– #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing wins home race
– 3rd win of season promotes #38 squad into Championship lead
A turbulent all-wet 6 Hours of Shanghai race saw Dunlop take a 45th consecutive FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) win, a popular first Chinese team win on home ground for Jackie Chan DC Racing’s #38 squad of Ho-Pin Tung, Gabriel Aubry and Stéphane Richelmi.
The initial stages of the race suffered from the heaviest rain, and a combination of incidents and track conditions led to three red-flags that halted the race and several safety car periods that limited racing.
Four different cars led the LMP2 field during the race, the three of those having chosen to race on Dunlop tyres being at the front for 73 of the 109 laps. Wet tyres were initially the only option, but the final stages saw the rain cease and three Dunlop teams opted to progress to the intermediate tyre. Returning rain threatened to negate that advantage in the final minutes, but Aubry drove well to ultimately cross the line 13 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. The win on home ground, plus an additional point for pole position, moves the team to the top of the standings. Second in the rankings is Signatech Alpine Matmut which finished the race in third place. Fourth place was clinched by the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing car, with the team making it a 1-3 in the LMP2 title battle.
Mike McGregor, Dunlop Manager Testing & Track Support : « That was a difficult race for everyone – trying to cope with the weather conditions and factor in driver times and race strategy was very difficult with so many red flags and safety car periods. It was by no means a certain result and down to the last minutes could have easily not gone our way – a special mention must go to Gabriel Aubry for his great drive in worsening conditions. It’s a shame it ends our run after 17 WEC podium clean sweeps, with first and third, but that was a good competitive strategic race.
« It’s great for Jackie Chan DC Racing to get a first WEC win for the team, and China, on home ground and they deserve to be first and third in the championship having won four of the five SuperSeason rounds. It was certainly a very popular win here in China with the crowd. »
The next round of the FIA World Endurance Championship is the 1000 Miles of Sebring on 15th March.
2018 FIA World Endurance Championship Statistics (Bold = Dunlop)
Top 3 LMP2 Standings
1. #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing (Oreca – 112 points)
2. Signatech Alpine Matmut (Alpine – 102 points)
3. #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing (Oreca – 98 points)
2018 LMP2 race winners:
#38 Jackie Chan DC Racing (Oreca – Spa, Silverstone, Shanghai)
Signatech Alpine Matmut (Oreca – Le Mans)
#37 Jackie Chan DC Racing (Oreca – Fuji)
James Bailey,