HANSON CLAIMS THIRD CONSECUTIVE WEC VICTORY

Phil Hanson scored his third consecutive FIA World Endurance Championship LMP2 victory to extend his series lead last Saturday (15 Aug). Hanson, along with Filipe Albuquerque – who ties with him in the points standings – and Paul Di Resta, were victorious at Spa in Belgium as the championship resumed after a six-month break due to the Coronavirus. Hanson’s win came six days after the young Briton and Albuquerque won the four-hour European Le Mans Series race to now lead that series.

Phil combined to earn United Autosports a second WEC pole-position with Di Resta, the team’s third LMP2 pole in a row and their second pole at Spa in as many weeks, with Albuquerque starting the race in heavy rain. Hanson took over with two hours and 45 minutes gone under Safety Car conditions and at the halfway stage, lay second. He pitted for slick tyres/ fuel and led with just over 90mins remaining before pitting to Di Resta.

Phil’s next race is at Paul Ricard in France (28-29 Aug) prior to the Le Mans 24 Hours next month.

Phil recalls: “It was a really tricky race with the conditions. I was in for the second half of the torrential rain under safety car and then the restart, and then all the way to nearly bone dry conditions. So, I got a fair bulk of the bad conditions. I knew what I had to do this weekend and that was to maximise points so I knew I had to take a margin. As soon as it dried I think I was as quick as anyone, but I had been extra cautious, especially as I saw other cars making mistakes in those conditions. But I managed to hand the car over in one piece and in a good position, knowing the other teams still had to put their slower drivers in. On the whole, it has been a very good weekend to top off a very good two weeks with two poles and two wins and leading both the ELMS and WEC championships.”