsport and far beyond, could have been a hammer blow to the team.  Instead, they rallied and dedicated both the effort and the win to his memory – he’s another great man that would have been proud of the way they performed.

The LMP2 Championship, though, was nailed here by Starworks; another fairytale result from the little team that sees Peter Baron and his (not so) Dirty Dozen adding the inaugural LMP2 WEC title to their runner-up trophy in Grand-Am and their win in the North American Endurance Championship.

Enzo Potolicchio was near to tears as he reflected on a simply incredible season.  The team dominated a very high quality field where it mattered - on the track. And, as HPD’s Steve Eriksen observed in the paddock later, their results already have the phones ringing with enquiries for 2013!

That wrapped up three race wins and two titles settled today, all powered by Japanese engines; and happily all three marques involved had a headline to celebrate.

So too did Felbermayr Proton and Porsche, the #77 squad of Lieb and Lietz dominating proceedings as they found the temperatures here very much to their, and their Porsche’s, liking.  The title may be gone but at least the smiles are back!

And finally GTE Am, where it seemed - for a brief moment, as the #50 Corvette was shown a black and orange flag - like we might see yet another turn of the knife for Larbre in a season which has seen them lose two race wins already to technical infringements.

The lighting issue though was sorted, and their lead over the #88 Porsche is extended. Again now the title is theirs to lose in China where, visas willing, we’ll be in just two weeks time.

GG