Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Just how tough is a 24 Hour race at the Nurburgring?
How tough is a 24 hour race at the infamous Nurburgring? Chris Harris of the Cars, TV show, answers the question. Check out the video.
Monday, June 29, 2015
Doonan (Mazda): "We're Looking to Where Things are Headed in 2017"
Mazda's John Doonan explains that the company is planning to build a new engine (with the assistance of AER, Advanced Engine Research), to conform to the new 2017 Prototype regulations, and this new motor, will be a gasoline powered unit, as opposed to the SkyActiv diesel four cylinder that the team has been running for the last few seasons.
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/doonan-mazda-were-looking-to-2017-and-where-things-are-headed/
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/doonan-mazda-were-looking-to-2017-and-where-things-are-headed/
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen: Hour 6 (the finish)
The GT Daytona leaders come in, and so do the GT Le Mans cars. Pit lane is open for GT machines. #22 pits to do their driver change under yellow and so does the Falken Tire crew. Both Corvette's are in. They had to make a driver change on the #4 Corvette. Tommy Milner was almost out of drive time. Go ahead and top off. That may negate everyone's strategy, as we get ready to turn 'em loose one more time, to take this endurance classic, to the finish.
Some of the lead Prototypes pitted. The field is going to be close together on the restart. But it should be smooth sailing, for a battle between Joey Hand, and Ricky Taylor. One of the Corvette's had a problem with the wheel, but it was with the wheel gun and the nut, coming together. The rain is starting to taper off. Three of the four classes except GTLM, have the leaders all together. Green flag. Safety car is in.
The top three in Prototype clear Wolf Henzler. Everyone is searching for grip. We've got the top three together. But, the #4 Corvette is in the wall on the exit of turn one. This isn't good. We're back to full course yellow. He hit a Porsche, and broke the steering on the car. Game over for the #4 machine. No sign of yellow. But, there just has to be. He lost the front end, slammed into a factory Porsche (Earl Bamber in the #912), and hitting the wall, while Bamber spun. This is a short yellow. So, no pit stops.
The field is now neutralized behind the safety car. The engineers have smoke coming from their ears thinking, "oh man, what do we do?" Do they need slick tires if it stops raining? You will have to either stop now, hoping for another yellow before the end. But, it's more likely, to just roll the dice and see what happens. Oliver Gavin won Le Mans two weeks ago, and was on cloud nine. Today, Gavin crashes, and it's game over.
In 1948, the village of Watkins Glen hosted the first road race in the southern tier of New York State. Six decades later, there's still great racing. We are set for a green flag with just over 50 minutes to go. Ricky Taylor leads this race. Joey Hand wants a way by Ricky Taylor. Taylor protects the inside line. There's more water on the road than we've seen all day. Wolf Henzler is booking it. Renger van der Zande is up there in Prototype Challenge.
The Viper has passed Andy Lally, and is now behind the factory GT LM BMW. Marc Goossens is behind the wheel of the Viper. Goossens has not had a full-time ride of any kind this year and he's a sports car racing veteran. Leh Keen in the #22 car is going well. But, there's contact between the #10 and the #01! Was there a mix up? The #10 is all torn up front and rear. He spun and clouted the tire barrrier. Joey Hand couldn't turn, locked the brakes, spun, and damaged the nose.
Christian Fittipaldi goes from third to first. What heartbreak for Ganassi and WTR! Ugh! Away we go. We've got a scrum in GTD between Leh Keen and Andy Lally. There's mist and spray, hanging in the air. There's debris in the middle of the road. Car #5 pits, and it should be their last stop. There will be a driver change, and also, wet tires. It was thought that there would be no driver change. Not true. The rain is going to stay, to the end of this race.
The leaders have to respond now, and hit pit lane. Joey Hand is still running, looking for grip, diamonding the corner. He's got damage on the left front corner of the Riley chassis. He's got grip. Watch for the debris. Oh! Race control says that the #5 was too fast off pit lane, and will get a speeding ticket. Leh Keen is off the road and back on. There has been calamity these last few minutes. How will this wild race end? This was supposed to be an enduro. Instead, because of rain, it's been a demolition derby. A crash, bang, wallop.
We are currently under our seventh full course caution as the nose piece of the #10 car is still out on the road. The #10 car is out. A crewman made the slicing move across his throat, to say, "we are done. Game over." The #5 car hit pit road, to serve it's penalty. The #5 car got in, to serve the penalty before the yellow. They are back in the catbird seat, because their rivals (#01 and #90), still need to make pit stops.
Drivers have to turn the ignition off, and re-fire the motor, to save fuel. Fox Sports' Tommy Kendall, was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. The lights remain on, on the safety car. Bill Riley, and his dad, have been involved with 14 overall wins, and 30 winners, at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Sebring International Raceway and the 12 Hours, was voted as one of the top ten best motorsports events in the world.
Can we make it to the end of this race without another interruption? We've got 32 minutes to go. We are under the half hour mark. The nose piece of the #10 car was on the track. The #5 team had a penalty, is topped up with fuel, and the leaders, need fuel. The strategy, is up in the air. It's much the same in GT Le Mans right now. The #911 Porsche pitted under yellow. The #17 did not. Your heart goes out to Ricky Taylor, falling out of this race, with just four races remaining in the season. Plus, this is one of the big races of the year in the North American Endurance Cup.
The #90 and #01 cars could be good to go on fuel, as we reshuffle the deck. Cards please, ladies and gentlemen. Yours truly cannot pain this picture. We'll have to see how it plays out. We had no idea this endurance classic would turn out to be what it's been. The traction is really edgy with the Riley Ford. He has to feel his way through the uphill. Richard Westbrook has the championship lead over Action Express. So, it will come down to those two, for the win. Some teams are getting into their fuel window.
The #17 Falken Tire Porsche might be in a good place, too, with Wolf Henzler at the controls, with their fuel situation. Joao Barbosa is buried and has to thread the needle. The camera crews and the fans have braved this rain. Congratulations, everyone. It ain't over 'til it's over. We are going green with sixteen minutes left. Who's got the gas? Richard Westbrook is second. He won last year. Can he make it two in a row for VisitFlorida.com Racing? This is a shootout. No question of it.
The top eleven cars in GT Daytona are on the same lap, and all running together. Earl Bamber wants by Renger van der Zande so he can chase Wolf Henzler. Earl Bamber, is the Le Mans winner, along with Nick Tandy of course, and their team mate for that race, Formula One veteran, Nico Hulkenberg. Earl Bamber tries van der Zande and can't do it. We watch Marc Goossens, leading GT Daytona. These boys won at Daytona in January to start the year.
Goossens won't let this one go, easily. Dominik Farnbacher and Andy Lally are also hanging in there. Lally wants a win, too, as we see fourth place runner, Christopher Haase, who is the points leader. Some real aces are in the deck with the drivers behind the wheels of these cars. Tom Kimber-Smith is on the reserve pump for fuel in his Prototype Challenge racer. Joey Hand is also on reserve. He'll have to get a splash and dash. Whoa! This will be a nail biter right to the end!
Moments ago, the #01 pitted for fuel only and timed the stop. The #90 went by. The #5 did not. We have a full course yellow after Kuno Wittmer crashes the #007 Aston Martin who's day goes even more pear shaped. The second place GT Daytona #23 Alex Job Porsche is also off the road. This is going to be a shootout. The #007 was still on the lead lap. Kuno Wittmer was trying to make up for the horsepower different, with eleven of the twelve cylinders in that monstrous V12, still firing.
Seven minutes to go in the race. Mario Farnbacher was the driver who crashed the #23 in the toe of The Boot, chasing Christopher Haase. The #17 Falken Tire Porsche will win GTLM if he has five minutes of go juice. Go juice = fuel. This will be a one lap shootout on a skating rink, folks. This ought to be a hot one. The last time the same driver pairing won back-to-back at Watkins Glen was Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas for Ganassi, in 2008, '09, and '10. White flag. They can't go back to green.
This race will end under yellow, sadly. That's a real shame. We were set up for a good finish. It will be an anticlimax to not see a green finish. Tisk, tisk, IMSA. Starworks gets their second win of the season. Mirco Shultis is not here this weekend. Mike Hedlund is van der Zande's team mate, along with Alex Popow. Everyone can breathe a huge sigh of relief that we will end under yellow. They come through the toe of The Boot.
In a year's time, this track will be different, with the repaving. They are going to redo The Boot, and leave the short course intact. The cleanup was too late to preserve a green flag finish, and the championship standings, will tighten up, as we move to the next sprint race on the calendar. The clock is at zero. Richard Westbrook, and Michael Valiante, repeat, as overall winners at The Glen.
Prototype Challenge honors go to the #8 Starworks Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet of Renger van der Zande, the Flying Dutchman, Mike Hedlund, and Alex Popow. GT Le Mans honors, go to Team Falken Tire with Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler. In GT Daytona, Viper is victorious, with the #93 TI Automotive SRT Viper GTS-R- reclaiming victory that also came at Daytona in the 24 hours back in January, with Marc Goossens (the Belgian endurance racing veteran), Cameron Lawrence, and Al Carter.
Overall/Prototype: #90 Westbrook/Valiante Chevrolet Corvette Prototype
Prototype
Challenge: #8 van der Zande/Hedlund/Popow Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
GT Le Mans: #17 Henzler/Sellers Porsche 911 RSR
GT Daytona: #93 Goossens/Lawrence/Carter SRT Viper GTS-R-
The next race is at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, (Mosport Park), in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, coming up, in two weeks. Four rounds to go in the 2015 championship. Six hours, kind of feels like 24 hours, with all the rain! It's been a long, long race here in the rain and fog at The Glen, today. Joao Barbosa leads the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup, with one round to go, at the season finale, the Petit Le Mans, at Road Atlanta, in October.
Action Express leads Prototype. PR1 Matthiasen leads Prototype Challenge. The #3 Corvette and the #93 Viper, lead the NAEC going into the Petit Le Mans. For now, we look forward to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, in two weeks. We could have used a green flag finish. But, it was not to be. So long, everyone.
Some of the lead Prototypes pitted. The field is going to be close together on the restart. But it should be smooth sailing, for a battle between Joey Hand, and Ricky Taylor. One of the Corvette's had a problem with the wheel, but it was with the wheel gun and the nut, coming together. The rain is starting to taper off. Three of the four classes except GTLM, have the leaders all together. Green flag. Safety car is in.
The top three in Prototype clear Wolf Henzler. Everyone is searching for grip. We've got the top three together. But, the #4 Corvette is in the wall on the exit of turn one. This isn't good. We're back to full course yellow. He hit a Porsche, and broke the steering on the car. Game over for the #4 machine. No sign of yellow. But, there just has to be. He lost the front end, slammed into a factory Porsche (Earl Bamber in the #912), and hitting the wall, while Bamber spun. This is a short yellow. So, no pit stops.
The field is now neutralized behind the safety car. The engineers have smoke coming from their ears thinking, "oh man, what do we do?" Do they need slick tires if it stops raining? You will have to either stop now, hoping for another yellow before the end. But, it's more likely, to just roll the dice and see what happens. Oliver Gavin won Le Mans two weeks ago, and was on cloud nine. Today, Gavin crashes, and it's game over.
In 1948, the village of Watkins Glen hosted the first road race in the southern tier of New York State. Six decades later, there's still great racing. We are set for a green flag with just over 50 minutes to go. Ricky Taylor leads this race. Joey Hand wants a way by Ricky Taylor. Taylor protects the inside line. There's more water on the road than we've seen all day. Wolf Henzler is booking it. Renger van der Zande is up there in Prototype Challenge.
The Viper has passed Andy Lally, and is now behind the factory GT LM BMW. Marc Goossens is behind the wheel of the Viper. Goossens has not had a full-time ride of any kind this year and he's a sports car racing veteran. Leh Keen in the #22 car is going well. But, there's contact between the #10 and the #01! Was there a mix up? The #10 is all torn up front and rear. He spun and clouted the tire barrrier. Joey Hand couldn't turn, locked the brakes, spun, and damaged the nose.
Christian Fittipaldi goes from third to first. What heartbreak for Ganassi and WTR! Ugh! Away we go. We've got a scrum in GTD between Leh Keen and Andy Lally. There's mist and spray, hanging in the air. There's debris in the middle of the road. Car #5 pits, and it should be their last stop. There will be a driver change, and also, wet tires. It was thought that there would be no driver change. Not true. The rain is going to stay, to the end of this race.
The leaders have to respond now, and hit pit lane. Joey Hand is still running, looking for grip, diamonding the corner. He's got damage on the left front corner of the Riley chassis. He's got grip. Watch for the debris. Oh! Race control says that the #5 was too fast off pit lane, and will get a speeding ticket. Leh Keen is off the road and back on. There has been calamity these last few minutes. How will this wild race end? This was supposed to be an enduro. Instead, because of rain, it's been a demolition derby. A crash, bang, wallop.
We are currently under our seventh full course caution as the nose piece of the #10 car is still out on the road. The #10 car is out. A crewman made the slicing move across his throat, to say, "we are done. Game over." The #5 car hit pit road, to serve it's penalty. The #5 car got in, to serve the penalty before the yellow. They are back in the catbird seat, because their rivals (#01 and #90), still need to make pit stops.
Drivers have to turn the ignition off, and re-fire the motor, to save fuel. Fox Sports' Tommy Kendall, was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. The lights remain on, on the safety car. Bill Riley, and his dad, have been involved with 14 overall wins, and 30 winners, at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Sebring International Raceway and the 12 Hours, was voted as one of the top ten best motorsports events in the world.
Can we make it to the end of this race without another interruption? We've got 32 minutes to go. We are under the half hour mark. The nose piece of the #10 car was on the track. The #5 team had a penalty, is topped up with fuel, and the leaders, need fuel. The strategy, is up in the air. It's much the same in GT Le Mans right now. The #911 Porsche pitted under yellow. The #17 did not. Your heart goes out to Ricky Taylor, falling out of this race, with just four races remaining in the season. Plus, this is one of the big races of the year in the North American Endurance Cup.
The #90 and #01 cars could be good to go on fuel, as we reshuffle the deck. Cards please, ladies and gentlemen. Yours truly cannot pain this picture. We'll have to see how it plays out. We had no idea this endurance classic would turn out to be what it's been. The traction is really edgy with the Riley Ford. He has to feel his way through the uphill. Richard Westbrook has the championship lead over Action Express. So, it will come down to those two, for the win. Some teams are getting into their fuel window.
The #17 Falken Tire Porsche might be in a good place, too, with Wolf Henzler at the controls, with their fuel situation. Joao Barbosa is buried and has to thread the needle. The camera crews and the fans have braved this rain. Congratulations, everyone. It ain't over 'til it's over. We are going green with sixteen minutes left. Who's got the gas? Richard Westbrook is second. He won last year. Can he make it two in a row for VisitFlorida.com Racing? This is a shootout. No question of it.
The top eleven cars in GT Daytona are on the same lap, and all running together. Earl Bamber wants by Renger van der Zande so he can chase Wolf Henzler. Earl Bamber, is the Le Mans winner, along with Nick Tandy of course, and their team mate for that race, Formula One veteran, Nico Hulkenberg. Earl Bamber tries van der Zande and can't do it. We watch Marc Goossens, leading GT Daytona. These boys won at Daytona in January to start the year.
Goossens won't let this one go, easily. Dominik Farnbacher and Andy Lally are also hanging in there. Lally wants a win, too, as we see fourth place runner, Christopher Haase, who is the points leader. Some real aces are in the deck with the drivers behind the wheels of these cars. Tom Kimber-Smith is on the reserve pump for fuel in his Prototype Challenge racer. Joey Hand is also on reserve. He'll have to get a splash and dash. Whoa! This will be a nail biter right to the end!
Moments ago, the #01 pitted for fuel only and timed the stop. The #90 went by. The #5 did not. We have a full course yellow after Kuno Wittmer crashes the #007 Aston Martin who's day goes even more pear shaped. The second place GT Daytona #23 Alex Job Porsche is also off the road. This is going to be a shootout. The #007 was still on the lead lap. Kuno Wittmer was trying to make up for the horsepower different, with eleven of the twelve cylinders in that monstrous V12, still firing.
Seven minutes to go in the race. Mario Farnbacher was the driver who crashed the #23 in the toe of The Boot, chasing Christopher Haase. The #17 Falken Tire Porsche will win GTLM if he has five minutes of go juice. Go juice = fuel. This will be a one lap shootout on a skating rink, folks. This ought to be a hot one. The last time the same driver pairing won back-to-back at Watkins Glen was Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas for Ganassi, in 2008, '09, and '10. White flag. They can't go back to green.
This race will end under yellow, sadly. That's a real shame. We were set up for a good finish. It will be an anticlimax to not see a green finish. Tisk, tisk, IMSA. Starworks gets their second win of the season. Mirco Shultis is not here this weekend. Mike Hedlund is van der Zande's team mate, along with Alex Popow. Everyone can breathe a huge sigh of relief that we will end under yellow. They come through the toe of The Boot.
In a year's time, this track will be different, with the repaving. They are going to redo The Boot, and leave the short course intact. The cleanup was too late to preserve a green flag finish, and the championship standings, will tighten up, as we move to the next sprint race on the calendar. The clock is at zero. Richard Westbrook, and Michael Valiante, repeat, as overall winners at The Glen.
Prototype Challenge honors go to the #8 Starworks Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet of Renger van der Zande, the Flying Dutchman, Mike Hedlund, and Alex Popow. GT Le Mans honors, go to Team Falken Tire with Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler. In GT Daytona, Viper is victorious, with the #93 TI Automotive SRT Viper GTS-R- reclaiming victory that also came at Daytona in the 24 hours back in January, with Marc Goossens (the Belgian endurance racing veteran), Cameron Lawrence, and Al Carter.
Overall/Prototype: #90 Westbrook/Valiante Chevrolet Corvette Prototype
Prototype
Challenge: #8 van der Zande/Hedlund/Popow Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
GT Le Mans: #17 Henzler/Sellers Porsche 911 RSR
GT Daytona: #93 Goossens/Lawrence/Carter SRT Viper GTS-R-
The next race is at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, (Mosport Park), in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, coming up, in two weeks. Four rounds to go in the 2015 championship. Six hours, kind of feels like 24 hours, with all the rain! It's been a long, long race here in the rain and fog at The Glen, today. Joao Barbosa leads the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup, with one round to go, at the season finale, the Petit Le Mans, at Road Atlanta, in October.
Action Express leads Prototype. PR1 Matthiasen leads Prototype Challenge. The #3 Corvette and the #93 Viper, lead the NAEC going into the Petit Le Mans. For now, we look forward to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, in two weeks. We could have used a green flag finish. But, it was not to be. So long, everyone.
Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen: Hour 5
Since it's gotten wet, Jordan Taylor seems to be coming up to speed. We are dealing with a wet track. The Starworks Prototype Challenge car leads the class, with former DTM start Renger van der Zande at the wheel. Pit stop time for Scuderia Corse and Turner Motorsports in GT Daytona. Turner Motorsports, takes slick tires. The car is stationary. Will there be fuel added? Both the #5 and #90 put wet tires on, and the same thing happens with the #4 factory Corvette. The #48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS went with slicks, which may not be the right way to go. The #01 car pits, too. Joey Hand is at the wheel, taking over from Scott Pruett.
