Photo Credit: FIA-ACO
With several chances to shine over the final third of the 2015 calendar year, the teams of the FIA World Endurance Championship head to the U.S. for the only American round of the championship, at the ever increasing in popularity Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Like is the case with most of the current slate of tracks on the world circus, the Hermann Tilke-designed layout recreates several famous sections of other circuits as well as a few unique features of its own. Among the similar comparing traits include a recreation of the Eau Rogue section of the Spa Francochamps circuit in Belgium, as well as the flat-out quadruple apex section in relation to the Otodrom in Turkey. The combination of long straights and technical areas at COTA will test all the cars to their limit in addition to their drivers.
Outside of the track itself, the biggest nuisance that the competition will face on Sunday afternoon is the presence of the increasingly dominant Porsche 919 Hybrid. The 2015 version, which was a complete re-design of the car which made its debut last year, has been the pacesetter in the FIA WEC ever since the German challenger went 1-2 in June’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. After holding serve at the Nurburgring last month, Team Porsche is once again the favorite entering COTA. The only other team in LMP-1 that appears capable of a victory threatening effort in this event is the German rivals from Audi Sport Team Joest. The R18 Hybrid won the first two rounds of the championship this year, but have fallen back from Porsche since suffering from both a lack of pace and in an odd sense a lack of durability, something rarely tagged to Audi since their entrance in major sports car racing in 1999.
Porsche is loaded in the driving department, with Brendon Hartley, Mark Lieb, Romain Dumas, Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard, and Neel Jani among who they can count on. Audi of course, is equally potent with a clear team leader in Andre Lotterer supported strongly by the presence of Benoit Treluyer, Loic Duval, and Marcel Fassler among others. While Audi and Porsche have dueled upfront, the absence of reigning FIA WEC LMP-1 champions Toyota has been dually noted. After being the pacemaker throughout 2014, the Gazoo Racing squad has fallen further and further off the pace upfront. The same story holds true for the non-hybrid LMP-1s belonging to Rebellion Racing and Team By Kolles. The issue for both of the AER-powered rides has been solely linked to reliability problems. Kolles was first across the finish line at the Nurburgring among the non-hybrids, but not without multiple trips to its garage during the six-hour timed distance.
While Porsche looks to maintain its advantage in LMP-1, the same holds true for the relatively new ORECA 05 coupe owned by KC Motorsport Group (KCMG) in LMP-2. After battling new car blues early in 2015, the Hong Kong-based squad has dominated the proceedings, after blowing away the competition at Le Mans and backing up the effort likewise at the Nurburgring. Although their challenger features the same Nissan engine that the Ligier coupe that the reigning LMP-2 champions G-Drive Racing have, the narrower wheelbase has proven to be effective in terms of both top speed and corner handling. While the third driver role at KCMG has shifted throughout the season (Nick Tandy will have that role this weekend), both Matt Howson and Richard Bradley have been solid during their turns behind the wheel. The Six Hours of COTA could also provide a much needed boost to Florida-based Extreme Speed Motorsports’ fortunes. After entering 2015 with high hopes, the squad has been humbled by unreliability and unforced errors on the road all season to date.
The grand touring division battles have been a little more competitive, with the Pro class featuring four different winners in the first four events. Each of AF Corse’s Ferrari 458s have earned a victory, as have Aston Martin Racing and Porsche Team Manthey. While Porsche factory pilot Richard Lietz holds the championship lead by only a single point entering Texas, Ferrari’s James Calado and Davide Rigon have been right on his coattails in recent outings. In the lower Amateur division, Aston Martin Racing claimed the first two wins, while SMP Racing’s Ferrari has claimed the last two. Although the Russian squad has the lesser known lineup, Andrea Bertolini, Aleksey Basov, and Viktor Shaytar have avoided the big mistakes and have shown impressive consistency since their triumph at Le Mans in June. AMR’s amateur squad of Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda, and Paul Dalla Lana however, are an equally proven entity and will be sure to keep SMP honest this weekend in Texas.
