WEC COTA Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***With WEC sharing the weekend with ALMS, it resulted a unique pit lane approach, which had seen WEC teams work from a pit wall and share space with their American counterparts through Saturday. The pit wall was removed following the ALMS race, bringing the pit lane back to normal conditions for the globe-trotting teams.

***The No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia has been rebuilt following its inferno at Interlagos earlier this month. The car was air-freighted to Maranello immediately after for repairs and arrived at the track on Wednesday, looking brand-new.

***Toyota’s TS030 Hybrid, which suffered an accident in Brazil, is sporting a new tub this weekend. The team built up an entire new car on-site at Interlagos before the air freight to the U.S. It’s understood the tub originated from the No. 7 car which ran most recently at Le Mans.

***Aston Martin Racing’s No. 99 Vantage V8 is one of two GTE cars carrying new colors this weekend, as Texas-based oil company Valero has sponsored the Fred Makowiecki and Bruno Senna-driven entry. The duo qualified on pole on Saturday.

***The GTE-Am championship-contending No. 96 Aston Martin is again without gentleman racer Roald Goethe. Co-drivers Jamie Campbell-Walter and Silver-rated pilot Stuart Hall claimed class victory last time out in Brazil.

***OAK Racing’s David Heinemeier Hansson got his first taste of a GTE-spec car when he turned a few laps in the No. 95 Aston Martin in Thursday’s WEC test. DHH is one of four drivers pulling double duty between ALMS and WEC races this weekend.

***While the WEC will remain with an eight-round championship next year, series boss Gerard Neveu has hinted at a possible expansion for 2015, should worldwide economic conditions improve.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John