Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi is undergoing a "painstaking programme of rehabilitation therapy".
A family statement on Tuesday (30/12/14) said medical professionals in France have started the planned treatment.
The Marussia driver suffered severe head injuries when he crashed into a recovery vehicle in wet conditions at the Japanese Grand Prix on 5 October.
In November Bianchi, 25, was flown to Nice from Japan, and began breathing unaided. after coming out of a coma.
In Tuesday's latest statement, parents Philippe and Christine Bianchi said: "Jules's neurological status remains unchanged; he is unconscious but able to breathe unaided.
"Whilst there is no significant information to report, we take a great deal of comfort from the fact that Jules continues to fight, as we knew he would."
Bianchi is in intensive care in Nice, where his condition is still "critical".
He has been receiving treatment to try and improve his brain function.
Bianchi suffered a diffuse axonal injury when he crashed into a tractor vehicle at Suzuka that was recovering Adrian Sutil's Sauber.
Michael Schumacher's recovery is going to take a "long time" and he faces a "hard fight", according to his manager has said on the first anniversary of his skiing accident.
The seven-time Formula 1 World Champion suffered severe head injuries exactly one year ago today while on a family holiday at the Meribel resort, situated in the French Alps.
"We need a long time. It is going to be a long time and a hard fight," Sabine Kehm told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"He is making progress appropriate to the severity of the situation," she added, echoing comments made earlier this year.
He was initially cared for at Grenoble's University Hospital and underwent two operations before being transferred in June to a rehabilitation clinic in Switzerland. It was at this point it was announced he was no longer in a coma.
Schumacher left hospital back in September, with a statement then confirming his rehabilitation will continue at home.
Speaking after he went home, Kehm said: "Considering the severe injuries he suffered, progress has been made in the past weeks and months.
"There is still, however, a long and difficult road ahead."
Basically the last post for 2014 as I am taking a few weeks off with my family and try to enjoy Christmas. All that means is a Happy Christmas/Holidays to you all and see you in 2015.
Bye.
During my first post of 2014. I did a post on five racing predictions for 2014, and the post was really a fun post on five predictions that may happen in 2014. But the main question is did I got any right? let see:
Number 1, 13-0 for VW in the WRC this season.
Well almost happen with 12 wins, but it could have been 13 Rally wins but for Jari-Matti Latvala crashing out of Rally Germany in August on the last day of the rally with three stages to go to give Hyundai and Thierry Neuville their first ever WRC win. So basically I got it Wrong.
Number 2, Nico Rosberg Formula 1 World Champion 2014.
With Nico Rosberg finishing in second place in the F1 Drivers' Championship this season with 67 points (42 points if double points didn't happen in Abu Dhabi) behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the end of the season. Nico Rosberg could have won the Drivers' title in the end but didn't happen. So this prediction was Wrong.
Number 3, Toyota to win the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Toyota did win this years World Endurance Championship with Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi. But didn't win this years 24 Hours of Le Mans, despite they were leading mid-way through, that went to Audi once again. So once again, I got a prediction Wrong.
Number 4, Nicky Hayden to score more points than the works Ducati riders.
With top Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso finishing in fifth place in the MotoGP Riders' Championship with 187 points. Nicky Hayden could only managed a sixteenth place finish in the standings with 47 points, despite Hayden missed five races due to injury. Possibly the worse prediction of 2014 I got that prediction completely and utterly Wrong.
Number 5, Marussia or Caterham finally scoring a point in Formula 1.
This last prediction did happen with Marussia, which I got it Right. A ninth place finish (eighth on the road minus penalties) for Jules Bianchi at Monaco gives Marussia their first points in Formula 1, and ninth place in the Constructors' that means ahead of both Sauber and Caterham in the standings. Despite the team went into administration, and missed the last three races of the season and the team folded during the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend.
So basically I got one out of five right. More fun predictions in 2015.
End of post for now, new post soon, bye.
It was announce this afternoon (19/12/14) that former Toro Rosso driver Jean-Éric Vergne will be Ferrari's test driver during the 2015 season.
Vergne will be the teams test driver and will focus on car development in the simulator, and will now move across to Ferrari, where he joins recently-appointed test and reserve driver Esteban Gutiérrez in providing support to Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen. While Ferrari, also confirmed today that it has parted company with development driver and former McLaren F1 driver Pedro de la Rosa after two years with the team.
