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Tincknell, Priaulx Score GTE-Pro Win in Shanghai

Harry Tincknell, Andy Priaulx score second GTE-Pro win of season in 6H Shanghai…

Photo: Ford Chip Ganassi Racing

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing’s Harry Tincknell and Andy Priaulx secured their second GTE-Pro class win of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Sunday’s Six Hours of Shanghai, closing the points gap in the GT Drivers’ World Championship.

Ferrari, meanwhile, wrapped up the GT World Manufacturers’ Championship with a third-place class finish.

Tincknell held off Richard Lietz in the closing stages which saw a battle between both Ford GTs and the No. 91 Porsche 911 RSR for most of the race.

The Englishman remained out front despite a late-race pit stop to take the No. 67 Ford to its second win of the season and first since the season-opener at Silverstone.

Priaulx took the class lead shortly after the halfway point, passing the No. 91 Porsche of Fred Makowiecki. Ford teammate Stefan Muecke had led the class previously, despite losing time with a loose door early on. 

Lietz later lost time after colliding with Jose Maria Lopez’s Toyota, battling for the outright win, giving the Porsche a rear-right puncture.

He pitted with 35 minutes remaining with the rest of the class’ frontrunners following, while Tincknell remained on track for another ten minutes.

The Ford made a late stop for fuel and all four Michelin tires and exited the pits less than ten seconds ahead of Lietz’s Porsche and remained out front for the remainder of the race to cross the line in first.

Lietz finished second while Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado completed the podium after a strong recovery drive from the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE, which dropped to the back of the pack in the first hour after starting on old tires.

The third place result, however, was enough for the Italian manufacturer to clinch the title one race early. 

Olivier Pla and Muecke could only manage a fourth-place class finish despite running in the lead earlier in the race, while the No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE, which started from class pole, came home fifth.

Kevin Estre led the opening hour but an engine failure curtailed the No. 92 Porsche’s race after just 65 laps.

Aston Martin Racing dominated the GTE-Am category with its No. 98 car of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda to take the British manufacturer’s 50th class win since the team’s inception in 2004.

The Aston Martin started on class pole and remained out front for the entire race, finishing ahead of the Gulf Racing Porsche in second.

The Ben Barker, Khaled Al Qubaisi and Nick Foster-driven Porsche benefitted from an early-race three-car incident involving both the No. 54 Spirit of Race and No. 61 Clearwater Racing Ferraris, which knocked the Swiss-entered Prancing Horse out of the race.

RESULTS: 6H Shanghai

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.

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