Phil Hanson heads in to the New Year and the second half of his first full FIA World Endurance Championship season placed second in the LMP2 Driver’s standings after scoring his maiden WEC victory last weekend (14 Dec).
The 20-year-old, along with fellow Brit Paul Di Resta plus Filipe Albuquerque (POR), dominated the 8 Hours of Bahrain sportscar race (14 Dec) – having started from pole-position, the #22 United Oreca went on to win by over 21 secs and set the fastest race lap.
Driving for the Wakefield-based United Autosports team, the BRDC SuperStar was in scintillating form along with his team-mates, leading from start to finish in the 840-mile race around the 3.36-mile Bahrain International Circuit.
Hanson, third in the previous two races in Japan and China, now lies just three-points off the championship lead. The result marked Hanson’s fifth LMP2 career sports-prototype victory after previous success in the European and Asian Le Mans Series races. Round five of the WEC is staged at the Circuit of The Americas in Texas on 23 February.
Phil Hanson (GB): Born: London, England. Aged 20.
“This victory puts us in a great position in terms of the championship going in to the New Year. It was a textbook race, our Oreca was fast and faultless, we all drove a good race, while the strategy from the pits was spot on from start to finish. Starting from pole, winning the race and setting the fastest race lap does not get any better.
“It was great to finally get our first WEC win after being so close in previous races. I was happy with the way I drove and contributed to this victory. Time to get training and shift the focus on to another good result at CoTA.”
Source. Phil Hanson
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