Word is, rain is heavy on parts of the track. Rain in some places. Dry in others. That can be a recipe for disaster. Jorg Bergmeister stays at the wheel of the #912 factory Porsche. Bergmeister is hugely experienced. The #17 Falken Tire Porsche pits, with Wolf Henzler at the wheel. Falken Tires used to dominate with wet tires in the old American Le Mans Series. But, the advantage is not existent any longer. Just over two hours to run now. This stop, and one more, might get you better fuel mileage, and more yellow flags.
The #25 BMW pitted and so does the #911 Porsche. #911 is bouncing around, because of the earlier suspension problems. The #31 is also in the lane. They will fit wet tires, obviously, pitting from fifth in the overall. The #62 Risi Comeptizione Ferrari is on pit lane now, too. Tires and fuel, and no driver change. Pierre Kaffer stays in the car. We have exactly two hours to go. So many decades of memories here at Watkins Glen. Oswaldo Negri Jr. is headed for the house. Game over for the MSR Ligier Honda.
Search for grip when it's wet. There's concrete, asphalt, and sealant. This whole track, will be resurfaced, after the Nascar race in August. It's become very murky. A bank of fog, and a wet track. Joey Hand has taken over the #01 Ganassi car, from Scott Pruett. Michael Valiante and Richrd Westbrook have been off strategy, but, they've been real competitive, too. Tommy Milner leads GT LM, and we see Colin Braun in the #54 Prototype Challenge class leader, off course. Wolf Henzler is right behind the Corvette.
The weather is getting worse. Popup thunderstorms are around. Will there be more water? Ricky Taylor has 20 seconds in hand. Give a shout out to the TV camera crews for Fox Sports, bringing the pictures of the race, to the race viewers. The #44 car still leads GT Daytona. This weather is amazing, and yet deplorable. Yikes. Joey Hand is closing back up on Christian Fittipaldi, finding the grip, in the rain. The #007 Aston Martin, pits again. Kuno Wittmer is at the wheel, and the car still has an engine miss in it's V12. But no dropped cylinder.
We now have our fifth full course yellow. Double yellow flags, mean, a full course yellow, in road racing. The reason is, the rain, and the standing water. The visibility isn't good either. The sky is lightening. But, we are still under full course yellow for all the rain. The ground around the track is saturated. Is it safe to keep the cars out there? This race is now under a red flag, and the field will come to the pit lane. Race Director Beaux Barfield said, 'we race in the rain and qualify in the rain." But, "if there's too much standing water, we can't keep racing."
They need to do some work on the track. There's a stream rolling across pit lane. The tractors are out in full force. The crews are coming out to the cars. A crewman can go with an umbrella, and they can clean windshield, cover the car, or look at it. But, they cannot do any work on the car. The GT classes are changing. The GT3 specs are coming, next year. Alex Job Racing, has ordered two new GT3 spec Porsche's for 2016.
The command has been given to start engines, and we will resume under yellow, to start racing again. A Ford GT40 won the first Six Hours of The Glen. David Hobbs and Paul Hawkins were leading. But then, Jacky Ickx and Lucien Bianchi beat them. Team boss, David York, had to deal with Hobbs' wrath. He was not happy. Richard Attwood also raced for the team. This was in 1968. Check out the International Motor Racing Research Center. It is located at Watkins Glen International Raceway.
Word is, rain is heavy on parts of the track. Rain in some places. Dry in others. That can be a recipe for disaster. Jorg Bergmeister stays at the wheel of the #912 factory Porsche. Bergmeister is hugely experienced. The #17 Falken Tire Porsche pits, with Wolf Henzler at the wheel. Falken Tires used to dominate with wet tires in the old American Le Mans Series. But, the advantage is not existent any longer. Just over two hours to run now. This stop, and one more, might get you better fuel mileage, and more yellow flags.
The #25 BMW pitted and so does the #911 Porsche. #911 is bouncing around, because of the earlier suspension problems. The #31 is also in the lane. They will fit wet tires, obviously, pitting from fifth in the overall. The #62 Risi Comeptizione Ferrari is on pit lane now, too. Tires and fuel, and no driver change. Pierre Kaffer stays in the car. We have exactly two hours to go. So many decades of memories here at Watkins Glen. Oswaldo Negri Jr. is headed for the house. Game over for the MSR Ligier Honda.
Search for grip when it's wet. There's concrete, asphalt, and sealant. This whole track, will be resurfaced, after the Nascar race in August. It's become very murky. A bank of fog, and a wet track. Joey Hand has taken over the #01 Ganassi car, from Scott Pruett. Michael Valiante and Richrd Westbrook have been off strategy, but, they've been real competitive, too. Tommy Milner leads GT LM, and we see Colin Braun in the #54 Prototype Challenge class leader, off course. Wolf Henzler is right behind the Corvette.
The weather is getting worse. Popup thunderstorms are around. Will there be more water? Ricky Taylor has 20 seconds in hand. Give a shout out to the TV camera crews for Fox Sports, bringing the pictures of the race, to the race viewers. The #44 car still leads GT Daytona. This weather is amazing, and yet deplorable. Yikes. Joey Hand is closing back up on Christian Fittipaldi, finding the grip, in the rain. The #007 Aston Martin, pits again. Kuno Wittmer is at the wheel, and the car still has an engine miss in it's V12. But no dropped cylinder.
We now have our fifth full course yellow. Double yellow flags, mean, a full course yellow, in road racing. The reason is, the rain, and the standing water. The visibility isn't good either. The sky is lightening. But, we are still under full course yellow for all the rain. The ground around the track is saturated. Is it safe to keep the cars out there? This race is now under a red flag, and the field will come to the pit lane. Race Director Beaux Barfield said, 'we race in the rain and qualify in the rain." But, "if there's too much standing water, we can't keep racing."
They need to do some work on the track. There's a stream rolling across pit lane. The tractors are out in full force. The crews are coming out to the cars. A crewman can go with an umbrella, and they can clean windshield, cover the car, or look at it. But, they cannot do any work on the car. The GT classes are changing. The GT3 specs are coming, next year. Alex Job Racing, has ordered two new GT3 spec Porsche's for 2016.
The command has been given to start engines, and we will resume under yellow, to start racing again. A Ford GT40 won the first Six Hours of The Glen. David Hobbs and Paul Hawkins were leading. But then, Jacky Ickx and Lucien Bianchi beat them. Team boss, David York, had to deal with Hobbs' wrath. He was not happy. Richard Attwood also raced for the team. This was in 1968. Check out the International Motor Racing Research Center. It is located at Watkins Glen International Raceway.
Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen: Hour 4
There are definite raindrops on the racecourse right now. Several cars have straightlined the inner loop due to water on the race track. 30 seconds left before bonus points are awarded. Car #5 is on target for bonus points. These boys have led the Patron Endurance Cup, all season. Points will be awarded again at the ten hour Petit Le Mans at the end of the season, in October. The #007 TRG Aston Martin which was leading GTD has dropped all the way down to eleventh place in class. Unofficially, here are the Patron Cup leaders. We'll have the info, soon.
Tricky conditions are starting to come back into play. When it's going from wet to dry, the track gets better. If it goes the other way, there's great grip, until you see raindrops. Jordan Taylor loses control, and shortcuts the chicane. You have to stop, and continue. It can be a slick track, or, a distraction. Did the #4 Corvette,stop? It rolled through, and let Nick Tandy back around. Falken Tire will not continue racing next year. Maybe, Derrick Walker, will continue in the Tudor Championship. We'll see.
The NAEC points are looking like this:
Prototype: #5 Action Express Racing
Prototype Challenge: #54 Core Autosport & #52 PR1 Matthiasen Racing
GT Le Mans: #911 Porsche North America
GT Daytona: #93 TI Automotive/ViperExchange.com
The #3 Corvette spun off the road, and thankfully, didn't hit anything. The sister Corvette has now also taken over the GT LM lead. Michael Valiante has taken over from Richard Westbrook. Valiante has had a flu bug all weekend. Renger van der Zande leads Prototype Challenge in the #8 Starworks car, sharing with Alex Popow. Alex Popow is a part-time driver now. He may move to a full-time drive, next year.
Lots of teams are eyeing racing in Europe, and especially, at Le Mans. The #63 Ferrari pits. They were on the LM GTE Am podium at Le Mans. Townsend Bell, is at the wheel. The #54 Core Autosport car, pirouettes and continues. The rain is staying away for now as we look forward to more green flag pit stops. Pit stop time for the #5 Action Express Corvette. Barbosa held up Renger van der Zande. Correction, Christian Fittipaldi is in the #5. The #10 car pits and Jordan Taylor takes over the car.
The #60 MSR Ligier Honda is in the pits, with problems. They tested here at Watkins Glen, and got assistance with the BoP. They have a left rear suspension problem. The left upright is broken, after John Pew, hit the wall, about 20 laps ago. The #911 Porsche pits and so does the #25 BMW. No driver changes in either car. Eric Curran brings the #31 Action Express Corvette into the pits, sharing with Max Papis and Dane Cameron. The #912 Porsche pits from fifth in GT Le Mans. They were dealing with a bad wheel gun, and the safety peg on the spindle is broken. They fixed the problem and put the air wrench on to change tires. A clean pit stop, but not as perfect as they'd wanted.
The #17 Falken Tire Porsche also pits. The wheel pins, are spring loaded, by the way. Wolf Henzler takes over the #17 machine. If you have a tablet or a mobile phone, check out the new IMSA app. The #73 Porsche is sixth in GT Daytona, with a tire going flat. Patrick Lindsey is at the controls. Sadly, the tire came apart. But, thankfully, the tire was replaced. There are still some puddles of water coming across the track.
The #911 Porsche has had suspension and steering issues all race. Worn tires, really affect the handling. Mixed conditions, is the cure. But, if it's one or the other, then, that's not the best. Markus Palttala has the wheel of the #97 Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 GT. They have struggled, but are getting advantages from the BoP. They could be in good shape. The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia, pits. Pierre Kaffer and Giancarlo Fisichella share it. The all-time lap record at Le Mans was held by the Porsche 917 (the great, amazing car), on the Mulsanne straight without chicanes.
But, the modern Porsche, cut some amazing lap times, with the chicanes that have existed for 25 years. Still an amazing win for Porsche. Raindrops are coming back into the picture. You can't use rain tires on a dry track, because the rain tires will tear themselves to shreds. The #38 PC car still goes for it. They are unfortunately, in damage control. The #007 Aston Martin is in the pits. Did they drop a cylinder? They would be on eleven of the twelve cylinders. Christina Nielsen is presumably at the controls.
Ooh, some argy bargy between Madison Snow and Marco Seefried. We've got a changing race track.
Tricky conditions are starting to come back into play. When it's going from wet to dry, the track gets better. If it goes the other way, there's great grip, until you see raindrops. Jordan Taylor loses control, and shortcuts the chicane. You have to stop, and continue. It can be a slick track, or, a distraction. Did the #4 Corvette,stop? It rolled through, and let Nick Tandy back around. Falken Tire will not continue racing next year. Maybe, Derrick Walker, will continue in the Tudor Championship. We'll see.
The NAEC points are looking like this:
Prototype: #5 Action Express Racing
Prototype Challenge: #54 Core Autosport & #52 PR1 Matthiasen Racing
GT Le Mans: #911 Porsche North America
GT Daytona: #93 TI Automotive/ViperExchange.com
The #3 Corvette spun off the road, and thankfully, didn't hit anything. The sister Corvette has now also taken over the GT LM lead. Michael Valiante has taken over from Richard Westbrook. Valiante has had a flu bug all weekend. Renger van der Zande leads Prototype Challenge in the #8 Starworks car, sharing with Alex Popow. Alex Popow is a part-time driver now. He may move to a full-time drive, next year.
Lots of teams are eyeing racing in Europe, and especially, at Le Mans. The #63 Ferrari pits. They were on the LM GTE Am podium at Le Mans. Townsend Bell, is at the wheel. The #54 Core Autosport car, pirouettes and continues. The rain is staying away for now as we look forward to more green flag pit stops. Pit stop time for the #5 Action Express Corvette. Barbosa held up Renger van der Zande. Correction, Christian Fittipaldi is in the #5. The #10 car pits and Jordan Taylor takes over the car.
The #60 MSR Ligier Honda is in the pits, with problems. They tested here at Watkins Glen, and got assistance with the BoP. They have a left rear suspension problem. The left upright is broken, after John Pew, hit the wall, about 20 laps ago. The #911 Porsche pits and so does the #25 BMW. No driver changes in either car. Eric Curran brings the #31 Action Express Corvette into the pits, sharing with Max Papis and Dane Cameron. The #912 Porsche pits from fifth in GT Le Mans. They were dealing with a bad wheel gun, and the safety peg on the spindle is broken. They fixed the problem and put the air wrench on to change tires. A clean pit stop, but not as perfect as they'd wanted.
The #17 Falken Tire Porsche also pits. The wheel pins, are spring loaded, by the way. Wolf Henzler takes over the #17 machine. If you have a tablet or a mobile phone, check out the new IMSA app. The #73 Porsche is sixth in GT Daytona, with a tire going flat. Patrick Lindsey is at the controls. Sadly, the tire came apart. But, thankfully, the tire was replaced. There are still some puddles of water coming across the track.
The #911 Porsche has had suspension and steering issues all race. Worn tires, really affect the handling. Mixed conditions, is the cure. But, if it's one or the other, then, that's not the best. Markus Palttala has the wheel of the #97 Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 GT. They have struggled, but are getting advantages from the BoP. They could be in good shape. The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia, pits. Pierre Kaffer and Giancarlo Fisichella share it. The all-time lap record at Le Mans was held by the Porsche 917 (the great, amazing car), on the Mulsanne straight without chicanes.
But, the modern Porsche, cut some amazing lap times, with the chicanes that have existed for 25 years. Still an amazing win for Porsche. Raindrops are coming back into the picture. You can't use rain tires on a dry track, because the rain tires will tear themselves to shreds. The #38 PC car still goes for it. They are unfortunately, in damage control. The #007 Aston Martin is in the pits. Did they drop a cylinder? They would be on eleven of the twelve cylinders. Christina Nielsen is presumably at the controls.
Ooh, some argy bargy between Madison Snow and Marco Seefried. We've got a changing race track.
Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen: Hour 3
There's so much history at this track, and in this race. This is one of the great races in sports car racing. Racing it is. GT Daytona is a major war right now. Spencer Pumpelly, Marc Goossens, Christina Nielsen, and more. Christina Nielsen wanted inside Ian James, but had a Corvette in the way. Nielsen has passed Ian James for position, in class. Kuno Wittmer is a driver coach, in addition to being a driver himself. With the Prototype Challenge and GT Daytona classes, there are drivers at certain levels. Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The amateur drivers, are supposed to dat least 90 minutes.
Ben Keating gets loose, and thankfully, saved it. He's got junk on his tires. He ran at Le Mans and did well, a few weeks ago. There's damage on the front splitter of that Viper, clipping one of the signs on the infield sod. Scott Pruett is running well, and it's like old times, seeing Pruett racing Max Angelelli. Angelelli passes the GT Daytona Alex Job Racing cars. Ganassi Racing needs a result, badly.
The V6 engine in that car, will be racing at Le Mans, in the Ford GT, next year. Scott Pruett wants to be a part of it. He may not run full time much longer. But, he could do endurance racing. The #38 car spins again. James French now at the controls. Lap times are dipping down into the 1:39 range. Ben Keating pits, with overheating issues. Joey Hand tested the Ganassi car at Putnam Park, working on traction control. There's lots of grass, mud, silt, you name it, in the radiator.
There's flapping bodywork, and a burned out taillight on the #54 machine. It is military appreciation weekend, here, at Watkins Glen. James Gue is in the #54 car right now. Dirk Werner is now at the wheel of the #25 BMW Z4. They have the grip for both the dry and the wet. Lucas Luhr continues to drive the sister car. At the end of this hour, points will be awarded for the NAEC. The #16 team leads Prototype CHallenge for BAR1 Motorsports, with rookie Pro Mazda driver Daniel Burkett. This is a one off drive right now. But, he could continue in sports car racing.
Burkett is sharing with Matt McMurry. Are there problems for the #911 Porsche? Something is wrong with the steering. The car is getting tail happy, meaning, it wants to spin. Christina Nielsen has an engine miss in the Aston Martin. This is an endurance race. But, a smaller field started this one, than say at Daytona, or Sebring. 34 cars, took the green flag. An average of eight cars per class. At Watkins Glen, there are ten cars per every mile of race track.
Moments ago, another incident of contact. Nick Tandy tries holding the GTLM lead, and he tags James Gue in the Prototype Challenge car. Dirk Werner, in the BMW, goes to the front of the class. The pass is/was under review. John Pew turns fast lap at 1:41.6. IMSA COO Scott Atherton says that there is no contention with prototypes having their own bodies, but one engine. The GT LM class will be a subtle evolution, with new cars in GT Le Mans, as the GT Daytona class also goes to GT3 specification.
The cars will remain intact as they are. The 2016 schedule, will be the same as it was. With Prototype Challenge, it will continue for next year. But, what comes after that? LMP3? There will be a test session for the new Ginetta LMP3 machine, at Watkins Glen, tomorrow. No decision has been made yet. The new generation prototype and an LMP3 car, will be racing in 2017. We are at a point where worldwide sports car racing, is at a common spot, except for LMP1 in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Sports car racing has a level of relevance for hybrid technology, based on manufacturers technology, being linked to the road car. Race leader is in the lead. Tires and fuel for the car. No driver change. Scott Pruett stays in the car. Green flag pit stops continue. BMW will run the M6 in GT Daytona next year, and they may be able to race it, in GT Le Mans. But that remains to be seen. Alex Popow gets into the Starworks Prototype Challenge car. The Deltawing with Katherine Legge and Memo Rojas, is having their best race in some time, although, right now, is having some issues.
They may have a gearbox issue, as one of the BMW's is also in the lane. Dirk Werner stays in the car. CORE Autosport has as piece of the car hanging off of it. The #31 car also pits, with Eric Curran driving, and he will stay in the car. The toe in is knocked out, and the traction control isn't working. The #10 car pits and Jordan Taylor, takes over from Max Angelelli. John Edwards takes over from Lucas Luhr in the sister #24 BMW Z4 GT. Full service in the Corvette pit. Antonio Garcia takes over from Jan Magnussen.
The Deltawing was having issues with the gearbox actuator. The Deltawing is losing speed because it's a tad heavier. The #911 Porsche pits. Nick Tandy stays behind the wheel. Rusty Mitchell is now in the #85 Prototype Challenge car. This is a lengthy fuel stop, and maybe, the left front wheel was not bolted down properly. A lot more attention is being paid tow here tires are. John Edwards is off the road straight off, into the tire wall in The Boot.
That was strange. It was the chute, leading to The Boot. It's the fourth full course yellow, after Edwards spins and slams the Armco. The #60 car, pits. Ford will race two sets of GT race cars, next yeear, in America and Europe. Ford, Ganassi, and Michelin, will work together. The Ford GT's will test on the reference tire, and develop a tire, sepcifically, for the car. All of the podium finishers took a picture at the Michelin trailer.
