The race for the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) LMP2 championship titles will go right down to the wire in Bahrain after Jackie Chan DC Racing x JOTA Sport faced one of its toughest challenges in the penultimate round of the season, with the #Mighty38 finishing fourth in front of its home fans at the 6 Hours of Shanghai. Cheering on Chinese driver Ho-Pin Tung as he brought home the #Mighty38 ORECA was team co-owner and Hollywood movie star Jackie Chan, who had the honour of waving the flag to start the race.
The grueling white-knuckle battle saw the #Mighty38 of Tung, Oliver Jarvis and Thomas Laurent fight for position throughout the race. Laurent got off to a strong start, but a few challenges in the opening laps dropped him back in the order. The 19-year old fought his way back up to fourth, before he handed the car to Tung. Tung set about moving his way to the front of the field and despite being hit by a rival following a clean overtake (for which the competitor was later penalised), the #Mighty38 took the LMP2 lead, with Jarvis then continuing to widen the gap to 30 seconds. But just as Tung took over driving duties, a second car made contact. While Tung recovered quickly (and the second incident was also penalised), the team’s hard-fought advantage had evaporated and the #Mighty38’s tyres were left with severe flat spots. While Tung fended off his rivals for the next half hour, he, despite his efforts, was forced to relinquish the lead to the team’s title rivals. In the closing stages, the #Mighty38 continued to push hard for a podium finish, but ultimately crossed the line in fourth.
The sister #FortuneCat37 ORECA of David Cheng, Tristan Gommendy and Alex Brundle also faced its fair share of challenges this weekend. Having started from the back of the LMP2 grid, the #FortuneCat37 made a strong start and quickly moved into podium contention early in the race. However, an incident dropped them down the order. A superb team effort saw them fight back, and their resolve will keep them in good stead as the Jackie Chan DC Racing x JOTA turns its full attention to the season finale in Bahrain in just two weeks’ time.
Jackie Chan DC Racing x JOTA Sport now lies second in the ultra-competitive LMP2 category, just four points behind their championship rivals. Having led the championship all season, the team is determined to regain the lead as it looks to make history as the first Chinese FIA WEC LMP2 champions. Drawing upon its experience, talent, ambition and gutsy determination, Jackie Chan DC Racing x JOTA Sport will need to be wheel perfect as they prepare for their toughest – and title deciding – race of the season.
Quotes
#37 David Cheng: “A disappointing result would be an understatement, given the pace we had this weekend and in front of our home crowd. The team did a great job to recover positions lost due to questionable driving standards by others. For us in the #37 it was even tougher. After qualifying in the back by only taking 1 set of tyres Tristan made a great start to avoid the chaos in front and we knew we were in a good place with the extra set of tyres we saved from qualifying. It was unfortunate that we had contact with two cars rejoining the track. But now going into the last race we are confident we have the pace to get the job done and that is what we will be focused on.”
#38 Ho-Pin Tung: “One of those races where we definitely didn’t get the result we deserved. Thomas was unlucky to be in the wrong place in the first lap but did well to avoid the incident in front of him. We dropped back but showed spirit and pace wise we fought our way to the front of the field into a commanding lead despite having been punted into a spin by the #24 car after a clean overtake. Chance for victory was ruined after contact with Nico Müller in the #26 G-Drive car, a guy who’s here on a one-off appearance, not in the championship; it’s frustrating. Although he was penalised for the incident, it left me with four tyres with severe flat spots. Considering the amount of damage to the tyres, I was surprised to still be able to fight with Senna and others until, in the end, I had to settle in order to make it to the end. It shows what could have been. A big hats off to everyone at Jackie Chan DC Racing x JOTA Sport who did a fantastic job the entire weekend. We are in the hunt now for the final round in Bahrain and it’s simple: we have to win and I believe we have all that’s necessary to do so.”
Rémy Brouard, Jackie Chan DC Racing x JOTA Sport: “It was a very challenging race. After a good start by Thomas Laurent from fourth on the grid, there were a few challenges over the first few laps. But Thomas brought the car back in fourth and he gave the car to Ho-Pin in very good condition. Ho-Pin made an incredible effort and together with Oliver, we retook the lead. It was a very good effort from Ho-Pin and Oliver and we were ahead by about 30 seconds when, just as Ho-Pin was back in the car, he was hit by a competitor, who closed the door on him from the outside in a way that was very dangerous and very fast. Unfortunately this completely destroyed the tyres. We changed two tyres, but unfortunately not all four and Ho-Pin had to finish the race with tyres that were completely destroyed. Unfortunately we’ve lost the lead in the championship, but we remain four points behind the leaders. Nothing is decided, but there are also no calculations to be made – if we win in Bahrain, we are world champions.”
David Clark, JOTA Sport: “This was one of the most challenging races of the year for us. We had the pace to win – we were leading in the middle of the race and I think we had an opportunity to win. One of the contributing factors today was the amount of contact, which we suffered from quite badly. The whole team did a fantastic job, but I think it was just one of those races that was not meant to be. We move now to Bahrain and we’re very focused, we’re very strong and the team is incredibly motivated. It’s been very close and competitive all season and we are fully ready for Bahrain, so bring it on!”
