[wecfia] 6 Hours of São Paulo

TOYOTA Racing is the 2014 drivers’ and manufacturers’ World Champion after a successful conclusion to the FIA World Endurance Championship season in the Six Hours of Sao Paulo, at Interlagos



Porsche celebrated their maiden FIA WEC win during the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo yesterday in a thrilling season finale race

Until 27 minutes from the end, the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo was a splendid race, with some fierce battling between the six LM P1-H cars, numerous leader changers, some bold overtaking and offset pit stop strategies with both single and double stinting. The outcome was undecided for much of the competition…

It was a mixed bag for the Porsche team at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo this weekend – the last race of its first season in the FIA World Endurance Championship. On the one hand, the German team took its first win since launching its LMP1 effort at the start of this season. On the other, its star driver suffered a massive crash that left him in the hospital.

It was their first prototype win since 1989 and they had won pole position and started in 1-2 positions on the grid. It was an emotional race for Porsche drivers as they have fought hard throughout the season with this being their first season in prototype racing in a long time.




There was an incident involving the pole sitting #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Mark Webber and and the #90 8 Star Ferrari 458 Italia of Matteo Cressoni after they crashed in the final laps. The drivers were taken to the Hospital Bandeirantes in Sao Paulo and are not seriously injured. The team of Sebastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson took the drivers’ championship too with a total of 166 points. First runners up went to Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler in the #2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro as they finished the race in fifth place.




UPDATE:  Mark Webber released the following statement on his condition:




(The crash occurred with less than half an hour to go when Mark Webber, who was running sixth in the #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid, lost control at Turn 14 at the Interlagos circuit – the same spot where he crashed his Jaguar F1 car during the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix – and crashed tail-first into the barrier. Both Webber and Matteo Cressoni (driver of the #90 Ferrari 458 Italia with which Webber collided) were evacuated to the trackside medical center and were then taken to the nearby Hospital Bandeirantes. Both were reportedly conscious throughout but are undergoing further testing, described as being in "satisfactory" condition by the FIA medical official on the scene.

The occurrence of the crash so close to the end of the race, and the time it took to clear the wreckage, meant there was not enough time for a restart, so the race was completed under the safety car. But when the field did cross the finish line, it was the #14 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Mark Lieb that took the checkered flag)








Toyota Hybrid Technology Takes World Endurance Championship – Toyota Thanks Fans for Support

TOKYO, Dec. 1, 2014 — Toyota Racing won both the Manufacturers and the Drivers categories of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), a series of eight endurance races, including the renowned Le Mans 24 Hours event, held on international road racing circuits.

Toyota Racing expresses sincere gratitude to our fans for their encouragement and our partners for their support.


The WEC is one of the five major classes of automotive competition sanctioned by the Federation International de l’Automobile (FIA).

After winning several WRC titles Toyota first entered the re-established WEC series in 2012, where the strong competition included Audi and, this year, Porsche. Having won five of the eight races in 2014 Toyota Racing secured the WEC Manufacturers and Drivers titles.

Toyota launched its first hybrid car, the Prius, in 1997, a pioneering venture that surprised the automobile industry with its unrivalled combination of exceptional fuel economy and high performance. Since the launch Toyota’s Hybrid System has continued to evolve as a state-of-the-art, energy efficient yet powerful source of automotive propulsion.

Toyota’s Hybrid System consists of a gasoline engine and an electric motor seamlessly mated together to provide energy efficiency and high performance in a reliable package. Uniquely, Toyota’s environmentally-friendly production car features performance capabilities that make it enjoyable to drive.

To prepare for its entry in the WEC the Toyota Hybrid System Racing (THS-R) was mounted in the various cars and developed further in Japanese races. The decision to improve the technology through racing was in keeping with Toyota’s philosophy of pursuing perfection through competition. Expectations and confidence were high but still had to pass the supreme test.

Toyota’s crowning achievement in 2014 took place at the final race in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Since the championships were won using the same hybrid technology available in its production vehicles, the chief beneficiaries of the sporting success in the WEC are those who choose Toyotas for their personal transport.


The eighth and final race of the season was a thrilling one, with the #8 TS040 HYBRID of World Champions Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi finishing second after a late safety car halted a potentially-successful battle for victory.

The #7 of Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Mike Conway were handed a harsh drive-through penalty which meant they finished fourth. That also dropped Alex and Stéphane to fifth in the drivers’ championship.

But the focus was on the team result today, with TOYOTA ending a 15-year wait for a title, following the 1999 World Rally Championship triumph.

Today’s result marks a historic moment in sportscar racing history as it is the first time a Japanese manufacturer has won the World Endurance Championship in any of its guises since its inception in 1953.

It also marks a significant milestone for the TOYOTA HYBRID System – Racing. The project to pioneer a motorsport hybrid system began in 2006 and in July 2007 a TOYOTA Supra became the first-ever hybrid winner, in the Tokachi 24 Hours.

That pioneering super capacitor technology has been extensively developed, reducing weight and increasing power, leading to the 1,000PS, four-wheel-drive TS040 HYBRID which has simultaneously reduced fuel consumption by 25% compared to 2013.