We are under our fourth full course yellow, and fifteen minutes away, from the three hour mark. But, this is a short caution. We are back to green, as we're ten minutes away, from awarding the Patron Cup bonus points. Barbosa looks inside Jordan Taylor. Bryan Sellers makes up two spots in the Falken Tire Porsche in GTLM. The #25 is the sole remaining BMW RLL BMW Z4. Game over for #24. The #16 Prototype Challenge car still leads the class. Martin Plowman has taken over from Daniel Burkett, who was mentioned earlier.
Ben Keating gets loose, and thankfully, saved it. He's got junk on his tires. He ran at Le Mans and did well, a few weeks ago. There's damage on the front splitter of that Viper, clipping one of the signs on the infield sod. Scott Pruett is running well, and it's like old times, seeing Pruett racing Max Angelelli. Angelelli passes the GT Daytona Alex Job Racing cars. Ganassi Racing needs a result, badly.
The V6 engine in that car, will be racing at Le Mans, in the Ford GT, next year. Scott Pruett wants to be a part of it. He may not run full time much longer. But, he could do endurance racing. The #38 car spins again. James French now at the controls. Lap times are dipping down into the 1:39 range. Ben Keating pits, with overheating issues. Joey Hand tested the Ganassi car at Putnam Park, working on traction control. There's lots of grass, mud, silt, you name it, in the radiator.
There's flapping bodywork, and a burned out taillight on the #54 machine. It is military appreciation weekend, here, at Watkins Glen. James Gue is in the #54 car right now. Dirk Werner is now at the wheel of the #25 BMW Z4. They have the grip for both the dry and the wet. Lucas Luhr continues to drive the sister car. At the end of this hour, points will be awarded for the NAEC. The #16 team leads Prototype CHallenge for BAR1 Motorsports, with rookie Pro Mazda driver Daniel Burkett. This is a one off drive right now. But, he could continue in sports car racing.
Burkett is sharing with Matt McMurry. Are there problems for the #911 Porsche? Something is wrong with the steering. The car is getting tail happy, meaning, it wants to spin. Christina Nielsen has an engine miss in the Aston Martin. This is an endurance race. But, a smaller field started this one, than say at Daytona, or Sebring. 34 cars, took the green flag. An average of eight cars per class. At Watkins Glen, there are ten cars per every mile of race track.
Moments ago, another incident of contact. Nick Tandy tries holding the GTLM lead, and he tags James Gue in the Prototype Challenge car. Dirk Werner, in the BMW, goes to the front of the class. The pass is/was under review. John Pew turns fast lap at 1:41.6. IMSA COO Scott Atherton says that there is no contention with prototypes having their own bodies, but one engine. The GT LM class will be a subtle evolution, with new cars in GT Le Mans, as the GT Daytona class also goes to GT3 specification.
The cars will remain intact as they are. The 2016 schedule, will be the same as it was. With Prototype Challenge, it will continue for next year. But, what comes after that? LMP3? There will be a test session for the new Ginetta LMP3 machine, at Watkins Glen, tomorrow. No decision has been made yet. The new generation prototype and an LMP3 car, will be racing in 2017. We are at a point where worldwide sports car racing, is at a common spot, except for LMP1 in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Sports car racing has a level of relevance for hybrid technology, based on manufacturers technology, being linked to the road car. Race leader is in the lead. Tires and fuel for the car. No driver change. Scott Pruett stays in the car. Green flag pit stops continue. BMW will run the M6 in GT Daytona next year, and they may be able to race it, in GT Le Mans. But that remains to be seen. Alex Popow gets into the Starworks Prototype Challenge car. The Deltawing with Katherine Legge and Memo Rojas, is having their best race in some time, although, right now, is having some issues.
They may have a gearbox issue, as one of the BMW's is also in the lane. Dirk Werner stays in the car. CORE Autosport has as piece of the car hanging off of it. The #31 car also pits, with Eric Curran driving, and he will stay in the car. The toe in is knocked out, and the traction control isn't working. The #10 car pits and Jordan Taylor, takes over from Max Angelelli. John Edwards takes over from Lucas Luhr in the sister #24 BMW Z4 GT. Full service in the Corvette pit. Antonio Garcia takes over from Jan Magnussen.
The Deltawing was having issues with the gearbox actuator. The Deltawing is losing speed because it's a tad heavier. The #911 Porsche pits. Nick Tandy stays behind the wheel. Rusty Mitchell is now in the #85 Prototype Challenge car. This is a lengthy fuel stop, and maybe, the left front wheel was not bolted down properly. A lot more attention is being paid tow here tires are. John Edwards is off the road straight off, into the tire wall in The Boot.
That was strange. It was the chute, leading to The Boot. It's the fourth full course yellow, after Edwards spins and slams the Armco. The #60 car, pits. Ford will race two sets of GT race cars, next yeear, in America and Europe. Ford, Ganassi, and Michelin, will work together. The Ford GT's will test on the reference tire, and develop a tire, sepcifically, for the car. All of the podium finishers took a picture at the Michelin trailer.
We are under our fourth full course yellow, and fifteen minutes away, from the three hour mark. But, this is a short caution. We are back to green, as we're ten minutes away, from awarding the Patron Cup bonus points. Barbosa looks inside Jordan Taylor. Bryan Sellers makes up two spots in the Falken Tire Porsche in GTLM. The #25 is the sole remaining BMW RLL BMW Z4. Game over for #24. The #16 Prototype Challenge car still leads the class. Martin Plowman has taken over from Daniel Burkett, who was mentioned earlier.
Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen: Hour 2
We are about to go back to green. Richard Westbrook still leads, and has not made a pit stop just yet. The team is over their fuel window even though the yellow flag extended their fuel mileage. We are green again as Joey Hand wiggles and almost loses it! Tread carefully. Watch out for cold tires. Ricky Taylor presses Joey Hand. Ozz Negri is trhying his best, to go after Jordan Taylor, ready to pounce, and make a pass. The #60 car is beginning to come alive. The Ligier HPD is going for it. Joey Hand runs off the road, another time. Don't throw it away if you are struggling for grip.
There is sunlight coming back to Watkins Glen, in the valley. Pit stop time for the #31 car, changing tires and adding fuel. The drive through stop can be paired with a full pit stop. We are now an hour into this race. So, yours truly cut the first highlights package, a tad short. Race Director Beaux Barfield said that if you clearly pass under yellow, you will be penalized. Patrick Pilet in the Porsche, leads John Edwards in the BMW, and Jan Magnussen in the #3 Corvette. Madison Snow leads GTD ahead of Kuno Wittmer. Porsche vs. Aston Martin.
Wittmer passes Snow, and a hip check by the #62 Ferrari on the #17 Porsche. The #912 factory Porsche is damaged. Le Mans winner Earl Bamber jumps out, and Jorg Bergmeister, steps into the car. Earl Bamber has had a meteoric career as a Porsche factory driver. They climb the hill up through the esses. We see Patrick Pilet and John Edwasrds, scrapping for the GTLM lead. John Edwards takes a look around the outside.
The #90 car is in the lane. Tires and fuel. Westbrook stays in the car. Ricky Taylor has reeled in Christian Fittipaldi. We watch Joey Hand and Ozz Negri, scrap. Riley vs. Ligier. Ford vs. Honda V6 engines. Joey Hand is back into the sweet spot with the handling on his car. The Riley chassis does not have the downforce that the Corvette Prototype's do. The GTLM battle is still simmering. There is water in the heel part of The Boot. It's physically easier to race when it is cooler, but it is still mentally fatiguing.
We watch Prototype and GT LM battles, as the #38 Prototype Challenge machine is back on track. Choose your lane. The GT cars squeeze around a Prototype CHallenge machine! The BMW might pull alway through the twisty bits. Ooh. The #38 is off, again! A fraught race for these chaps, so far. Jerome Mee reports that the suspension has been busted. It looks like game over for the #38 The chief mechanic says, "take it back to the truck." Ooh! More argy bargy with the Corvette Prototype's!
Kuno Wittmer leads Mario Farnbacher in GT Daytona. TRG prepares for wet races. TRG has run Porsche's (the marque the made a legend with), and Pontiac powered Daytona Prototype spec cars, in the past. Tom Long in the #07 Mazda SkyActiv Diesel is having issues. Mazda is committed to a five year program for the Tudor Championship. The car is about to pit to see about the problem. Fox Sport's Andrew Marriott (reporting from pit lane), is back at Watkins Glen for the first time, in 35 years, since covering the United States Formula One Grand Prix.
Mazda is producing more power than even Audi. They are still going for it. Speedsource is building lots of the car, as opposed to the Mazda factory. Scott Pruett is now at the wheel of the #01 Riley Ford EcoBoost with full fuel tanks, and new tires. We are now 90 minutes into this event, right on the button. Pits are open for the Prototypes. The #31 car got it's lap back. Scott Pruett will lead. The #60 Ligier Honda pits. John Pew gets into the car. The car is feeling better than it has all race so far.
The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette pits. MSR had a long driver change, and there was debris cleaned out of the ventilation system. The WTR crew picks up a place while a couple other teams, drop back a bit. The Mazda's power loss may be due to a missing alternator belt. A little contact between a Ferrari and a BMW in GT Daytona, after pit stops. The sun is poking through the clouds. Scott Pruett is indeed the new leader after Ganassi Racing makes a good pit call.
Dane Cameron pits, for new tires,a nd a driver change, over to Max Papis. Car #31 has three drivers instead of only two. Our third full course yellow is done, and we are back to green again. Richard Westbrook is moving up again. Championship leaders, battling for position, on this restart. The track is drying. Max Angelelli and Joao Barbosa have taken over their respective cars, too. Ian James and Christina Nielsen have taken over the lead GT Daytona cars.
The Aston Martin rolls through the corners. Their setup is for rain. Marc Goossens in the SRT Viper got hit in the bumper, somehow. This is the car that won in class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, back in January.
There is sunlight coming back to Watkins Glen, in the valley. Pit stop time for the #31 car, changing tires and adding fuel. The drive through stop can be paired with a full pit stop. We are now an hour into this race. So, yours truly cut the first highlights package, a tad short. Race Director Beaux Barfield said that if you clearly pass under yellow, you will be penalized. Patrick Pilet in the Porsche, leads John Edwards in the BMW, and Jan Magnussen in the #3 Corvette. Madison Snow leads GTD ahead of Kuno Wittmer. Porsche vs. Aston Martin.
Wittmer passes Snow, and a hip check by the #62 Ferrari on the #17 Porsche. The #912 factory Porsche is damaged. Le Mans winner Earl Bamber jumps out, and Jorg Bergmeister, steps into the car. Earl Bamber has had a meteoric career as a Porsche factory driver. They climb the hill up through the esses. We see Patrick Pilet and John Edwasrds, scrapping for the GTLM lead. John Edwards takes a look around the outside.
The #90 car is in the lane. Tires and fuel. Westbrook stays in the car. Ricky Taylor has reeled in Christian Fittipaldi. We watch Joey Hand and Ozz Negri, scrap. Riley vs. Ligier. Ford vs. Honda V6 engines. Joey Hand is back into the sweet spot with the handling on his car. The Riley chassis does not have the downforce that the Corvette Prototype's do. The GTLM battle is still simmering. There is water in the heel part of The Boot. It's physically easier to race when it is cooler, but it is still mentally fatiguing.
We watch Prototype and GT LM battles, as the #38 Prototype Challenge machine is back on track. Choose your lane. The GT cars squeeze around a Prototype CHallenge machine! The BMW might pull alway through the twisty bits. Ooh. The #38 is off, again! A fraught race for these chaps, so far. Jerome Mee reports that the suspension has been busted. It looks like game over for the #38 The chief mechanic says, "take it back to the truck." Ooh! More argy bargy with the Corvette Prototype's!
Kuno Wittmer leads Mario Farnbacher in GT Daytona. TRG prepares for wet races. TRG has run Porsche's (the marque the made a legend with), and Pontiac powered Daytona Prototype spec cars, in the past. Tom Long in the #07 Mazda SkyActiv Diesel is having issues. Mazda is committed to a five year program for the Tudor Championship. The car is about to pit to see about the problem. Fox Sport's Andrew Marriott (reporting from pit lane), is back at Watkins Glen for the first time, in 35 years, since covering the United States Formula One Grand Prix.
Mazda is producing more power than even Audi. They are still going for it. Speedsource is building lots of the car, as opposed to the Mazda factory. Scott Pruett is now at the wheel of the #01 Riley Ford EcoBoost with full fuel tanks, and new tires. We are now 90 minutes into this event, right on the button. Pits are open for the Prototypes. The #31 car got it's lap back. Scott Pruett will lead. The #60 Ligier Honda pits. John Pew gets into the car. The car is feeling better than it has all race so far.
The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette pits. MSR had a long driver change, and there was debris cleaned out of the ventilation system. The WTR crew picks up a place while a couple other teams, drop back a bit. The Mazda's power loss may be due to a missing alternator belt. A little contact between a Ferrari and a BMW in GT Daytona, after pit stops. The sun is poking through the clouds. Scott Pruett is indeed the new leader after Ganassi Racing makes a good pit call.
Dane Cameron pits, for new tires,a nd a driver change, over to Max Papis. Car #31 has three drivers instead of only two. Our third full course yellow is done, and we are back to green again. Richard Westbrook is moving up again. Championship leaders, battling for position, on this restart. The track is drying. Max Angelelli and Joao Barbosa have taken over their respective cars, too. Ian James and Christina Nielsen have taken over the lead GT Daytona cars.
The Aston Martin rolls through the corners. Their setup is for rain. Marc Goossens in the SRT Viper got hit in the bumper, somehow. This is the car that won in class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, back in January.
Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen: Hour 1
The Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, and the legendary, Watkins Glen International Raceway, plays host, to the Tudor United Sports Car Championship, and the third of four rounds in the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup. Today, it is the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen. This race, has a fabulous history, as it used to be conducted on the public roads through the town of Watkins Glen, in it's early years, until this great race track itself, was built, in 1957.
Rain is in the forecast for today's race. That could really put the cat among the pigeons. The Tudor Championship, has something for everyone. Seventeen race wins, by fourteen teams. Nearly half of the competitors who raced at Le Mans, were members of the Tudor Championship. Watkins Glen has hosted so many races. This is also, the halfway point in the 2015 Tudor Championship season. We are at the foot of Seneca Lake, and at the birthplace of postwar American road racing. The first six hours was run in 1968. Qualifying was a total washout.
Cash bonuses will be given at halfway and at the end. Audi was beaten by Porsche, at Le Mans, two weeks ago. Earl Bamber ran the fastest race lap at Le Mans. They need that today to get Porsche on top at Watkins Glen. Is the Le Mans win, enough for the #4 Corvette to maintain momentum? Prototypes have been amazing this year. No repeat winners yet, and no repeat polesitters. The cars are on their warmup laps now. Max Papis will be the third driver for the #5 Corvette DP. The #90 car will have two drivers, with Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante.
Valiante is a little ill. Larbre Competition, from France, has loaned the factory team, a chassis. CORE Autosport is on top of the Prototype Challenge championship standings. They haven't won. But, they want to stay focused and be consistent. In GT Daytona, four different manufacturers are in the top five and the #48 Audi R8 LMS, as well as Aston Martin, Porsche, and Ferrari. It's going to be a wild race indeed.
The natural terrain, The Boot, and the esses are major sections on this course. We are green! Christian Fittipaldi leads. Here comes the GTLM field and the GTD cars. The weather here is really iffy. The blokes on slicks will be very difficult. Patrick Pilet leads GTLM. It's raining hard coming through the inner loop. Some guys are gambling, as we see Mario Farnbacher passing, down into The Boot. A spin for Bill Auberlen in the #25 BMW Z4 GT. Did Patrick Pilet also spin?
It's very slick in the grass off the racing surface. Auberlen lost it on his own. Christian Fittipaldi leads Dane Cameron, Richard Westbrook, and others. Memo Rojas is racing the Deltawing. They have a lighter chassis, but more durable parts in the motor. Auberlen's spin, in replay, as he's tiptoeing, he spins,a nd crash! The #912 Porsche, slams him. The #17 Falken Tires Porsche 911 RSR pits. Are you betting for dry and go stiff on suspension? Or, do you hope for rain, and soften the suspension?
Some of these boys are still on slicks. Kuno Wittmer is in the TRG Aston Martin, and we watch Madison Snow in the Porsche and Christopher Haase in the Audi, also in this fight. It's in the mid 60s, with humidity, and virtually no breeze. One of the Corvette's has spun. It's the #4 car of Oliver Gavin. These boys have had a two year dry spell, except for winning Le Mans two weeks ago. Gavin barely touches the throttle, in a straight line, on a wet patch between asphalt and concrete, and... thump. He hits the Armco.
Madison Snow has the GT Daytona lead currently. Snow, Haase, Wittmer. Kuno Wittmer, and Christina Nielsen, are teamed up. James Davison is racing for TRG in Pirelli World Challenge. Yours truly will update more PWC action, when possible. Racing began on the streets of the village of Watkins Glen in 1948. Watkins Glen is the only track to host every major form of motorsport. We see the rain growing heavier. But, the tires are beginning to get heat in the tires.
Dane Camron and Richard Westbrook are closing up. It's a six hour race, with tricky weather. Don't push too hard. But, there's lots of energy. No action yesterday. It's almost like being a dog. If the dog doesn't get a walk, he'll be antsy. Try and run the fuel out, and then check in when your scheduled pit stops come. Madison Snow and Mario Farnbacher in two Porsche 911 GT America's battle for the GT Daytona lead. There was a half hour dry warmup session this morning. The drivers haven't seen rain, all weekend.
One of the factory Corvette's is holding up this GT Daytona scrum. The GT LM car is faster on the straightaways. The #912 Porsche has a drive through penalty for passing under a local yellow. Earl Bamber is at the controls. Now, this is a mess! Race leader, in traffic, between Prototype Challenge and GTD cars. Everyone drives a different line, and then, another car comes up behind you and you have to check up. Madison Snow has dropped from first to third place. Christian Fittipaldi is clear on the road. But, some of these blokes, are not looking at their mirrors.
Fittipaldi, in traffic is running 1:57 laps. Joey Hand, with clear track in the #01 Ganassi Riley Ford, is running in the 1:51 range. Ganassi will run the new Ford GT effort, with four cars at Le Mans as well as two cars for the U.S. in Tudor Championship competition, and two more, racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia, pitted, for intermediate tires, with Pierre Kaffer at the controls. All classes bar GTLM, have Continental Tires. Continental, does not have anj intermediate tire, whereas, GT LM does because they have an open tire rule.
The #97 Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 and the #44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America, have both pitted. We approach the half hour mark,. and the track is beginning to dry. The #5 car is sponsored by Hazlett Cider Tree Farm. It's made from apples, and cider yeast. Fittipaldi, has run a fast lap at 1:45.7. Patrick Pilet has put in a 1:52 in GT Le Mans. Ooh. Bruno Junquiera has spun in the #11 JDX Prototype Challenge machine. Ozz Negri Jr. makes a move into The Boot, and taps the PC car.
We have a full course yellow. Junquiera started from pit lane and was up to second in class. Junquiera is OK. But, he's stuck. They lost radio communication, in this wreck. This is a long race. We remain under yellow here at Watkins Glen. No action taken on this recent incident. We see pit stops. Westbrook and Cameron stay out. At the three hour mark, there will be bonus points for the North American Endurance Cup. Joey Hand pits for fuel only as does Christian Fittipaldi. Ricky Taylor picks up a place over Ozz Negri as well.
