A Tough 6 Hours of Fuji Leads to Final Push for Bahrain

For the seventh round of the WEC calendar, James and some of the DK team touched down in Japan in above average, scorching heat and humidity. James was joined by his wife Frida Cottingham, his father David Cottingham, the trio spent a few days in central Tokyo to acclimatise and a few days later were joined by Luke Gilbertson and Jordan Batson.

While the DK team have been in Japan, they have been meeting up with clients and contacts, whilst forming new relationships across the country. The first stop for the team and David was to be reunited after 23 years with Naito-san of Naito Engineering, who have been buying and selling cars together with DK for over four decades.

After days of exploring the vast and endlessly fascinating country, the DK team headed to Fuji for round six of the FIA World Endurance Championship for the 6-hour race.

Starting off the race from P5 was James Cottingham in the #59 McLaren LMGT3 Evo who later in the race handed over to Nicolas Costa after his first stint in an attempt to optimise performance in cockpit temperatures verging on 50°C. Together, Costa and Gregoire Saucy built up a healthy gap, handing the McLaren back to Cottingham in the fourth hour who maintained P4 in a competitive field of Gold and Platinum drivers.

Moving up in the pack, Costa and Saucy managed to hold P1 until the final stages, but without fresh tyres to defend their position, the #59 rapidly lost ground in the last half hour, ultimately finishing in eighth place.

While the final standings were not what the team had hoped for, the race offered valuable experience and underscored the resilience and capability of both cars in a demanding endurance racing environment. Of course, the DK family and team were supporting James in full force in the pits despite the outcome.

James Cottingham: “I was really pleased with the start and my first stint. I got into a good rhythm and felt like I had great pace. I did my best to try and maintain P2, only losing one place to P3 right at the end of my first stint … the heat was getting the better of me and I was making mistakes, so it seemed to be the right thing to do to take a break. When I got out of the car, I was very relieved for that. In my second stint, I did my best to hold position in a field of Pros. We had a FCY infringement which was a lesson learnt. We drove a great race between the three of us … we just lost out on tyre strategy at the end, down to luck and the way the FCY and Safety Car unfolded. Once again as a team - the #59 car, United Autosports and McLaren – we’ve shown that we are competitive, leading a large part of the race. It’s such a shame we came away with nothing. But it puts us in good stead for the final race in Bahrain where hopefully we can put it right and finally get on that podium.”

The season is not over yet; one final race remains for the team to conquer. The 8 Hours of Bahrain on the 2nd of November offers James and his teammates their last opportunity to secure that sought after pole position.