In the new efficiency-focused LMP1 regulations, TOYOTA technology has triumphed, with the TS040 HYBRID winning five of its eight races and taking four pole positions, 12 podium finishes and four fastest laps.

Nevertheless, that success has been far from easy and the team appreciates the close and fair competition from Audi and Porsche which has made the 2014 season exciting and very rewarding.

TOYOTA Racing would like to thank all its valued partners for their part in delivering both World Championships. DENSO inverters and hybrid motors, TOTAL lubricants, Aisin AW hybrid motors, Nisshinbo super capacitors, ZF clutches and Takata safety equipment all played a pivotal part in both World Championships.

Today’s race marked the end of an era in endurance racing as Tom Kristensen retired from the sport. What he has achieved is truly remarkable and everyone at TOYOTA Racing wishes him the very best in his racing retirement.

Akio Toyoda, President, TOYOTA Motor Corporation: “After only three years in the FIA World Endurance Championship, I’m overjoyed that TOYOTA Racing was able to win both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ World Championships this season with the TS040 HYBRID. I must express my sincere gratitude to our fans for their encouragement and our partners for their support. I would also like to say congratulations and thank you to all the drivers and racing team staff who worked so hard and closely together throughout the season. TOYOTA will use these experiences in the FIA World Endurance Championship to help revolutionize hybrid technology and to help make ever-better cars that delight people around the world.”

Yoshiaki Kinoshita, Team President: “Today’s race was truly one of the most exciting I have been involved with. I am very proud of the result, especially considering the power loss we suffer at this altitude. Happily our hybrid system worked well which helped particularly with traffic management. Everyone pushed to the limit to find the final tenth of a second. To win both World Championships is one of our biggest achievements in motorsport. Thank you to everyone who has supported us and worked with us to achieve this incredible result. Our team and drivers have been superb this season; everyone has played their part, including Kazuki Nakajima and Nicolas Lapierre who are not with us here in Sao Paulo. We have been fighting against strong competitors who have an incredible history in endurance racing. This makes our achievement even more valuable to us. We will enjoy this moment but immediately we will be working hard to retain our titles in 2015.”

TS040 HYBRID #7 (Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway)
Race: 4th, 248 laps, 7 pit stops. Fastest lap: 1min 18.778secs

Alex Wurz: “It has been amazing as a team to win the manufacturers’ World Championship, which is well deserved for TOYOTA Racing. It was really fun racing today; I enjoyed it. The car was good, especially in my second stint but less fun was to get a drive-through penalty for what I consider just racing. Never mind, I respect as always the decision of the race stewards but it’s hard to take as it dropped us from third in the drivers’ championship. We had some very fast race weekends but didn’t have the luck this year.”

Stéphane Sarrazin: “It is a very good season for TOYOTA and me. We are World Champion manufacturers, just amazing. The whole team has worked so hard not only this year but since the very beginning of the project and this is a fantastic reward. Our car has been strong in every race and that is really a credit to how well the team has performed. For us in our car we are very disappointed because we thought the penalty was harsh. That cost us positions in the race and the championship which was disappointing.”

Mike Conway: “As the race was unfolding it was a huge fight between TOYOTA, Porsche and Audi. It was really close. We saw a few different strategies but ultimately we were looking at a podium. We pushed flat-out all the way to try to get the car up there but it’s just a pity we couldn’t have had a restart because I think both cars could have made up positions. Obviously it is a great day for TOYOTA. World Champions; that was the objective this weekend, so huge congratulations to everyone. It’s great to be part of the team.”

TS040 HYBRID #8 (Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi)
Race: 2nd, 249 laps, 6 pit stops. Fastest lap: 1min 18.399secs



In LMGTE Pro, the N°97 Aston Martin (Mücke/Turner) came out on top after a big fight with the N°92 Porsche (Pilet/Makowiecki) and the N°71 Ferrari (Calado/Rigon). These three cars all spent time in the lead and third place for Ferrari sealed the GT Manufacturers’ crown for the Italian make.



The 2014 LM P2 title ended up as the property of SMP Racing/Michelin after G-Drive Racing’s Ligier JS P2 crashed out early on. SMP had a scare when its N°37 Oreca-Nissan was halted by a problem, but its N°27 car survived to secure the points needed by the Russian team. The class was won in Brazil by the N°47 Oreca-Nissan (KCMG).

There was another one-two finish in the LM GTE Am class for Aston Martin thanks to Lamy/Dalla Lana/Nygaard (N°98) who finished clear of the N°95 car (2nd) which was slowed by a slow puncture. The N°81 Ferrari was third.

The No. 27 SMP Racing crew take the LMP2 teams title and Sergey Zlobin won the drivers' championship. KCMG took the LMP2 class win on Sunday.




The Aston Martin Racing duo, Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke, win LMGTE Pro, while the No. 98 Aston Martin Racing crew took the LMGTE Am victory.


6 Hours of Sao Paulo FIA WEC Provisional Classification (click to view Results)





Images from the final race: