While we were away from the action, a lot has happened. We come back to this race, in the dark. It's a little before 1:00 A.M. now. We'll see light, in six hours. But we are yet to reach halfway in the race. The pace has been furious. We may see a new distance record despite some long safety car periods. Under the Dunlop bridge, down the hill and onto the lap. This race was billed as an endurance event. But, now, engineering is so advanced, the focus is on speed. Again, these modern cars can go 200+ miles an hour. Le Mans is a laboratory, a promotional tool, and a game of chance.
There are so many pieces of the puzzle. Every Le Mans is lost for a thousand reasons. You have to endure, and be the fastest, to win Le Mans. The race is going down at a tremendous clip. It's Audi vs. Porsche today so far. Sixteen wins for Porsche, and Audi wants their fourteenth. The Audi's and Porsche's have been going toe to toe this whole race. In LMP2, the KCMG Oreca Nissan leads. Aston Martin leads both GTE classes. They are being chased hard by the Ferrari's.
Of course, the #63 Corvette C-7-R- could not make the start, because of Jan Magnussen having a monster crash on Thursday in qualifying. But, the #64 car could still get the endurance triple crown, if they hold on. The #64 Corvette is even fast, through the slow zones. How much of a buffer do you have? Nick Tandy runs second driving the #19 Porsche 919. The lead has now changed as we come back up to speed here at Le Mans. The pit action is vibrant. Right now, the fans are still intently watching this race. We see the headlights in the darkness.
There is now, a rhythm. The weather is perfect. The track temperature is perfect. Fans are enjoying crepes right now. Time for a late night snack. One of the Nissan's has wrecked, and lost a wheel. We'll get to highlights of action you missed, while we were away, and yours truly, was fast asleep. No worries. Chevrolet scored wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. On Thunrsday, Jan Magnussen had a mechanical issue, a stuck throlle, and a HUGE wreck, hitting both walls.
He tried to downshift, brake, and shut the car off. But, there was no chance. I'd best get my hands off the wheel 'cause this is going to be a big wreck. Andre Lotterer pits for a routine stop. Lotterer stays in the car. Toyota pits too. But, they have not had the pace. Davidson got caught by a GT car and had an incident. Problems for Rui Aguas in the #83 Ferrari 458 Italia. The AF Corse car, has a radiator issue.
The Porsche's went at it from the start after the trois couleurs flag waved. We saw Patrick Pilet retirer on lap two with a fire. Andre Lotterer passed Timo Bernhard. ESM and Krohn Racing both crashed. Scary moment for the #8 Audi R18 eTron Quattro after slow zone confusion. Duval got back out three minutes later and continued. In hour four, a great battle in GTE Pro between the Corvette and the Aston Martin's. Darren Turner spun in the chicane on the Mulsanne. Romain Dumas had brake issues and spun off the road.
The Signatech Alpine went off the road and brought out a safety car. In hour nine, the #35 Oak Racing coupe spun off. Mark Webber in the #17 Porsche 919 had a minute penalty. Marco Bonanomi took over the #9 Audi. Nico Hulkenberg is giving Porsche #19 a good run. Nick Tandy is back at thw wheel. Now, Neel Jani has taken the #18 Porsche off the road. Nick Tandy was trying to put him a lap down and chase Andre Lotterer. This spin is into Mulsanne corner. The brakes are not working effectively.
These cars are very complex, as we've said before. Jani is stuck, and he's trying to get a corner marshal to come and help him. The American teams and drivers are running pretty well. In GTE Pro, we have one Corvette contending for victory, and lots of rookie American drivers in GTE Am. Americans contending in fourth and fifth in GTE Am. Now, let's revisit the announcement, from yesterday, and Ford returning to Le Mans, next year.
Ford won Le Mans in 1966, finishing 1-2-3. It's going to be 50 years, since that win, next year, and Ford, is coming back to GT racing. The press went wild and Ford has a great car coming out. They remember the three GT40s that finished 1-2-3 in 1966. Sports car racing is a worldwide phenomenon. They will also race at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January. That race is January 30th and 31st, 2016. We will cover it, here, on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog.
Ganassi Racing will be involved with the team, and they'll run two cars. It's going to be really cool. The car will be running the 3.5 liter twin turbo V6 from the Tudor Championship. The #27 SMP Racing BR Enginering BR01 Nissan is having issues with Nicolas Minassian of France, at the wheel. Minassian sharing with Maurizio Mediani of Italy and David Markozov of Russia. The #18 Porsche pits. They have to see about doing repairs as they refuel and change tires. We see Neel Jani get out. Not sure if it's Romain Dumas or Marc Lieb, taking over.
