WEC Spa
Jani explains fix for bizarre Porsche door problem while leading WEC Spa race
Neel Jani has explained how he fixed a bizarre problem with the door hatch on his Proton Competition Porsche 963 LMDh in Saturday's World Endurance Championship race at Spa.
James Newbold
Edited: May 13, 2024, 12:48 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
After taking over the race-leading car he shared with Julien Andlauer towards the end of the second hour, 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Jani struggled to get the door shut as he rejoined the track.
This continued for several laps as he circulated slowly under the virtual and then full safety car before eventually Jani succeeded.
Speaking after a spirited drive to finish fifth, Jani said: "I don’t know what happened with that door, it was like the mechanism somehow it got stuck and the door wouldn’t close anymore.
"In the end, I figured out that I had to pull the pin, pull the door, let the pin go and then it closes. But I had to first push it in with my finger."
Remarkably, it was not the first time the Swiss had experienced a door problem with a prototype in racing conditions. Jani believes he missed out on a podium at Le Mans in 2018 when driving Rebellion's ORECA-built R-13 LMP1 due to a loose door.
On that ocassion, the team was not confident it could be shut if opened again, which forced him into driving the final three hours solo and incurred two penalties for exceeding stint lengths as a result.
Photo by: Paul Foster
Asked by Motorsport.com if the problem was something he would talk to Porsche about to prevent a future recurrence, he replied: "Yeah we have to look at it mechanically.
"It’s too early for me to say what the problem in the end was, but clearly there was an issue.
"I had the same issue in Le Mans with the Rebellion and we lost the podium.
"Okay, it was only between P3 and P4 with the Rebellions [with Toyota taking an unchallenged 1-2] but it happened to me already once and it can happen, it does happen."
Jani joked that "I would have cried" if it had occurred under green due to the car's strong pace at Spa, "because afterwards we pulled away, and we actually were like 'okay, we’re back in the race here'".
Running third after being overtaken by the two factory Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercars, Jani was coming under pressure from Earl Bamber's Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh in the fifth hour when the Kiwi clipped Sean Gelael's WRT BMW M4 GT3 on the Kemmel Straight to send both cars crashing heavily into the barriers.
Pitting shortly before the resultant red flag vaulted the winning #12 Jota and #6 Penske Porsche Motorsport Porsches into unassailable positions following the restart, while Andlauer produced several eye-catching moves at the Eau Rouge/Raidillon complex to recover fifth behind the Ferraris.
Without the red flag, Jani was confident that "the podium for sure was ours".
"Would we have won? I don’t know," he said when asked if a victory was possible. "But for sure finished third, that is clear, it would have been between us and the Ferraris.
He later added: "In terms of pace, we would have deserved to win as well."
Read Also:
WECJota's victory in WEC Spa is "proof" of the 963 programme, says Porsche
WECLietz "had no idea" last-lap WEC Spa move was for LMGT3 victory
WECFerrari protest into WEC Spa result rejected
Watch: BrrrakeF1 - How IMSA use Advanced Data to Enforce the Rules
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Lietz "had no idea" last-lap WEC Spa move was for LMGT3 victory
Next article BMW hails WEC progress but "too many mistakes" remain
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
James Newbold
Did Audi ‘give up’ on GT3 too soon?
GT
Did Audi ‘give up’ on GT3 too soon?
Alex Zanardi’s top 10 moments
IndyCar
Alex Zanardi’s top 10 moments
More from
Neel Jani
Estre, Jani praise revisions to "fairer" Le Mans qualifying format
WEC
WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
Estre, Jani praise revisions to "fairer" Le Mans qualifying format
Daytona 24h: Derani unleashes track record to capture pole for Cadillac
IMSA
IMSA
Daytona 24 Hours
Daytona 24h: Derani unleashes track record to capture pole for Cadillac
Proton welcomes Mustang Sampling for 2024 IMSA Porsche 963
IMSA
IMSA
Daytona December testing
Proton welcomes Mustang Sampling for 2024 IMSA Porsche 963
More from
Porsche Team
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Pascal Wehrlein: Jaguar wanted to "destroy my race” in controversial London finale
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
Pascal Wehrlein: Jaguar wanted to "destroy my race” in controversial London finale
Pascal Wehrlein responds to Porsche’s team tactics after dominant London win
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix I
Pascal Wehrlein responds to Porsche’s team tactics after dominant London win
Latest news
Lamborghini World Finals PRO-PRO/AM Race 2: Leitch/Stasi dominate to seal title
Lamborghini Super Trofeo
LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo
World Finals - Monza 2026
24 min
Lamborghini World Finals PRO-PRO/AM Race 2: Leitch/Stasi dominate to seal title
Toto Wolff reveals he is actively vetting “two or three people” to replace him at Mercedes
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
41 min
Toto Wolff reveals he is actively vetting “two or three people” to replace him at Mercedes
Dakar Rally moves 2027 event out of Saudi Arabia; new location to be announced
Dakar
DAKR Dakar 1 h
Dakar Rally moves 2027 event out of Saudi Arabia; new location to be announced
Lamborghini World Finals AM-LC Race 2: Lewandowski wins again to seal title
Lamborghini Super Trofeo
LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo
World Finals - Monza 2026
1 h
Lamborghini World Finals AM-LC Race 2: Lewandowski wins again to seal title
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe