Christoffer Nygaard leads LM GTE Am. If Aston Martin could win, there'd be a great tribute in store to their fallen team mate, Allan Simonsen. Aston Martin is running well. They have renewed focus, but still have the pain of Allan's death. Kazuki Nakajima is running very well in the Toyota as we watch the #47 KCMG car make a pit stop. Alexander Imperatori, Richard Bradley, and the driver currently in the car, Matthew Howson. These pit stops are much slower than the Tudor Championship of course, where you can have four tires and four air guns.
Spencer Pumpelly had a long brake pedal, and now, there's a brake change on the Ferrari. Bleed the brakes, and make sure there's no air in the system or the brake lines. Pumpelly remains behind the wheel. The last thing you want is brake problem as you have to change rotors, calipers, and brake pads. We have just over eighteen hours remaining. We expect rain and race changes. Things are starting to settle down. Audi has lost their one bullet. But, Porsche and Toyota are also in recovery mode. Audi has a slight edge, still. Lucas di Grassi is running his fourth tire stint.
It's fun to watch the 1,000 horsepower hybrids. But, we've got five makes in the top five in LM GTE Pro. They are better suited for the water. The darkness is coming, since they are slower. They have to deal with the headlights of the prototypes, coming up behind them, driving in the dark, fast, along these country roads. Brendon Hartley has gone off at Arnage. But, he's going to have a lot of trouble backing up. Toyota still leads this race with the Signatech Alpine leading LMP2 and the Aston Martin's covering both GT classes. Brendon Hartley pits, and hands the Porsche over to Mark Webber. The car is being refueled, and will get fresh Michelin tires.
The #95 Aston Martin makes a pit stop. We have seen a lot of spins in the previous hour. We watch
the Corvette pass on of the factory Porsche's, and also see the #79 Porsche head back to the garage as we're working the seventh hour. The #2 Audi of Benoit Treluyer continues to lead while the sister car pulls into pit lane in the hands of Lucas di Grassi. Marc Gene will replace Lucas di Grassi as the car gets new tires. The old ones, had four stints on them, as we look at twilight at Le Mans. They've run 13 lap stints, which is 52 laps total. That's a long way. Almost 450 miles!
Le Mans is at 48 degrees north. The light fades with a slowness, and it's leisurely. The spectators have fun. But the driver hopes that the setting sun won't blind him as he continues racing. Loic Duval is OK, even though he's not racing. Marc Gene has taken over from Lucas di Grassi. The tires are still on the car. This is Marc Gene's first tie in an Audi. Oh no! Another big wreck. This is coming to the Ford Chicane. This is the #47 KCMG car of Alexandre Imperatori. Something had to break on the car.
The #2 Audi is back in. Same for Toyota. Marcel Fassler will take over the Audi. Now, the safety car will reappear. Again, the driver change can happen during refueling, but nothing else, unlike the Tudor United Sports Car Championship. A spectator's glasses fell to the pit lane, as the #98 Aston Martin spins with Paul Dalla Lana spins. This is our third safety car period. The #47 car is out of this race. He lost control and then, the right rear suspension broke due to the load in the corner. That was a mechanical failure, pure and simple.
There's three safety cars, and you need luck so you don't get split. Corvette has been caught by the second safety car, and the safety car does not let them by. You could be right on someone's gearbox and it costs you almost a lap. Funny why they don't just let the cars loose from behind the three safety cars, in sequence around the track. It's starting to get dark. The TV cameras make it look a lot lighter than it is. Now, what is there to eat in the pit lane? It's a piece of bread shaped like a baseball, baked by driver Dominik Kraihamer's dad, who is a baker.
What do you fuel up on in a 24 hour race like Le Mans? Baseball shaped baguettes of course! The Dempsey Racing Porsche pits. The sunlight fades. Note the different colored headlights so you know who is coming. Prototypes have white headlights. GT cars have yellow or amber headlights. Aston Martin leads GTE Pro and runs 1-2 in GTE Am. A Ferrari runs wide at Arnage... again. We'v discussed the Balance of Performance, and it looks like Aston Martin has good pace as we watch from the helicopter camera. Car #88 pits.
This car is run by Porton Competition. It's one of two Porsche 991's run in GTE Am. It's the Proton Competition team CAR. Aston Martin passes Corvette. Now, that #88 machine is shared by German Christian Ried, Klaus Bachler of Austria, and Khaled al-Qubaisi of the United Arab Emirates. Night at Le Mans with glowing brake discs and flames licking out the exhaust, is magical. You think about animals darting out at night when you drive your street car. Well, that's not a worry at Le Mans.
The #74 Corvette is in the pits. Richard Westbrook out. Oliver Gavin, in. We start the eighth hour with Toyota in the lead. Eight cars are out, and three LMP2 cars are into the top ten. LMP1 machines hold down the top six places. The #73 Corvette pits, and Jan Magnussen will take over for Jordan Taylor. Oh no. Corvette has issues with an air jack, and something lse. Has the air jack coupling recessed into the bodywork? This is a big problem for the #73 car.
