The opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) saw KC Motorgroup Ltd. (KCMG) earn its first podium finish with the #47 Oreca 03 – Nissan at Silverstone Circuit. Represented by Richard Bradley, Matt Howson and Tsugio Matsuda, the Chinese LMP2 squad rounded off the shortened 6 Hours of Silverstone in second place after fighting a race-long battle for victory in the LMP2 category in torrential conditions.
KCMG came to the World Championship’s opening round in top form and consistently delivered strong results at Silverstone’s legendary F1 circuit throughout the race weekend. In dry conditions, the team qualified second in class with the 4-lap average set by Tsugio Matsuda and Richard Bradley on Saturday.
The 6 Hours of Silverstone was held in variable conditions, with Matsuda starting from 10th place on the grid. The opening 2 hours saw the Japanese driver climb the leaderboard and take the lead from G-Drive Racing’s Olivier Pla. A quick pitstop to change tyres cost the team its advantage. However, Matsuda regained the top LMP2 position, setting the team’s fastest lap shortly after rejoining the race and maintained a comfortable gap to the #26 Morgan until the end of his stint.
After the two-hour mark, Matt Howson took over the #47 LMP2 shod with slicks and went on to a harrowing battle with Julien Canal for 1st position. The British driver steadily held off opposition and led the class with a 2 second gap to the #26 LMP2 as the race entered the four-hour mark. Unfortunately, the team was handed a 10 second stop-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane during Howson’s second stop and lost the lead.
Weather conditions at Silverstone only worsened as the race progressed. Heavy rain loomed as Richard Bradley took the wheel of KCMG’s blue and white Oreca 03. After a safety car period and serving the 10-second stop-go penalty, Bradley rejoined the race in second position and hunted down the #26 Morgan in the wet to once again challenge for the LMP2 lead.
The race was red flagged halfway through the final hour due to the torrential downpour and standing water on the circuit. FIA WEC Race Director Eduardo Freitas finally signaled the end of the 6 Hours of Silverstone to ensure the safety of the competitors, with 26 minutes left on the clock.
Richard Bradley, KCMG WEC Driver: “After 6 hours of physical and mental challenge we finished the 6 hours of Silverstone in 2nd place. We led by over a minute for 3 hours but unfortunately, a safety car took away our lead and a penalty meant we weren’t able to take the win. Nevertheless, I am very happy with the team’s performance. It was a fantastic race battling right to the end and I am happy we put on a good show in my home race. I think we can be happy with our speed and have shown we are here to win.”
Matt Howson, KCMG WEC Driver: “That was as tough as endurance racing can get, with changeable conditions and pressure from main rivals G-Drive throughout the race. Matsuda drove brilliantly to build a minute lead, which I maintained until the safety car was deployed and after some odd events that left me fighting on worn tyres against G-Drive on new. I had a great battle to stay first, and Richard went in pursuit to regain the lead. Unfortunately, a penalty put pay to our winning charge. Great effort by all at KCMG! We are fully motivated for Spa and know we can challenge for the win again!”
Tsugio Matsuda, KCMG WEC Driver: “It was a great experience to be racing in a new environment and I was happy to have been able to secure a front row start for the team – more so, grabbing the lead and maintaining a good gap to our competitor. It was unfortunate that we were handed a 10 second penalty but a podium finish in WEC’s first round is a good result and everyone in the team did an excellent job. I would like to thank Paul Ip and Ryuji Doi for this opportunity. Also, sincere thanks to Japan J – Sports and to all of my fans who followed the race from home. I will be back with the team in WEC’s fourth round and hopefully, we’ll be on the top step of the podium in Austin.”
Paul Ip, KCMG Managing Director: “First of all, I would like to commend everyone in the team for doing an outstanding job over the weekend. Well done to Richard, Matt and Tsugio for earning us the second spot on the podium in WEC’s first round. It would have been sweeter if we secured the top spot, but this weekend’s result serves as a signal that we are tough competition for the LMP2 title this year and we will only go from strength to strength.”
The second six-hour round of the FIA World Endurance Championship will be held at Spa-Francorchamps on May 3.
For more information about KCMG, visit www.kcmg.com.hk. To keep track of latest updates, please like KCMG’s Facebook page or follow @KCMotorgroup on Twitter and Instagram.
Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey
