Toyota maintained its winning streak during the second round of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Series at Spa Francorchamp yesterday. It was during the 6 Hours of Spa that Toyota Racing’s No.8 TS040 Hybrid piloted by Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Nicolas Lapierre took the win. This was their second consecutive win after earning the first win in the season opener in Silverstone.
Audi managed to finish second with the No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, but it was Toyota again with the No.7 car who took the final spot on the podium, overall and in the LMP1 category. The win was a boost for Toyota as they extend their lead in the manufacturer’s standings with a total of 86 points with Porsche coming second with 36 points, Audi is third with 28 points. The crew of the No.8 Toyota TS040 leads in the drivers’ standings with 50 points.
Ferrari was the other dominant force in the race after scooping both wins from the LMGTE categories; that is the Amateur and Pro classes. Both wins went to AF Corse team, with the 2013 GTE World Champion Gianmaria Bruni winning the LMGTE-Pro class in the No.51 Ferrari 458 Italia while the No.61 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Marco Cioci, Mirko Venturi and Luis Perez-Companc took the LMGTE-Am class win.
The No.91 Porsche Team Manthey 911 RSR prevented Ferrari from achieving a 1-2 finish in the Pro class by finishing second, placing the No.71 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia into third. The No.97 and 99 Aston Martin Vantage V8s finished in the top five in LMGTE-Pro. While Aston Martin was not lucky in the Pro class, they managed to finish in second and third in the LMGTE-Am class with the No.95 and 98 cars.
The next race in the season is the 24 Hours of Le Mans on on June 14/15. The 6 Hours of Spa is normally considered as the rehearsal for Le Mans.
