3rd Place and 5th Podium in a Row for RGR Sport in Shanghai

RGR Sport put up a miraculous fight for the entire 6 Hours of Shanghai to earn their 5th podium in a row with a 3rd place finish at the second to last round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Race day in Shanghai started in high spirits with dancing Chinese dragons and Actor, Jackie Chan gracing the grid walk ceremonies. Even with the sun shining bright, the fan filled grand stands cast a long cold shadow onto the front straight, which was also damp from it being cleaned that morning for the start of the race. Bruno Senna was first in the car, starting from the inside of the track in 5th position. Before the start, Senna expressed his concerns about how the tight rights of Turn 1 and Turn 2 might cause the outside of the field to have the advantage to gain positions. He was exactly right, and the #27 car of SMP Racing was able ride the flow of traffic and squeeze around Senna all while avoiding a spin from the #45 Manor car who was then hit by traffic and pulled from the race causing the release of the Safety Car on the first lap.

The first hour continued to be eventful after the yellow flag was lifted and Senna pursued the #27 car. The entire hour was a constant fight for the Brazilian as he worked through the twists and turns of Shanghai International Circuit to go for the pass around the SMP Racing machine who had just enough of the upper hand on the long straights to create a small gap each lap. Finally it was time for both cars to swap drivers and they entered the pits simultaneously. The drivers and RGR Sport crew delivered a stellar driver change and pit stop performance allowing Ricardo Gonzalez to exit the pit lane ahead of the #27 car. Gonzalez was put straight to work as he caught up to a battle between the #31 of ESM and the #37 of SMP. Both the #37 and Gonzalez were able to make their way around the #31 ESM car, piloted by Chris Cumming. Less than a lap later, Gonzalez finally put the #37 SMP car behind him, moving RGR Sport up to 5th place.

Hour two went by with a clean run from team owner, Gonzalez who did not hand over the car to Senna again until the top of the third hour. Half way through his stint, Senna caught up to Menezes, driver of the #36 Signatech Alpine. As a window opened to move around Menezes, Senna made contact with the rear of the #36 causing it to spin. The move was deemed unfit by race control and RGR Sport was given a drive through penalty. Senna served the penalty and was able to re-enter the race in 4th position and finished his stint with an impressive race pace.

Portuguese, Filipe Albuquerque sunk his teeth into the 6 Hours of Shanghai with just over two hours remaining. After moving up to 3rd with the pit stop strategy, the Portuguese driver ran the majority of the final hour and a half with the championship leader, #36 car of Signatech Alpine biting at his heels. The chess match of tires and fuel ensued throughout the two final pit stops as Albuquerque charged into the last twenty minutes of the race. Nicolas Lapierre kept his Signatech Alpine machine nose to tail with Albuquerque every moment leading up to the checkered flag where RGR Sport secured their 5th podium in a row.

With one race to go, RGR Sport will make the journey to Bahrain in less than two weeks time to defend their 2nd place position in the LMP2 Championship and conclude the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

Team Owner/Driver - Ricardo Gonzalez

“I’m happy with third place today, it’s another podium. This is our fifth podium in a row now. It was a tough race with tough competition, but that’s what the LMP2 category of the FIA World Endurance Championship is all about.”

Driver - Bruno Senna

“Third place is a fantastic result for us today, and another podium. We didn’t get everything we wanted today, but considering the difficulties we had, especially in the beginning of the race, so this is a very well deserved podium. Signatech Alpine has now won the race, so now the fight goes on to Bahrain with the #26 of GDrive. For sure Bahrain will be a tough race but I am looking forward to it.”

Driver - Filipe Albuquerque

“This was another crazy race. We lost a lot of time in the first stint behind the SMP car, which really hurt our race. From there on we just did our best and to be honest, I was not expecting to finish ahead of the Signatech Alpine. It was a good job from everyone, and I had a tough race fighting against Lapierre until the end of the race with him on my back waiting for me to make a mistake. My tires were really damaged, but in the end everything worked out. We took the third place, our fifth podium in a row, and we should all be very happy with that.”

Team Manager - Toni Calderon

“Another nerve racking race for us. This one was not as clean and straightforward as we have been used to having. All three drivers did a great job on such a tough track where it’s difficult to keep the tires working and to stay out of trouble. Clearly the drive-through penalty cost us, but it is what it is. We made more mistakes than we usually do, but you can’t have the perfect season.

The good thing is that even without a perfect race, we finished with our fifth podium in a row. We are happy with this result, which we need going into Bahrain since the championship is still pretty tight. We are looking forward to going there and finishing the season on a high note.”

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