The Zhuhai 6 Hours: ILMC's final Round

[Hun200kmh]

ZHUHAI 6 HOURS​

True, the LMP1 Championship is decided in favor of Peugeot, but neither them nor Audi are going to Zuhai just because they must. Both squads desperately want to win.

Peugeot, winner of all races BUT the most important one this year, wants to establish their dominance in a way that makes the Le Mans result look like some kind of oddity.

Audi has the opposite desire. They don't want Le Mans to remain the only win the 2011-spec R18 ever got. It wasn't a fluke and they're there to prove it.

Besides, for the manufacturers that are behind both teams, a victory in China is also of the greatest commercial importance. Not that a great percentage of Chinese can afford Audis or even Peugeots. but the market is so unbelievably huge that even a small percentage is an enormous number in world sales.


Battling for honorable positions in LMP1 are also the ALMS regular and Laguna Seca winner Aston Martin, plus the european entries from LMS champions Rebellion Racing and OAK Racing (also with a LMP2 entry, a category where the title is also decided already in favor of Signatech-Nissan).


But if all is decided in the Prototypes, nothing is in GTE Pro racing. Both the manufacturers’ and teams’ titles in LM GTE Pro will be decided here. But things aren't easy for BMW, they need nothing less than a win to grab these titles and take them from Ferrari (manufacturer) and AF Corse(team).

GTE Am is also decided, in favor of the Larbre Competition Corvette team so teams will fight for this win without any "points & calculations" concern.

This race marks the end of the ILMC, a dignified predecessor to the World Endurance Championship. "Le Roi est Mort, Vive le Roi"

(Sorry mods, the ACO is French so I think it was only fitting to add this bit in French )


THE CIRCUIT

Close to city of Macau that was administered by Portugal until 1999, Zhuhai is considered the cradle of Chinese motorsport. In 1994, the streets of the city hosted a GT race followed by 200,000 spectators. Two years later the first permanent circuit in the country was constructed. It hosts the last race of the ILMC season for the second consecutive year. A technical track with 14 turns, the ZIC (Zhuhai International Circuit) has many passing places, including a 900 metre straight.

THE PROGRAMME

Friday 11 November
10h30 to 12h00 ; UK 02h30 à 04h00 – First free practice (90')
15h00 to 16h00 ; UK 07h00 à 08h00 – Second free practice (60')

Saturday 12 November
10h15 to 11h15 ; UK 02h15 à 03h15 – Third free practice (60')
14h15 to 14h35 ; UK 06h15 à 06h35 – Qualifying LM GTE and GTC (20')
14h50 to 15h10 ; UK 06h50 à 07h10 – Qualifying LM P and FLM (20')

Sunday 13 November
08h00 to 08h20 ; UK 00h00 à 00h20 – Warm up (20')
11h00 to 17h00 ; UK 03h00 à 09h00 – Zhuhai 6 hours

FOLLOW THE RACE LIVE

News, photos, video clips on lemans.org
Your comments on Facebook and Twitter
Not forgetting the iPhone app to Download here

Extending its range of Web TV, lemans.org will offer the race in live online video.

Sunday, November 13 from 07:30 to 09:00: the finish live on Eurosport
For those who do not get Eurosport on their TV, the subscription to Player allows unrestricted access from a computer to all Eurosport channels.

ENTRY LIST

http://www.lemans.org/wpphpFichiers..._zhuhai/6-hours-of-zhuhai-entry-list-2011.pdf



And to end, a curiosity. Mika Hakkinen returns to racing for this event, driving an SLS. Team name? TEAM AMG CHINA!

[YOUTUBEHD]r80PTyxsc9o[/YOUTUBEHD]​

 

[SkateNj]

Man i wish i had a channel to watch this on tv.

 

[crooky369]

"UK 03h00 à 09h00"



I hope there's some other way to watch this later because that's got to be the worst possible time.

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

Extending its range of Web TV, lemans.org will offer the race in live online video.

Or here: http://www.dailymotion.com/lemans. Also:
http://microsites.audi.com/lemans/
http://www.peugeot-sport.com/

 

[Sach]

Great interview.

 

[Tired Tyres]

"UK 03h00 à 09h00"



I hope there's some other way to watch this later because that's got to be the worst possible time.

That's not difficult. You've got the rest of Sunday to recover, or get an early night Saturday.

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

So Mika Hakkinen is driving an SLS, I thought the Mercs were only GT3 cars and the ILMC only had GT2 cars in its GT class this year?

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

So Mika Hakkinen is driving an SLS, I thought the Mercs were only GT3 cars and the ILMC only had GT2 cars in its GT class this year?

Special occasion, grid filling... it's a separate class in the race (GTC)

 

[nitrorocks]

Man i wish i had a channel to watch this on tv.