Vergne made his Grand Prix debut with Toro Rosso in 2012 and raced for the team, for the last three seasons, after eight seasons as a Junior Red Bull driver.
End of blog for now. New post soon. Bye.
Second part of my Formula 1 2014 Season Review, this post will includes my top 10 Formula 1 drivers of 2013. And my final thoughts of Formula 1 2014.
Starting of with My Top Formula 1 drivers of 2014, this is the part who was in my top 10 this season, not in championship order, not in championship order, so his list doesn't includes the likes of Sergio Pérez or Kimi Räikkonen for example, its just only opinion folks. But, before I start an honourable mention to Jules Bianchi who's not on the list, but was in the mid-season review, as he scored two points in Monaco, and some impressive qualifying and races this season. And hoping for a quick recovering for the former Marussia driver.
Anyway, here is my list below.
My Top Formula 1 drivers of 2014:
10. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) - A second place finish in his debut race, and as fast in some races as his much experience team-mate Jenson Button; sadly back as a reserve driver at McLaren next season.
9. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) - Only four podiums in 2014, unreliable and underpowered Renault power unit has cost Sebastian Vettel to defend his title this season, still fast as ever, off to Ferrari in 2015.
8. Jenson Button (McLaren) - Consistently fast and reliable this season despite a slow car from McLaren this season.
7. Fillipe Massa (Ferrari) - Impressive drives at Monza, São Paulo and possibly winning the races at Montreal and Yas Marina this season, can win races in 2015 if Williams gives him the right car.
6. Nico Hülkenberg (Force India) - Consistently fast and reliable this season, and impressive drives at Sepang, Bahrain, Monaco and Yas Marina this season.
5. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) - Fast as ever, consistent, some great race performances at Shanghai and Hungaroring this season, despite having a very slow car this season, back to McLaren for next season.
4. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) - Impressive second season in Formula 1, which includes impressive drives at the Red Bull Ring, Silverstone, Hockenheim and Sochi.
3. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) - Some great wins at Montreal, Hungaroring and Spa this season, out-performing his four times world champion Sebastian Vettel, and if Red Bull and Renault gives him a reliable and fast car next season, his got a change of winning the drivers' championship in 2015.
2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - Despite losing out to Hamilton to the drivers' championship this season, it was coming of age season for Rosberg of that he can challenge the top drivers for titles in years to come.
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - Best driver on the grid this season with Eleven Grand Prix wins to concluded with his second drivers' championship this season.
Overall, possibly one of the most dominating seasons I have seen from a team in Formula 1, sixteen out of nineteen wins and eleven one-two finishes, which beaten the records from the 1988 season, which makes the Mercedes F1 W05 Hybrid the most dominant F1 race car in Formula 1 History to give Mercedes their first ever Constructors' Championship. While both Mercedes drivers challenge for the Drivers' title and both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg took the title battle to the last race of the race to conclude with Lewis Hamilton winning the 2014 World Drivers' Title and his second F1 Drivers' title in his Formula 1 career. Bring on Formula 1 2015.
End of the two part posts of this seasons F1 review. A new shorter post soon. Bye.
Two parter Formula One season review of the 2014 season. In this post I will review each team of 2014. Which, I will say one sentence that will be positive with each team. And one sentence that will be negative for each team. So starting with Mercedes below.
Mercedes:
+ Best car and drivers on the grid with the F1 W05 Hybrid, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, with 18 poles, 16 race wins, a Constructors' Title and a Drivers' Title with Lewis Hamilton.
- The race at Spa did cost the team a race win with both drivers squabbling with each other on the second lap, but Mercedes did control both afterwards with their rivalry.
Red Bull:
+ Some impressive performances from Daniel Ricciardo this season which includes three race wins, despite an under performing race car
- An unreliable and underpowered Renault power unit has cost Red Bull, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel for both championships this season and replacing Sebastian Vettel for 2015 season will be a touch challenge to replace him at Red Bull, Daniil Kvyat will have a touch challenge ahead.
Williams:
+ Some great performances from Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa this season, which includes races at Red Bull Ring, Silverstone, Hockenheim, and Sochi for Bottas, and Monza, Interlagos and Yas Marina with a much improve Williams race car underneath from last season; which concluded finishing in third place in the constructors championship this season with 320 points.