Prorotypes are on allowed to pit now. The GT cars will pit next time around. The GT class cars pitted. Fuel only for Corvette and BMW factory teams, as well as for the factory Porsche's. Action Express has split their strategies. We're back to green as Cameron looks inside Westbrook, with Connor Daly, headed to pit lane. Last year, the #90 car won this race over Alex Brundle, in dry conditions. The two leaders did not pit for fuel.
Everyone in the lead positions are on the same tires. The #22 Alex Job Racing Porsche has to take a drive through penalty. Conor Daly had taken the Prototype Challenge car to the lead. He's going for it, and he must have a chip on his shoulder. A great talent. A young jedi indeed. Ooh. Cameron wants by Westbrook, trying to commit to the inside line without getting squeezed, into The Boot. Oh no. The #85 Prototype Challenge car is spinning again. Mikhail Goikhberg, at the wheel, stepping up from IMSA Prototype Lights.
Bryce Miller is now at the wheel of the #48 car. Oh boy. The #38 Prototype Challenge car, spins, after the driver, was startled. This is the car Conor Daly is sharing, and the #31 Corvette got a piece of it. They can get the wheel changed if there's no damage. Cameron wass unseen by the #38. They've just closed pit lane, under full course yellow. This is an emergency stop, and you can only fix damage and the tire, and you cannot put fuel in the car.
That was a quick repair, fixing the bodywork, and replacing the tire and the broken wheel. Jerome Mee is Conor Daly's co-driver in the #38 that crashed.
Rain is in the forecast for today's race. That could really put the cat among the pigeons. The Tudor Championship, has something for everyone. Seventeen race wins, by fourteen teams. Nearly half of the competitors who raced at Le Mans, were members of the Tudor Championship. Watkins Glen has hosted so many races. This is also, the halfway point in the 2015 Tudor Championship season. We are at the foot of Seneca Lake, and at the birthplace of postwar American road racing. The first six hours was run in 1968. Qualifying was a total washout.
Cash bonuses will be given at halfway and at the end. Audi was beaten by Porsche, at Le Mans, two weeks ago. Earl Bamber ran the fastest race lap at Le Mans. They need that today to get Porsche on top at Watkins Glen. Is the Le Mans win, enough for the #4 Corvette to maintain momentum? Prototypes have been amazing this year. No repeat winners yet, and no repeat polesitters. The cars are on their warmup laps now. Max Papis will be the third driver for the #5 Corvette DP. The #90 car will have two drivers, with Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante.
Valiante is a little ill. Larbre Competition, from France, has loaned the factory team, a chassis. CORE Autosport is on top of the Prototype Challenge championship standings. They haven't won. But, they want to stay focused and be consistent. In GT Daytona, four different manufacturers are in the top five and the #48 Audi R8 LMS, as well as Aston Martin, Porsche, and Ferrari. It's going to be a wild race indeed.
The natural terrain, The Boot, and the esses are major sections on this course. We are green! Christian Fittipaldi leads. Here comes the GTLM field and the GTD cars. The weather here is really iffy. The blokes on slicks will be very difficult. Patrick Pilet leads GTLM. It's raining hard coming through the inner loop. Some guys are gambling, as we see Mario Farnbacher passing, down into The Boot. A spin for Bill Auberlen in the #25 BMW Z4 GT. Did Patrick Pilet also spin?
It's very slick in the grass off the racing surface. Auberlen lost it on his own. Christian Fittipaldi leads Dane Cameron, Richard Westbrook, and others. Memo Rojas is racing the Deltawing. They have a lighter chassis, but more durable parts in the motor. Auberlen's spin, in replay, as he's tiptoeing, he spins,a nd crash! The #912 Porsche, slams him. The #17 Falken Tires Porsche 911 RSR pits. Are you betting for dry and go stiff on suspension? Or, do you hope for rain, and soften the suspension?
Some of these boys are still on slicks. Kuno Wittmer is in the TRG Aston Martin, and we watch Madison Snow in the Porsche and Christopher Haase in the Audi, also in this fight. It's in the mid 60s, with humidity, and virtually no breeze. One of the Corvette's has spun. It's the #4 car of Oliver Gavin. These boys have had a two year dry spell, except for winning Le Mans two weeks ago. Gavin barely touches the throttle, in a straight line, on a wet patch between asphalt and concrete, and... thump. He hits the Armco.
Madison Snow has the GT Daytona lead currently. Snow, Haase, Wittmer. Kuno Wittmer, and Christina Nielsen, are teamed up. James Davison is racing for TRG in Pirelli World Challenge. Yours truly will update more PWC action, when possible. Racing began on the streets of the village of Watkins Glen in 1948. Watkins Glen is the only track to host every major form of motorsport. We see the rain growing heavier. But, the tires are beginning to get heat in the tires.
Dane Camron and Richard Westbrook are closing up. It's a six hour race, with tricky weather. Don't push too hard. But, there's lots of energy. No action yesterday. It's almost like being a dog. If the dog doesn't get a walk, he'll be antsy. Try and run the fuel out, and then check in when your scheduled pit stops come. Madison Snow and Mario Farnbacher in two Porsche 911 GT America's battle for the GT Daytona lead. There was a half hour dry warmup session this morning. The drivers haven't seen rain, all weekend.
One of the factory Corvette's is holding up this GT Daytona scrum. The GT LM car is faster on the straightaways. The #912 Porsche has a drive through penalty for passing under a local yellow. Earl Bamber is at the controls. Now, this is a mess! Race leader, in traffic, between Prototype Challenge and GTD cars. Everyone drives a different line, and then, another car comes up behind you and you have to check up. Madison Snow has dropped from first to third place. Christian Fittipaldi is clear on the road. But, some of these blokes, are not looking at their mirrors.
Fittipaldi, in traffic is running 1:57 laps. Joey Hand, with clear track in the #01 Ganassi Riley Ford, is running in the 1:51 range. Ganassi will run the new Ford GT effort, with four cars at Le Mans as well as two cars for the U.S. in Tudor Championship competition, and two more, racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia, pitted, for intermediate tires, with Pierre Kaffer at the controls. All classes bar GTLM, have Continental Tires. Continental, does not have anj intermediate tire, whereas, GT LM does because they have an open tire rule.
The #97 Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 and the #44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America, have both pitted. We approach the half hour mark,. and the track is beginning to dry. The #5 car is sponsored by Hazlett Cider Tree Farm. It's made from apples, and cider yeast. Fittipaldi, has run a fast lap at 1:45.7. Patrick Pilet has put in a 1:52 in GT Le Mans. Ooh. Bruno Junquiera has spun in the #11 JDX Prototype Challenge machine. Ozz Negri Jr. makes a move into The Boot, and taps the PC car.
We have a full course yellow. Junquiera started from pit lane and was up to second in class. Junquiera is OK. But, he's stuck. They lost radio communication, in this wreck. This is a long race. We remain under yellow here at Watkins Glen. No action taken on this recent incident. We see pit stops. Westbrook and Cameron stay out. At the three hour mark, there will be bonus points for the North American Endurance Cup. Joey Hand pits for fuel only as does Christian Fittipaldi. Ricky Taylor picks up a place over Ozz Negri as well.
Prorotypes are on allowed to pit now. The GT cars will pit next time around. The GT class cars pitted. Fuel only for Corvette and BMW factory teams, as well as for the factory Porsche's. Action Express has split their strategies. We're back to green as Cameron looks inside Westbrook, with Connor Daly, headed to pit lane. Last year, the #90 car won this race over Alex Brundle, in dry conditions. The two leaders did not pit for fuel.
Everyone in the lead positions are on the same tires. The #22 Alex Job Racing Porsche has to take a drive through penalty. Conor Daly had taken the Prototype Challenge car to the lead. He's going for it, and he must have a chip on his shoulder. A great talent. A young jedi indeed. Ooh. Cameron wants by Westbrook, trying to commit to the inside line without getting squeezed, into The Boot. Oh no. The #85 Prototype Challenge car is spinning again. Mikhail Goikhberg, at the wheel, stepping up from IMSA Prototype Lights.
Bryce Miller is now at the wheel of the #48 car. Oh boy. The #38 Prototype Challenge car, spins, after the driver, was startled. This is the car Conor Daly is sharing, and the #31 Corvette got a piece of it. They can get the wheel changed if there's no damage. Cameron wass unseen by the #38. They've just closed pit lane, under full course yellow. This is an emergency stop, and you can only fix damage and the tire, and you cannot put fuel in the car.
That was a quick repair, fixing the bodywork, and replacing the tire and the broken wheel. Jerome Mee is Conor Daly's co-driver in the #38 that crashed.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
more news headed into the Six Hours of Watkins Glen
More news, via IMSA.com and Sportscar365 headed into the Six Hours of Watkins Glen, tomorrow.
Nielsen joined by Wittmer for The Glen in Aston Martin
http://www.imsa.com/articles/wittmer-joins-nielsen-glen-aston-martin
Negri leads opening practice for Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen
http://www.imsa.com/articles/negri-leads-opening-practice-sahlens-six-hours-glen
IMSA Joins HSR as Presenting Sponsor of Classic 24 Hour at Daytona
http://www.imsa.com/articles/imsa-joins-hsr-presenting-sponsor-classic-24-hour-daytona
Three-for-three For Negri in Watkins Glen Practice
http://www.imsa.com/articles/three-three-negri-watkins-glen-practice
Watkins Glen Friday Notebook
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/watkins-glen-friday-notebook-2/
IMSA Not Expecting to Grandfather Prototypes in 2017
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/imsa-not-expecting-to-grandfather-prototypes-in-2017/
24H Le Mans Winners Tandy, Bamber Switch Focus to GTLM
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/24h-le-mans-winners-tandy-bamber-switch-focus-to-gtlm/
Negri Tops Rain-Soaked Practice 3 at The Glen
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/negri-tops-rain-soaked-practice-3-at-the-glen/
Prototypes Challenge Teams Weigh In On Class Future
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/prototype-challenge-teams-weigh-in-on-class-future/
Watkins Glen Qualifying Rained Out, Grid Set on Points
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/watkins-glen-qualifying-canceled-due-to-rain/
Nielsen joined by Wittmer for The Glen in Aston Martin
http://www.imsa.com/articles/wittmer-joins-nielsen-glen-aston-martin
Negri leads opening practice for Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen
http://www.imsa.com/articles/negri-leads-opening-practice-sahlens-six-hours-glen
IMSA Joins HSR as Presenting Sponsor of Classic 24 Hour at Daytona
http://www.imsa.com/articles/imsa-joins-hsr-presenting-sponsor-classic-24-hour-daytona
Three-for-three For Negri in Watkins Glen Practice
http://www.imsa.com/articles/three-three-negri-watkins-glen-practice
Watkins Glen Friday Notebook
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/watkins-glen-friday-notebook-2/
IMSA Not Expecting to Grandfather Prototypes in 2017
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/imsa-not-expecting-to-grandfather-prototypes-in-2017/
24H Le Mans Winners Tandy, Bamber Switch Focus to GTLM
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/24h-le-mans-winners-tandy-bamber-switch-focus-to-gtlm/
Negri Tops Rain-Soaked Practice 3 at The Glen
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/negri-tops-rain-soaked-practice-3-at-the-glen/
Prototypes Challenge Teams Weigh In On Class Future
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/prototype-challenge-teams-weigh-in-on-class-future/
Watkins Glen Qualifying Rained Out, Grid Set on Points
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/watkins-glen-qualifying-canceled-due-to-rain/
Patron Endurance Cup Leaders Take Trip Down Watkins Glen Memory Lane
As we anticipate tomorrow's third round of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup, for the Tudor Championship, at Watkins Glen, here's a great story about Action Express Racing, and Corvette Racing, (leaders in the championship), crossing the stone bridge that was part of the old circuit that ran through the streets of Watkins Glen in the 1940s and '50s.
More pre-race news, to come before the Six Hours, tomorrow. Stay tuned.
http://www.imsa.com/articles/patron-endurance-cup-leaders-take-trip-down-watkins-glen-memory-lane
More pre-race news, to come before the Six Hours, tomorrow. Stay tuned.
http://www.imsa.com/articles/patron-endurance-cup-leaders-take-trip-down-watkins-glen-memory-lane
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Spa 24 Hours test session
News from the test session for the 24 Hours of Spa for the Blancpain Endurance Series, coming up next month.
24H Spa Driver Lineup Update
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/24h-spa-driver-lineup-update/
66 Cars on 24H Spa Entry List
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/66-cars-on-24h-spa-entry-list/
Marc VDS Tops Morning Session Test Day 24H Spa
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/mac-vds-tops-morning-session-test-day-24h-spa/
Marc VDS BMW Ends Spa Test Day on Top
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/marc-vds-racing-ends-test-day-24h-of-spa-on-top/
Spa Test Day Notebook
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/spa-24h-test-day-notebook/
24H Spa Driver Lineup Update, 6.24
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/24h-spa-driver-lineup-update-6-24/
24H Spa Driver Lineup Update
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/24h-spa-driver-lineup-update/
66 Cars on 24H Spa Entry List
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/66-cars-on-24h-spa-entry-list/
Marc VDS Tops Morning Session Test Day 24H Spa
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/mac-vds-tops-morning-session-test-day-24h-spa/
Marc VDS BMW Ends Spa Test Day on Top
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/marc-vds-racing-ends-test-day-24h-of-spa-on-top/
Spa Test Day Notebook
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/spa-24h-test-day-notebook/
24H Spa Driver Lineup Update, 6.24
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/24h-spa-driver-lineup-update-6-24/
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Blancpain Endurance Series round 3: Paul Ricard 1,000 kilometers
The full race from round three of the 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series. The Paul Ricard 1,000 Kilometers at the Le Castellet circuit in the south of France. The Blancpain Endurance Series sees it's third different winner in as many races. This time, it's the #23 Nissan GT Academy Team RJN Nissan GT-R shared by Alex Buncombe, Katsumasa Chiyo, and Wolfgang Reip, taking the overall victory.
In the Pro Am class, it was Kessel Racing with their #11 Ferrari 458 Italia, driven by Poland's Michael Broniszewski, Alessandro Bonacini of Italy, and Englishman Michael Lyons, winning in class. Finally, in the Am division, the race win went to the #25 Glorax Racing Ferrari 458 GT3 of Italians Rino Mastronardi and Fabio Mancini, sharing with Andrey Birzhin of Russia.
Overall/PRO: #23 Buncombe/Chiyo/Reip Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3
Pro Am: #11 Broniszewski/Bonacini/Lyons Ferrari 458 Italia
Am: #25 Mastronardi/Mancini/Birzhin Ferrari 458 GT3
The next race on the calendar, is the big one. The crown jewel in the Blancpain Endurance Series. The 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps, at Circuit de Spa Francorchamps, in Spa, Belgium, coming up in a month on July 25th and 26th.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
F1 driver Hulkenberg says future 'completely open' after FIA WEC debut
Another article after the FIA WEC Spa round. Nico Hulkenberg said the future was open after his debut in the FIA WEC at Spa. Well, after his Le Mans win, this is definitely confirmed. Again, will get to the Spa highlights and race report, when possible.
http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/f1-fia-wec-nico-hulkenberg-future-open-050415?adbid=10153299559211052&adbpl=fb&adbpr=36796456051&adbsc=social_20150504_45157546&short_code=2xc17
http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/f1-fia-wec-nico-hulkenberg-future-open-050415?adbid=10153299559211052&adbpl=fb&adbpr=36796456051&adbsc=social_20150504_45157546&short_code=2xc17
Monday, June 22, 2015
Pruett: "Any Driver Would Absolutely Want to Be Part of Ford GT Program"
Ford has yet to announce the driver lineup for it's new factory program with the Ford GT. But, one driver who would certain love to be a part of the team, is sports car racing legend, Scott Pruett.
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/pruett-any-driver-would-absolutely-want-to-be-part-of-ford-gt-program/
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/pruett-any-driver-would-absolutely-want-to-be-part-of-ford-gt-program/
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Sports car racing has never been better, say legends
Old article, after the Spa 6 Hours, which yours truly, still needs to blog about. But, still, very relevant.
http://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/sportscar-racing-has-never-been-better-say-legends
http://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/sportscar-racing-has-never-been-better-say-legends
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Chevy exec considers Le Mans win the best after losing team car
Chevrolet Motorsports Vice President, Jim Campbell, considers last weekend's win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with just one car, the best possible victory they could have had, even though they also succeeded in other forms of racing last weekend as well.
http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/chevrolet-corvette-le-mans-win-the-best-061915?adbsc=social_20150619_47861196&adbid=10153421898361052&adbpl=fb&adbpr=36796456051
http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/chevrolet-corvette-le-mans-win-the-best-061915?adbsc=social_20150619_47861196&adbid=10153421898361052&adbpl=fb&adbpr=36796456051
24 Hours of Le Mans highlights
A highlight reel of the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans last weekend. Racing action, spins, crashes, fires, you name it. It's all here. Enjoy this.
Friday, June 19, 2015
Zanardi set for Blancpain Endurance debut at Paul Ricard
Bonus post. Alex Zanardi will make his endurance racing debut, this weekend in the Blancpain Endurance Series, Paul Ricard 1000 kilometers at the Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track in Le Castellet, France, sharing a ROAL Motorsports BMW Z4 GT3 with his BMW factory racing team mates Bruno Spengler, and Timo Glock.
http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/alex-zanardi-blancpain-endurance-paul-ricard-061915?adbsc=social_20150619_47856956&adbid=10153421715681052&adbpl=fb&adbpr=36796456051
http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/alex-zanardi-blancpain-endurance-paul-ricard-061915?adbsc=social_20150619_47856956&adbid=10153421715681052&adbpl=fb&adbpr=36796456051
Le Mans Legend 2015
A report on the vintage Le Mans race, held on the morning of the 24 Hours. Ford GT40s dominated the event, which is a fitting welcome back to Ford, when they return with their new prototype racer, next year.
http://www.sportscardigest.com/le-mans-legend-2015-report-and-photos/
http://www.sportscardigest.com/le-mans-legend-2015-report-and-photos/
Under the hood: Yates prepared for Le Mans challenge with production-based engine
Doug Yates of Roush Yates engines, explains how excited he is, to be building the production based 3.5 liter twin turbo V6 that will be powering the new Ford GT race car that will enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans next year, and bring Ford back as a factory team, 50 years after their first win with the GT40 in 1966, in the hands of New Zealander's Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren, for Shelby American Racing.
http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/ford-gt-le-mans-engine-specs-info-details-061815?adbsc=social_20150618_47758246&adbid=10153418610056052&adbpl=fb&adbpr=36796456051
http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/ford-gt-le-mans-engine-specs-info-details-061815?adbsc=social_20150618_47758246&adbid=10153418610056052&adbpl=fb&adbpr=36796456051
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Hulkenberg win opens up Le Mans chances for F1 drivers - Ricciardo
Red Bull Formula One driver, Daniel Ricciardo, says Nico Hulkenberg's win for Porsche opens up chances for Formula One drivers to race at Le Mans again. Hulkenberg became the first Formula One regular to win at Le Mans in 24 years. The last time, was in 1991, in Mazda's victory, that featured then F1 drivers Bertrand Gachot of France, and Brit Johnny Herbert, racing the now legendary Mazda 787B with German sports car driver, Volker Weidler.
