In what was a very dramatic race for many reasons, the 6 Hours of Silverstone kicked off the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship, as the team of Anthony Davidson, Nicolas La Pierre and Sebastien Buemi took the win and the honour of receiving the RAC Tourist Trophy in the #8 Toyota TS04, ahead of the #7 team Alexander Wurz, Kazuki Nakajima and Stéphane Sarrazin.
With just 50 minutes left to run, Race Director Eduardo Freitas called for the Red Flag, as the drivers had to deal with further rainfall that intensified at the start of the
final hour. The race was then deemed to have run its course and was declared after 5 hours and 22 minutes, having been declared as a wet track before the very start.
The #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid, with Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber rounded off the podium on their first race outing, that saw the reigning champions Audi Sport fail to finish with both the #1 and #2 R18 e-tron quattros. The sister #14 Porsche also failed to make the end of the race after 75 minutes, as it firstly lost its left front wheel before a
hydraulics issue ended its run.
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich’s drivers were also to suffer major heartbreak and a bitter taste in the mouth, as the new R18 showed great potential for the start of their title defense, but the weather conditions were catching everybody out. This was including Wurz, who said that he just “ran out of talent going into the corners,” having spun off. Lucas Di Grassi was the man that started in the #1 car as the rolling start got the action underway, with André Lotterer in the #2.
The Brazilian, who replaced the outgoing
Allan McNish in the no. 1 car, was on the attack from the drop of the green flag by Grand Marshal Derek Bell, forcing Wurz into a robust defence into the Loop. But Di Grassi was pushed wide by the Austrian three minutes in and dropped back down the order into sixth after going off line through Stowe.
Lucas clawed his way back and started setting several fastest laps, as Lotterer steadily climbed up to the #7 and passed it after the 25-minute mark. But Audi’s world was turned upside down after 45 minutes, when Di Grassi went off the track at Woodcote, through the gravel trap and hit the barriers hard, causing front end damage. The ex-F1 driver was then lifted out of the gravel, before limping back to the pits, with the team getting to work on the repairs.
Image Octane Photographic