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"Safe" Porsche tactics at Spa prolonged WEC GTE Pro title fight

Playing it "safe" cost Porsche's Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen the chance to clinch the World Endurance Championship GTE Pro title at Spa, reckons Estre.

The crew of the #92 Porsche 911 RSR fell just short of wrapping up the class crown with a fourth-place finish - which became third when the sister #91 car was penalised late in the race.

That result was enough for Porsche to seal the manufacturers' crown, but Estre admits the pre-race points situation led to the team taking overly conservative strategic decisions when multiple rain and snow showers hit the track.

"We had the pace to win for sure, but we made some mistakes on strategy, just because of our position in the championship," Estre told Autosport. "We had to take the safe way and we lost some positions like this.

"We were in front of [James] Calado and [Alessandro] Pier Guidi [in the #51 Ferrari which took second], so we could have finished P2 if we stayed out [after pitting during a late safety car]. We were on the safe side."

Estre and Christensen lead the #91 Porsche pair Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz by 36 points with 38 on offer for the class winner at the season closing Le Mans 24 Hours.

Ferrari would have been "last" without poor weather
By Gary Watkins

James Calado believes he and his AF Corse Ferrari team would have been "absolutely last" without the poor weather at Spa, where he and Alessandro Pier Guidi took second - only narrowly missing out on victory.

Calado finished less than a second behind the class-winning Aston Martin and believes that had the race not been red-flagged with just over 11 minutes of the six hours remaining, he could have fought for the win.

He was sure the two factory Ferraris were not capable of finishing any higher the ninth and 10th positions in which they qualified at the back of the class field had it been a dry race.

The rain allowed the Ferrari drivers to overcome its straightline speed deficiency under the current Balance of Performance.

"The team played it really well on the strategy and the car was very competitive in the rain - that's what got us up there," said Calado.

"You have to be happy if you if start from P9 and finish second.

"We didn't go to Spa believing we could challenge for the victory, because sectors one and two are all about straightline speed."

The sister AF GTE Pro entry driven by Sam Bird and Davide Rigon ended up sixth, and asked where the Ferraris would have finished in dry conditions, Calado replied: "Absolutely last - ninth and 10th."

The results of Spa mean that he and Pier Guidi can no longer retain their WEC crown.

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Zdroj: autosport.com