Tough luck for JJ, Nabil, Weiron in Shanghai

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian trio Jazeman Jaafar, Nabil Jeffri and Weiron Tan missed out on the podium for the first time in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) this season when they finished fourth in the 6 Hours of Shanghai race.

Jazeman and Co of Team Jackie Chan DC Racing X Jota Sport, completed 108 laps in 6’03:31.154 at the Shanghai International Circuit for a 24th overall spot in the 35-team race yesterday. They were fourth in their LMP2 class.

Another Jackie Chan-backed team driven by Ho Pin-tung, Stephane Richelmi and Gabriel Aubry notched their third victory when they topped the LMP2 class by completing 109 laps in 6’02:57.583.

American-based DragonSpeed powered by former Formula One driver Pasto Maldonado, Roberto Gonzalez and Anthony Davidson finished second (109 laps-6’03:10.596) and French side Signatech Alpine Matmut’s Nicolas Lapierre, Pierre Thiriet ad Andre Negrao came in third (109 laps-6’04:03.971).

The rookies Jazeman, Nabil and Weiron have impressed in the first four races of the season by placing themselves in the top-three of LMP2 class in each leg.

They finished third in the 6 Hours of SpaFrancorchamps in Belgium and took the runner-up spot in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France and 6 Hours of Silverstone in United Kingdom.

The trio made heads turn when they secured their breakthrough victory in the 6 Hours of Fuji in Japan last month.