For the 6th time in 7 races competed in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the Swiss team received the chequered flag in the final round of the 2015 season. The 7th position in the LMP2 class was enough for the team to wrap up the first WEC campaign in the 5th position in the LMP2 final standings.
After the two previous rounds in Japan and China, Benoit Morand and his « guys » travelled from the Far East to the Middle East, reaching the kingdom of Bahrain for the season’s finale. After the three practice sessions on Thursday and Friday, the #43 Morgan EVO SARD driven by Oliver Webb, Pierre Ragues and Chris Cumming confirmed their position in the LMP2 top 5 by qualifying in 5th position.
On Saturday, Oliver Webb started the race. He completed the first lap in 8th position and 50 minutes of racing were necessary to get back in the top 5 of the LMP2 class. The British driver was 6th when he handed over to Chris Cumming after 90 minutes of racing. Cumming maintained this position until mid-race, when time came for Pierre Ragues to take the wheel. Half an hour later the Frenchman unfortunately ran off the track further to a technical issue and hit the wall at the end of the pit straight. He could nurse the « good old » Morgan back to the pits and came back to the track in P7. This was the car’s final position when Webb received the chequered flag after completing the last 90 minutes of the 2015 season. Despite this difficult race, the first season of TEAM SARD MORAND in the WEC is satisfactory. The Swiss team scored points in 6 races (with only one DNF) to finish fifth in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 teams.
Cyrille Dabin (race engineer): « We took the best out of the Morgan. It is an old-generation prototype, but it is very reliable. Once again the team demonstrated its expertise when the car had to be fixed after Pierre’s runoff. We managed to finish the race and we secured the fifth position in the final standings of the class. This first WEC season was difficult indeed, especially regarding the organization, since entering a world championship is a huge challenge. From a human point of view, we certainly have one of the best crews in the paddock. »
Duka Gervalla (partner in team with Benoit Morand): « This was quite an eventful season, with ups and downs. The team worked flawlessly through the whole year, and the Morgan was consistent and reliable. We are really happy we could make it up to the end of the season and finish in the top 5 of the LMP2 final standings. »
Benoit Morand, the Team Manager’s final word: « Our first goal was to secure our fifth position in the LMP2 standings, and I am glad we could make it, even if we lacked pace for a top 5 finish at Bahrain. In race we blew a brake disc, and I would like to pay tribute to the guys who changed it in 5 minutes. The WEC really is a great championship, with a top-class organization, and we proved that we belonged here through the whole season. Now we are going to work and we will come back even stronger next year. »
Press release Team Sard Morand
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