Hartley misses title chance
Formula One-bound New Zealand driver Brendon Hartley lost an early chance to clinch the World Endurance Championship drivers’ title in a dramatic rainabbreviated seventh round race in Japan.
Hartley - set to drive in next weekend’s Formula One United States Grand Prix - Kiwi teammate Earl Bamber and Timo Bernhard had to settle for fourth place at the Fuji International Speedway yesterday after the race was abandoned due to foggy and soggy conditions with drivers struggling for visibility.
Their No 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid team only had to finish ahead of the No 8 Toyota crew at Fuji to clinch the World Endurance Championship (WEC) drivers’ crown.
But the Toyota team of Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Anthony Davidson were leading the race when it was cancelled and were awarded the win.
Hartley, Bamber and Bernhard now have a 39-point lead over their Toyota rivals with 52 points still available in the final two rounds at Shanghai on November 3-5 and Bahrain on November 16-18.
A top performance in Shanghai could seal the deal, making for a vital fortnight for Hartley with his Formula One bow looming in Austin before heading to China.
The Porsche trio, who had won this year’s Le Mans and Nurburging races, started from pole position in their 919 Hybrid.
Bamber recorded the fastest race lap 1:37.702 on lap 19 of 115.
‘‘I started the race and the visibility, especially in traffic, with spray and fog was really very, very bad. I didn’t see anything,’’ Bamber said.
‘‘It was the right call to red flag the race after a bit over an hour. The water level wasn’t the problem, but the fog had to clear and that didn’t happen.’’
The six-hour race was hampered by persistent rain plus fog as interruptions and neutralisations influenced the track action.
Buemi’s No 8 Toyota team won from No 1 Toyota trio Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose-Maria Lopez with the No 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Andre Lotterer, Neel Jani and Nick Tandy awarded third place.
In the manufacturers’ world championship standings, Porsche leads with 270 points, Toyota follows on 211.5 points after their one-two performance.
Some 51,000 Japanese motor racing fans attended the three days’ racing at Fuji.
"I started the race and the visibility, especially in traffic, with spray and fog was really very, very bad. I didn't see anything." Earl Bamber