- A few too many DNFs from Felipe Massa this season, which includes three DNFs from the first lap cost Williams second place in the constructors championship this season, overall a great season for Williams.
Ferrari:
+ Some great race performances from Fernando Alonso, which includes a second place at the Hungaroring.
- An underpowered and thirsty Ferrari power unit has not helped the team, and return of Kimi Räikkönen has not produced a great race this season; which concluded a fourth place finish in the Constructors and losing Fernando Alonso for 2015 season will be a touch challenge to replace him at Ferrari, despite Sebastian Vettel will be replacing Alonso.
McLaren:
+ A much better season from last year and Honda power units are on their way for the 2015 season.
- The car was too slow this season, McLaren needs a faster car next season as they got both Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso next season.
Force India:
+ Some impressive performances from Nico Hülkenberg this season after a season away from Force India, and a third place finish for Sergio Pérez in Bahrain.
- Like in 2013, 59 points since Hungaroring compare to McLaren's 84 points, the second half season development of the car has cost Force India fifth place in the constructors championship.
Scuderia Toro Rosso:
+ Some impressive drives from Daniil Kvyat have put him in the main Red Bull team next season.
- An unreliable and underpowered Renault power unit has cost Toro Rosso more points then they have this season and also letting Jean-Éric Vergne go could bite the team back next season if the inexperience Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, Jr. doesn't work.
Lotus:
+ Mercedes-Benz power units are on their way for the 2015 season.
- An unreliable and underpowered Renault power unit and the E22 has been poor this season, only 10 points this season compared to 315 points from last season.
Marussia:
+ A ninth place for Jules Bianchi at Monaco gives Marussia their first points in Formula 1, and ninth place in the Constructors' that means ahead of Sauber in the standings.
- Jules Bianchi heavy crash at Suzuka shocked the team, team in administration, missed the last three races, and the heavy expenditure of Formula 1 cost Marussia a place in Formula 1 for 2015 and possibly forever in Formula 1.
Sauber:
+ A good race performance from Adrian Sutil in Qualifying at Austin.
- Where to start, an overweight and unreliable C33, a thirsty and underpowered Ferrari power unit, a not so fast Esteban Gutiérrez hasn't helped at all to conclude with no points; tenth in the constructors, worse season ever for Sauber in Formula 1.
Caterham:
+ Impressive Monaco race for Marcus Ericsson finishing in eleventh place,
- Slowest car on the grid this season despite improvements late on the season, still no points, Tony Fernandes has sold the team to a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors with no understanding on who owns the team, team in debt, Caterham in administration, missed two races this season, an uncertainty future for Caterham ahead.
In part 2 of Formula 1 2014 Season Review my top 10 Formula 1 drivers of 2014. And my final thoughts of Formula 1 2014.
But for now, end of post for now. A new post soon. Bye.
It was announce this afternoon (15/12/14) that former Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez will be Ferrari's test and reserve driver during the 2015 season.
Gutierrez made his Grand Prix debut with Sauber in 2013 and raced for the team with the last two seasons, after two seasons competing in the GP2 Series.
End of blog for now. New post soon. Bye.
The 2014 Race of Champions took place over last weekend (13th-14th December) at the Bushy Park circuit in Barbados.
The Nordic team of Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen and 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship champion and former WRC Champion Champion Petter Solberg took their first Nations Cup victory ahead of United Kingdom (David Coulthard and Susie Wolff was in the United Kingdom team).
While in the 2014 Champion of Champions was won by former McLaren driver and current BBC F1 commentator David Coulthard, who beat Mercedes F1 Test Driver and DTM driver Pascal Wehrlein 2–0 in a closely fought final.
Contracts to the Champions for 2014.
End of blog for now, new post soon, bye.
Review of Round Three of the 2014-15 Formula E season held at the Punta del Este Street Circuit in Punta del Este, Uruguay. The race was won by e.dams Renault driver Sebastien Buemi. Second was China Racing driver Nelson Piquet, Jr., he was a second behind Buemi in the end. Meanwhile, third was Audi Sport ABT driver Lucas di Grassi, he was three seconds behind Buemi in the end.
Highlights of the race bellow, enjoy.
Next stop, Round Four of the 2014-15 Formula E season in Buenos Aires, Argentina for the Buenos Aires ePrix in four weeks time.
End of blog for now. New post soon. Bye.
It was confirmed on Thursday (11/12/14) that McLaren will have an all-champion line-up of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button will drive for the team next season, with Kevin Magnussen retained as test and reserve driver.
This will be the first time that Alonso returning to McLaren since joining them for a season in 2007, were he claimed four wins but departed for Renault after a season in which he and the team fell out after becoming embroiled in the 'Spygate' scandal.
Meanwhile Button remains with McLaren for the sixth season while Kevin Magnussen, who raced for the team in 2014, will act as the team's official test and reserve driver with a more than likely that he will do some Friday Practice sessions next season with the team.
In my opinion, this is the right decision for McLaren next season to retain Jenson Button, and to rehire Fernando Alonso. Next season with the return to Honda with the all new Honda power unit, experience is the right answer for that season then focus on the season after focus on youth.
With Alonso, it will be another gamble to drive for McLaren again, after the 'Spygate' scandal which he was involved and cost McLaren in a $ 100 million fine from the FIA. I think this time around its a more of a grown up Alonso, which may help McLaren better this time round.
Keeping Button will be right thing with his past experience with Honda back in the mid 2000s, also his marketability of bringing in sponsorship to the team has helped him getting the drive at McLaren.
Also, I feel sorry for Kevin Magnussen, did a fantastic job finishing in second place finish in his debut race at Melbourne, and he was as fast in some races as his much experience team-mate Jenson Button. Just bad luck with no drives around the grid; and with no option for 2015, Magnussen will be demoted as a test and reserve driver for McLaren next season. Maybe a third car may happen in 2015 if we loss more teams he may get a drive. But, I guess he will have another opportunity to race for McLaren in 2016.
Now we have Button and Alonso in the team, we have Honda turbo engines once again with McLaren. We may once again have a McLaren Honda domination once again in Formula 1, time will tell if that happens.
End of post for now, new post soon. Bye.
Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi did not slow down sufficiently to avoid losing control when he crashed at the Japanese GP, an FIA accident report has found it was confirmed yesterday (3/12/14).
The Marussia driver suffered severe head injuries in the crash in October.
Bianchi hit the recovery vehicle in wet conditions at 78 mph and remains unconscious in hospital.
The FIA added that a braking system on Bianchi's Marussia prevented a failsafe from working, which was designed to cut the car's engine.
Bianchi suffered a diffuse axonal head injury when he crashed into a recovery vehicle at Suzuka that was removing Adrian Sutil's Sauber car from the circuit.
He is no longer in an artificial coma and is breathing unaided, but remains unconscious.
After a review of all the evidence, a 10-man Accident Panel appointed by the FIA issued a 396-page report on their findings.
One of the conclusions was that "Bianchi did not slow sufficiently to avoid losing control at the same point on the track as Sutil".
In the days following the accident, Marussia said they were "shocked and angered" by reports from some media outlets that suggest Bianchi did not slow down under caution flags.
They also denied claims they told Bianchi to go faster during the caution period to keep a rival behind.
Marussia have since ceased trading with all staff made redundant after they failed to secure funding to compete next season.
The report added: "During the two seconds Bianchi's car was leaving the track and traversing the run-off area, he applied both throttle and brake together, using both feet.
"The Failsafe algorithm is designed to over-ride the throttle and cut the engine, but was inhibited by the torque coordinator, which controls the rear brake-by-wire (BBW) system.
"Bianchi's Marussia has a unique design of BBW, which proved to be incompatible with the Failsafe settings.
"The fact that the Failsafe did not disqualify the engine torque requested by the driver may have affected the impact velocity; it has not been possible to reliably quantify this.
"However, it may be that Bianchi was distracted by what was happening and the fact that his front wheels had locked, and been unable to steer the car such that it missed the crane."
This season, teams were allowed to tweak the parameters of their brake-by-wire system to suit a driver's style and thus Marussia can be seen to have not broken the rules.
With Honda returning to Formula 1 for the 2015 season, as an engine supplier with McLaren in 2015 with an all new Honda 1.6 litre Turbo V6s' power units. And during last weeks Abu Dhabi test after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Honda tested with McLaren during that test and only managed five laps altogether during the two days due to electrical problems with the new Honda V6 Engine. So this post will be Top six Worse Honda F1 race cars that have been in Formula 1.
Starting with number 6:
Number 6: 1992 McLaren MP4/7A
Story: McLaren MP4/7A was designed by Neil Oatley, it was the first McLaren F1 car that use a semi-automatic transmission gearbox in McLaren history. The McLaren MP4/7A used the 3.5 litre Honda V12 engine underneath. Despite the McLaren MP4/7A took five victories in 1992, three for Ayrton Senna and two for Gerhard Berger and only managing to score 99 points to give McLaren second place in the constructors championship in 1992. Although the McLaren MP4/12 was a race winning F1 car, the car itself was too slow and unreliable compare to Williams all dominating FW14B. But wasn't no where near the worst McLaren ever built.
Number 5: 1984 Williams FW09
Story: Williams FW09 was designed by Patrick Head and Neil Oatley, it was the first Williams F1 car that didn't had the 3 litre Cosworth DFV V8 engine underneath. Instead, the Williams FW09 had the all new 1.5 litre Honda turbo V6 engine underneath. Despite the Williams FW09 took Keke Rosberg to the Dallas Grand Prix win in 1984. However, the car was very unreliable that season and only managed to score 25.5 points to give Williams to fifth place in the constructors championship that season.
Number 4: 1988 Lotus 100T
Story: Lotus 100T was designed by Gérard Ducarouge and Martin Ogilvie, Lotus 100T had the Honda 1.5 litre V6 turbo engine underneath, but unlike it's predecessor the 100T wasn't fitted with electronic active suspension, because of less power from the Honda turbo in the 1988 due to Bar limited from the turbo from 4.0 in 1987 to 2.5 in 1988. Despite all this, Nelson Piquet took three third place finishes with the 100T in 1988, overall the Lotus 100T took Lotus to fourth place in the Constructors standings in 1988 with just 22 points. The Lotus 100T was a slow and unreliable car compared to the all dominating McLaren MP4/4 in 1988 which won fifteen out of sixteen races, despite both having the same engine for 1988. Overall, the Lotus 100T the worst Lotus ever built, not even close to the Worse Lotus F1 car ever.
Number 3: 2005 BAR 007
Story: BAR 007 was designed by Geoff Willis, The BAR 007 used the Honda 3 litre V10 engine underneath. Unlike the BAR006 which took to second place in the Constructor standings in 2004, the BAR007 took British American Racing to only sixth place in the Constructor standings, with 38 points in 2005, with Jenson Button only managing just two third place finishes as their best results.
Number 2: 2007 Honda RA107
Story: Honda RA107 was designed by Shuhei Nakamoto and Mariano Alperin-Bruvera, The Honda RA107 used the Honda 2.4 litre V8 engine underneath. And despite Honda won a Grand Prix the season before with the RA106, the Honda RA107 was no where near as its predicator as it was a very slow car. Best result was a wet fifth place finish with Jenson Button at the Chinese Grand Prix. Overall RA107 took Honda to eighth place in the Constructor standings, with just 6 points in 2007.
Number 1: 2008 Honda RA108
Story: Honda RA108 was designed by Shuhei Nakamoto, Jörg Zander and Loic Bigois, The Honda RA108 used the Honda 2.4 litre V8 engine underneath. And just like the 2007, the Honda RA108 was still a very slow car. Best result was a wet third place finish with Rubens Barrichello at the British Grand Prix. Overall RA108 took Honda to an even worse position then in 2007 with a ninth place in the Constructor standings, with just 14 points in 2008. After that season, Honda withdrew from Formula 1 until now of course.
End of blog for now. New post soon. Bye.
So last weekend (28-30/11/14) was the annual Monza Rally Show and six main drivers who was at the Rally was current Yamaha MotoGP rider and nine times Motorcyling champion (seven MotoGP/500cc champ, one time 250cc champ, 125cc champ) Valentino Rossi, a Formula 1 race winner and current WRC driver Robert Kubica, former WTCC race winner Stefano D'Aste, former WRC driver Gigi Galli, 2014 Global RallyCross Champion and Gymkhana Legend Ken Block, and 2004 NASCAR Champion Kurt Busch. With a special appearance from Current 2014 Formula 1 Champion Lewis Hamilton on the Sunday as-well.
So the Rally itself, the final results saw former BMW Sauber F1 driver and current WRC driver Robert Kubica won this years Monza Rally Show in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
Second was Valentino Rossi in his Ford Focus RS WRC, he was 12 seconds behind Kubica at the end.
