13 Nov 2011 Peugeot dominates 6 Hours of Zhuhai

Peugeot’s Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Bourdais won the final round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup at the Zhuhai International Circuit. At the end of a safety car free six hour race in China they finished ahead of their team-mates Franck Montagny and Stephane Sarrazin.

In the early stages of the season finale the two Peugeot 908s and the two Audi R18 TDIs fought hard and the gaps between the four cars were small. But before the end of the first hour the #2 Audi of Allan McNish already hit trouble and had to make a longer pit stop for rear-end repairs.

Allan McNish’s Audi was then hit again, this time by the Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota of Neel Jani. The Scot continued, but with damage to the rear-end of his car again.

A different pit stop strategy for each of the two Peugeots meant Bourdais was left in the car, resulting in Peugeot taking a 20 second lead at the end of the second hour.

After 2,5 hours of racing the top three was still within striking distance of each other. The McNish-Kristensen car however had run out of luck again and was wheeled back into the pitbox at the end of the third hour. The German squad tried to repair the damage on the #2 Audi, but after two short returns to the track and two long pit stops the car was retired with a broken cable loom that caused electrical short cuts. Another weekend to forget for McNish and Kristensen.

At the front Peugeot was leading comfortably and Bourdais and Davidson were able to get away from their team-mates. The remaining Audi R18 TDI was soon to be lapped. After six hours the #7 Peugeot 908 crossed the line to take yet another victory for Peugeot. 38.651 seconds behind it was the #8 Peugeot 908 that took second place.

Top of the petrol LMP1 cars was the Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota of Jani and Prost. Despite the incident with the #2 Audi, which sent the Lola into the wall, Prost and Jani managed to beat rivals OAK Racing and Aston Martin Racing. The #12 Lola-Toyota finished the race in fourth place overall, seven laps behind the race winner.

BMW Motorsport took a one-two in the LM GTE Pro category. Augusto Farfus and Jörg Müller won the race, ahead of team-mates Andy Priaulx and Uwe Alzen. Luxury Racing finished third with the Ferrari 458 Italia of Fred Makowiecki and Stephane Ortelli.

AF Corse’s Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni finished the race fifth in class and down in 23rd overall after hitting problems early in the race. With AF Corse not taking any risks the car was parked and only returned to the track a few minutes before the end of the race, enough to give AF Corse the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Teams’ Title and Ferrari the LM GTE Constructor’s Title.

Proton Competition’s Lietz, Roda and Ried won the LM GTE Am category, ahead of the Larbre Corvette and the Krohn Racing Ferrari. CRS Racing’s Pierre Ehret, Tim Mullen and Roger Wills finished their team’s final race just outside the podium.

In GTC it was an all-Audi affair with the #98 Audi Sport C Racing Audi R8 LMS of Edoardo Mortara, Darryll O’Young and Alexandre Imperatori winning the race. Audi Race Experience drivers Gruber, Lee and Tak Mak took second place. The third Audi of Tsuzuki, Kim and Van Dam completed 169, but was not classified and the Team AMG Mercedes was an early retirement.

Final Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Points

LMP1 Manufacturers Points
Peugeot 211
Audi 119

 

GTE Manufacturers Points
Ferrari – 171
BMW – 152 152
Porsche – 114 114
Corvette – 95 95
Aston Martin – 19 19
Lotus – 15 15

 

LMP1 Teams Points
Peugeot Sport Total 113
Audi Sport Team Joest 85
Rebellion Racing 50
Team Oreca Matmut 47
Oak Racing 33
Aston Martin Racing 22

 

 

LMP2 teams Points
Signatech Nissan 95
Oak Racing 63
Level 5 Motorsport

57

 

 

LM GTE Pro

 Points
AF Corse 108
BMW Motorsport 101
Luxury Racing 38
Lotus Jetalliance 27


 

LM GTE Am Points
Larbre Competition 93
Krohn Racing 62
Proton Competition 52
CRS Racing 50
AF Corse 47
Gulf AMR Middle East 23