An incident between the nos 24 and 35 Morgan-Nissan LM P2s at half distance followed by a suspension problem on no. 24 deprived OAK Racing of a good overall result in the Circuit of the Americas 6 Hours. No. 45 was slowed by electrical problems. The remaining races will prove crucial in deciding the outcome of the title chase.
The Circuit of the Americas 6 Hours began in sunny weather with high temperatures for the OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan LM P2s from the Onroak Automotive workshops in the Sarthe, which were at the front of the grid. Number 24 driven by Olivier Pla, Alex Brundle and David Heinemeier Hansson was in second place in LM P2 in front of no. 35 in the hands of Bertrand Baguette, Martin Plowman and Ricardo Gonzalez. Jacques Nicolet, Jean-Marc Merlin and Erik Maris started at the rear of the LM P2 field.
Brundle, Baguette and Nicolet did the first stints. Almost as soon as the lights went out the safety car was deployed cutting the drivers’ momentum. The race finally got under way after some 15 minutes. Brundle and Baguette in second and third places set a searing pace while Nicolet began to make up lost ground.
The nos 24 and 35 Morgan-Nissan LMP2s’ strategies diverged. While Baguette handed over to Martin Plowman Brundle remained in the car. After an hour’s racing the two OAK Racing protypes running in close formation on Dunlop tyres filled the first two places in P2. While Brundle stayed in the lead, no. 45 of Nicolet, Jean-Marc Merlin and Erick Maris was stationary for several minutes at its pit with an electrical problem.
The positions changed when Brundle handed over to David Heinemeier Hansson and Plowman to Ricardo Gonzalez while the no. 26 G-Drive Racing entry took up the running. There was nothing in it between the first three when Heinemeier Hansson passed Gonzalez into second place. A few seconds later the latter lost control of his car under braking and couldn’t avoid tagging his team-mate.
No. 35 pitted to change the steering rack, which cost it 16 minutes and its hopes of a top-3 finish. No. 24 also had to come in a few laps later for a quick intervention on the rear bonnet. At that moment Pla, Brundle and Heinemeier Hansson were lying fourth. They quickly fought their way up to second. Pla took over just as the gong sounded for the last two hours of the race, but he had to come in no. 24 for a stop lasting around 10 minutes to change a suspension wishbone at the rear.
Thus OAK Racing had to make do with precious points for the FIA World Endurance Championship for sixth place scored by the no. 24 Morgan-Nissan LM P2, those that went with no. 35′s seventh position and no. 45 in eighth spot. While OAK Racing lost first place to Pecom Racing in the battle for the teams’ championship, it is only three points behind. Baguette, Plowman and Gonzalez still lead the LM P2 Endurance Drivers’ Trophy title chase. The last three races in Japan, China and Bahrain will prove decisive.
Sébastien Philippe, Team Principal: “The race got off to a great start. In terms of performance we were much better than in qualifying. Nos 24 and 35 were running nose to tail right from the start of the race, and for the moment there are no team orders at OAK Racing. Both cars are in the running for the championship with a third of the races still to go. If a car were to retire in the next race, we would kick ourselves for having privileged one in relation to the other. I also think that both driver line-ups deserve to win. The only orders we’ve given are: ‘don’t collide!’ This was the case today but it wasn’t the result of a battle between the two cars. Ricardo Gonzalez missed his braking. David was in front of him, it could have been anybody else and it ended up in a collision. No. 24 then suffered a sheared lower wishbone. Without this incident second place was on the cards. Number 45 suffered electrical problems. In any case it was a difficult weekend, in particular for Erik Maris who was making his first appearance in endurance and learning the ropes on this very tricky circuit. He brought the car home to the finish but it wasn’t easy.”
Ricardo Gonzalez, no. 35 Morgan-Nissan LM P2: “It’s difficult to imagine a worse scenario. David Heinemeier Hansson overtook me. I stayed just behind him and unfortunately a few corners later I was caught out under braking. I lost the rear end of the car and I did all I could to avoid David by cutting across the track, but the car took off over a kerb and I tagged no. 24 and the steering rack broke in the incident. It’s a mistake for which we all paid a high price.”
Alex Brundle, no. 24 Morgan-Nissan LM P2: “It’s a disappointing result give our positions at the start, and above all where we were during the early stages of the race. I took the lead in the category in my first stint. I then held on to it until the end of my triple stint. We lost a bit of time during the driver change but David did a great job pulling it back. The collision between the two cars lost us ground although we were still in the battle for the top three until Olivier Pla had to come in to have a rear wishbone changed. So we’re obviously unhappy with sixth place.”