Five talking points from a week in motorsport

Toyota beaten in World Endurance Championship

We’ve heard it all before about rules breaks for privateers designed to help them compete with factory teams in the World Endurance Championship, but usually the big-budget hybrids always maintain a significant edge. Not this time.

At the Shanghai 4 Hours on Sunday, history was made as Rebellion Racing scored the first on-the-road overall victory for a privateer in a WEC race when it comprehensively defeated the formerly dominant Toyota team in China.

A success handicapping system affecting hybrid power usage, fuel flow and fuel restrictor size docked the Toyota TS050s nearly three seconds per lap in Shanghai – which was more than enough to make them beatable.

The non-hybrid Rebellion had proven quicker than fellow privateer Ginetta and the two Toyotas in practice and took pole position, too. But at the rolling start Norman Nato was sluggish down the straight and dropped to the back of the LMP1 class and even behind the leading LMP2 runners.

But Gustavo Menezes made good progress in the Rebellion, aided by drive-through penalties for the #7 Toyota and the pair of Team LNT Ginettas for jumping the start. He then passed Sebastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota for the lead. Bruno Senna took over around mid-distance to safely deliver a famous victory – and it wasn’t even close. The Toyota was more than a minute down on the Rebellion at the flag.

It’s a huge result for Rebellion, which won the Silverstone race last year but only after a post-race Toyota disqualification. But it’s arguably even bigger for the WEC as a whole, given how tough things have been for the series since both Porsche and Audi withdrew from the top class. Toyota has been untouchable in what has essentially been a one-horse race.

Critics will look at the artificial means by which this result was manufactured, and Toyota will surely bristle at being pegged back by such a large amount. But in the final season for the LMP1 class before the new hypercar rules are introduced for 2020-21, at least there is now a degree of unpredictability in world sportscar racing’s top category – even if the WEC remains a shadow of what it was during the glory years of Porsche vs Audi vs Toyota.

Ingram first European rally champion since Elford

In rallying, fierce forest fires in New South Wales are threatening the cancellation of the World Rally Championship season finale in Australia this week. But back in Europe on Sunday, Chris Ingram successfully completed his bid to become the first British European Rally Champion since Vic Elford in 1967 with a nail-biting fourth place on Rally Hungary.

He and Toksport WRT Skoda co-driver Ross Whittock started the rally with a 19-point advantage at the top of the standings. The pair were running third heading into the final stage, only for a puncture to cost them a place. But title rival and reigning champion Alexey Lukyanuk, who was leading the rally, also suffered a puncture and lost his lead. That meant Ingram and Whittock were crowned champions by just nine points.

Elford, until now the only Brit to have won the ERC, was cheering on Ingram and avidly following his progress from his home in Florida. The legendary 84-year-old was one of motorsport’s great all-rounders during the late 1960s and early ’70s – but despite his successes in sports car racing and grand prix starts in Formula 1, rallying was and still remains his first love.

All eyes on Ferrari in Brazil

Lewis Hamilton might already be Formula 1 World Champion for a sixth time, but the Brazilian Grand Prix will still have plenty to keep us hooked next weekend.

The build-up in the next few days might well be dominated by further speculation regarding Ferrari’s drop in pace at the US Grand Prix. That Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel seemingly lost their edge in Austin following a rules directive on fuel flow regulations the team had alleged to have exploited, has left Ferrari facing awkward questions. Will the reds be back on top at Interlagos, just as it has been on pure pace since the Belgian GP in August? Or has it now lost the key to what made it so quick? We’ll soon find out.

Meanwhile in the midfield, Carlos Sainz and McLaren will hope to consolidate their positions at the head of F1’s unofficial ‘class B’. Renault lags 28 points behind McLaren in the constructors’ standings, but is 18 points ahead of sixth-placed Racing Point, which in turn is only a single point ahead of Toro Rosso.

Just one more race, in Abu Dhabi, is to follow, and for these teams there are millions of dollars at stake if any one of them can gain a position or – heaven forbid – drop one in these final battles of 2019.

Ticktum aims for Macau hat-trick

We also look forward next weekend to the Macau Grand Prix, one of the most exotic and exciting highlights of the motor racing season.

Briton Dan Ticktum is aiming for write a special chapter of history by becoming the first to win a hat-trick of victories in the headlining Formula 3 Grand Prix, having won for the previous two years. And the achievement would have added significance, given the difficult year Ticktum has endured.

Previously tipped as a Red Bull F1 driver of the near future, early in the season he was sacked from his Super Formula drive in Japan and lost his place on the energy drink company’s famous young driver drive programme. Victory in Macau would send a message loud and clear to the motor racing world that this is a talent that shouldn’t go to waste. 

Guerrieri vs Michelisz in World Touring Cars

Beyond the F3 race, the World Touring Car Cup will also feature in Macau as Rob Huff bids to become the first driver to win 10 races around the famous street track.

The Briton isn’t a contender for the title, but can never be discounted around the Ghia circuit – although he’ll be keen to avoid having any negative influence on the battle at the top of the standings.

Honda driver Esteban Guerrieri gained the points lead, lost it, then snatched it back again from Hyundai’s Norbert Michelisz last time out at Suzuka. The pair are separated by just six points heading into the penultimate three-race round in Macau – and fortunes on the street circuit casino will likely prove vital to the destiny of the title before the series finale in Malaysia next month. Time to roll the dice.