Audi victors thank their lucky stars after “crazy race”
Audi’s winning drivers in the Six Hours of Spa have admitted their good luck at scooping the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Belgium.
Photo by: Vision Sport Agency
Lucas di Grassi, Loic Duval and Oliver Jarvis won the race by two laps, but admitted the good fortune of all of their factory LMP1 rivals suffering technical issues.
For di Grassi and Jarvis, it was their first ever victories in the series.
“You never forget your first victory, and definitely I won’t forget this one,” said di Grassi. “It was a crazy race. I worked very hard, we’ve been unlucky sometimes, and we never got to the right place – but we did today. I’m very proud of the job my two teammates made, and Audi Sport.
“Ours was the only car that endured the race without a major problem. That was the main reason why we won. Nevertheless, it doesn’t feel less tasty for that. I’m going to enjoy this victory very much.”
Duval added: “We’ve been through some really hard times together since last year, but we’ve definitely been lucky this weekend. I believe it’s well deserved, because we should have won before.
“In terms of performance, we were not where we wanted to be. We have to work on that for the next events. After the disappointment of Silverstone, it’s great to win again for Audi.”
Late garage visit “no panic”
The only time the Audi’s lead looked in danger in the closing stages was when it was pushed into the garage to adjust a rear bodywork issue, and fix a few sensors that had broken.
“No panics, we were just being safe,” said Jarvis, who had been warned by Duval that the car was not handling well.
“By the time I got into the car it was a case of bringing it home, which is a strange feeling with two and a half hours to go. For me, it was just taking no risks. It probably wasn’t the best racecar I’ve ever driven, but it wasn’t a disaster.
“It’s clear we didn’t have the performance this weekend compared to the Porsche or even the Toyota, but the car was reliable and that’s what endurance racing is all about.
“Now we’ve got to look forward to Le Mans, and try and improve the performance for there.”
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