It will be streamed on Le Mans.org I think. I hope so!

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

Certainly.

 

[Hun200kmh]

LMP report - Peugeot dominated both Free Practise sessions

GTE Pro report - BMW dominated both Free Practise sessions

Fun fact - Hakkinen's SLS (GTC Class) is only one second slower than the best GTE Pro BMW

http://www.lemans.org/en/races/intercontinental-le-mans-cup/6-hours-of-zhuhai/live-timing.html

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

Full P2 times

Practice two:

Pos  Cl     Drivers                     Team/Car                Time
 1.  P1     Montagny/Sarrazin           Peugeot                 1m23.321s
 2.  P1     Bourdais/Davidson           Peugeot                 1m23.504s
 3.  P1     Kristensen/McNish           Audi                    1m23.860s
 4.  P1     Bernhard/Fassler            Audi                    1m24.389s
 5.  P1     Nicolet/Premat/Pla          Oak Pescarolo-Judd      1m25.096s
 6.  P1     Jani/Prost                  Rebellion Lola-Toyota   1m25.929s
 7.  P1     Lahaye/Moreau/Ragues        Oak Pescarolo-Judd      1m26.322s
 8.  P1     Meyrick/Mucke/Primat        Lola Aston Martin       1m27.747s
 9.  P2     Mailleux/Ordonez/Vernay     Signatech ORECA-Nissan  1m29.937s
10.  P1     Shogo/Naoki                 Tokai Courage-ORECA     1m31.550s
11.  P2     Lafargue/da Rocha           Oak Pescarolo-Judd      1m32.522s
12.  GTE P  Farfus/Muller               BMW                     1m34.508s
13.  FLM    Chen/Shanqi                 PTRS FLM                1m34.686s
14.  GTE P  Priaulx/Alzen               BMW                     1m35.121s
15.  GTE P  Fisichella/Bruni            AF Ferrari              1m35.716s
16.  GTE A  Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo        Krohn Ferrari           1m35.735s
17.  GTC    Cheng/Arnold/Hakkinen       AMG China Mercedes      1m35.788s
18.  GTE P  Ortelli/Makowiecki          Luxury Ferrari          1m35.971s
19.  GTE A  Bornhauser/Canal/Beretta    Larbre Corvette         1m36.235s
20.  GTE P  Beltoise/Farnbacher/Firman  Luxury Ferrari          1m36.315s
21.  GTE A  Ehret/Mullen/Wills          CRS Ferrari             1m36.539s
22.  GTE A  Giroix/Goethe               Gulf Aston Martin       1m37.003s
23.  GTC    Mortara/O'Young/Imperatori  C Audi                  1m37.255s
24.  GTE A  Lietz/Ried/Roda             Proton Porsche          1m37.842s
25.  GTE A  Cioci/Ma                    AF Ferrari              1m38.200s
26.  GTE P  Rossiter/Mowlem/Heinemeier  Jetalliance Lotus       1m38.296s
27.  GTC    Gruber/Lee/Tak Mak          Race Experience Audi    1m38.988s
28.  GTC    Tsuzuki/Kim/Van Dam         Hitotsuyama Audi        1m39.103s
29.  GTE P  Slingerland/Rich/Rasmussen  Jetalliance Lotus       1m40.739s

These GT3 cars are quick! I'm surprised the SLS is quicker than the R8 though.

 

[Hun200kmh]

Hey, PD:

We need a AMG SLS Race Car 2011 in GT5


PS - R18 too

 

[nitrorocks]

Yes! And Mclaren MP4 12C GT3! Also Rebellion Racing's LMP1, and countless GT, ab LMP1 cars

 

[Prince.M5]

That GTC SLS quicker than most GTE cars is also a massive achievement. I'll not be watching the race but the GTE class looks to be dominated by BMW unless a mechanical failure stops them. However, Audi and Peugeot will - as always continue their usual scuffle...

Talking about having some more cars in GT5, one thing that has been missing is the Z4 GT3 BMW. That, eventhough is not here this weekend is still one of the fastest and most balanced out of the rest GT3 field.

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

Or here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xma7jg_ilmc-6-heures-de-zhuhai_auto. Also:
http://www.dailymotion.com/sas/peugeot-6h-zhuhai
http://microsites.audi.com/lemans/

Live timings:
http://livetiming.alkamelsystems.com/lms/
http://www.lemans.org/en/races/intercontinental-le-mans-cup/6-hours-of-zhuhai/live-timing.html

Start in 3 h 15 min.

 

[Sohvakettu]

Audi seem to have bad luck with the Ferraris.
I hope they get the SLS back on to the track. Want to see Häkkinen behind the wheel.

