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FIA WEC, 6 Hours of Fuji - Race Preview - Part 3 GTE Pro 51 AF CORSE M Ferrari F458 Italia
Giancarlo Fisichella/ Gianmaria Bruni The race for the Manufacturers and Teams titles is over – Ferrari and AF Corse did more than enough in the heat of the desert to nail those colours to their masts, but that’s not to say that the fun and games for the season is yet done – Far from it! Whilst Gimmi Bruni is back in the #51 car from his International GT Open duties and Olivier Beretta will still have a stinging backside from the six of the best doled out to him by the race stewards after his Bahrain excesses in the #71 car, the Monagesque was excluded from the race for his efforts in punting the Greaves Zytek rudely into the barrier! What most certainly are up for grabs are race wins – and as Paul Truswell observed in his piece on DSC last week that’s well within the capabilities of the Aston Martin Racing team, a cracked exhaust over a kerb and an unfortunate roll of the dice under a Safety Car were the major factors that kept them from the top step of the podium but they start in Fuji as favourites with a performance edge and little if any fuel disadvantage now too. The Porsche boys are quick, but not quite quick enough for long enough, their strength is in strategy, but with the fuel load/ mileage now mor equalised there’s precious little that the men with the slide rules can bring to the party – It looks set to stay as a frustrating year for Messrs Lieb and Lietz. |