Photo by: Toyota Racing
Today saw the first sports car endurance race at Shanghai International Circuit come to a close after a successful day of challenging racing.
Conditions were ideal, with temperatures in the mid-twenties and sun cutting through the early morning fog for the start of the race at 11:00 local time.
Among the honours bestowed today in Shanghai was the 2012 sports car Driver’s World Championship, going to Marcel Fässler (CHE), Benoit Tréluyer (FRA) and André Lotterer (DEU), LM P1 drivers of the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro. “We had a good season all the way through, so we came here with some extra points,” explained Lotterer.
“Of course we wanted to go for the victory and try to beat Toyota in the race, but that was not an option today so I was just careful to drive the car home.
We have a good partnership and it is fantastic to have this as a reward for the first world championship.”
Today’s 6 Hours of Shanghai race winner was the #7 Toyota hybrid driven by Alexander Wurz (AUT) and Nicolas Lapierre (FRA).
Although not eligible for the overall championship, as Toyota launched its endurance campaign almost halfway through the WEC season, the manufacturer performed remarkably well, having won three out of six races over the season.
“There is no such thing as an easy race but I have to say that we had a very good weekend,” said Lapierre. “We have been very fast and the car was great on this track.”
“Of course we want to win the world championship and we want to win Les 24 Heures du Mans,” added Wurz, “just like the Audi guys do, so I am sure the manufacturers will build up a war over the winter and I am looking forward to that.
We have shown that we are on it and that we can give it our all- it was the perfect race.”
Source: Rolex
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