Round one of the FIA World Endurance Championship, is now. We are in the midlands of England, at the legendary Silverstone circuit. Porsche has pole for this race, with the #17 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard, and Brendon Hartley, starting from P1. Six hours ahead of us, blokes. Let's go racing. We will see all the races, on Fox Sports, this year. Who will lift the Tourist Trophy?
In qualifying, the Larbre Competition Corvette got pipped by Aston Martin in LM GTE Am, while the other Aston's, got pole in LM GTE Pro. G Drive Nissan has pole for LMP2. In LMP1, Porsche has pole, as Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber, along with Timo Bernhard, take the pole. The cars roll off on their formation lap. There's tension everywhere. Here we go. It's down to Porsche. The safety car pulls of. Take a deep breath. Get ready. Go! Mark Webber leads the way, and we're on it. Toyota and Porsche for the lead. Here comes the Audi. Four wide! Wow. Porsche holds on to first and second.
Lucas di Grassi challenges Sebastien Buemi and one of the Porsche's. Strakka and G Drive tap each other. Oh! The Strakka Ligier had a spin. Romain Dumas holds second. Mark Webber is also going well. They fly down Hangar straight as Mark Webber is breaking away from the pack. Aston Martin leads Porsche in LM GTE Pro. Awful start for Benoit Treluyer in one of the Audi's. Ooh. Into Vale, there was a change in position. Porsche, Porsche, Audi, Toyota, Toyota.
Sebastien Buemi, leads Alexander Wurz. The Porsche's are already pulling away. Paolo Ruberti leads in the new Larbre Competition Corvette C-7-R- in LM GTE Am. Darren Turner takes second and Nicky Thiim leads in LM GTE Por. Both are Aston Martin drivers. Benoit Treluyer sets fast lap and beats Allan McNish's old record. 1:41.7 is the best lap time. Sebastien Buemi passes. Audi tries to pass Porschee. Lucas di Grassi gets the pass done through Village and into The Loop.
Nick Tandy is leading LMP2 over the G Drive cars. But, the #4 ByKolles prototype is in the garage. Mark Webber has 1.4 seconds in the lead. Buemi and Di Grassi are next. In GTE Pro, there's a scrum between Aston Martin and the two Porsche's. SMP Racing's Ferrari has been flagged by the stewards. Porsche takes the early lead. But, there's a long way to go yet. Treluyer tries to pass Jacques Nicolet's private Ligier Nissan.
Nick Tandy fends off the challenge of Luis Philippe Derani. Nick Tandy will race the Porsche prototype at round two at Spa Francorchamps, and also, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, round three. The cars run down to Abbey and are now into Copse on the far side of the circuit. Alex Wurz has to lift. These boys and girls can really drive. Pepe Derani passes into Brooklands. Whoa! Tandy says, "I'm not done with you yet, sunshine." Through Woodcote, there's still a battle.
Derani makes a copybook pass. In the meantime, Alexander Wurz has got Lucas Di Grassi all over him like a rash. No dice into turn one. Whoops. That was Copse and through Becketts. Wow. They brake late through Maggots/Becketts. These cars are flying. It's amazing to watch. Can the Porsche's manage their tires and their batteries? We'll see. Benoit Treluyer cannot get any data from the crew. They've got a second system for data at Audi, though. So, no worries.
The leader passes Patrick Dempsey's Porsche. It is the #77 shared by Patrick Dempsey, Patrick Long, and Marco Seefried. Through The Loop and Aintree, and now, onto the Wellington straight. The Audi drivers are told to watch what the Toyota's are up to. Amazing speed through these corners. It's fun to watch where these cars are stronger at certain spots on the track, while Jon Fogarty in the #31 ESM HPD roadster, gets swallowed up.
Car #7 had a slow start and he couldn't get away. Treluyer is in the #7 sharing with Marcel Fassler and Andre Lotterer. The chase is on. #7 sets fast lap, and a new track record. Porsche remains 1-2. Ferrari leads LM GTE Pro. But, are they playing a fuel saving game? Alex Wurz drops off the third place battle, just barely. Comparing these sports cars with Formula One, the WEC prototypes, are quicker than some of the slower Formula One cars. So, they are ahead of the back four of a Grand Prix, but in a car that is twice as heavy, and has 1,000+ horsepower.
We watch the LM GTE Am battle, too. Mark Webber leads by 4.5 seconds over Romain Dumas. Sam Bird leads P2 ahead of Pepe Derani. Both drive for G Drive. Aston Martin leads GTE Pro and in GTE Am, it's the Porsche #88 of Klaus Bachler, for Abu Dhabi Proton Racing, sharing with Khaled al-Qubaisi, and Christian Ried. Jacques Nicolet has been having throttle problems in the #35 Oak Racing Ligier Nissan.
Porsche and Aston Martin are pushing, as Romain Dumas also passes. Recall, the North American Porsche team took each other out of the Tudor Championship opener, the Roles 24. Mark Webber is six seconds clear of Romain Dumas. But, everyone else, is pushing, and going at it, hammer and tongs. We watch Patrick Pilet chasing Richie Stanaway. Richie Stanaway runs a 2:04.9. He's holding up some of the quicker LM GTE cars. The racing at the front is still competitive.
We are now under yellow as a P2 car lost a wheel. Paul Loup-Chatain has wrecked the Signatech Nissan, smashing the wall. Pit stop time. You need to get to pit lane, now. #1 Toyota, has been in. G Drive leading P2, has also pitted. The race director, will count down on the radio, to the drivers, before the restart. Both AF Corse Ferrari's (#51, and #71), pit. The entire LMP2 field also comes in.
Sam Bird leads in the #26 G Drive Ligier, in LMP2. Both Porsche's pit. The Porsche's are in. We're still under yellow. Track clear. We're counting down to the green flag. The Audi's are going to be in, too. Porsche takes a new set of tires. 12:45. 30 seconds to a green flag. Webber is down and away. 15 seconds to green. Listen to Edoardo Freitas count down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. We're back to racing. Now, the #2 Toyota, and one of the Audi's pit. #2 is still on the jacks. You cannot change the tires until the fuel is in.
Only two rattle guns are allowed to change tires. Marc Lieb takes over from Romain Dumas in the #18 Porsche. The tires could have gone further. At Le Mans, we see double and triple tire stints, as Paul Dalla Lana, spins, in the #98 LM GTE Am Aston Martin, missing his braking point. The ByKolles AER car is coming through the picture. In this event, you can't drive through the pits, without stopping, if you have a penalty.
We're going to see some very quick laps now. Set purple sector times. Fastest of all. New fast lap. 1:40.836 by Benoit Treluyer. Lucas di Grassi runs a 1:40.875. The two Audi's are fourth and fifth. Webber leads Lieb. No safety car under yellows. The controlled speed, is 60 kilometers per hour, or 37 miles per hour. We watch some slow motion replays. Those are fun to see. The Larbre Competition Corvette is running well in GTE.
Danny Watts is doing his best, in the Strakka Racing Dome at the moment. We cotninue to watch the GTE battle, intently. Aston Mmartin, in the lane. Stuart Hall pits the #99 car in LM GTE Pro. Nicky Thiim is doing well. Darren Turner passes Gianluca Roda. Both factory GT Porsches are in the lane, going shorter on fuel than the Aston Martin's. Porsche #91 pits. The tires are being changed. Nicky Thiim is still piloting the #95 Aston Martin.
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