 

[Prince.M5]

Yeah, I hold my breath when one of the Audi made contact with one of the Ferrari, that will never end

So there are some many issues already with just under 2 hours to go. The SLS and #2 Audi are all confirmed as a retiement together with another 2 GT class cars. The #51 AF Corse has been having problems one and another throughout the race while the GTE Pro is pretty much all BMWs.

Peugeot leads, with the #1 Audi in 3rd.

 

[Sohvakettu]

I'm jealous of japanese. They have a university with a LMP1 project.

 

[joetruckv8]

Man i wish i had a channel to watch this on tv.

You do its called speed2.com

 

[Prince.M5]

I'm jealous of japanese. They have a university with a LMP1 project.

I think all of us are jealous enough. The only problem though is money... I think they have a lot of funding and engineering experience in their University so yeah that's why it is possible for them...

 

[Sohvakettu]

Quite dominant performance from Peugeot in the end. Audi didn't seem to be really in the contention. Too bad about the merc as I would have liked to see it on the track.

Edit: And now to wait the Abu Dhabi GP to start

 

[MatskiMonk]

Ah crudspuds, I take it BMW did not take a Manufacturers win in the GTE class then?

 

[nitrorocks]

I think all of us are jealous enough. The only problem though is money... I think they have a lot of funding and engineering experience in their University so yeah that's why it is possible for them...

No. It's called lAmerica. No one cares here! Lol

 

[Blaze_409]

No. It's called lAmerica. No one cares here! Lol

lol true. Thats why i want to move europe. Its only in america where when a guy sees a Dyson Lola Mazda poster he yells Nascar......

 

[nitrorocks]

Yeah! I like NASCAR, but the sad truth is that road racing is dead in America

 

[Northstar]

Yeah! I like NASCAR, but the sad truth is that road racing is dead in America

I love how you keep griping about it after I proved you wrong.

Here are the new major events in the next few years.

2012: WTCC @ Infineon
2012: F1 @ COTA
2013: Australian V8 Supercars @ COTA
2013: F1 @ New Jersey
2013: MotoGP @ COTA (May replace one of the 2 MotoGP races here already)

If it was dead, as you say, would we really be getting all that on top of the big races we already have?

12 Hours of Sebring
24 Hours of Daytona
Petite Le Mans
U.S. Grand Prix (MotoGP)
Indianapolis Grand Prix
6 Hours of Watkins Glen

I'm sure you won't read this though as you are the type of person that just likes to 🤬 and my post completely invalidates your complaints.

 

[Prince.M5]

Ah crudspuds, I take it BMW did not take a Manufacturers win in the GTE class then?

No, they didn't. Only if all the Ferraris didn't score any, then they would win but then they still need the one-two finish... 2 BMWs versus what, 4 or 5 Ferraris on the grid? I think we would've already know the winner.

 

[nitrorocks]

I love how you keep griping about it after I proved you wrong.

Here are the new major events in the next few years.

2012: WTCC @ Infineon
2012: F1 @ COTA
2013: Australian V8 Supercars @ COTA
2013: F1 @ New Jersey
2013: MotoGP @ COTA (May replace one of the 2 MotoGP races here already)

If it was dead, as you say, would we really be getting all that on top of the big races we already have?

12 Hours of Sebring
24 Hours of Daytona
Petite Le Mans
U.S. Grand Prix (MotoGP)
Indianapolis Grand Prix
6 Hours of Watkins Glen

I'm sure you won't read this though as you are the type of person that just likes to 🤬 and my post completely invalidates your complaints.

There is no Indiannapolis GP,( there is for Moto GP) and we probably won't have the Austin GP. Maybe not even the New Jersey GP. I don't find myself complaining. Half of these races will be gone in the future. I don't even get that many chassis in the U.S. We've only got a handful. Europe has many.

 

[Northstar]

There is no Indiannapolis GP,( there is for Moto GP) and we probably won't have the Austin GP. Maybe not even the New Jersey GP. I don't find myself complaining. Half of these races will be gone in the future. I don't even get that many chassis in the U.S. We've only got a handful. Europe has many.

1) I'm glad you came to the conclusion I was referencing the MotoGP race at Indy, would be really worried if you didn't.

2) Any proof for the rest of your claims?

I'm aware Bernie has expressed doubt, than again he did that for India, Korea and probably every other GP before the track was finished yet somehow managed to host the GP on a completed track.

As much as I hate the movie, you remind me of Ricky Bobby's wife while he is in the hospital telling the doctor to pull the plug even though he is just taking a nap. It's almost like you want all these major events to fail so you can go on saying how it's dead.

Anyways, this is way to off topic so I'm done discussing this in this topic.