Marc Lieb continues to lead in the #14 Porsche 919, which could win it's first race, in four appearances. What will Lieb do with tires? Get the soft ones. Again, let's look at highlights. The field took off at the start, and we saw Mark Webber and Alex Wurz battle as Andre Lottrer tagged one of the Toyota's. There were lots of battles. Romain Dumas runs wide. A spin for Sebastien Buemi, leading by half a minute. Then, in the next hour, it was a deluge. The track became a skating rink, before a red flag.
They did exploratory laps behind the safety car. Nicolas Lapierre passed Tom Kristensen. Some amazing driving, on a damp track. The #47 P2 car spun, and G Drive had a problem which needed attention in pit lane, after Julien Canal jumped a curb in the Ligier. Nick Tandy had his issues in the factory Porsche 911 RSR. Actually, it was Patrick Pilet. Lucas di Grassi has been pushing it, and so has Toyota. Jeff Segal spins, and almost gets hit by the ESM HPD car!
Darren Turner is booking it, going after Pilet. The Porsche and Aston Martin drivers are running with two man teams. These guys remained on the pace with the heat, humidity, and rain, in central Texas. These blokes, are brave. That's for sure. Russian driver Sergey Zlobin for SMP Racing says there are no issues, and tells pit reporter Louise Beckett that there's a problem with the clutch in the car.
Zlobin shares with Maurizio Mediani, and Nicolas Minassian. While we're at it, click on this video, and check out the wicked spin outs in the rain.
http://www.foxsports.com/video?vid=331632195800
Good clean racing between Darren Turner and Frederic Makowiecki. Maintain track position. Lucas di Grassi made his last pit stop in the #1 Audi with 50 minutes to go. Good racing all over the track. Fassler is one second behind Marc Lieb. So, Audi, has a fuel advantage over Porsche AG. Fassler gets stacked up by a GTE Am Porsche.
Toyota won the first two six hour races at Silverstone and Spa. Audi won double points at Le Mans, and looks like they might win again here at Austin, Texas. For the lead, Fassler is right on Lieb's gearbox. Audi's handling is amazing. Porsche has downforce, but they can't get the handling to work. Toyota and Audi revamped their cars, while Porsche built a car to the new rules. Fassler retakes the lead as Lieb takes a short fuel stop. No need for full tanks.
Do they take tires so Lieb can chase down Fassler? They short filled the car. They've played their card. We watch Patrick Pilet in the factory GTE Pro Porsche. Warning lights are put on the outside of the car, because these cars are electrically charged, and they have to be assured (crew members or marshals), so they don't get electrocuted by the race car. Marcel Fassler sets the fastest lap for the Audi.
The Aston Martin may be outperforming the Porsche in LM GTE Pro in dry conditions. Makowiecki won for Aston Martin here at COTA last year. Sebastien Buemi is still pushing and he's taken over third from Lucas di Grassi. We have 36 minutes left in this race. Rock and roll bands, and fireworks entertain the fans as the #7 Toyota comes in with Alex Wurz at the controls, running sixth in the overall. Marc Lieb runs second overall, a minute behind Marcel Fassler, actually at 63 seconds.
Lena Gade, is an engineer at Audi, that has won three 24 Hours of Le Mans races with Audi. Also, dig a webpage called www.safeisfast.com. It's all about motorsports, in video, as to how to drive, and how to drive safely in a race car. The Rebellion R-One is running well, with a new aero package in LMP1 Lights, with competition only from the Lotus. These cars don't have hybrid power. 1:50.3 is fast lap for Porsche.
The amazing technology of these hybrid race cars, is diverse, and competitive. Appropriately, this could be Audi, Porsche, and Toyota, on the podium. The Porsche runs wide, and rams another curb, sparking. There's a second, taller curb there, to keep drivers from cheating. When the car rises onto that orange lump, it flies. Marcel Fassler has a six second advantage over Marc Lieb. Three wide action for position, as Ed Brown gets split by the Porsche and the Toyota.