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hulkenberg-win-opens-up-le-mans-chances-for-f1-drivers-ricciardo
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hulkenberg-win-opens-up-le-mans-chances-for-f1-drivers-ricciardo
1955 Mille Miglia Victory Celebrated
Mercedes Benz celebrates the 60th anniversary of their triumph in the 1955 Mille Miglia road race.
http://www.sportscardigest.com/1955-mille-miglia-victory-celebrated/
http://www.sportscardigest.com/1955-mille-miglia-victory-celebrated/
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Post Le Mans sports car racing news update
News from the world of sports car racing, now that the dust has settled, and the smoke has cleared, from a great 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Avenatti: "Le Mans Lived Up to the Expectation Level and Then Some"
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/avenatti-le-mans-lived-up-to-the-expectation-level-and-then-some/
VIDEO: Porsche Celebrates 17th Win at Le Mans
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/video-porsche-celebrates-17th-win-at-le-mans/
Fehan (Corvette): "Adversity is just opportunity dressed a different way"
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/fehan-corvette-adversity-is-just-opportunity-dressed-a-little-different-way/
Dempsey: "To be successful at Le Mans is What the Dream is All About"
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/dempsey-to-be-successful-at-le-mans-is-what-the-dream-is-all-about/
36 Cars on Watkins Glen Entry List
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/36-cars-on-watkins-glen-entry-list/
Honda Confirms HPD ARX-04b to Run at Pikes Peak
http://sportscar365.com/industry/honda-confirms-hpd-arx-04b-to-run-at-pikes-peak/
IMSA News & Notes 6-17
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/imsa-news-notes-6-17/
TUDOR Night of Champions Set for Georgia Aquarium
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/tudor-night-of-champions-set-for-georgia-aquarium/
Avenatti: "Le Mans Lived Up to the Expectation Level and Then Some"
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/avenatti-le-mans-lived-up-to-the-expectation-level-and-then-some/
VIDEO: Porsche Celebrates 17th Win at Le Mans
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/video-porsche-celebrates-17th-win-at-le-mans/
Fehan (Corvette): "Adversity is just opportunity dressed a different way"
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/fehan-corvette-adversity-is-just-opportunity-dressed-a-little-different-way/
Dempsey: "To be successful at Le Mans is What the Dream is All About"
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/dempsey-to-be-successful-at-le-mans-is-what-the-dream-is-all-about/
36 Cars on Watkins Glen Entry List
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/36-cars-on-watkins-glen-entry-list/
Honda Confirms HPD ARX-04b to Run at Pikes Peak
http://sportscar365.com/industry/honda-confirms-hpd-arx-04b-to-run-at-pikes-peak/
IMSA News & Notes 6-17
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/imsa-news-notes-6-17/
TUDOR Night of Champions Set for Georgia Aquarium
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/tudor-night-of-champions-set-for-georgia-aquarium/
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Nico Hulkenberg Le Mans victory lap
Click the link and check out the video of Nico Hulkenberg's victory lap aboard the Porsche 919. The happiest racing driver in the world, I'll bet!
http://www.motorsport.com/all/video/main-gallery/nico-hulkenberg-victory-lap-at-le-mans-2015-onboard/
http://www.motorsport.com/all/video/main-gallery/nico-hulkenberg-victory-lap-at-le-mans-2015-onboard/
Mark Webber doesn't believe a mid-race one-minute penalty cost him victory
Mark Webber does not believe that the one minute penalty he had to serve mid-race that was instigated by a move by co-driver Brendon Hartley, caused him to lose Le Mans, which of course, was won by the sister Porsche 919 #19.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/motor-sport/le-mans-24-hours-mark-webber-doesnt-believe-a-mid-race-one-minute-penalty-cost-him-victory/story-e6frf3z3-1227398049214
http://www.foxsports.com.au/motor-sport/le-mans-24-hours-mark-webber-doesnt-believe-a-mid-race-one-minute-penalty-cost-him-victory/story-e6frf3z3-1227398049214
Nissan defends troubled Le Mans GT-R LM debut
Despite all three of it's cars failing to be scored as finishers at Le Mans, Nissan still validates it's endurance sports car racing program.
http://www.speedcafe.com/2015/06/15/nissan-defends-troubled-gtr/
http://www.speedcafe.com/2015/06/15/nissan-defends-troubled-gtr/
Monday, June 15, 2015
Le Mans: looking to the future
A couple stories about the future of the Le Mans 24 Hours, that were published before last weekend's race, that are surely noteworthy.
24H Le Mans to Expand to 60 Car Grid by 2017
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/24h-le-mans-to-expand-to-60-entries-by-2017/
2016 GTE Regulations Finalized
http://sportscar365.com/industry/2016-gte-regulations-finalized/
...and
ACO Confirms Garage 56 Entries for 2016, 2017
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/aco-confirms-garage-56-entries-for-2016-2017/
24H Le Mans to Expand to 60 Car Grid by 2017
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/24h-le-mans-to-expand-to-60-entries-by-2017/
2016 GTE Regulations Finalized
http://sportscar365.com/industry/2016-gte-regulations-finalized/
...and
ACO Confirms Garage 56 Entries for 2016, 2017
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/aco-confirms-garage-56-entries-for-2016-2017/
The fantastic story behind Porsche's Le Mans winners
A story about Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber, 2/3rds of the driver lineup (along with Formula One star Nico Hulkenberg) that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
http://www.motorsport.com/lemans/news/the-fantastic-story-behind-porsches-le-mans-winners
http://www.motorsport.com/lemans/news/the-fantastic-story-behind-porsches-le-mans-winners
Scott Dixon interested in driving Ford GT Le Mans car
Scott Dixon will not leave his current drive in Indycars. But, he has said he's interested in driving the new Ford GT Le Mans car, which his Indycar team owner, Chip Ganassi, will oversee, next year.
http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/ford-gt-le-mans-scott-dixon-061415?adbsc=social_20150615_47570026&adbid=10153411016751052&adbpl=fb&adbpr=36796456051
http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/ford-gt-le-mans-scott-dixon-061415?adbsc=social_20150615_47570026&adbid=10153411016751052&adbpl=fb&adbpr=36796456051
Sunday, June 14, 2015
24 Hours of Le Mans Part 6 (the finish)
We're entering what will be the final chapter of the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans. Oliver Turvey is catching Sam Bird. More drizzle coming. The #7 Audi pitted. No radio. Watch pit board. The fastest Audi does not have radio. They have to go old school to the end of the race. Watching Oliver Turvey, racing. He won Le Mans last year after being called up at the last moment. The #51 Ferrari is being buttoned up. They are 26th overall. Vilander and co. will be overtaken by an Aston Martin. Turvey takes second in LMP2. Sam Bird may not have much power in the G Drive car.
The #13 Rebellion R One is going for it. The pitter patter of rain can be heard on the microphones. The Ferrari wants a podium place. The one remaining Nissan GT-R LM has stopped. Ooh. Broken suspension on the #4 ByKolles prototype with Simon Trummer at the controls. Kudos to Nissan for not giving up. Nico Hulkenberg is still leading this race. One start, between the three drivers, here at Le Mans. Will the rookies spray the champagne? #38 is in the lane. No rain has fallen, to this point. Hmmm. That's odd. There's a yellow flag in the Porsche curves. We watch the Nissan. There's some fire from the exhaust pipes out the side of the front engined car.
Jann Mardenborough was at the wheel when the car stopped. Nicolas Lapierre will finish the race for KCMG. Or, maybe, it's Richard Bradley. Here comes the car. They've had a heck of a run. Are there raindrops out there? Hmmm. The KCMG car leaves the pits. Corvette is in the pits. They will need this stop and one more, to get to the checkers on fuel. Check the tires, and get fresh ones. Cross your T's and dot your I's. The crew is looking at the brakes and suspension, just checking things over. Time is a valuable commodity at this point.
We are nearing the one hour to go mark. In 1998, Porsche scored it's most recent overall victory at Le Mans with Allan McNish, Stephane Ortelli, and Laurent Aiello. Mark Webber gets into the #17 Porsche, and Neel Jani will finish the #18 car. Nico Hulkenberg leads by a couple laps over Brendon Hartley. The #40 Krohn Racing Ligier Judd is off the road. Contact in the chicane. Tracy Krohn at the wheel.
Audi is using eight mega joules, because they aren't sure how much more energy they can get out of the hybrid system. The diesel is a heavy lump, too. The weight will go up. The lump, is the engine, by the way. Crowds gather for the final hour at Le Mans. To win at Le Mans, you have to be the fastest. You have to endure. 23 hours ago the field of 55 was shiny and new. But, with barely an hour to go, only a handful, will see their efforts rewarded.
We have all Fox Sports commentators on deck now for the finish. We're into the final hour of this one now, folks. One hour to go. Porsche has record sales at the moment. The Ligier is in the pits. Racer's do not want to talk about results until they happen. You are still hanging on, and you hear every squeak and rattle in that car, in the last 55 minutes. You want to finish even if you are last in the train.
Cars not leading, are still pushing. You want the race to end now. This year, it is a role reversal. The Porsche's were fast, and reliable. Audi was fast, but have had big problems. Porsche's had speed last year, but had reliability issues. The Audi's have had the pace, under the previous track record. But they spent lots of time in the garage. That's why we run the races. Soon, we're going to see the cars, forming up for the pictures.
The #48 Murphy Prototypes car is still hanging in there. They were almost out, but a sister team, had a spare piece of bodywork. That is why this race has the legend it does. There is a spirit in this race, like no other. There's a big wreck with the leading GTE Am Aston Martin! Paul Dalla Lana has slammed the barrier! He drove straight off in the Ford Chicane. They had a big wreck with Roald Goethe earlier. There was only a lap lead to that car. He got crossed up, the car oversteered in the gray stuff, and he slammed the wall!
Did he go to the brake and get to both the brake and the gas at the same time? He never turned the car. He couldn't turn it. SMP Racing will assume the lead in LM GTE Am. Two sets of American drivers will be on the GTE Am podium. Viktor Shaitar, Aleksey Basov, and Andrea Bertolini, could win LM GTE Am. After his wreck, Paul Dalla Lana is OK. But, he's obviously gutted. G Drive pits. SMP Racing leads LM GTE Am. Two Ferrari's and a Porsche will finish on the LM GTE Am podium.
We always seem to see a twist in LMP2 as well. Marco Seefried makes a final fuel stop, to get him, perhaps, to the LM GTE Am podium. To have a chance to win a race as prestigious as Le Mans, you must survive the final 30 minutes. The #17 Porsche pits and Brendon Hartley will take it home. Rain is possibly ten minutes away. Nothing serious. As things stand, two drivers have a chance to win their first Le Mans races. 386 laps complete. 397 is the record. We won't reach that.
Porsche has done their homework and it looks like they'll survive the 24 hours. The final minutes are ticking away. Just under 23 minutes to go. Nico Hulkenberg could win on his first visit to Le Mans, as well as Earl Bamber. He's been racing cars for just five years. The #18 pits. Porsche was told to come back with a car, and be perfect. They're going to do it. The Audi team will have consolation, because this car, is not driven by full season regular drivers in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Nico Hulkenberg is still going for it, even though this race is coming to an end. There's rain falling on the back side of the track, with less than 20 minutes to go. Fifteen minutes to go in the 83rd 24 Hours of Le Mans. Porsche tops off what may be the winning car. Will a tire switch be necessary? Maybe not. Rain in Zones 14 and 15. That's down the Mulsanne between the first and second chicanes in the last twelve minutes. Are drivers more nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs? We'll see.
Thanks to the volunteer track workers for all they do. Parasols have turned into Parapluie, for sure. Toyota keeps digging. But they are six seconds off the pace. 3:23 to 3:17. Lap times are dropping five seconds, with ten minutes left. People are just staring at the monitors. The crowd is allowed to flood the track, after this race. The drivers are here for the trophies, in eight minutes or so. The last active F1 driver to win Le Mans, could have been Johnny Herbert driving for Mazda in 1991.
It's a madhouse after this race for the trophy presentations. Dr. Ullrich comes over and congratulates Porsche. Dr. Ullrich is a class act. He knows they put their best foot forward. Johnny Herbert, Volker Weidler, and Bertrand Gachot, won Le Mans, in a Mazda. Mazda is the only Japanese make to win. Nissan and Toyota haven't won yet. Johnny Herbert had busted his feet in a Formula 3000 crash, and had to be carried out of the car after the race, he was so exhausted.
After last year, seeing Audi setting the benchmark. Well, Porsche has met the challenge with these high tech space ships on wheels. The last lap of this race has to be under six minutes. Fans are going nuts. Slow it down. But, these boys know they've won it. When the factory team won in LM GTE Pro, they ran out of flags, a few years ago. People threw jackets and hats out the windows. This is a huge commitment, even though they are built on racing heritage.
Today, Porsche will earn their 17th win at Le Mans. Audi's Reinhold Joest was responsible for a lot of those wins. 263,500 people came to Le Mans this year. Are we ready for a photo finish? Yes. That's the spirit of this race. Competitors know how to make this work. 5, 4, 3, 2 ,1. Checkers. New faces in victory lane this year. Porsche will win their 17th Le Mans overall. Nico Hulkenberg, Nick Tandy, and Earl Bamber... Porsche, wins Le Mans!
Patrick Dempsey and Patrick Long win LM GTE Am. But, Porsche wins overall. Nicolas Lapierre wins LMP2. He does so with Richard Bradley and Matthew Howson. In LM GTE Pro, the winner is Corvette Racing for the #64 of Jordan Taylor, Tommy Milner, and Oliver Gavin. In LM GTE Am it's the #72 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia of Viktor Shaitar, Alexey Basov, and Andrea Bertolini. Wow. This is incredible.
You can go through every class, and there are stories all over the place. There was so much for thsi race. You had to be perfect. In years past, you could make a mistake. This time, you had to be perfect and have nothing go wrong. The outright pace was incredible. There are memories yet to come. The overall winners come into one of the most vfamous victory lanes in all of racing. These three drivers... Bamber, Tandy, and Hulkenberg, have had thrir lives changed, forever.
Overall/LMP1: #19 Hulkenberg/Bamber/Tandy Porsche 919
LMP2: #47 Howson/Bradley/Lapierre Oreca 05 Nissan
LM GTE Pro: #64 Gavin/Milner/Taylor Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R-
LM GTE Am: #72 Shaitar/Bertolini/Basov Ferrari 458 Italia
When the hybrid formula was developed, it was hailed as a new era. So true. Lots of new faces on the podium. 395 laps is within two laps of the all-time record despite safety cars. What a pace. What a race. It's been a long day, but the result was worth the effort. Yours truly thought Porsche would not make it and Audi would win. But, not today. Porsche is #1! The results today will do a lot for American sports car racing.
So many amazing moments. What a day for Corvette Racing, too. We'll be talking about this one, for a long, long time. The track is given over to the spectators for the podium ceremonies. Two of the three overall winners were here for the first time. Bamber, and Hulkenberg. Kudos to Corvette Racing, too, for pulling through and winning Le Mans despite the trouble with the sister car. Corvette wins their eighth Le Mans.
It's so emotional to see this. We see these blokes coming out on the podium, and it gives you goosebumps. You never predict the race on paper. This one, was a classic. In a race with a history like Le Mans, there's always a passing of the torch. Tom Kristensen is handing out a trophy to ounger drivers. It's a great moment. The work starts tomorrow. What's good for Porsche is good for sports car racing, as the German national anthem plays to honor Porsche.
Audi, losing to Porsche, makes their focus that much sharper, for next year. This is totally unexpected. But, Porsche deserves this 17th win. Amazing. Jacky Ickx and Tom Kristensen are both on the podium to congratulate the winners. Celebrations will go on into the night. Porsche wins Le Mans this year. It's over. We recall the heroes of the past, and the cars. Audi's dynasty is over. Porsche's is renewed.
For racers, risk is life. This race offers satisfaction to those who get to say, "I drove, and won, Le Mans." Au revoir, everyone. We'll see you, next year.
The #13 Rebellion R One is going for it. The pitter patter of rain can be heard on the microphones. The Ferrari wants a podium place. The one remaining Nissan GT-R LM has stopped. Ooh. Broken suspension on the #4 ByKolles prototype with Simon Trummer at the controls. Kudos to Nissan for not giving up. Nico Hulkenberg is still leading this race. One start, between the three drivers, here at Le Mans. Will the rookies spray the champagne? #38 is in the lane. No rain has fallen, to this point. Hmmm. That's odd. There's a yellow flag in the Porsche curves. We watch the Nissan. There's some fire from the exhaust pipes out the side of the front engined car.
Jann Mardenborough was at the wheel when the car stopped. Nicolas Lapierre will finish the race for KCMG. Or, maybe, it's Richard Bradley. Here comes the car. They've had a heck of a run. Are there raindrops out there? Hmmm. The KCMG car leaves the pits. Corvette is in the pits. They will need this stop and one more, to get to the checkers on fuel. Check the tires, and get fresh ones. Cross your T's and dot your I's. The crew is looking at the brakes and suspension, just checking things over. Time is a valuable commodity at this point.
We are nearing the one hour to go mark. In 1998, Porsche scored it's most recent overall victory at Le Mans with Allan McNish, Stephane Ortelli, and Laurent Aiello. Mark Webber gets into the #17 Porsche, and Neel Jani will finish the #18 car. Nico Hulkenberg leads by a couple laps over Brendon Hartley. The #40 Krohn Racing Ligier Judd is off the road. Contact in the chicane. Tracy Krohn at the wheel.
Audi is using eight mega joules, because they aren't sure how much more energy they can get out of the hybrid system. The diesel is a heavy lump, too. The weight will go up. The lump, is the engine, by the way. Crowds gather for the final hour at Le Mans. To win at Le Mans, you have to be the fastest. You have to endure. 23 hours ago the field of 55 was shiny and new. But, with barely an hour to go, only a handful, will see their efforts rewarded.
We have all Fox Sports commentators on deck now for the finish. We're into the final hour of this one now, folks. One hour to go. Porsche has record sales at the moment. The Ligier is in the pits. Racer's do not want to talk about results until they happen. You are still hanging on, and you hear every squeak and rattle in that car, in the last 55 minutes. You want to finish even if you are last in the train.
Cars not leading, are still pushing. You want the race to end now. This year, it is a role reversal. The Porsche's were fast, and reliable. Audi was fast, but have had big problems. Porsche's had speed last year, but had reliability issues. The Audi's have had the pace, under the previous track record. But they spent lots of time in the garage. That's why we run the races. Soon, we're going to see the cars, forming up for the pictures.
The #48 Murphy Prototypes car is still hanging in there. They were almost out, but a sister team, had a spare piece of bodywork. That is why this race has the legend it does. There is a spirit in this race, like no other. There's a big wreck with the leading GTE Am Aston Martin! Paul Dalla Lana has slammed the barrier! He drove straight off in the Ford Chicane. They had a big wreck with Roald Goethe earlier. There was only a lap lead to that car. He got crossed up, the car oversteered in the gray stuff, and he slammed the wall!
