Final pit stops are happening now. One of the GTE Pro Porsche's is in pit lane. Gianmaria Bruni has made a pass for the class lead. Bruni has to get it to the checkered flag without making a pit stop. He's got to pull his slippers on and go for it. Patrick Pilet spins out on his out lap! Yikes! James Calado makes the pass. Trouble for the Larbre Competition Corvette for improving it's place under a yellow flag. The #98 Aston Martin has also been nabbed by the stewards for doing the same thing. Earl Bamber is trying to pass Rui Aguas. Bamber can't quite pass Aguas. They run through these tricky esses.
More penalties are being applied as we watch some dodge 'em cars between Bradley and Rusinov! Argy bargy indeed! Richard Bradley has successfully made the move. Yikes! Rui Aguas continues to hold off Earl Bamber. We also watch a battle in LMP2 between Chris Cumming and Nick Leventis. Earl Bamber is now in the pit lane. Slick tires are set for the #88 machine. Romain Rusinov is going after Richard Bradley in a big way, as we watch the #8 Audi hit the pit lane. The sister #7 takes third place. Benoit Treluyer at the controls.
Treluyer has one stop left. Nick Leventis pits. Many drivers are running the best laps for their respective cars, and improving their times. Great battles in all four classes as we are coming to the end of this race. Patrick Pilet has gone straight on in turn one. #18 leads #17 (for Porsche), by fifty seconds. Neel Jani has nearly a minute lead. Drama, though, as two cars (the #7 Audi), and the leading #18 Porsche, are under investigation by the stewards, for passing under yellow. KCMG and G Drive continue their scrap for LMP2 honors.
Race leader is in. This should be the final stop for the #18 Porsche. New Michelin tires are going on the car. Brand new slick tires. Rusinov passes for the LMP2 lead, or tries to. Richard Bradley holds the lead even though Rusinov used one of the LMP1 cars, as a pick. Rusinov hits Bradley! Did Bradley lift? Did he brake? He was too close in the braking zone. KCMG is into the pits. A left rear tire is down for the championship leading team in LMP2!
KCMG pits and we also see the #17 car in pit lane. Just over a half hour to go. We are under full course yellow. Run at 80 kilometers an hour (50 miles an hour). Jani wants a win, as he has not won with his team since Brazil in 2014. There's debris on the track, and we look at the argy bargy between Rusinov and Bradley. #26 is in the lane, repairing damage under full course yellow, in pit lane. There is a full course yellow. This is the third full course yellow of the race. More drivers are under investigation for improving spots under yellow. Paul Dalla Lana is the culprit.
Signatech Alpine is in the lane. Now, will Patrick Dempsey finish this race for the #77 team? We'll see. Green flag back in the air. Whoops! Richard Bradley has spun! He was tapped by the sister G Drive car. Earl Bamber has spun, along with the #7 Audi! Earl Bamber has a right rear puncture. The #18 checked up and the #88 spun, leaving #7 no place to go. The #28 car of Gustavo Yacaman needs to be parked. "The Yac Attack" is driving wrecklessly.
This is the final twenty five or so minutes of the race, blokes. It will be over, soon. Will Patrick Dempsey get back in the car? Or, will he help Patrick Long with his drink bottle? The #18 Porsche is taking a drive through penalty. Neel Jani gos through pit lane and he still has a gap over the sister car. So much is happening, within the final 20 minutes of this event.
Porsche 1-2. Audi 3-4. What will happen in the closing moments? There are still battles in LMP2 as well, plus GTE Pro and GTE Am. No further action on the incident between cars #7 and #88. Now, we focus on the battle between James Calado and Richard Lietz. No further action on the Yacaman and Bradley incident. They are still together. Ah. It's the #26 and #47 fracas from earlier on. Yellow flag at turn one. It's one of the ESM Ligier's. The lead in shrinking. Can Porsche hold on? Will it be #17 or #18 winning this thing?
Yacaman and Bradley battle. Yacaman is pushing too hard. He is causing damage to Bradly's car. There was definite contact. Bradley crashes! He's out! John Hindhaugh (lead race commentator) is very upset, about Yacaman's driving brahvior. Romain Rusinov has also driven erratically. G Drive... shame on you. That is poor racing sportsmanship. Dirty, disgraceful tactics. A battle between Ferrari and Porsche! Calado vs. Lietz. James Calado goes off the road! But, he stays with it.
Five minutes left in this race. Richard Bradley has returned to pit lane. #28 and #47 will be investigated after the race. Yacaman should not be able to stand on the LMP2 podium. KCMG will have a DNF. Also, they need to load a damaged car into a container before the next event. The Audi's battle, and so do the Porsche's. A minute left on the clock. Porsche, is going to win their fourth straight FIA WEC race!
Porsche has been dominating, all year. Their strategy worked, and they've had a wider fuel window all day compared to Audi. It will be two in a row for Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber, and Brendon Hartley! They win in Japan!
Overall/LMP1: #17 Webber/Hartley/Bernhard Porsche 919 Hybrid
LMP2: #26 Rusinov/Canal/Bird Ligier JS P2 Nissan
LM GTE Pro: #51 Bruni/Vilander Ferrari 458 Italia
LM GTE Am: #77 Dempsey/Long/Seefried Porsche 911 RSR
I do not like voicing my own opinion in these blogs. But, G Drive Racing, was a disgrace, with Gustavo Yacaman's on track antics. Neither of their cars including the Bird/Rusinov/Canal team, should be credited, and maybe the aforementioned trio, should have their win taken away. This is not a playground. It is a race track. If you are a bully, and don't behave on track (a.k.a. play nice), you should be penalized. I agree with John Hindhaugh. For shame, G Drive. For shame. There is no place on a speedway, for that kind of dirty, unscrupulous racing.
The next FIA WEC race is the 6 Hours of Shanghai, in Shanghai, China, at the Shanghai International Circuit, in three weeks.
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