Darren Leung has described the No. 32 Team WRT BMW’s LMGT3 class victory in the 6 Hours of Fuji as “massive” in consideration of the team’s struggles this year, as he, Augusto Farfus and Sean Gelael emerged on top in a chaotic race.
At the end of race that was decided in the final 20 minutes following the fourth and final safety car intervention of the race, the No. 32 car went from sixth to first in the hands of Farfus, who was boosted by having fresh tires in the tricky conditions.
The breakthrough result comes amid a difficult season for the trio, whose best result prior to this weekend was a fifth-place finish in the season opener at Imola.
It marks Leung’s third LMGT3 success and his first since last year’s Lone Star Le Mans, when he was part of the winning United Autosports McLaren crew.
“It’s massive, really, because we’ve had an absolute rotter of a championship this year,” Leung said. “And so the bar was just then moved to ‘we just need a result.’
“So I was pretty proud of the fact that we were able to grind out a result based on merit from what everybody did. We overcame quite a lot of bad luck.”
“It means everything. It’d have been real sickening not to get a result this year after all the work that was being put in.”
Leung enjoyed a strong opening phase of the race before handing over the No. 32 crew to Gelael, moving up from 14th on the grid to third in the opening hour after avoiding the carnage at Turn 1 that claimed several fancied LMGT3 runners.
But it remained unclear what position the No. 32 car would be ultimately be fighting for as a split emerged between the runners that kept their Bronze drivers in for the full first two stints, and those that changed early, which included Leung.
“Because the conditions were really mixed at the start, that’s where generally, I’m happiest versus some of the other competitors,” he said. “It was just about picking the lines that I could be brave on and just kind of getting it sent, really.
“I think it’s the most positions I’ve gained in a WEC race so far. So I was pretty pleased.”
On the call to cut short his stint, Leung added: “That put us off strategy versus some other guys and that bit us twice in the race. It was a bit unlucky. When you’re off strategy, not every intervention goes against you, but it seemed like every one did.”
“At that time, it was pretty painful to be honest, but we’ve just had so much heartache this year, I feel like I’m just like a well-weathered machine on that front.”
Farfus had to pull of a string of overtakes to secure the win, making the winning move on Charlie Eastwood’s No. 34 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R at Turn 6.
The Brazilian driver admitted he had to get creative given the M4 GT3 EVO’s lack of straight line speed and described it as one of his best-ever stints.
“I had the tire advantage against some of the cars ahead, but the pit stop was very chaotic,” recalled Farfus of the crucial closing stages.
“The safety car took longer than expected, I wanted to go racing, at a certain point I thought the race would end [with the order] the way it was, very disappointed. Finally it went green and I knew I had to make the most of my new tires.”
“I didn’t have a fast car on the straights; I didn’t ever make a move into Turn 1 because we were not able to draft people. Some of the moves were spicy, but this is racing. You need to go for the move when there is a gap.”
“I think it was one of the finest stints I did in my career. It was slippery, it was the kind of conditions I like, not fully dry, it’s when I feel I’m at my best.”
Farfus escaped an investigation for his pass on the No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 EVO of Sebastian Priaulx.
