After 6 hours of racing Jota Sport won the LMP2 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, by 6 seconds at Spa Francorchamps on Saturday. In dry conditions Sam Hancock qualified the Jota Sport Zytek third in class, just 3/10ths of a second off pole, for the World Championship event. Race day on Saturday started with heavy rain but, confident in the knowledge that the circuit would dry after a couple of hours, the decision was taken to run the car with a dry setup.
Sam Hancock endured torrential conditions and minimal visibility to bring the car in for the first driver change in 3rd position, just behind the lead battle. With an early switch to cut slicks and the Jota Sport crew consistently performing the fastest pit stops on the grid, Simon Dolan was able to muscle the Jota Sport Zytek into the lead, where he remained for the duration of his first stint.
On a near dry track Sam Hancock set about extending the lead in LMP2, but twice had a considerable advantage diminished with the appearance of the safety car on track. A 30 second stop-go penalty around the four hour mark for speeding in the pit lane dropped the car down to third; by which time the top four cars in class were separated by just 35 seconds.
Simon Dolan took over for the final hour of the race and, once all the pit stops had taken place, found himself in second position and twenty seconds behind the leader. An epic drive by Simon closed this gap to twelve seconds and, with minutes to go, the supreme fuel efficiency of the Jota Sport Zytek Nissan paid dividends as the leader had to pit for 1 laps worth of fuel. At 20.30 local time Simon Dolan took the chequered flag to win the LMP2 class of round two of the FIA World Endurance Championship, in what was only the second outing for the car.
Simon Dolan – “Undoubtedly the drive of my life, and as a team our best performance to date. From qualifying, to race strategy, to pit stops, the guys got it spot on – an amazing effort by all. Bring on Le Mans”
Sam Hancock – “Wow, what a finish – literally the stuff of dreams. We suspected the leader might need a splash before the end but we didn’t want to believe it. The car was great and I did all I could, but this was VERY much a team effort, impeccable pit stops, perfect fuel strategy and the performance of my team mate Simon Dolan was simply astonishing, surely his was the drive of the race. I’m incredibly proud of him today and just so grateful to be part of this magnificent team.”
Sam Hignett (Team Manager) – “An amazing car from Zytek, an amazing engine from Zytek Nissan, the best crew and mighty drives by Dolan and Hancock, makes my job easy!”
Source : Jota