[31-10-2016]
PIERRE RAGUES SEEKS CHINESE FORTUNE IN 6H SHANGHAI
 French endurance racer Pierre Ragues will continue his FIA World Endurance Championship charge in this weekend’s 6 Hours of Shanghai, the penultimate round of the 2016 season.
Round eight of the year’s nine WEC events will see Pierre return to familiar ground as he has competed in Shanghai several times since its first inclusion in the WEC in 2012.
The 16-turn 5.451km track is one of the most recognised venues on the calendar thanks to its striking infrastructure and unique circuit layout. The first corner is a tight almost 360-degree sequence that seemingly never ends. Pierre finished fourth in last year’s 6 Hours of Shanghai in a rain-affected race but this year’s event will be his debut at the track in GTE-Am.
Once again joining the Larbre Competition team in the #50 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, Pierre will be targeting his fifth podium of the season. The Frenchman will be hoping to help the team to improve upon its current fourth position in the GTE-Am Manufacturers’ Championship with two rounds of the 2016 WEC season remaining.
Pierre showed his potential around Fuji Speedway in October in which the team was unfortunate not to fight for the podium positions. That’s something that Pierre – with support from his partners GroupAuto, Sparco and Ellip6 – will try to put right this weekend.
Pierre commented: “China is a great track and fun to drive, so I am looking forward to putting our Corvette through its paces this weekend. We know the car is capable of fighting at the front, so our target is on making a return to the podium. It’s a track I know well from past seasons. I raced in Shanghai during its first appearance on the WEC calendar in 2012 but this year will be my first taste of the circuit in GTE-Am. We are entering the final phase of the season with Shanghai and Bahrain remaining on the calendar, so we have to pull out the stops in our Championship assault. We want to move into the top-three in the Manufacturers’, while I also want to improve my position in the Drivers’ – I am sure we will have the pace and the performance to do that this weekend.”
Schedule
Friday 4 November
10:00-11:30 Free Practice 1
15:30-17:00 Free Practice 2
Saturday 5 November
09:00-10:00 Free Practice 3
13:30-13:50 Qualifying GTE
Sunday 6 November
11:00-17:00 6 Hours of Shanghai
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