Expect the unexpected. This has never happened with Corvette before. The fitting on the air jack post, snapped. They change tires, and will now have to play catch up. It's gone a tad pear shaped for Corvette. But, they've regrouped. Someone writes notes in a book to find a remedy for this problem. A couple cars are ready to pit. Le Mans, as a town, has many medieval castles in it. It's a great place to visit even if you don't come for the race. I say, come for the race, and then visit the town. It's a place yours truly really wants to visit.
Weather update. We've got a stiff wind, and a cool front is coming. We still have this gorgeous French blue twilight. So, the night is dark, but it's short. One of the prototypes pits. For yours truly... power problems. Not sure why. Will be back to calling the race, shortly. I hope. There's lots of hours left. But, I'm missing a few things right now. What could be happening, as we approach 11;00 P.M. French time? Phew! What a delay! Yours truly will no longer be held in supsense and neither will you.
Let's reset the running order. Toyota, Audi, Audi, Porsche, Porsche, Rebellion, Ligier, and Toyota. Porsche #14 is in the pits, and completes service, with Romain Dumas at the wheel. We are onboard with the Corvette now. We have just begun the ninth hour, past 1:00 A.M. in France. Or, perhaps, midnight. Alexander Wurz is at the wheel of the leading Toyota. We've had a few cars exit and enter back onto the track as the darkness now fully envelopes Le Mans.
We're now nine and a half hours into this race. We've got pit action with the #79 Porsche. Then, later on, we ride through the darkness at Le Mans with the #2 Audi, through the night, switching the view to the #73 Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R and then, to the #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid which is coming in for a pit stop. Webber stays in the car. He runs fourth overall, ahead of team mate Neel Jani in the sister #14 Porsche.
We have a Toyota, two Audi's and two Porsche's in the top five.
Kazuki Nakajima is not too tired after his stint. Stephane Sarrazin and Alexander Wurz have also run well. Kaz appreciates his team mates. Stephane Sarrazin says he's done well, including in a quadruple stint. He's leading along with his team mates. We are approaching midnight in Le Mans. Pit stop time for the #2 Audi of Marcel Fassler. Clean the windshield and fuel the car. Porsche #14 is in the pits now. It's fuel only, for Neel Jani as Porsche returns to Le Mans for first time in a long time, with a factory effort. We are well into Sunday at Le Mans right now.
More pit action, and it's the #74 Corvette C7R. The #12 Rebellion R-One of Nick Heidfeld was down the order after a long pit stop, but is now up to sixth in the overall. They are right behind the factory cars. Pit stop time for Corvette and Aston Martin. Aston Martin and Ferrari lead LM GTE Am at this stage. More action in the pits now. Not sure who is in the box. At night, the onboard cameras work, and the pit cameras work. But, there are no on track cameras. The #92 factory GT Porsche AG car is in the pits.
Audi #2 pits and exits. Pit stop time now for the #81 8Star Motorsports Ferrari. Mark Webber has gotten out of the Porsche. We now have 13 and a half hours remaining in this race. Right now, it's 12:30 A.M. French time. Audi pits the #1 car. Tom Kristensen takes over for Marc Gene in car #1. The Audi team uses a tear off to clean the windshield. The tear offs are great. Make them last. But, you can only clean a windshield so many times before it becomes really pitted.
Car #33 pits, driven by Ho-Pin Tung. Once again, this is the Ligier JS P2 with a Honda motor. Marc Gene is happy about his stints even as a replacement/reserve driver. Benoit Treluyer brings the #2 Audi R18 eTron Quattro into pit lane for a full service stop. Andre Lotterer takes over. Or, it could be Marcel Fassler. Not sure. Toyota #7 is in the box, from the lead. It's the world's fastest golf cart, (the Toyota), with Alex Wurz in the lead. Kristensen floats off and on being on the lead lap. The #8 sister car for Toyota is now in the pits.
Problems with the power steering on the #98 LM GTE Am Aston Martin V8 Vantage. To replace the power steering unit, it's really tough, with a hot race car. Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, and Christoffer Nygaard are on the driver's strength of course. Bruno Senna is preparing to replace Stefan Mucke in the #97 Aston Martin. He wears the Brazilian flag on his helmet, just like his uncle Ayrton Senna did. We are coming to the end of the tenth hour. Two hours to half way. The #91 Porsche is in the garage.
The problems continue with the #91 Porsche while the #92 runs fourth in LM GTE Am. What is going on? Porsche had a faultless race with a new car last year, qualifying on pole, finishing 1-2. But, one wonders why they're having issues this year? Anything can, and likely will, go wrong. Tommy Milner makes a pit stop, staying in the car. Toyota continues leading overall. Alex Wurz continues to lead this race. He is a former Formula One driver. The Audi is oh, a lap behind the Toyota. They need to be patient, or find some way to make up time.