Did he go to the brake and get to both the brake and the gas at the same time? He never turned the car. He couldn't turn it. SMP Racing will assume the lead in LM GTE Am. Two sets of American drivers will be on the GTE Am podium. Viktor Shaitar, Aleksey Basov, and Andrea Bertolini, could win LM GTE Am. After his wreck, Paul Dalla Lana is OK. But, he's obviously gutted. G Drive pits. SMP Racing leads LM GTE Am. Two Ferrari's and a Porsche will finish on the LM GTE Am podium.
We always seem to see a twist in LMP2 as well. Marco Seefried makes a final fuel stop, to get him, perhaps, to the LM GTE Am podium. To have a chance to win a race as prestigious as Le Mans, you must survive the final 30 minutes. The #17 Porsche pits and Brendon Hartley will take it home. Rain is possibly ten minutes away. Nothing serious. As things stand, two drivers have a chance to win their first Le Mans races. 386 laps complete. 397 is the record. We won't reach that.
Porsche has done their homework and it looks like they'll survive the 24 hours. The final minutes are ticking away. Just under 23 minutes to go. Nico Hulkenberg could win on his first visit to Le Mans, as well as Earl Bamber. He's been racing cars for just five years. The #18 pits. Porsche was told to come back with a car, and be perfect. They're going to do it. The Audi team will have consolation, because this car, is not driven by full season regular drivers in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Nico Hulkenberg is still going for it, even though this race is coming to an end. There's rain falling on the back side of the track, with less than 20 minutes to go. Fifteen minutes to go in the 83rd 24 Hours of Le Mans. Porsche tops off what may be the winning car. Will a tire switch be necessary? Maybe not. Rain in Zones 14 and 15. That's down the Mulsanne between the first and second chicanes in the last twelve minutes. Are drivers more nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs? We'll see.
Thanks to the volunteer track workers for all they do. Parasols have turned into Parapluie, for sure. Toyota keeps digging. But they are six seconds off the pace. 3:23 to 3:17. Lap times are dropping five seconds, with ten minutes left. People are just staring at the monitors. The crowd is allowed to flood the track, after this race. The drivers are here for the trophies, in eight minutes or so. The last active F1 driver to win Le Mans, could have been Johnny Herbert driving for Mazda in 1991.
It's a madhouse after this race for the trophy presentations. Dr. Ullrich comes over and congratulates Porsche. Dr. Ullrich is a class act. He knows they put their best foot forward. Johnny Herbert, Volker Weidler, and Bertrand Gachot, won Le Mans, in a Mazda. Mazda is the only Japanese make to win. Nissan and Toyota haven't won yet. Johnny Herbert had busted his feet in a Formula 3000 crash, and had to be carried out of the car after the race, he was so exhausted.
After last year, seeing Audi setting the benchmark. Well, Porsche has met the challenge with these high tech space ships on wheels. The last lap of this race has to be under six minutes. Fans are going nuts. Slow it down. But, these boys know they've won it. When the factory team won in LM GTE Pro, they ran out of flags, a few years ago. People threw jackets and hats out the windows. This is a huge commitment, even though they are built on racing heritage.
Today, Porsche will earn their 17th win at Le Mans. Audi's Reinhold Joest was responsible for a lot of those wins. 263,500 people came to Le Mans this year. Are we ready for a photo finish? Yes. That's the spirit of this race. Competitors know how to make this work. 5, 4, 3, 2 ,1. Checkers. New faces in victory lane this year. Porsche will win their 17th Le Mans overall. Nico Hulkenberg, Nick Tandy, and Earl Bamber... Porsche, wins Le Mans!
Patrick Dempsey and Patrick Long win LM GTE Am. But, Porsche wins overall. Nicolas Lapierre wins LMP2. He does so with Richard Bradley and Matthew Howson. In LM GTE Pro, the winner is Corvette Racing for the #64 of Jordan Taylor, Tommy Milner, and Oliver Gavin. In LM GTE Am it's the #72 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia of Viktor Shaitar, Alexey Basov, and Andrea Bertolini. Wow. This is incredible.
You can go through every class, and there are stories all over the place. There was so much for thsi race. You had to be perfect. In years past, you could make a mistake. This time, you had to be perfect and have nothing go wrong. The outright pace was incredible. There are memories yet to come. The overall winners come into one of the most vfamous victory lanes in all of racing. These three drivers... Bamber, Tandy, and Hulkenberg, have had thrir lives changed, forever.
Overall/LMP1: #19 Hulkenberg/Bamber/Tandy Porsche 919
LMP2: #47 Howson/Bradley/Lapierre Oreca 05 Nissan
LM GTE Pro: #64 Gavin/Milner/Taylor Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R-
LM GTE Am: #72 Shaitar/Bertolini/Basov Ferrari 458 Italia
When the hybrid formula was developed, it was hailed as a new era. So true. Lots of new faces on the podium. 395 laps is within two laps of the all-time record despite safety cars. What a pace. What a race. It's been a long day, but the result was worth the effort. Yours truly thought Porsche would not make it and Audi would win. But, not today. Porsche is #1! The results today will do a lot for American sports car racing.
So many amazing moments. What a day for Corvette Racing, too. We'll be talking about this one, for a long, long time. The track is given over to the spectators for the podium ceremonies. Two of the three overall winners were here for the first time. Bamber, and Hulkenberg. Kudos to Corvette Racing, too, for pulling through and winning Le Mans despite the trouble with the sister car. Corvette wins their eighth Le Mans.
It's so emotional to see this. We see these blokes coming out on the podium, and it gives you goosebumps. You never predict the race on paper. This one, was a classic. In a race with a history like Le Mans, there's always a passing of the torch. Tom Kristensen is handing out a trophy to ounger drivers. It's a great moment. The work starts tomorrow. What's good for Porsche is good for sports car racing, as the German national anthem plays to honor Porsche.
Audi, losing to Porsche, makes their focus that much sharper, for next year. This is totally unexpected. But, Porsche deserves this 17th win. Amazing. Jacky Ickx and Tom Kristensen are both on the podium to congratulate the winners. Celebrations will go on into the night. Porsche wins Le Mans this year. It's over. We recall the heroes of the past, and the cars. Audi's dynasty is over. Porsche's is renewed.
For racers, risk is life. This race offers satisfaction to those who get to say, "I drove, and won, Le Mans." Au revoir, everyone. We'll see you, next year.
24 Hours of Le Mans Part 5
Morning has indeed made it's way to Circuit de la Sarthe. Yours truly, has been catching some winks. But now, it's time. It's time, to get serious. We are headed for the last seven or so hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We're just within the distance of a regular six hour FIA WEC race.
Nick Tandy continues to lead for Porsche AG. Passion, dedication, and commitment, are keys to this race. Let's take a look at some of the pieces in this puzzle, missed from the last report. The GTE Pro battle is still hot and heavy as we go through a highlights package. In hour thirteen, one of the Ferrari's had a fuel fire. In hour fourteen, another Ferrari, and another fire. Yikes. The #64 Cirvette had a slow brake change. In hour sixteen, the #12 Rebellion R-One went off the road and into the tires.
Problems for the #7 Audi R18 eTron Quattro, losing bodywork at high speed. Hour seventeen, the #7 was two laps down. Road Goethe had a bigh wreck. He was sent to the infield medical center. In hour eighteen,. the #17 Porsche passes the #9 Audi. In hour 19, the race continues to pit lane, as the Corvette passed the Ferrari in LM GTE Pro. Was this an unsafe pit release? Porsche, KCMG, Corvette, and Aston Martin, are the class leaders right now.
The #64 is OK, and there's no pit stop penalty. These boys had real trouble, and crashed the sister car in qualifying. But, they've soldiered on with one car, after Jan Magnussen had it's mega hit in qualifying. Currently, we are under a safe zone, and we see the cars slowing down. The #42 car for Strakka Racing is off the road. Le Mans hits nostalgic and emotional areas towards the end of the race. Porsche and Audi are battling. The story is coming true as we reach the final sections of this event.
Porsche #19 is in the lane. The spirit of this race, makes Le Mans magic, and the coolest place on earth. Nick Tandy is in the pits, and they almost wanted to take the car back to the garage on the dolly's. The #17 Porsche had a pass in a no pass zone. The #19 car has been trouble free. Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber, have proven themselves from the GT ranks. Lets hope the fairytale continues as we watch Timo Bernhard in the #17 machine. I know. I know. We've had lots of breaks in coverage for other events.
But the drama of this race, has not let up. This facility at Le Mans, is huge. Now, we watch the battle for the final podium spot in LM GTE Am, being contested. Scuderia Corsa vs. Dempsey Proton Racing. Marco Seefried vs. Jeff Segal. Right behind is the #99 Aston Martin until Fernando Rees hit the #46 LMP2 car, after a brake change. #46 is the Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca 05 Nissan of Pierre Thiriet, Ludovic Badey, and Tristan Gommendy, an all French squad.
For Scuderia Corsa, the drivers and the car, are here. But, the pit crew has to repair the Tudor Championship car for the next Tudor Championship event at Watkins Glen in a couple weeks. The Farnbacher team is pitting the car, here at Le Mans for Segal and company. Tommy Milner leads LM GTE Pro by nine seconds over the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Toni Vilander. Vilander shares with Gianmaria Bruni, and Giancarlo Fisichella. We have a long way to go. Still the distance of a regular FIA WEC race.
#51 won Le Mans last year. Corvette Racing wants their eighth win at Le Mans. They have not won Le Mans since 2011. Nothing would be sweeter. The #64 (#4 in the Tudor Championship), needs a win. Le Mans, would be the perfect place to do it. Under five hours left in this race. Problems for Mark Patterson in the #48 Murphy Prototypes Oreca Nissan, as he spins in Mulsanne corner. That was close as the Corvette was behind it. Ford vs. Chevrolet, will start again next year with the Ford announcement. Four cars at Le Mans next year. Two from the U.S. and two from Europe.
Now, every pit stop will be critical from now until the end of the race. The #64 Corvette is in the lane. Meanwhile, Mark Patterson is headed in. He shares with Nathaniel Berthon of France, and India's Karun Chandhok. This team has a new car. Many LMP2 cars were designed, ten years ago, when the Champion Racing Audi R8 won this race. We watch Mitch Evans in the #38 Jota Sport Gibson 015S Nissan. Evans, from New Zealand, shares with Brits Simon Dolan and Oliver Turvey.
We watch some of the pit action, and the crew members are up all night to service the car, damaged, or undamaged. The drivers get to go rest, get a shower, and a hot meal. The crew guys have been out there for a day and a half. Oh no. Problems for the #37 SMP Racing BR01 Nissan. This car needs to slow down so the tire won't shred and rip the bodywork apart. The car is shared by the Russian trio of Mikhail Aleshin, and the Ladygin brothers, (Kirill and Anton). The Michelin tire stayed intact.
In years past, that thing would have split apart, and become like a saw blade, tearing the bodywork to shreds. By regulation in LMP2, the teams have to buy a stock tire, whereas, GTE Pro and LMP1 has a specific, confidential tire, that only their factory programs, get. Neel Jani is having hybrid power issues in the #18 Porsche. He needs to do a reset, like a Control, Alt., Delete, on your laptop computer.
Some drivers remember the H pattern gearbox and analog gauges. There are very few sports cars made with an H pattern transmission, especially with hybrid technology etc. These guys are far more advanced even, than Formula One. These cars produce huge acceleration, huge speed, and over 1,000 horsepower. The #9 Audi is in the lane. Lots of new drivers, don't even know how to shift the old cars, when they race vintage races.
Toyota passes Nissan. Stephane Sarrazin is the wheel man in the #2 machine, sharing with Alexander Wurz and Mike Conway. Austria, Britain, and France, are the represented nations, in the car. Wurz is the 1996 Le Mans winner, with Porsche. He shared an open top TWR Porsche Spyder with Davy Jones from the United States, and German, Manuel Reuter. Porsche is in the pits. So is Audi. It's the #7 car.
The #72 SMP Racing Ferrari of Viktor Shaitar, just went off the road. He will be falling into the clutches of his competition if he can't get out of the gravel trap. He made a mistake in Indianapolis. Viktor Shaitar is out of the gravel trap. But, he's spewing gravel all over the road. Nick Tandy is like, "I gotta get outta here!" Slow motion pictures of the crewmen working on the #8 Audi. Gianmaria Bruni turns fastest lap in LM GTE Pro at 3:54.9. Wow! That's quick, for a GTE car. Ferrari runs a little more downforce.
However, they don't have the straight line speed that the Corvette does. Viktor Shaitar has made it into the pit lane. But, the car, is sinking like a stone. They are a lap up on Jeff Segal. But, they'll lose spots. Nick Tandy made a name for himself running for Porsche North America in the American Le Mans Series and the Tudor Championship. Now, he's leading the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Amazing. The #72 car is doing a brake change, and the right hand wing mirror is busted.
Jeff Segal and Marco Seefried, both pick up a lap in LM GTE Am. Can Nick Tandy win overall at Le Mans? We keep asking the question. Years ago, the team manager always had to tell the drivers to focus on a lap time. But today, the cars are so advanced, the team manager, has to be a strategist. Put your fastest guy in first. Put your reliable driver in at the end. Are drivers good in the rain? Good at night? Sometimes, a team manager will see a shrewd decision pay off.
Tommy Milner is having his lead eaten into by Gianmaria Bruni. The Ferrari has fresher tires than the Corvette right now. Bruni is fresh. He doesn't make a mistake either. He's a great driver in a Ferrari. He's got right rear damage. But it's not severe. The #91 Porsche pitted. Richard Lietz, at the wheel. They have one bullet left in the gun. They were not quick in qualifying and are down to one car, just like Corvette. But, they're running well. Don't count them out for a podium. The #53 SRT Viper for TI Automotive, has lost a number plate, I think.
We watch slow motion shots of the Aston Martin. This is the #98 of Matthias Lauda, sharing with Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana. The only difference between LM GTE Pro and LM GTE Am is tire technology. We watch the #17 Porsche hit the pit lane. Yours truly cannot wait to see the new Ford GT next year. It looks like a race car. It's a GT car. But, it looks like a prototype. Speaking of prototypes, the lap times and tumbling. Andre Lotterer did a 3:18.4 and backed it up with a 3:19.2. Problems for the #68 Porsche. This is the #68 Team AAI Porsche in GTE Am with Han-Chen Chen, Gilles Vannelet, and Mike Parisy.
The sister car (#67), has Jun-San Chen, Xavier Maassen, and Alex Kapadia. Porsche #18 is in the lane. Neel Jani, out. Marc Lieb, in. The Prototype driver changes are very relaxed and very synchronized. The GTE driver changes, are a shade more frantic. Race Director Edoardo Freitas calls for a drive through penalty for the #7 Audi for disrespect of the slow zone. He took off before reaching the slow zone. He was side-by-side with another car, did not leave a gap, and almost passed.
Dr. Ullrich is pleading his case. But, it's to the sin bin for Andre Lotterer. Nick Tandy continues to lead. Tommy Milner still has the LM GTE Pro lead for the sole factory Corvette. Gianmaria Bruni is flying, and catching the #64 Corvette of Tommy Milner. We've got about four hours to go. Right at four hours. Loic Duval in the #8 Audi has loose bodywork. Meanwhile, Edoardo Freitas calls on the radio, "the track is declared wet." So, you can change to a wet tire compound.
This is a strategy call. Ooh. Is there rain? It doesn't seem likely. Jordan Taylor takes over the Corvette. Townsend Bell is going to take over the #62 Ferrari, with fresh tires right out of the tire warmers. This will put the cat among the pigeons. The sun is out on pit lane. The call is on the front straight. No rain. Hello? Edoardo? What's up, man? The #8 Audi is in the lane. Now, will the Audi fix loose bodywork? This is not a scheduled stop for them. Correction. Iit is. Put some bear bond on the sidepod.
Do they have a latch problem? There's no cracks, tire marks, or damage. One of the Audi's earlier, did have cracked bodywork. There is light rain out there, or, there could be. Porsche is saying they want to make sure the rain light is on on the car. The flashing rain lights on the rear of the prototypes was mandated after Kazuki Nakajima's wreck at Spa back in May, (a race that will be blogged, when yours truly, has time).
The #91 Porsche is in the garage. The #17 Porsche 919 of Timo Bernhard gets caught in an indecisive moment behind a Ferrari and flies off into the gravel trap! Wow! Did the Ferrari even see him? Yikes! Lucky save! Richard Lietz is at the controls of the #91 Porsche. They are two laps up on the #71 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Davide Rigon. Lietz is now losing time. The #19 Porsche is in the pits. Earl Bamber takes over from Nick Tandy. More rain. It is down at Tetre Rouge, or zones six and seven.
Porsche is looking for their 17th win. Audi is looking for win number fourteen. Slippery track at Tetre Rouge and the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight. There's a tire carcas in the middle of the road, and it's another issue for the #27 SMP BR01 prototype, losing a left front tire carcass. You have to sloow the car down, or you will destroy the tire. Andre Lotterer is being told that there's light rain and it's OK for slick tires. Where is the rain? But, race engineer Lena Gade is doing very well.
If the slick tires are up to temperature, they'll handle the slight dampness. But if there's standing water, that's trouble. If there's a sheen, it's an issue. Hot tires on a slightly damp track is no worry. Yellow in Zone 29 (Indianapolis). So, the slow zone is activated again. If the rain builds up, force majeur will come into play, and put the cat among the pigeons. Hopefully we don't see too much change in the conditions. Yellow zone 29 is at the entry to the Porsche Curves.
Jordan Taylor is now driving the #64 Corvette. Gianmaria Bruni is in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari. Jordan Taylor, will finish the race, more than likely. Oliver Gavin will be next into the car, however. A Porsche goes down the escape road to re-enter the Mulsanne straight. The #53 Riley Motorsports SRT Viper has lost both first and second gear in their transmission. Ugh! Olivier Berretta is making his 20th straight start at Le Mans.
Emmanuel Collard has the most starts at Le Mans of anyone else. He is in one of the Ferrari's and will pass the stricken Viper. Stephane Sarrazin is pushing in the Toyota. But, he will not be in contention today. The Toyota just seems to have stopped developing. Always run at your best. Porsche found reliability. Audi continues to develop. Maybe Toyota is still developing. But, they've been way, way off the pace. This is an updated car. But, they did not make as many gains as Porsche and Audi.
Anthony Davidson drives the #1. He had a colossal wreck with a Ferrari, a few years ago. There are rain warnings being thrown out, but there is none at the moment. The #17 Porsche pits. But, Toyota is having a really fraught race. Drivers are motivated if they hear on the radio, "you have a chance for the podium." Never give up. This race is huge for manufacturers. Porsche are 1-2. Audi is still pushing hard, too. But, the races for Toyota and Nissan, have been ones to forget, even though Nissan will undoubtedly be back, being that it's just their first year back, in sixteen years.
Trouble for Marco Bonanomi in the #9 Audi. Andre Lotterer moves to third overall. The crew went to take the nose off, and forgot they'd taped it on with bear bond. Something is wrong in the hybrid system. A massive vibration, like a flatspotted tire. #9 is out of the box, and off the dolly's. But, this reverses the order. Audi has to hope that problems befall both the #19 and #17 Porsche's. Audi is two laps behind Earl Bamber. Two laps, means you are 17 miles behind. Lotterer is one lap behind. So, he and Loic Duval are on the same lap.