In a normal braking system, there are lots of consistencies. If you add energy harvesting, it's even more complex. Marc Lieb, is at the wheel of #19. The car is painted black, and is so painted, for Lieb, making a new speed record on a closed course, with the epic Porsche 918 production supercar. So much history at Le Mans. Champagne spraying in victory celebrations, began here. Nick Tandy continues to lead this race right now. It's an ebb and flow, based on pit stops. Tandy is really laying down some good lap times.
Jon Fogarty has the #31 ESM HPD coupe, spinning in the Porsche Curves, hitting the wall, and thankfully, getting the car back to pit lane. Watch out for debris coming off the car. Marco Bonanomi pits and refuels. He remains at the wheel. Filipe Albuquerque has shattered lap records, running a 3:17 lap, and he's the fastest driver, in this race, in the last four decades, including before the chicanes were installed on the Mulsanne straight in 1990. A lap time of 3:17.647! Yikes!
Nick Tandy has come a long wasy from racing in Porsche Super Cup, a few short years ago. The #31 car has cosmetic damage, and gets it fixed in the pit lane quickly. Also pitting is one of the GT class Ferrari's. ESM replaced the front clip, and the undertray, put new tires on, and came back out. Any damage at Le Mans is magnified. So, Jon Fogarty needs to be very cautious. Consider if anything else has been broken. We also see the #26 G Drive Ligier JS P2 Nissan in the pits. The Scuderia Crosa #62 Ferrari 458 Italia pitted. Townsend Bell is at the wheel. He shares with Bill Sweedler and Jeff Segal.
The G Drive machine has on it's driver's strength, Romain Rusinov of Russia, Frenchman Julien Canal, and Britain's Sam Bird, a regular in the FIA Formula E championship. The party is in full swing here in northwest France on a gorgeous summer's evening. Nick Tandy has a one minute gap over two of the Audi's, and then it's Porsche, Audi, Porsche, Toyota, Toyota. Toyota has not been on pace at all. They have not been able to keep up with Porsche and Audi. That's a tough pill to swallow.
Toyota will have to reevaluate their system and their design for next year's race. Nick Tandy eases away from Andre Lotterer. Lotterer was fast before. But now, Tandy is turning up the wick. It's nearly 2:00 A.M. local time in France. We've got about fifteen minutes more in this Fox Sports TV stint. Then, we'll wait, for more action to come, to keep telling the story of Le Mans 2015. We are just coming to halfway in the race. Aston Martin is doing really well, according to Prodrive team manager, David Richards.
If we see rain in the morning, (which is anticipated), that could put the cat among the pigeons. In the lane now, is the #43 Team SARD-Morand Morgan LMP2 Evo SARD, shared by Pierre Ragues of France, Oliver Webb of Great Britain, and Zoel Amberg of Switzerland. They are shown fifth in LMP2. With Porsche at eight mega joules of energy, they can stretch their fuel, but also have the most energy recovery capability. Audi has the edge on tire degradation. They can do quadruple stints, while Audi can only triple stint their tires.
In the championship, you get double points for a win. This is a critical race in the series. We hear the whine of the Motor Generator Unit, transferring the power to the wheels, along with the diesel engine, rumbling away. The one and only factory Manthey Racing Porsche 911 RSR is running well. But, the #40 Krohn Racing Ligier Judd is smoking, and having problems with damage. Nic Jonsson and Tracy Krohn have driven together at Le Mans for a decade. Joao Barbosa, is the third driver, and we know him, from the Tudor Championship.
Jann Mardenborough is running well for Nissan. Audi is now in pit lane. It's Andre Lotterer in car #7. Marco Bonanomi whistles by in the sister #9 Audi. The Audi and Porsche battle is what we expected, and we're not seeing a threat from Toyota, or Nissan. Of course, Nissan is only in their first year. Pick someone in the pit lane. All these blokes love the battle of Le Mans. One curveball we might get, is, rain, coming in the next few hours. Audi, will have the upper hand in the wet, over Porsche. The plot thickens.
The cars pass through Mulsanne corner, which is the old signaling area. Then we hit the right hand sweeper just before Indianapolis. You are flying through there, and the Porsche curves. Porsche leads overall. KCMG leads LMP2. We'll be open all night at Le Mans, and through dawn and the daytime tomorrow. We'll see you a little later on, at 10PM tonight. See you then, and so long for now, from Le Mans.
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