Monday pit stop #5
As well as Formula 1, the World Endurance Championship got underway over the weekend: less than 500 kilometres away from Bahrain at Losail in Qatar. And it was none other than the most famous name in endurance racing – Porsche – that took the first win of the year, with its 963 driven by Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre, which headed a Stuttgart podium lock-out.
The privateer Hertz Team JOTA Porsche finished second (which will have 2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button join its driver line-up for Le Mans) with Callum Ilott, Norman Nato and Will Stevens, while the second factory Porsche piloted by Bathurst winner Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, and Frederic Makowiecki completed the podium: the first time that any manufacturer has monopolised the WEC podium since Audi at Spa in 2013.
Cadillac was fourth, Ferrari was fifth, and Toyota was sixth – all of whom will need to make a big impression during the remaining seven rounds of the championship to stop what appears to a Red Bull-like dominance from Porsche so far. There are signs of interesting opposition though – Peugeot was set for their best-ever finish with the 9X8 in second, before the car ran out of fuel on the final lap…
In other endurance racing news, the Pirelli-equipped GT World Challenge series will embark on its traditional pre-season test at Paul Ricard in France for two days on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. This is an opportunity for teams to get to grips with their new cars and drivers for 2024 and assess the Balance of Performance, which in theory should put them all on a level playing field. One known quantity however is the Pirelli P Zero DHF tyres that have been carried over from last year, giving the teams a stable reference point even though the cars and Balance of Performance can be quite different. The two days at Paul Ricard are also a media event, with championship promoter SRO presenting their plans for all the different GT3 series throughout the season, and plenty of interviews and filming taking place.
As well as Formula 1 getting underway, Bahrain also kicked off the Formula 2 championship, which has a new car this year but the same Pirelli tyres: again, to provide a consistent benchmark.
The surprise winner of both races was Zane Maloney from Barbados: not a country previously renowned for its motorsport prowess. Nonetheless, the Rodin driver took a clean sweep of wins on Saturday and Sunday to give himself a notable early advantage in the standings.
The first two rounds of Formula 3 in Bahrain were won by Arvid Lindblad for Prema and Macau winner Luke Browning, driving for Hitech.
In rally news, it's been a week of sweeping changes. The FIA World Motorsport Council approved a proposal to get rid of hybrids from the top class of the sport, as part of a package of measures to help reduce spending for manufacturers. As a result, the cost of a Rally 1 car – which stands at nearly €1million currently – should be halved in future. There's also the option for Rally 2 manufacturers to upgrade their cars with a performance package for WRC events, which will bring them closer to Rally 1 – in a move designed to create closer competition at the top of the sport.
Finally, the legendary McRae name is back in rallying with Ford. M-Sport has announced that Max McRae – the teenage nephew of Colin – will drive a Rally 2 Fiesta on the British Rally Championship this year. He'll have an epic reputation to live up to…