The ASR system is not working on the Audi. Lotterer is still two laps down. Now, he's one lap behind. Bonanomi has to go straight. The motor sounds sick. They're really fast and have lots of power. But, they are a real pig when they aren't driving well. The #18 Porsche is in the lane. There's a driver change going on with the #18. This could be a routine stop. Tires, driver change, and fuel. Marc Lieb into the car.
Oops. They pulled Lieb out. A single stint. Romain Dumas, is in the car. But, can he do a three hour plus stint? That's a long, long time. Pedro Lamy and Gianmaria Bruni battle. Ferrari vs. Aston Martin. #98 is running well in LM GTE Am. We have a long way to go. Problems continue for the #91 factory GTE Pro Porsche. They are having a huge issue with the wheel. The tire is stuck in the bodywork and the crewman is heaving the tire to pry it out. The suspension hasn't moved and returned to full droop.
How painful, to have a multimillion dollar race car, that won't work. The #30 ESM HPD is off at Tetre Rouge. Scott Sharp is at the wheel. He's throwing rocks all over the road. This trouble. He spins, and, boom... hits the wall. Ugh! Now, they have to get the grinder out, and grind the wheel off. How do you get a new wheel on? Painful to watch. It's like being in the dentists office, getting a cavity polished.
The Ferrari and the Corvette will be passing the Porsche, soon. Jordan Taylor runs a 3:54.8. Two seconds faster than LM GTE Pro pole! One of the Audi's is in pit lane, with damage. It's #8. They are taking the #8 Audi into the garage. The #9 had an issue with the hybrid system being inconsistent. They had to go through the whole hybrid system. Wow. Every Audi is having an issue except for Andre Lotterer in the #7. He turns the fastest lap at 3:17.4. This is fastest lap of the race, and a new in-race lap record! Yikes!
Timo Bernhard in the #17 Porsche is a lap down on his team mate, Earl Bamber. We're 21 hours in, and these blokes are turning qualifying laps! Now, your focus has to be sharpest, because mistakes are way too easy to make. Make your decisions and play them out, when you are tire. Your chances to make mistakes, are right now. Be at your best, but focus, even when you are super tired. Chairman of The Board for Porsche, Mattias Mueller, is in the garage. They want to beat Audi who has owned this race for so many years.
Porsche has 16 wins, and Audi has 13. They want to make it 17 to 13. A standard Tudor Championship sprint race is two hour, 45 minutes. So, we've got just over that distance, still to go. Earl Bamber says the car is good. Patrick Long is up to third in LM GTE Am. He ran the quickest lap for the #77 car at a 3:58.8. Pedro Lamy remains in the LM GTE Am lead. Pedro Lamy wants another win. #19 is in the lane. A completely routine stop. Bamber stays in the car.
We're into the final three hours. If you're ahead, the clock is your friend. If you're behind, it's your enemy. Rewind to hour sixteen, Nicolas Prost had an off track incident, hitting the wall. Mark Webber's Porsche ran around Rene Rast's Audi in hour eighteen. We are in for an exciting conclusion, as always, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Every year, this race, gets better. We watch Townsend Bell and Patrick Long for the final spot on the podium in LM GTE Am.
Patrick Long has two class wins at Le Mans. Townsend Bell wants a victory in his first Le Mans appearance. Wow. Whatr a race this is. We watch the Rebellion R One go by. Townsend Bell is measuring, sizing up, Patrick Long. He looks to pass, on the outside line to Mulsanne corner, and loses it! Yikes! Not a done deal yet. But, wow. These blokes were definitely playing dodge 'em cars.
Back to live action, we watch the #17 Porsche pit. Audi #8 has also had to replace an engine cover. We have to watch the Porsche/Audi battle. It's starting to go away from Audi. The competition level is really high. The drivers of the #9 car did superbly, but the race, has fallen away from them. Earl Bamber is a lap up on his Porsche team mate, Brendon Hartley. But, we have more problems. Our LMP2 leader is stopped at the side of the road! More on this, soon. This is bizarre! We watch Mitch Evans in LMP2.
But, the #47 KCMG car of Nicolas Lapierre, was stopped on the road. The marshals gave him a push and he's back on his way. KCMG started in the Asian Le Mans Series, and was told by a friend to come and race in Europe. KCMG is from Hong Kong. The #98 LM GTE Am class leading Aston Martin V8 Vantage of Pedro Lamy, pits. Romain Dumas is in the lane. He's had issues with his hybrid system. Nicolas Lapierre lost two minutes with his spin, and Sam Bird is coming, too. Jota Sport, with Oliver Turvey is actually second. They want two LMP2 wins at Le Mans, consecutively.
Andre Lotterer broke Filipe Albuquerque's record at 3:17.475. Jackie Oliver set the lap record in a Porsche 917 in 1971, at 3:18.40, despite tighter corners, and also, updates to the course. Amazing! Audi had the outright pace and Porsche had the reliability. If Porsche wins, then Audi will be scratching their heads, going, "what happened?" Toni Vilander is in the #51 Ferrari. Bruni is a quick shoe. Maybe Giancarlo Fisichella will be fast. Now, we see a battle beetween the Corvette and the other Ferrari.
The #47 goes by them both. Look here. Townsend Bell is going for it, as we approach just two and a half hours left in the 83rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. One more update, will be coming. The Bell/Long battle heats up. How does he get around? Patrick Long knows where to place the car. We've still got a ways to go. Ferrari is quicker down the straights. The Porsche is better under braking. Reverse engineer your race plan for the last two and a half hours. The #62 Scuderia Corse Ferrari is in for a pit lane speeding penalty. Ouch!
Andre Lotterer is being told he's quicker than the Porsche of Brendon Hartley. Mitch Evans for Jota Sport says it's been a tough first Le Mans for him. Mitch Evans' dad tried to qualify for Le Mans in 1996, and didn't. He crashed. Then, he set a land speed record in a high horsepower Porsche, run by Mauro Baldi. A tire blew at high speed. Mitch Evans is doing well in his first Le Mans. Wow. Mitch Evans has a bright future. Mark Webber is his mentor. An amazing story, too, about his dad.
Earl Bamber is in pit lane for a fuel only stop. The #7 Audi is being wheeled into the garage. Lucas di Grassi dipped into the 3:17 bracket now. All the Audi's have run under the previous best lap record set in 1971. Audi has run quickest, but they've been fraught with problems. Last year's winners, from Audi, they did not win that event, without problems. A little over two hours to go at Le Mans.
After the penalty for the Ferrari, the gap between Patrick Long and Townsend Bell in LM GTE Am is 1:44. Benoit Treluyer is third overall, in the #7 Audi. Audi #7 has won the first two races. Now, I just gave away the results of Spa. That race, was in May. No worries, blokes. I'll still cover it. Audi has had ultimate pace. But, they did not vie for pole. They focused on race setup. Andre Lotterer needs to pit, and fix the engine cover. The Audi team is not running the best Le Mans they've had at all. Far from it.
Andre Lotterer was not happy before getting in the car. It looked like, when he had his balaclava on, he was sad, and had tears in his eyes. #7 is back on the road now, with Benoit Treluyer at the controls. Two hours, twelve minutes remaining. A Porsche 1-2 followed by two Audi's. We have just over two hours to go. But, thats a long way. We watch the Ferrari of Toni Vilander leading the Corvette of Jordan Taylor.
Gianmaria Bruni is going for his fourth Le Mans win. Toni Vilander and Giancarlo Fisichella, both want their third Le Mans triumphs. Jordan Taylor brings the Corvette into the lane. They've had a bit of a dry spell. They haven't won in four years. Oliver Gavin will take the car home. Oliver Gavin has had four wins and seven podiums at Le Mans. Gavin has not had the best season in the Tudor Championship across the pond.
James Calado in the #71 Ferrari is still running. He did not race here last year. Calado wanted a Formula One career. But he's becoming a good GT racer. So many drivers tried to get to F1 and might have done some racing in F1. If you don't break into F1, you go sports car racing. It is a race of great lengths and many moves, beginning in the morning and going through the night. At dawn, battle scarred cars, will still be racing. But those who go so far, and run laps, they know that laps will earn nothing.
We've still got two hours to go. It will be quite the run to the finish. BR is in the lane, and running into it'[s pit equipment. The threshold for the last part of the race is a four hour stint. You can only do four hours out of any six and fourteen hours maximum. No sign of rain, but cars still have their flashing red rain lights on. The change of direction with these prototypes is breathtaking. The #19 has run like a train.
Is the light dimming? We've got a car (Toni Vilander), slowing, running a 4:17 lap. He either spun, or is having mechanical problems. Box, box, box. #51 is in the lane. Oliver Gavin goes by and will lead LM GTE Pro. The car is headed for the garage, but there's no rush. The crew tells Toni Vilander to stay in the car. Vilander is clicking the shifter paddles trying to get the car in gear. Corvette leads GTE Pro with their sole entry.
AF Corse are beside themselves after their problems. Toni Vilander is gutted. He made a mistake and broke something in the back of the car. The #47 Oreca 05 Nissan is still leading LMP2. They could win from pole with fast lap, in class, and get a grand slam. The #51 Ferrari did not clout a curb. Maybe the sister car #71 did. In the late stages of a 24 hour race, you are talking to the car saying, "hey pal, get me home." We have an hour and 45 minutes to go.
Soon, we'll be starting the last blog entry, of this Le Mans 24 Hours. Oliver Gavin is inches away from the curb. But, he's comfortable, right on the ragged edge. Watching Oliver Turvey in the #38 car. We're inside an hour and forty minutes remaining at Le Mans. We have one hour and 36 minutes to go. Sam Bird and Oliver Turvey battle in LMP2. Chris Cumming is slow. Meanwhile, Porsche is in the lane. Nico Hulkenberg will finish the #19 car.
Brendon Hartley is second overall. No chasing. They'll just close this thing out and get a finish. Gianmaria Bruni is suited up. Will he take the Ferrari back on track? James Calado was driving the AF Corse car. But maybe, Davide Rigon, has taken over. Raindrops could be in the lane. Hmmm.
Nick Tandy continues to lead for Porsche AG. Passion, dedication, and commitment, are keys to this race. Let's take a look at some of the pieces in this puzzle, missed from the last report. The GTE Pro battle is still hot and heavy as we go through a highlights package. In hour thirteen, one of the Ferrari's had a fuel fire. In hour fourteen, another Ferrari, and another fire. Yikes. The #64 Cirvette had a slow brake change. In hour sixteen, the #12 Rebellion R-One went off the road and into the tires.
Problems for the #7 Audi R18 eTron Quattro, losing bodywork at high speed. Hour seventeen, the #7 was two laps down. Road Goethe had a bigh wreck. He was sent to the infield medical center. In hour eighteen,. the #17 Porsche passes the #9 Audi. In hour 19, the race continues to pit lane, as the Corvette passed the Ferrari in LM GTE Pro. Was this an unsafe pit release? Porsche, KCMG, Corvette, and Aston Martin, are the class leaders right now.
The #64 is OK, and there's no pit stop penalty. These boys had real trouble, and crashed the sister car in qualifying. But, they've soldiered on with one car, after Jan Magnussen had it's mega hit in qualifying. Currently, we are under a safe zone, and we see the cars slowing down. The #42 car for Strakka Racing is off the road. Le Mans hits nostalgic and emotional areas towards the end of the race. Porsche and Audi are battling. The story is coming true as we reach the final sections of this event.
Porsche #19 is in the lane. The spirit of this race, makes Le Mans magic, and the coolest place on earth. Nick Tandy is in the pits, and they almost wanted to take the car back to the garage on the dolly's. The #17 Porsche had a pass in a no pass zone. The #19 car has been trouble free. Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber, have proven themselves from the GT ranks. Lets hope the fairytale continues as we watch Timo Bernhard in the #17 machine. I know. I know. We've had lots of breaks in coverage for other events.
But the drama of this race, has not let up. This facility at Le Mans, is huge. Now, we watch the battle for the final podium spot in LM GTE Am, being contested. Scuderia Corsa vs. Dempsey Proton Racing. Marco Seefried vs. Jeff Segal. Right behind is the #99 Aston Martin until Fernando Rees hit the #46 LMP2 car, after a brake change. #46 is the Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca 05 Nissan of Pierre Thiriet, Ludovic Badey, and Tristan Gommendy, an all French squad.
For Scuderia Corsa, the drivers and the car, are here. But, the pit crew has to repair the Tudor Championship car for the next Tudor Championship event at Watkins Glen in a couple weeks. The Farnbacher team is pitting the car, here at Le Mans for Segal and company. Tommy Milner leads LM GTE Pro by nine seconds over the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Toni Vilander. Vilander shares with Gianmaria Bruni, and Giancarlo Fisichella. We have a long way to go. Still the distance of a regular FIA WEC race.
#51 won Le Mans last year. Corvette Racing wants their eighth win at Le Mans. They have not won Le Mans since 2011. Nothing would be sweeter. The #64 (#4 in the Tudor Championship), needs a win. Le Mans, would be the perfect place to do it. Under five hours left in this race. Problems for Mark Patterson in the #48 Murphy Prototypes Oreca Nissan, as he spins in Mulsanne corner. That was close as the Corvette was behind it. Ford vs. Chevrolet, will start again next year with the Ford announcement. Four cars at Le Mans next year. Two from the U.S. and two from Europe.
Now, every pit stop will be critical from now until the end of the race. The #64 Corvette is in the lane. Meanwhile, Mark Patterson is headed in. He shares with Nathaniel Berthon of France, and India's Karun Chandhok. This team has a new car. Many LMP2 cars were designed, ten years ago, when the Champion Racing Audi R8 won this race. We watch Mitch Evans in the #38 Jota Sport Gibson 015S Nissan. Evans, from New Zealand, shares with Brits Simon Dolan and Oliver Turvey.
We watch some of the pit action, and the crew members are up all night to service the car, damaged, or undamaged. The drivers get to go rest, get a shower, and a hot meal. The crew guys have been out there for a day and a half. Oh no. Problems for the #37 SMP Racing BR01 Nissan. This car needs to slow down so the tire won't shred and rip the bodywork apart. The car is shared by the Russian trio of Mikhail Aleshin, and the Ladygin brothers, (Kirill and Anton). The Michelin tire stayed intact.
In years past, that thing would have split apart, and become like a saw blade, tearing the bodywork to shreds. By regulation in LMP2, the teams have to buy a stock tire, whereas, GTE Pro and LMP1 has a specific, confidential tire, that only their factory programs, get. Neel Jani is having hybrid power issues in the #18 Porsche. He needs to do a reset, like a Control, Alt., Delete, on your laptop computer.
Some drivers remember the H pattern gearbox and analog gauges. There are very few sports cars made with an H pattern transmission, especially with hybrid technology etc. These guys are far more advanced even, than Formula One. These cars produce huge acceleration, huge speed, and over 1,000 horsepower. The #9 Audi is in the lane. Lots of new drivers, don't even know how to shift the old cars, when they race vintage races.
Toyota passes Nissan. Stephane Sarrazin is the wheel man in the #2 machine, sharing with Alexander Wurz and Mike Conway. Austria, Britain, and France, are the represented nations, in the car. Wurz is the 1996 Le Mans winner, with Porsche. He shared an open top TWR Porsche Spyder with Davy Jones from the United States, and German, Manuel Reuter. Porsche is in the pits. So is Audi. It's the #7 car.
The #72 SMP Racing Ferrari of Viktor Shaitar, just went off the road. He will be falling into the clutches of his competition if he can't get out of the gravel trap. He made a mistake in Indianapolis. Viktor Shaitar is out of the gravel trap. But, he's spewing gravel all over the road. Nick Tandy is like, "I gotta get outta here!" Slow motion pictures of the crewmen working on the #8 Audi. Gianmaria Bruni turns fastest lap in LM GTE Pro at 3:54.9. Wow! That's quick, for a GTE car. Ferrari runs a little more downforce.
However, they don't have the straight line speed that the Corvette does. Viktor Shaitar has made it into the pit lane. But, the car, is sinking like a stone. They are a lap up on Jeff Segal. But, they'll lose spots. Nick Tandy made a name for himself running for Porsche North America in the American Le Mans Series and the Tudor Championship. Now, he's leading the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Amazing. The #72 car is doing a brake change, and the right hand wing mirror is busted.
Jeff Segal and Marco Seefried, both pick up a lap in LM GTE Am. Can Nick Tandy win overall at Le Mans? We keep asking the question. Years ago, the team manager always had to tell the drivers to focus on a lap time. But today, the cars are so advanced, the team manager, has to be a strategist. Put your fastest guy in first. Put your reliable driver in at the end. Are drivers good in the rain? Good at night? Sometimes, a team manager will see a shrewd decision pay off.
Tommy Milner is having his lead eaten into by Gianmaria Bruni. The Ferrari has fresher tires than the Corvette right now. Bruni is fresh. He doesn't make a mistake either. He's a great driver in a Ferrari. He's got right rear damage. But it's not severe. The #91 Porsche pitted. Richard Lietz, at the wheel. They have one bullet left in the gun. They were not quick in qualifying and are down to one car, just like Corvette. But, they're running well. Don't count them out for a podium. The #53 SRT Viper for TI Automotive, has lost a number plate, I think.
We watch slow motion shots of the Aston Martin. This is the #98 of Matthias Lauda, sharing with Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana. The only difference between LM GTE Pro and LM GTE Am is tire technology. We watch the #17 Porsche hit the pit lane. Yours truly cannot wait to see the new Ford GT next year. It looks like a race car. It's a GT car. But, it looks like a prototype. Speaking of prototypes, the lap times and tumbling. Andre Lotterer did a 3:18.4 and backed it up with a 3:19.2. Problems for the #68 Porsche. This is the #68 Team AAI Porsche in GTE Am with Han-Chen Chen, Gilles Vannelet, and Mike Parisy.
The sister car (#67), has Jun-San Chen, Xavier Maassen, and Alex Kapadia. Porsche #18 is in the lane. Neel Jani, out. Marc Lieb, in. The Prototype driver changes are very relaxed and very synchronized. The GTE driver changes, are a shade more frantic. Race Director Edoardo Freitas calls for a drive through penalty for the #7 Audi for disrespect of the slow zone. He took off before reaching the slow zone. He was side-by-side with another car, did not leave a gap, and almost passed.
Dr. Ullrich is pleading his case. But, it's to the sin bin for Andre Lotterer. Nick Tandy continues to lead. Tommy Milner still has the LM GTE Pro lead for the sole factory Corvette. Gianmaria Bruni is flying, and catching the #64 Corvette of Tommy Milner. We've got about four hours to go. Right at four hours. Loic Duval in the #8 Audi has loose bodywork. Meanwhile, Edoardo Freitas calls on the radio, "the track is declared wet." So, you can change to a wet tire compound.
This is a strategy call. Ooh. Is there rain? It doesn't seem likely. Jordan Taylor takes over the Corvette. Townsend Bell is going to take over the #62 Ferrari, with fresh tires right out of the tire warmers. This will put the cat among the pigeons. The sun is out on pit lane. The call is on the front straight. No rain. Hello? Edoardo? What's up, man? The #8 Audi is in the lane. Now, will the Audi fix loose bodywork? This is not a scheduled stop for them. Correction. Iit is. Put some bear bond on the sidepod.
Do they have a latch problem? There's no cracks, tire marks, or damage. One of the Audi's earlier, did have cracked bodywork. There is light rain out there, or, there could be. Porsche is saying they want to make sure the rain light is on on the car. The flashing rain lights on the rear of the prototypes was mandated after Kazuki Nakajima's wreck at Spa back in May, (a race that will be blogged, when yours truly, has time).
