Habsburg, alongside teammates Rui Andrade and Norman Nato had a strong start to the FIA World Endurance Championship season with back-to-back podium finishes at Sebring and Spa but fell short of a win so far.
Habsburg was chosen to qualify the car for the 6H race and the 25-year-old Austrian delivered the third-fastest time in the highly competitive LMP2 field.
Rui took the start in the 38-car-strong grid and the young Angolan made a superb getaway, moving up to second place in the opening lap. Even though he found himself in a challenging situation, having to fend off the attacks from much more experienced, Gold-rated drivers, he held his ground and passed the wheel to Ferdinand in P4.
The REMUS Performance Sport Exhausts supported Austrian, who claimed his maiden FIA WEC podium at last year’s 6H of Monza went on a sensational charge, driving the race of his life. First, he passed former teammate Charles Milesi and after pulling a spectacular move on LMP2 class leader Filipe Albuquerque in a three-way battle into the first chicane, he found himself in P1.
Norman picked up right where Ferdinand left off, keeping his foot within the top 5. Besides the drivers’ cracking performance, the team behind the pit wall did an equally terrific job, nailing the tyre strategy and the pit stops.
Ferdinand took the reins for the final stage of the race and regained the lead right when it mattered, steering the AVL-supported Oreca into the team’s maiden FIA WEC victory.
This marks Ferdinand’s fourth win in the pinnacle of sportscar racing and puts him into P3 in the championship with two more rounds to go and 63 points up for grabs.
Ferdinand Habsburg:
“It was just awesome. Everything worked out perfectly. Thanks to every single member of our team. Two days ago they pulled an all-nighter to fix the car and were back at 6 am for pit stop practice and this dedication and fighting spirit is the reason we won today. We were quick and made no mistakes. On the last safety car, they told me: “You need to overtake four cars in front and you have two stints to do it” And I thought easier said than done! I put my head down and really focused on making zero mistakes and thankfully we won.”
The 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship season continues with the 6 Hours of Fuji on 10-11th September
