DSC’s Daily Notebook (10/07/2023)
Sato (Toyota) releases post-Monza statement
The Chairman of Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe Koji Sato has released a statement after the Japanese manufacturer’s victory at the 6 Hours of Monza, which includes an apology for the #8’s collision with the #777 TF Sport-run D’Station Aston Martin which put the Vantage out of the race.
It reads:
“In the fifth round of the 2023 WEC season, the 6 Hours of Monza, car #7 was able to win from pole position. The Monza fans cheered throughout the race and we were able to fight in a great atmosphere. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported us.
“”We want to show our true performance.” With that frustration in our hearts, since Le Mans, we have all worked together as one to move forward towards the next race. It was a very important four weeks. Because of that process, we were able to compete as a true team at Monza.
“Mike, Kamui, and Jose in car #7 kept calm and steady even though car #8 faced an unexpected situation. I think it was a lot of pressure to carry the hopes of the team and keep racing flat-out without making mistakes.
“Sébastien, Brendon, and Ryo in car #8 continued to push hard until the very end in order to improve their position.
“I am proud of all the team members at the track who worked hard for this win.
“In the next round at Fuji, we will do our best under the leadership of Kamui. We would like to show the stronger Toyota WEC team in front of many Japanese fans.
“Finally, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to D’station Racing’s Mr. Hoshino, Mr. Fujii, Mr. Stevenson, and everyone involved in the team following the dangerous situation caused by the contact from car #8, which took away their opportunity to challenge at Monza. I sincerely apologize for that. The entire team will reflect and be thoroughly aware so that everyone can race safely.”
DSC spoke with TF Sport owner Tom Ferrier after the race, who said the extent of the damage to the #777’s chassis is currently unknown; it will be assessed following the weekend.
It will, however, “definitely not be put on a container for the trip to Fuji,” he added.
Prototype Cup entertains fans at Norisring
The Protoype Cup Germany championship was in action over the weekend, supporting the DTM series at the Norisring.
In Race 1, Markus Pommer and Gary Hauser took the win aboard their Racing Experience Duqueine. The pair finished just 0.452 seconds ahead of the van ommen racing by DataLab prototype driven by Belén García Espinar and Xavier Lloveras.
“Even without pole position, we knew that our car would be very good over the race distance here at the Norisring,” said Pommer.
Third place went to Oscar Tunjo and Julien Apothéloz, who made it a double podium for the van ommen racing team. The pair climbed into second place in the Drivers’ Championship thanks to the retirement of DKR duo Robin Rogalski and Valentino Catalano, who suffered from gearbox issues.
Prior to the start, the race had to be suspended after BHK Motorsport’s Alex Cascatau lost control of his car whilst warming his tyres and crashed into the barriers.
The Romanian was in a stable condition and responsive but was taken to hospital for further examination. Because the crash barrier had to be repaired at the point of impact, the race eventually started after a 35-minute delay.
In Race 2, Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport celebrated its maiden win in Prototype Cup Germany, after a strong performance from Matthias Lüthen and Laurents Hörr. Lüthen also became the first Bronze driver to win a race this season.
“The team did everything right, we had that little bit of luck you need, and Mathias was really fast in his stint,” said Hörr after the race.
Despite a collision, BWT Mücke Motorsport’s Nico Göhler and Gustavo Kiryla crossed the finish line second, ahead of Race 1 winners Gary Hauser and Markus Pommer.
The Monza fan zone impresses
The crowd at Monza for the FIA WEC race last weekend was said to top 65,000, which anecdotally seemed like a realistic figure. The autograph sessions were packed and the paddock was bustling with Tifosi from Friday onwards.
During the race, DSC took a quick look at the fan zone behind the paddock, which was filled with families keeping up with the race on big screens, watching live bands play on stage and admiring the collection of show cars on display (which included the LMH prototypes from Toyota, Ferrari and Peugeot as well as LMDhs from BMW and Alpine).
It was really encouraging to see. All too often, the FIA WEC races over the years outside of Le Mans have been lacklustre, with unremarkable catering and little to no fan-focused activities and displays to keep everyone trackside entertained before, during and after the track action.
Let’s hope this trend continues going forward, with more manufacturers than ever before now handed the opportunity to activate their programmes.
Wins For Performance Tech and JDC in VP SportsCar Challenge At CTMP
The IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge field enjoyed their trip to Canada over the weekend, for a pair of 45-minute sprint races.
In Race 1 Jonathan Woolridge and Michael Cooper won their respective classes, both from second on the grid.
In LMP3, Woolridge claimed the overall victory in the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier JS P320, his first in the sprint series that debuted this year. It came at the Whitby, Ontario, native’s home track and in his first race with Performance Tech after competing with Remstar Racing in the March doubleheader at Sebring International Raceway.
Woolridge muscled past overall polesitter Bijoy Garg (#3 Jr III Racing Ligier) as they charged down the front straight as the race began on the 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course.
“I think I had a little bit of an advantage having so many starts at the home track,” Woolridge said. “I knew right away that as soon as you see that opening, you’ve just got to go for it. Just getting the run into Turn 1 is super important and I just kind of manhandled it with cold tyres.”
Garg pressured Woolridge through the first 30 minutes until they encountered lapped traffic that allowed Woolridge to build a gap of more than three seconds before a second caution of the race jus before the end.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Woolridge said. “Coming into this weekend there was obviously a lot of pressure with so many people behind you to make it happen. Performance Tech did an amazing job setting up the car today. We knew coming into the weekend that we were going to be strong, so when we qualified P2, it was like, ‘We have some work to do.’ Right off the bat, it was just, ‘Go!’”
Meanwhile, in GSC, Michael Cooper was victorious in his #48 Accelerating Performance Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport, despite facing intense pressure throughout. Cooper bolted ahead of GSX polesitter Francis Selldorff’s #95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 at the start. Selldorff remained glued to Cooper’s rear bumper the rest of the way, with Cooper fending off numerous overtake attempts.
“Getting a good start and getting track position from the jump was super important,” Cooper said. “The BMW was super-fast. I don’t think that we would’ve been able to stick with him if he was in front of us the whole race.”
On Sunday, JDC Miller’s Dan Goldburg learned his lesson from Saturday’s race he was balked in traffic at the start. This time he got the jump on polesitter and chief championship rival Bijoy Garg at the drop of the green flag, then held Garg at bay the rest of the way to claim his third win of the season in the LMP3 category.
“I knew the start was super important so I was really on edge for that,” Goldburg said. “After that, it was run clean laps. The team was calling out the gap. I knew Garg was a little faster but I had a feeling where that would be and it would be pretty tough to pass, so I just stuck to my plan and focused on the traffic.”
Meanwhile, in the GSX class, Gregory Liefooghe drove away from the pack to a comfortable victory. Liefooghe was the GSX polesitter for both CTMP races during the weekend, but Stephen Cameron Racing pulled the #43 BMW M4 GT4 from Saturday’s opener to save the car for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race later in the day.
Liefooghe made amends in Sunday’s VP Racing Challenge finale with a commanding performance that saw him win by 33.060 seconds ahead of Moisey Uretsky in the #44 Accelerating Performance Aston Martin Vantage GT4.
The VP Racing Challenge races again at Lime Rock Park on July 21-22.
RACE 1 RESULTS >>>
RACE 2 RESULTS >>>