The #91 Porsche is in the garage. The #17 Porsche 919 of Timo Bernhard gets caught in an indecisive moment behind a Ferrari and flies off into the gravel trap! Wow! Did the Ferrari even see him? Yikes! Lucky save! Richard Lietz is at the controls of the #91 Porsche. They are two laps up on the #71 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Davide Rigon. Lietz is now losing time. The #19 Porsche is in the pits. Earl Bamber takes over from Nick Tandy. More rain. It is down at Tetre Rouge, or zones six and seven.
Porsche is looking for their 17th win. Audi is looking for win number fourteen. Slippery track at Tetre Rouge and the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight. There's a tire carcas in the middle of the road, and it's another issue for the #27 SMP BR01 prototype, losing a left front tire carcass. You have to sloow the car down, or you will destroy the tire. Andre Lotterer is being told that there's light rain and it's OK for slick tires. Where is the rain? But, race engineer Lena Gade is doing very well.
If the slick tires are up to temperature, they'll handle the slight dampness. But if there's standing water, that's trouble. If there's a sheen, it's an issue. Hot tires on a slightly damp track is no worry. Yellow in Zone 29 (Indianapolis). So, the slow zone is activated again. If the rain builds up, force majeur will come into play, and put the cat among the pigeons. Hopefully we don't see too much change in the conditions. Yellow zone 29 is at the entry to the Porsche Curves.
Jordan Taylor is now driving the #64 Corvette. Gianmaria Bruni is in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari. Jordan Taylor, will finish the race, more than likely. Oliver Gavin will be next into the car, however. A Porsche goes down the escape road to re-enter the Mulsanne straight. The #53 Riley Motorsports SRT Viper has lost both first and second gear in their transmission. Ugh! Olivier Berretta is making his 20th straight start at Le Mans.
Emmanuel Collard has the most starts at Le Mans of anyone else. He is in one of the Ferrari's and will pass the stricken Viper. Stephane Sarrazin is pushing in the Toyota. But, he will not be in contention today. The Toyota just seems to have stopped developing. Always run at your best. Porsche found reliability. Audi continues to develop. Maybe Toyota is still developing. But, they've been way, way off the pace. This is an updated car. But, they did not make as many gains as Porsche and Audi.
Anthony Davidson drives the #1. He had a colossal wreck with a Ferrari, a few years ago. There are rain warnings being thrown out, but there is none at the moment. The #17 Porsche pits. But, Toyota is having a really fraught race. Drivers are motivated if they hear on the radio, "you have a chance for the podium." Never give up. This race is huge for manufacturers. Porsche are 1-2. Audi is still pushing hard, too. But, the races for Toyota and Nissan, have been ones to forget, even though Nissan will undoubtedly be back, being that it's just their first year back, in sixteen years.
Trouble for Marco Bonanomi in the #9 Audi. Andre Lotterer moves to third overall. The crew went to take the nose off, and forgot they'd taped it on with bear bond. Something is wrong in the hybrid system. A massive vibration, like a flatspotted tire. #9 is out of the box, and off the dolly's. But, this reverses the order. Audi has to hope that problems befall both the #19 and #17 Porsche's. Audi is two laps behind Earl Bamber. Two laps, means you are 17 miles behind. Lotterer is one lap behind. So, he and Loic Duval are on the same lap.
The ASR system is not working on the Audi. Lotterer is still two laps down. Now, he's one lap behind. Bonanomi has to go straight. The motor sounds sick. They're really fast and have lots of power. But, they are a real pig when they aren't driving well. The #18 Porsche is in the lane. There's a driver change going on with the #18. This could be a routine stop. Tires, driver change, and fuel. Marc Lieb into the car.
Oops. They pulled Lieb out. A single stint. Romain Dumas, is in the car. But, can he do a three hour plus stint? That's a long, long time. Pedro Lamy and Gianmaria Bruni battle. Ferrari vs. Aston Martin. #98 is running well in LM GTE Am. We have a long way to go. Problems continue for the #91 factory GTE Pro Porsche. They are having a huge issue with the wheel. The tire is stuck in the bodywork and the crewman is heaving the tire to pry it out. The suspension hasn't moved and returned to full droop.
How painful, to have a multimillion dollar race car, that won't work. The #30 ESM HPD is off at Tetre Rouge. Scott Sharp is at the wheel. He's throwing rocks all over the road. This trouble. He spins, and, boom... hits the wall. Ugh! Now, they have to get the grinder out, and grind the wheel off. How do you get a new wheel on? Painful to watch. It's like being in the dentists office, getting a cavity polished.
The Ferrari and the Corvette will be passing the Porsche, soon. Jordan Taylor runs a 3:54.8. Two seconds faster than LM GTE Pro pole! One of the Audi's is in pit lane, with damage. It's #8. They are taking the #8 Audi into the garage. The #9 had an issue with the hybrid system being inconsistent. They had to go through the whole hybrid system. Wow. Every Audi is having an issue except for Andre Lotterer in the #7. He turns the fastest lap at 3:17.4. This is fastest lap of the race, and a new in-race lap record! Yikes!
Timo Bernhard in the #17 Porsche is a lap down on his team mate, Earl Bamber. We're 21 hours in, and these blokes are turning qualifying laps! Now, your focus has to be sharpest, because mistakes are way too easy to make. Make your decisions and play them out, when you are tire. Your chances to make mistakes, are right now. Be at your best, but focus, even when you are super tired. Chairman of The Board for Porsche, Mattias Mueller, is in the garage. They want to beat Audi who has owned this race for so many years.
Porsche has 16 wins, and Audi has 13. They want to make it 17 to 13. A standard Tudor Championship sprint race is two hour, 45 minutes. So, we've got just over that distance, still to go. Earl Bamber says the car is good. Patrick Long is up to third in LM GTE Am. He ran the quickest lap for the #77 car at a 3:58.8. Pedro Lamy remains in the LM GTE Am lead. Pedro Lamy wants another win. #19 is in the lane. A completely routine stop. Bamber stays in the car.
We're into the final three hours. If you're ahead, the clock is your friend. If you're behind, it's your enemy. Rewind to hour sixteen, Nicolas Prost had an off track incident, hitting the wall. Mark Webber's Porsche ran around Rene Rast's Audi in hour eighteen. We are in for an exciting conclusion, as always, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Every year, this race, gets better. We watch Townsend Bell and Patrick Long for the final spot on the podium in LM GTE Am.
Patrick Long has two class wins at Le Mans. Townsend Bell wants a victory in his first Le Mans appearance. Wow. Whatr a race this is. We watch the Rebellion R One go by. Townsend Bell is measuring, sizing up, Patrick Long. He looks to pass, on the outside line to Mulsanne corner, and loses it! Yikes! Not a done deal yet. But, wow. These blokes were definitely playing dodge 'em cars.
Back to live action, we watch the #17 Porsche pit. Audi #8 has also had to replace an engine cover. We have to watch the Porsche/Audi battle. It's starting to go away from Audi. The competition level is really high. The drivers of the #9 car did superbly, but the race, has fallen away from them. Earl Bamber is a lap up on his Porsche team mate, Brendon Hartley. But, we have more problems. Our LMP2 leader is stopped at the side of the road! More on this, soon. This is bizarre! We watch Mitch Evans in LMP2.
But, the #47 KCMG car of Nicolas Lapierre, was stopped on the road. The marshals gave him a push and he's back on his way. KCMG started in the Asian Le Mans Series, and was told by a friend to come and race in Europe. KCMG is from Hong Kong. The #98 LM GTE Am class leading Aston Martin V8 Vantage of Pedro Lamy, pits. Romain Dumas is in the lane. He's had issues with his hybrid system. Nicolas Lapierre lost two minutes with his spin, and Sam Bird is coming, too. Jota Sport, with Oliver Turvey is actually second. They want two LMP2 wins at Le Mans, consecutively.
Andre Lotterer broke Filipe Albuquerque's record at 3:17.475. Jackie Oliver set the lap record in a Porsche 917 in 1971, at 3:18.40, despite tighter corners, and also, updates to the course. Amazing! Audi had the outright pace and Porsche had the reliability. If Porsche wins, then Audi will be scratching their heads, going, "what happened?" Toni Vilander is in the #51 Ferrari. Bruni is a quick shoe. Maybe Giancarlo Fisichella will be fast. Now, we see a battle beetween the Corvette and the other Ferrari.
The #47 goes by them both. Look here. Townsend Bell is going for it, as we approach just two and a half hours left in the 83rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. One more update, will be coming. The Bell/Long battle heats up. How does he get around? Patrick Long knows where to place the car. We've still got a ways to go. Ferrari is quicker down the straights. The Porsche is better under braking. Reverse engineer your race plan for the last two and a half hours. The #62 Scuderia Corse Ferrari is in for a pit lane speeding penalty. Ouch!
Andre Lotterer is being told he's quicker than the Porsche of Brendon Hartley. Mitch Evans for Jota Sport says it's been a tough first Le Mans for him. Mitch Evans' dad tried to qualify for Le Mans in 1996, and didn't. He crashed. Then, he set a land speed record in a high horsepower Porsche, run by Mauro Baldi. A tire blew at high speed. Mitch Evans is doing well in his first Le Mans. Wow. Mitch Evans has a bright future. Mark Webber is his mentor. An amazing story, too, about his dad.
Earl Bamber is in pit lane for a fuel only stop. The #7 Audi is being wheeled into the garage. Lucas di Grassi dipped into the 3:17 bracket now. All the Audi's have run under the previous best lap record set in 1971. Audi has run quickest, but they've been fraught with problems. Last year's winners, from Audi, they did not win that event, without problems. A little over two hours to go at Le Mans.
After the penalty for the Ferrari, the gap between Patrick Long and Townsend Bell in LM GTE Am is 1:44. Benoit Treluyer is third overall, in the #7 Audi. Audi #7 has won the first two races. Now, I just gave away the results of Spa. That race, was in May. No worries, blokes. I'll still cover it. Audi has had ultimate pace. But, they did not vie for pole. They focused on race setup. Andre Lotterer needs to pit, and fix the engine cover. The Audi team is not running the best Le Mans they've had at all. Far from it.
Andre Lotterer was not happy before getting in the car. It looked like, when he had his balaclava on, he was sad, and had tears in his eyes. #7 is back on the road now, with Benoit Treluyer at the controls. Two hours, twelve minutes remaining. A Porsche 1-2 followed by two Audi's. We have just over two hours to go. But, thats a long way. We watch the Ferrari of Toni Vilander leading the Corvette of Jordan Taylor.
Gianmaria Bruni is going for his fourth Le Mans win. Toni Vilander and Giancarlo Fisichella, both want their third Le Mans triumphs. Jordan Taylor brings the Corvette into the lane. They've had a bit of a dry spell. They haven't won in four years. Oliver Gavin will take the car home. Oliver Gavin has had four wins and seven podiums at Le Mans. Gavin has not had the best season in the Tudor Championship across the pond.
James Calado in the #71 Ferrari is still running. He did not race here last year. Calado wanted a Formula One career. But he's becoming a good GT racer. So many drivers tried to get to F1 and might have done some racing in F1. If you don't break into F1, you go sports car racing. It is a race of great lengths and many moves, beginning in the morning and going through the night. At dawn, battle scarred cars, will still be racing. But those who go so far, and run laps, they know that laps will earn nothing.
We've still got two hours to go. It will be quite the run to the finish. BR is in the lane, and running into it'[s pit equipment. The threshold for the last part of the race is a four hour stint. You can only do four hours out of any six and fourteen hours maximum. No sign of rain, but cars still have their flashing red rain lights on. The change of direction with these prototypes is breathtaking. The #19 has run like a train.
Is the light dimming? We've got a car (Toni Vilander), slowing, running a 4:17 lap. He either spun, or is having mechanical problems. Box, box, box. #51 is in the lane. Oliver Gavin goes by and will lead LM GTE Pro. The car is headed for the garage, but there's no rush. The crew tells Toni Vilander to stay in the car. Vilander is clicking the shifter paddles trying to get the car in gear. Corvette leads GTE Pro with their sole entry.
AF Corse are beside themselves after their problems. Toni Vilander is gutted. He made a mistake and broke something in the back of the car. The #47 Oreca 05 Nissan is still leading LMP2. They could win from pole with fast lap, in class, and get a grand slam. The #51 Ferrari did not clout a curb. Maybe the sister car #71 did. In the late stages of a 24 hour race, you are talking to the car saying, "hey pal, get me home." We have an hour and 45 minutes to go.
Soon, we'll be starting the last blog entry, of this Le Mans 24 Hours. Oliver Gavin is inches away from the curb. But, he's comfortable, right on the ragged edge. Watching Oliver Turvey in the #38 car. We're inside an hour and forty minutes remaining at Le Mans. We have one hour and 36 minutes to go. Sam Bird and Oliver Turvey battle in LMP2. Chris Cumming is slow. Meanwhile, Porsche is in the lane. Nico Hulkenberg will finish the #19 car.
Brendon Hartley is second overall. No chasing. They'll just close this thing out and get a finish. Gianmaria Bruni is suited up. Will he take the Ferrari back on track? James Calado was driving the AF Corse car. But maybe, Davide Rigon, has taken over. Raindrops could be in the lane. Hmmm.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
24 Hours of Le Mans Part 4 (short update)
Yours truly fell asleep and has missed part of this race. Trying to play catch up. ESM makes a pit stop. This team has been through three different types of chassis' this season. Oak Racing has helped the boys at ESM set up for this event. The #64 Corvette leads LM GTE Pro, until a stop for Jordan Taylor who has been in the car. This is for fuel and oil. One of the Ferrari's is going to retake the LM GTE Pro lead. It isn't uncommon to see a car having oil added from a pressurized bottle. The pit crews watch on telemetry to tell them they need more oil, if the pressure is dropping. This is a wonderful time of day, because the skies are certainly lightening up.
The crown in the road on the Mulsanne straight is not as noticeable as it was five or so years ago. One of the Nissan's is out. The door is closed, meaning it's game over. They were determined to run. But, they can't compete, at least not yet. They'll have to be back in the future to go against Audi, Porsche, and Toyota. It was a test session for Nissan. There's so much to learn with their V6 internal combustion motor. This race is the ultimate test. Rain is coming at Mulsanne. Earl Bamber and Porsche still lead this race.
Let's get an update, from the internet and the ACO Official 24 Hours of Le Mans Facebook page. The #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid has been leading as of late. KCMG leads LMP2. The #99 and #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantages lead both the GTE classes. Audi #9 pits. Filipe Albuquerque is still at the wheel of it. Ooh. Some P2 cars and a GTE car get caught together in Tetre Rouge. That's Karun Chandhok in the #48 Murphy Prototypes machine. The #47 Oreca Nissan pitted. The #19 Porsche has continued to lead this race.
Trying to catch up with the good 45 minutes that was missed while I was napping. Filipe Albuquerque ran 3:17, with other cars (Audi and Porsche) at 3:19. Toyota is some five seconds off, at 3:22. The technology march is moving forward at a tremendous clip. The #47 of Matthew Howson has led from the get go. More pit action it looks like. Tire technicians scrape the tires to see if there's temperature in them.
We see battles in the GTE class. It's Ferrari vs. Porsche in LM GTE Pro and LM GTE Am. Richard Lietz is clipping the curbs at Tetre Rouge. Aston Martin is in the lane now. We see the one remaining factory Corvette and the one remaining factory Porsche. The Corvette is good on brake rotors and brake pads, and also, on oil. Jordan Taylor runs second in class behind Giancarlo Fisichella. The race continues, with eight hours, 43 minutes remaining. We're grasping at straws, and it's almost back to square one. The #7 Audi now leads. Nico Hulkenberg takes over from Earl Bamber in the #19 Porsche.
The only hiccups in these last couple hours have been with the #8 Audi and the #18 Porsche. The #53 Viper continues to run really well in LM GTE Am. Ben Keating is developing as a driver. The #40 Krohn Racing Ligier JS P2 Judd is in the lane. This race, is the one you want to win, and it's the biggest commitment. Alex Wurz has two wins here, thirteen years apart. Now, it has to be a question, about Marc Gene, who was announced for Nissan, not being here.
LMP2 is really competitive, and the #47 car is continuing to lead. We also watch Sam Bird in the #26 G Drive entry, second in class. We are coming up on fifteen and a half hours into this race. Ladies and gentlemen, now, yours truly, will sleep. We'll see you, at 2:30 A.M. Central Time, for more action, and the run, to the race's conclusion, here at Le Mans.
The crown in the road on the Mulsanne straight is not as noticeable as it was five or so years ago. One of the Nissan's is out. The door is closed, meaning it's game over. They were determined to run. But, they can't compete, at least not yet. They'll have to be back in the future to go against Audi, Porsche, and Toyota. It was a test session for Nissan. There's so much to learn with their V6 internal combustion motor. This race is the ultimate test. Rain is coming at Mulsanne. Earl Bamber and Porsche still lead this race.
Let's get an update, from the internet and the ACO Official 24 Hours of Le Mans Facebook page. The #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid has been leading as of late. KCMG leads LMP2. The #99 and #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantages lead both the GTE classes. Audi #9 pits. Filipe Albuquerque is still at the wheel of it. Ooh. Some P2 cars and a GTE car get caught together in Tetre Rouge. That's Karun Chandhok in the #48 Murphy Prototypes machine. The #47 Oreca Nissan pitted. The #19 Porsche has continued to lead this race.
Trying to catch up with the good 45 minutes that was missed while I was napping. Filipe Albuquerque ran 3:17, with other cars (Audi and Porsche) at 3:19. Toyota is some five seconds off, at 3:22. The technology march is moving forward at a tremendous clip. The #47 of Matthew Howson has led from the get go. More pit action it looks like. Tire technicians scrape the tires to see if there's temperature in them.
We see battles in the GTE class. It's Ferrari vs. Porsche in LM GTE Pro and LM GTE Am. Richard Lietz is clipping the curbs at Tetre Rouge. Aston Martin is in the lane now. We see the one remaining factory Corvette and the one remaining factory Porsche. The Corvette is good on brake rotors and brake pads, and also, on oil. Jordan Taylor runs second in class behind Giancarlo Fisichella. The race continues, with eight hours, 43 minutes remaining. We're grasping at straws, and it's almost back to square one. The #7 Audi now leads. Nico Hulkenberg takes over from Earl Bamber in the #19 Porsche.
The only hiccups in these last couple hours have been with the #8 Audi and the #18 Porsche. The #53 Viper continues to run really well in LM GTE Am. Ben Keating is developing as a driver. The #40 Krohn Racing Ligier JS P2 Judd is in the lane. This race, is the one you want to win, and it's the biggest commitment. Alex Wurz has two wins here, thirteen years apart. Now, it has to be a question, about Marc Gene, who was announced for Nissan, not being here.
LMP2 is really competitive, and the #47 car is continuing to lead. We also watch Sam Bird in the #26 G Drive entry, second in class. We are coming up on fifteen and a half hours into this race. Ladies and gentlemen, now, yours truly, will sleep. We'll see you, at 2:30 A.M. Central Time, for more action, and the run, to the race's conclusion, here at Le Mans.
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