Buemi has been amazing in this Toyota. He ran Formula One with Toro Rosso, just a few years ago. Benoit Treluyer and Andre Lotterer speak to each other in the pits. It's a totally different dynamic, racing against the faster prototypes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, along with the factory drivers. These guys are paid, not to be average, but to be, the fastest driver for their team in the best sports cars in the world.
The factory Toyota's are built in Europe, while the petrol motor in the Rebellion LMP1-L car, is built in Japan. Patrick Pilet is first in LM GTE Pro. Check that. Pilet is still second to Darren Turner, with Gianmaria Bruni, in the Ferrari, in third place, a lap down. Lucas di Grassi passes Marc Lieb. Maybe the gremlins have come back to bite Porsche, that nabbed them at Le Mans, and gave Audi the win in that race.
Lieb is slowing. He'll just be saving fuel. Porsche has to wait, for the first triumph in FIA WEC racing. Toyota sets up for a pit stop for car #8 for a splash and dash. Lucas di Grassi is close behind Sebastien Buemi, and thus, he will be passed. Buemi has given everything, going purple in sector one, at 1:23.2, fastest of all. Pedro Lamy passes Christian Ried in an amateur Aston Martin. Sharing that car, is Paul Dalla Lana, and Christoffer Nygaard. Dalla Lana is a regular in Tudor Championship competition.
Sixteen minutes remain in this race. Marcel Fassler still leads, and is a full lap ahead of his team mate. Buemi has passed Marc Lieb for the podium. Too bad. The Porsche's are snakebitten, again. Lena Gade calls in Marcel Fassler for his final stop. "Box this lap. Box this lap." Ooh. Debris. It's astro turf. No harm no foul. Fassler pits. Check the right front tire, and go back out. It was only a fuel stop.
Don't clog the radiators. Less than ten minutes to go. We've had astro turf breakup, rain showers, and spins all over. Sebastien Buemi is fastest on the road. He will end up on the podium with the Audi's. The two Porsche 919's will complete the top five. Both Audi's had the same problem in qualifying. It's not clear as to what that was.
The Rebellion is being driven effectively by Matthias Beche, seventh overall, and in class. ESM will get a world championship point in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Jordan and Ricky Taylor, and Tommy Milner, will be seventh and last in LM GTE Pro. They've had a fraught weekend. Krohn Racing is sixth in class, in LM GTE Pro, and will move up to LMP2 next year with a Ligier Judd.
Nissan will soon be a fourth factory team in FIA WEC. Nissan will race in the championship, and they want a young American driver, too. Jann Mardenborough of England, is one of the driver's being brought up by Nissan. For the first time since 1999, we've had more than one full factory team in worldwide endurance racing. Time is of the essence. Just a short time remains. Mere seconds. Corvette Racing lost two laps during the red flag fracas.
We will see the checkered flag next time by. Something slowed him down. It will be an Audi 1-2 in Texas. Pedro Lamy and Richie Stanaway in the Aston Martin's are battling for a win, and Stanaway is flying. Who is going to win this race? The #47 KCMG team wins LMP2. Aston Martin sweeps both LM GTE Pro and LM GTE Am with #97 the Pro winner, and #95, the Am winner. Pro is Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke. Am, is Kristian Poulsen, David Heinemeier-Hanson, and Richie Stanaway.
Overall/LMP1 #2 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer Audi R18 eTron Quattro
LMP2: #47 Howson/Bradley/Matsuda Oreca 03 Nissan
LM GTE Pro: #97 Turner/Mucke Aston Martin V8 Vantage
LM GTE Am: #95 Poulsen/Heinemeier-Hanson/Stanaway Aston Martin V8 Vantage
The next event for the FIA World Endurance Championship, takes the series to Fuji Speedway in Fuji, Japan, in three weeks.
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