For Robert Kubica and his AF Corse team-mates, the Austin victory is “great satisfaction” for the Le Mans failure, when the trio were in contention for victory until retirement
“Anything is possible in motorsport, and today’s victory proves it,” grins Robert Kubica, who won the 6 Hours of Austin (race report) together with his AF Corse team-mates Robert Schwarzman and Yifei Ye. The yellow customer Ferrari 83 not only prevailed against the two works Ferraris, but also against all other manufacturers
“The car was very fast right from the start, and when you have a good feeling for the car, everything else becomes easier,” grins the former Formula 1 driver, who has already had a sniff of a possible WEC victory this season: the trio battled for victory for a long time at the 24-hour race in Le Mans, but then retired with a technical defect just a few hours before the end.
“I think we can call it compensation for Le Mans,” admits Schwarzman. “That was a big loss for us; it hurt a lot. After our elimination at Le Mans, where we were a big competitor for so long, I’ve been waiting for a moment like this. “
“Today we finally made it ”
“We were hungry for this win and we finally got it here. When I stood on the podium, I felt a unique feeling,” said the Ferrari driver with wet eyes. “I would like to thank the whole team, who did a great job, and my team-mates, who were really strong. “
“A lot of things have to go right to win an endurance race,” says Kubica. “This year we’ve shown that we have a lot of potential, but for one reason or another we haven’t managed to realize it yet. Today we finally did it and were able to take away a great deal of satisfaction.”
“I am over the moon, today we have written a page of history for Ferrari and for our team,” beams Schwarzman. The special thing: For the first time in history, Ferrari won two races of a world championship on the same day, as the Italians also triumphed at the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix in Monza just a few hours earlier.
“Compensated for the bad luck at Le Mans ”
However, success in Austin was not a foregone conclusion, as Toyota in particular was breathing down the private Ferrari team’s neck. “The race was very difficult, Toyota was a really tough opponent and put a lot of pressure on us. But in the end, we managed to keep the lead,” said Schwarzman, without mentioning the controversial penalty against Toyota.
What is certain, however, is that Kubica and his team-mates put in a strong performance throughout the weekend. “We started the weekend in the best possible way by having a very good qualifying and the race was perfect, with no mistakes from the team and us drivers,” Ye recalls.
“We finally got our revenge for the unfortunate race at Le Mans: This success compensates us for so much effort and gives us confidence for the last two races of the season,” believes the Chinese driver, while team boss Gabriele Marazzi adds, ‘They fought until the chequered flag and took a well-deserved victory that compensated us for the bad luck at Le Mans. ’
