Fourth Place Finish for
Tequila Patrón ESM
at Fuji

Fuji, Japan – Oct. 11, 2015 – It was a wet and wild Sunday in the shadows of Mount Fuji during the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) 6 Hours of Fuji. The race started with the safety car leading the first 45 minutes due to heavy rain and ended under dry conditions as the Tequila Patrón ESM team tied its best result of the season with a fourth-place finish.

Scott Sharp, Ryan Dalziel and David Heinemeier Hansson, co-drivers of the No. 30 Tequila Patrón ESM earned their second consecutive fourth-place finish in WEC competition. The trio finished fourth at the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas last month.

Ed Brown, Johannes van Overbeek and Jon Fogarty, co-drivers of the No. 31 Tequila Patrón ESM finished seventh in today’s race.

Managing the ever-changing track conditions and tire strategies were the keys to a successful race. The Florida-based team was forced to alter their strategy throughout the race because of heavy rain at the start, full course cautions and then eventually dry conditions. Finding the right balance of set-up, tire and race pace was a constant challenge as conditions changed as quickly as the weather.

The No. 30 team found pace mid-race when it opted for intermediate tires. Dalziel and Sharp set some fast laps, but ran out of time in the race. In the end, they found the right combination, establishing a pace comparable with the leaders and rebounded from last place. In the course of the six-hour race, the No. 30 team went from last to fourth.

The No. 31 team was finding its rhythm during the race, but ran into some bad luck. An off-track mid-race set the team back in the field playing catch-up for the balance of the race. In the end, the team found solid pace en-route to seventh place.

The 2015 FIA WEC season has been a learning year for Tequila Patrón ESM. The majority of the world-class venues are new to the team, in addition to the Honda-powered Ligier JS P2 machine, the team’s third chassis this season.

Fuji International Speedway was another new circuit for the team. A new, challenging venue with ever-changing track conditions provided the ideal opportunity for the team to apply different race strategies.