Porsche seems to be having to manage their tires more than Audi does. Each team wants entirely different conditions. Signatech Alpine has retaken the class lead in LMP2. Richard Lietz continues to lead in LM GTE Pro. The #51 AF Corse Ferrari splits the two Porsche's. Stuart Hall in the Aston Martin V8 Vantage continues to hold the lead in LM GTE Am. The #99 Aston Martin will pit. Oliver Webb is also pitting in LMP2. The lead gap is shrinking between Romain Dumas and Marcel Fassler, with Mark Webber, joining the party, and fast.
Mark Webber is the quickest bloke on the circuit right now. Stefan Mucke takes over the #99 Aston Martin. He replaces Fernando Rees. Darren Turner seems to be in the #97 car. The GT cars have more mechanical grip it seems. Romain Dumas is looking for an opportunity. Marcel Fassler and Romain Dumas, as well as Mark Webber. Nothing has changed as yet. The top three are separated by under three seconds. Car #7 leads the driver's championship over the #17. Porsche has been more consistent than Audi so far this year.
The lead changes at Fuji. Porsche passes Audi. Romain Dumas now has the advantage, and Fassler will push hard to get back into this fight. Fassler is right on Dumas' tail. Mark Webber is going for it, and Webber wants by the Audi. It's go time! The Audi gets a run towards turn one. Webber cannot enter that corner cleanly. Audi has more power on the front straight here at Mount Fuji. These blokes are scything their way through traffic. Dumas is not getting away from Fassler and Webber. The gray clouds are blowing back over the spedway. Can Marcel Fassler hold on? He passes Webber! Webber does the over/under, and he gets it back. No. It's Fassler! This is amazing!
Respect, skill, excitement. This is sports car endurance racing, at it's best, folks. Wow! Shades of Silverstone, the opener, back in April. This is a mega dust up between these two masters. This scrap, is still happening. Amazing racing! Webber and Fassler are side by side again! The eight mega joule power of the Porsche is just as much of a match for the Audi's tractiopn. Car #7 in the lane. Andre Lotterer takes over. Lotterer has lots of experience here in Japan. The tires about to go on #7 are very stable in the wet.
#8 is now in the lane. Into the car goes Lucas di Grassi. Marc Lieb has taken over the #18 Porsche. Lieb is working on a Ph. D. in engineering, in addition to racing. Mark Webber has passed into second place. Pit stop time for Toyota #1. These are slick intermediate tires. SARD Morand is off the road. Oliver Webb has run on in the turn, and he gets out of the gravel trap, and onto the escape road, but, then, back off the road and into the wall. There is a snatch vehicle to pick up the car.
Intermediate tires for the Porsche. #7 is going to make a pass. A cloud is forming in front out of the valley. Full course yellow... now. Full course yellow. We are under full course yellow procedures. The two Porsche 919 Hybrid's run 1-2. Audi #8 may have lost a windshield wiper. The #91 Porsche in GTE Pro did not pit under this yellow, as we resume racing, under green. Right away the Audi and the Toyota try getting their laps back from the Porsche. Stephane Sarrazin has now gone down a lap to the leader.
Lucas di Grassi is also pushing, to get a lap back from the Porsche. Porsche is sailing away from Audi and Toyota. The wiper is missing on car #8. #7 is third. Porsche was able to stretch their pit window. The track is still damp, still wet. Audi has an advantage in the wet. In the dry, Porsche is better. Now, with both cars on the same tires, in intermediate conditions, that's what we will study. Oliver Webb was at the wheel of the SARD Morand car that went off track earlier on.
Marco Seefried has just driven the drive of his life. He's pushing hard. His lap times have been amazing, and he leads in LM GTE Am, over Francesco Castellaci and Pedro Lamy in the factory Aston Martin's. Oh wow! Nearly three wide with Lotterer, Brendon Hartley, and the Aston Martin! The competitive fire is relit now. Hartley wants to outbrake on the slippery line. He can't quite do it. Brendon Hartley has taken over the #17 machine from Mark Webber. Stephane Sarrazin in the #2 Toyota, pits. He is out of sequence.
Marc Lieb has extended his lead to over 50 seconds. Nick Tandy has run for two hours and 40 minutes in his stint. He has done really well this year in FIA WEC and Tudor Championship. More on his Tudor Championship success, in an upcoming post, later on. Stay tuned for Petit Le Mans highlights. Now, back to this race. In LM GTE Pro, Richard Lietz leads by 35 seconds. But he has to pit in three laps. Toni Vilander should take the lead. Porsche seems to have split the strategy. Vilander pitted, Davide Rigon is running well in the sister #71 AF Corse machine in LM GTE Am.
It is now raining again in turn one and turn five. It's the tail end of this system of rain. Most of these boys are running in the 1:37 range. We watch Francois Perrodo go for it, trying to pass. Perrodo tries to pass the Porsche. Who has the grip? Trhough goes Stephane Sarrazin, keeping them honest. Richard Lietz pits. But, we watch this great battle, and Lietz's pit stop. Lietz is down and away. The two Porsche's will have a scrum. Marco Seefried is leading LM GTE Am right now.
Julien Canal has taken over from Sam Bird in the G Drive LMP2 machine. Porsche leads right now. Marco Seefried has lapped up to third place in LM GTE Am. Keep an eye on the skies, as they could open again. Toyota have had a grim and lean year after winning here last year and winning the championship. #8 has lost his windshield wiper. Lucas di Grassi only has Rain-X on his windscreen right now. The team would have to bolt on another windshield wiper. Ah. A spin by the #36 Alpine, right in front of di Grassi! Nelson Panciaticci at the controls of the Alpine.
Panciatici mashed the throttle too early, spinning the car. #2 Toyota in the garage. Game over it seems. The home fans will not be too happy. We are nearing the end of hour three. Engine cooling system is the culprit for Toyota. Is it a radiator problem? There were also brake cooling concerns earlier in the race. Paul Loup Chatin has almost driven half the race, before Nelson Panciatici took over the car. With Audi #8, the windshield wiper was removed, because, it was not working properly.
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