Here are the highlights. At the green, Toyota took the lead and Sebastien Buemi took off. The battle was on at the front. The overtaking was amazing between Audi and Porsche. Porsche didn't have enough power to get off the corner. Aston Martin vs. Ferrari in GTE Pro. The weather was beautiful early. Sebastien Buemi spun and kept the lead. Tracy Krohn spun his #57 Ferrari, and Darren Turner, and Giancarlo Fisichella were doing a great job.
But, then, the skies opened, and eventually the red flag had to come out. The racing resumed an hour later, while it was still very wet, when we joined the Fox Sports coverage. The Porsche's were doing really well, and the prototypes were also flying around the speedway. The GT LM battle earlier, was all about Porsche. Now, we see Matsuda spinning off the road again. Now, the #13 Rebellion Toyota has damage. Fabio Leimer, at the controls. The #14 Porsche's crew chief, was summoned to the marshal's office. The FIA/ACO is no nonsense.
The lap times keep swining two to three seconds, over a lap. Teams, and everyone on pit lane, get the same message via text, from the head honchos at the FIA. Behave and follow the rules. Or, you'll be sent to the principal's office. Frederic Makowiecki and Marco Holzer are 1-2 in LM GTE Pro, with both factory Porsche 911 RSR's. The first couple hours (though we didn't see them), were all over the shop. Tom Kristensen has driven lots of different cars, with many types of technology, through the years.
The younger drivers, see the hybrid cars as high tech gadgets, just like video games. Whoa! Marcel Fassler passes Tom Kristensen! Where did that come from? That was a definite overtake. Eek! James Rossiter in the Lotus P1 car, was reported to have a door open. But this is unclear. The chief mechanic on the #14 Porsche still has to report to the stewards. Julien Canal has launched his Ligier Honda over the curb, and he's pitting it now.
Julien Canal is a native of Le Mans, France. Need I say more? Ryan Dalziel works the brakes on the #30 HPD car. The brakes glow cherry red. Canal launches the car onto the curbs, and solidly hits it. A new nose is now being chaged onto the car. Something is wrong with how the nose fits on to the front of the car. This Ligier has had quite an impact. One races in the Tudor Championship, which will be blogged here.
G Drive is a fuel subsidary of Gas Prom which is a Russian fuel subsidiary and fuel giant. Back time this race, again. Marcel Fassler leads, and folks, we're going to have an hour of this motor race remaining. The Ligier goes back ionto the garage. The Ligier launched off the curb in a biug way. The curbs are progressive on the front size and go up. But, they drop into a square on the back side of the course.
The corners at COTA, some of them, are influenced by Spa, Silverstone, and other worldwide great tracks. Audi, Porsche, Toyota, Audi, Porsche, Toyota, the top six. An Aston Martin spins with Christoffer Nygaard off the road. Nico Prost and Nick Heidfeld had a horrendous dust up as rivals in the Formula E opener in Beijing, China, last week. Read about the fracas, HERE:
http://chicaneman.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/formula-e-round-1-china/
But, now, they are team mates in the Rebellion Racing sports car. We are in the live music capital of the world. Austin, Texas. Bands have been playing, in addition to the race. Tom Kristensen said that he made one less stop, and still had an issue with a strategy backfiring about going out on slicks. He is the last remaining holdover from the original Audi lineup. People like Allan McNish, Rinaldo Cappello, Frank Biela, and Emmanuelle Pirro, are no longer driving.
McNish and Cappello are still involved in the sport as ambassadors. You win enduranc sports car races by staying in the pits for the shortest time. Lucas di Grassi is driving the leading Audi now. Kristian Poulsen brings the #95 Aston Martin into the pits in LM GTE Am. Darryl O'Young is at the wheel of the Aston Martin. Corvette Racing is not up to speed with their entry. Ricky Taylor is at the wheel.
The #92 Porsche is now on pit lane. So many things to look for, that can show the wear and tear on the cars. There is less offline tire debris because of the earlier rain. Marcel Fassler, Marc Lieb, and Anthony Davidson (Audi, Porsche, Toyota), still lead. Actually, it's Lucas di Grassi, Marc Lieb, and Alexander Wurz. Nick Tandy brings the LM GTE Pro #91 Porsche into the pits. It's a pit stop duel between Porsche and Aston Martin.
Only two air guns are allowed over the wall. The mechanics run around, and the chaps with the air hammers, take care of the nut, while someon else puts on the new wheel. Stefan Mucke has ended his shift. Trouble for the #91 factory GTE Pro Porsche. The car is on the dolly, and there could be a major issue with the car. Is it game over? Maybe, it needs the full engineering staff to look. But, the #92 sister car is running in the lead.
But, the drama for the #91, persists, as Nick Tandy's team mate, Jorg Bergmeister, looked in to ask, "hey dude, what's the problem?" We have an hour and 20 minutes left in this race. So, one more update on the race, folks. Patrick Pilet leads LM GTE Pro. We watch the third place AF Corse Ferrari. Nope. It's James Calado in another Ferrari in LM GTE Pro. AF Corse has no fewer than seven cars, in LM GTE Am, LM GTE Pro, and LMP2. That's a quarter of the field.
The #85 Corvette C-7-R- pits. The hometown team is not doing as well as they wanted. Ricky Taylor is at the controls. Brendon Hartley is pushing hard, nailing the curbs. The undertray is always vulnerable on these machines. Sparks fly. These guys are so used to simulators, they have a knowledge of how these high tech race cars work. Hartley is trading fast laps with the Toyota of Anthony Davidson.
Lucas di Grassi posts the quickest third sector time of this race, as we have an hour and fifteen minutes to go. Watch the 130 degree uphill climb, and then, the flowing corners from turns two through five, in the Audi. Average people, would not be able to handle the G force. But, Lucas di Grassi is having a good drive, as we watch Toyota boss Hughes de Chaunac. The #90 Ferrari 458 Italia spins. Jeff Segal at the controls, sharing with Italians Gianluca Roda, and Paolo Ruberti. Segal was very close to being t boned by the Patron HPD prototype! Phew!
The #2 Audi with Marcel Fassler at the wheel, has pitted. Now, the #14 Porsche has retaken the lead. This is going to be a strategic race. The #20 Porsche pits. Brendon Hartley, at the controls. Wow. Debris on the road. Andre Lotterer, looks on. We begin to count backwards from the end of the race. We are coming to the final hour of this race, everyone. It's going to get interesting, despite the fact we didn't get the coverage we were hoping for.
We're going to take you to the end of this race. Ryan Dalziel battls for third in LMP2. Actually, Ed Brown is at the wheel. Lots of dirty water on the camera. We have an hour to go now. It's going to be very close. Maybe ESM will get a podium.
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