Le Mans legend Dan Gurney, is on the phone. He won Le Mans in 1967 with A.J. Foyt in a Ford GT40. He also won the GT class in a Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe with Bob Bondurant, in 1964. The car was designed by the legendary, Peter Brock. Gurney says he's amazed at this contest between internal combustion and electric cars. Back then, there was no data acquisition. It was all up to the driver to feel what the car was doing. It was a fly by the seat of your pants situation.
Be gentle with the car. Some people had it. Others, didn't. The traffic and weather are very unpredictable. Way back when, a crash like Loic Duval had, could have been fatal. Not so much anymore. Sometimes, making the car safer, might make the driver not notice. Dan Gurney for President! We've still got a long way to go. The #98 car is back on track. They had to completely replace the power steering unit. The #20 Porsche pits, too. Timo Bernhard at the controls. But, they are two laps down.
Jota pits their #38 LMP2 car. It's a Zytek. It's not too fast, but it's reliable. Jota is the name of a car that was made by Lamborghini at one point. A Ferrari in LM GTE Am pits, as Tom Kristensen does likewise for fuel only. The #8 Toyota passes GT traffic. The top five LM GTE Pro cars are 4/10ths of a second apart! Holy smokes! The track is beginning to rubber back in just now. But, cold, dense air helps. The #12 Rebellion R-One goes to the garage. It's 6:30 P.M. here in St. Paul, 1:30 A.M. Le Mans, France, time. Keep focusing.
Andre Lotterer brings the #2 Audi to pit lane. They will go for fuel only and cleaning the windscreen and the headlights. The new headlights are not as blinding as they used to be. The #7 Toyota pits and gets cleaned up. The sister car comes in. The #14 Porsche is also back on track. Sebastien Buemi is taking over the #8 Toyota TS040. Patrick Dempsey readies for another stint, as Patrick Long is currently driving. One of the ProSpeed Porsche's is in the pits. Right now, everyone is just pounding out laps. Patrick Long was doing yeoman service, running in the 3:59 range. The #51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia makes a scheduled stop.
The #77 Porsche is in the pits and looks like the windshield might be out of the car. The #8 Toyota was in the garage and is now back out. The Audi makes massive torque. But, being a diesel, it only turns 4,500 RPM. Bruno Senna has pitted the Aston Martin and is close to the Corvette. Tom Milner also pitted. These guys are close together. No rest for the weary. There's a little village inside the track. The drivers have much better sleeping quarters today than they did years and years ago. Just about thirteen hours left.
History is what Le Mans is made of. We watch one of the factory Porsche GT cars. Marco Holzer hands off the #92 car to Richard Lietz. You have to be perfect to win at Le Mans today. We watch the #58 Ferrari in the garage with a problem. That's Team Sofrv AFP with a French trio, driving. Soheil Ayari sharing with Fabien Barthez, and Anthony Pons. We're riding with the Audi through the Porsche Curves where Loic Duval had his wreck.
The night makes it look quicker. Andre Lotterer comes to the pits. More downforce on the cars, with narrower bodies, and narrower tires. Andre Lotterer will stay in the car. No fresh tires needed. These are the kinds of pit stops Audi wants to see. Speaking of speed, if the Maison Blanche corner still existed, it would be WAY too fast for anyone, and that's why the Porsche Curves, skirt it, to this day. Now, Stephane Sarrazin is going to get into the Toyota on this particular pit stop.
The engines need to be shut off, because of the ACO wanting to differentiate itself from Grand Prix racing. Drivers have lost the race because they couldn't start the car, and would get hot. No one wants to run heavy starters, or heavy auxiliary equipment. Neel Jani is driving the #14 Porsche 919 Hybrid. Marc Lieb prepares to climb in. The pit stop is going on, now. Toni Vilander tries to pass Tommy Milner. He's not having any of it. Milner was close to Bruno Senna in the Aston Martin, but no.
In the driver's meting, the Prototype drivers were directed to not flash their lights within 20 meters of a car they were trying to pass. We've got a great LM GTE Pro battle between four legendary marques. The rain might start again here, folks. Preparing for more intermittent TV signals. Vilander couldn't get by Milner as we are haded down to Mulsanne corner. Milner is being reeled in, trying to pass a Porsche, and that was the #77 Dempsey car. Wow.
We watch an LMP2 car go by this GTE Pro battle. Ooh. An LMP1 car passes by the Ferrari and gets trapped. Someone overcooked the braking zone. The #51 car hits pit lane. Toni Vilander out. Giancarlo Fisichella in. Stephane Sarrazin continues to lead with Audi, Audi, and Porsche, next. In less than 15 minutes, we'll be ready to reach halfway. The #73 Corvette is in pit lane. Once more, the race seems to be settling down, as we are near the halfway mark.
The Audi flashes the lights to warn a slower car. The #91 GTE Pro Porsche made a scheduled pit stop. The order continues to be Toyota, Audi, Audi, Porsche, Porsche. We're in the second half of this race.
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