Another great WEC race
The first hours were wonderful for the Tifosi, with the three Ferrari 499Ps leading the race ahead of Porsche, Toyota, and the others. The Lamborghini SC63 from Iron Lynx was also doing a good job while the Isotta Fraschini, within its capabilities, executed a ‘great strategy’ to gain positions: overtaking the two Alpines, a BMW, and the two Peugeots in the first turn, where this kind of bottleneck incident is normal. Iron Dames had less joy, with problems from the beginning after a nut deprived them of victory just a few days earlier in the Barcelona round of the European Le Mans Series when they had been clearly the best team among the GTs.
Although the aerodynamic package of the Peugeots was renewed, the other big problem of the 9X8 persisted: the gearbox continued to be a headache for the French lions, ruling them out of the fight for victory. Meanwhile, the Ferraris continued to lead ahead of their rivals, with none able to catch them, so BMW was gradually securing victory in GT with their M4 GT3. They had everything under control… except the weather. The threat of rain – where the person remembered throughout the weekend, the great Ayrton, would have stood out against everyone – became real and soon it began to rain intermittently at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit, starting at the highest part of the track.
For those who have watched Formula 1 in recent years, the scene will sound familiar: an immediate decision is necessary, but at Ferrari, several laps go by and that decision, coming from Maranello, either doesn’t come or doesn’t come in time. When they change the tires, they did it four laps too late, and by the time they do, track conditions have changed again, requiring another stop, another decision that arrives late and poorly – something the drivers themselves questioned over the radio. In a matter of minutes, a home victory is thrown away, suddenly leaving Toyota with the lead with just the last two hours of the race remaining.
Rain would fall again in the final hour of the race, and Toyota, with the #7, didn’t have it entirely secured: the #8 had fallen behind with several off-track excursions, and Porsche was coming on strong with both Penske cars, with the privateer units further back (in fact, the Jota team had several off-track excursions). A fierce battle began in very delicate conditions, a battle in which Ferrari was now just a spectator, like the rest of the Hypercar teams. The rest, except Isotta, who had enough to deal with in avoiding more off-track excursions or incidents than they already had, several of them almost consecutive with a driver lineup not at the level of the WEC’s top category.
After 205 laps, the Toyota #7 managed to win by just 7 seconds (after having been half a second) ahead of the Porsche #6, with the other Penske car completing the podium and the Ferrari #50 (with Spanish driver Miguel Molina in its lineup) managing to overtake the Toyota #8 just minutes before the end. The BMW #20, the other two Ferraris, the Peugeot #93, and the Cadillac completed the top ten positions. Meanwhile, in GT3, the two BMWs from WRT gave the German brand a one-two followed by the Porsche #92 from Manthey, the Ferrari #55 from AF Corse, and the Aston Martin #27 where Spanish driver Alex Riberas competed.
Undoubtedly, the most incredible race of a day where a not-too-boring F1 Chinese GP was held, a Croatian Rally with many drivers pushing to the limit and several scares that could have completely changed the championship, and great action on the streets of Long Beach, in addition to the show in such an iconic place as Talladega. In short, a race that was decided by pure skill and ability in the rain, something that wouldn’t have displeased Ayrton…