Meanwhile, Stefano D'Aste finished in third place in his Cirteon DS3 WRC, he was 68 seconds behind Kubica at the end.
While Gigi Galli finished in ninth place overall in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC, he was 3 minutes behind Kubica in the end. While Ken Block finished in twenty-ninth place overall in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC, he was over 7 minutes behind Kubica in the end. While rally new boy Kurt Busch finished in thirty-third place overall in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC, he was over 7 and a half minutes behind Kubica in the end.
Here's a YouTube video of some of the Show's highlights from last week.
End of post for now, new post soon. Bye.
Review of the final Round of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship was held at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Interlagos on the outskirts of São Paulo, Brazil.
Porsche Team team won the race overall and WEC LMP1 class too of Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas and Neel Jani in their Porsche 919 Hybrid, its first WEC win for Porsche.
While, second place was the Toyota Racing team of Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi in their Toyota TS030 Hybrid, they were a second behind the leaders at the end of the race.
Due to the race was behind a safety car with 26 minutes of the race to go, due to a dramatic accident involving Mark Webber. Webber appeared to clash with the 8 Star Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia driver Matteo Cressoni, leading the 919 Hybrid to strike the barriers on the right side of the track leading onto the front straight before sliding across the circuit and hitting the inside barrier. Both drivers are OK after that accident.
Meanwhile, third place was the Audi Sport Team Joest team of Tom Kristensen, Lucas di Grassi and Loïc Duval in their Audi R18 e-tron quattro, they were a lap behind the leaders at the end of the race. As is this Tom Kristensen's last race with Audi and in the WEC as his will be retiring from racing after this race. Happy retirement Tom Kristensen.
In LMP2 class, the KCMG team of Matthew Howson, Richard Bradley and Alexandre Imperatori in their Oreca 03R with a Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 engine won in LMP2 class. They finish in sixth place overall and they were twenty-four laps behind the leaders at the end of the race.
While in GTE Pro class, was won by Aston Martin Racing team of Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke won in their Aston Martin Vantage GTE. They finish in seventh place overall and they were twenty-eight laps behind the leaders at the end of the race.
While in GTE Am class, was won by Aston Martin Racing team of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, and Christoffer Nygaard in their Aston Martin Vantage GTE. They finish in thirteenth place overall and they were thirty laps behind the leaders at the end of the race.
Meanwhile former double Formula 1 world champion Emerson Fittipaldi at at the age of 67 made his World Endurance Championship debut with AF Corse team driving an Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 alongside with Jeff Segal and Alessandro Pier Guidi. They finish in sixth in GTE Am class, twenty-fisrt place overall and they were sixty-three laps behind the leaders at the end of the race.
While in LMP1-L class (a new category this season, designed solely for privateers without hybrid systems in their cars), the Rebellion Racing team of Dominik Kraihamer, Andrea Belicchi and Fabio Leimer in their Rebellion R-One with a Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 engine won LMP1-L class. They finish in eighteenth place overall and they were thirty-five laps behind the leaders at the end of the race.
And so this years Champions, in the Drivers Championships, Toyota Racing drivers of Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi won this years World Drivers' Championship in in their Toyota TS030 Hybrid.
AF Corse drivers of Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander won Endurance Cup for GT Drivers title in their Ferrari 458 Italia GT2. Rebellion Racing drivers of Mathias Beche, Nick Heidfeld, and Nicolas Prost won the LMP1 Private Teams Drivers' Trophy in their Rebellion R-One, Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8. SMP Racing driver Sergey Zlobin won the Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers in his Oreca 03R, Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8. Aston Martin Racing drivers David Heinemeier Hansson and Kristian Poulsen took the Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Am Drivers in their Aston Martin Vantage GTE.
While in this seasons Manufacturers Championships, Toyota won the World Manufacturers' Championship. World Endurance Cup for GT Manufacturers was won by Ferrari.
While in this seasons Teams Championships, the Endurance Trophy for Private LMP1 Teams was won by Rebellion Racing in their Rebellion R-One, Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8. SMP Racing won the Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams in their Oreca 03R, Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8. AF Corse won the Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Pro Teams in their Ferrari 458 Italia GT2. Aston Martin Racing won the Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Am Teams in their Aston Martin Vantage GTE.
Congratulations for the champions of each class in WEC this season.
End of blog for now. New post soon. Bye.
