GTE Pro: Aston beats Ferrari
Aston Martin and Ferrari swapped places at each of the final three pitstops in Bahrain. That was how tight it was between the best of the cars from the British and Italian marques in GTE Pro on Saturday, though the grandstand finish that looked on the cards for much of the final half of the race never materialised.
The Aston Martin Vantage GTE driven by Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim ended up triumphing by an unrepresentative 14-second margin after the chasing AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE shared by Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina was penalised. Molina had spun up the wheels for the briefest of moments as he left the pits for the final time, an offence in the WEC that was inevitably followed by a drivethrough.
It was a lucky break for Aston. Sorensen wasn’t sure he could have kept his Vantage ahead through the final hour, at least not after the bit of daylight he’d put between himself and Molina after the Ferrari was jumped in the pits disappeared during a full-course yellow virtual safety car.
“I’d certainly have done everything in my power to keep him behind,” said Sorensen. “But it looked like the Ferraris were quicker in the night. I don’t think we won this race on pace, but we tried to keep it as clean as possible and our boys did an amazing job in the pitstops.”
Ferrari was convinced it would have won the race to the flag but for the penalty.
“We were stronger over the last 15 or 20 laps of a stint, so I think we have lost a victory today,” said Rigon. “Miguel spun the wheels for maybe half a revolution. The rules are the rules, but I think the stewards could have looked into the data a bit more.”
Everyone in GTE Pro bar the race winners had a bad luck story last weekend. Alex
Lynn and Maxime Martin ended up third in the second Vantage after the team split its strategies as usual and didn’t pit their car in the mid-race FCY. The time lost stopping under green dropped them back from the sister car squabbling up front.
James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi took fourth in the #51 Ferrari thanks to the latter sustaining a puncture shortly after pitting during that hour-four virtual safety car. It was more bad luck for the 2017 champions who lost the win last time out at Shanghai to a rideheight infringement and a shot at victory first time out at Silverstone when Pier Guidi was taking a drivethrough for a penalty that had just been lifted.
The Porsche 911 RSR was the fastest car in class at Bahrain, but the two factory cars ended up fifth and sixth after being delayed before the race reached half-distance. Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen lost out with a failed damper that required changing, while Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz sustained a puncture and bodywork damage as the result of an incorrectly seated wheel.