Marc Lieb is taking time out of the leaders, making inroads. He is the only leading driver in the 1:57-1:58 bracket. We've got lots of rain forecast for the majority of this race. It is 80% now, will reduce to 50%, and then, there will be haze for the final couple hours. We watch Johannes van Overbeek spin the #31 ESM HPD Prototype. The weather is starting to get tricky. Patrick Long pits the #77 Porsche. The #28 G Drive machine also is in the lane. Tire choice, dictates you can go to slicks, or, stay on intermediates.
Many cars are now pitting. ByKolles and Strakka both pit. Pepe Derani stays in the #28 G-Drive machine. Toni Vilander pits from third in LM GTE Pro. Again, Michelin have two grades of wet weather tires. Wets, and full wets. We are set to complete lap 29 of this race. Sam Bird pits the G Drive car for fuel, and for a driver change. Julien Canal, takes over the car. The #4 ByKolles CLM is also on an outlap after it's pit stop. The #43 Team SARD Morand car is also in the lane, with Oliver Webb at the controls.
Toni Vilander has stayed on wets. Marc Lieb is starting to gain positions back in the #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid. He has pace, but is struggling with grip. He's way quicker than some of the cars ahead of him. He's two seconds ahead of leader and team mate, Brendon Hartley. Nick Tandy and KCMG are definitely playing catch up right now. Anthony Davidson will pit the Toyota. Davidson will pit from third spot. Audi are at the entrance to pit lane, when they usually prefer, to be at the exit. Fuel is added and tires are being changed. The Audi went onto full wet tires.
The left rear tire is the one that is taking the most abuse here at Shanghai. Christian Ried has taken the class lead in LM GTE Am. He is at the wheel of the #88 Abu Dhabi Racing Porsche 911 RSR. Brendon Hartley and Marc Lieb both visited the Porsche pits. Nick Tandy has spun the #47 KCMG Oreca Nissan, and has dropped way down to 24th in the overall as a result. We see Toyota pitting. Brendon Hartley, Oliver Jarvis, and Andre Lotterer run in the top three.
We have drama in pit lane with the #72 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia, which needed points to take the LM GTE Am championship. It was refueling under a safety car. The #99 Aston Martin pits from the lead in LM GTE Pro. Alex MacDowall out, and either Fernando Rees, or Richie Stanaway, in. Francesco Castellaci in the #96 Aston Martin leads the LM GTE Am class. Now, there's a nasty moment for one of the Audi's running out on the curbs. There's confusion over tires in GT. The difference between the wet and full wet tires in GT, is the full wets, have a deeper cut groove into the tires.
It's all about displacement of water, and a bigger contact patch, for the tire itself. Patrick Dempsey is passed in LM GTE Am by the #98 Aston Martin of Matthias Lauda. Trouble, and a spin, for the #4 ByKolles machine of Pierre Kaffer. The turbo spools up quickly on that AER motor. AER stands for Advanced Engine Research. Gianluca Roda gets a bit wiggly in the Larbre Competition Corvette C-7-R- but hangs on to the car. We are now getting heavier rain. Toyota #1 has pitted, and he didn't take tires. His tires are fading.
The rain intensifies and the lap times go up. Not a good time to change tires right now. Danny Watts has spun off the road, causing a full course yellow. The cars are now under the enforced 80 kilometer per hour (50 mile per hour) field freeze. Anthony Davidson took the gamble on the tires. Kazuki Nakajima took over the car. The conditions are worsening. The #47 KCMG car is still having issues. They are chasing the #26 G Drive car, that is leading in class. What tires did Nick Tandy take? It is still full course yellow. The #2 Toyota pits. Alexander Wurz, takes over from Mike Conway.
Anyone who has not stopped, needs to pit, now. There could be a quick track cleanup. The rain is starting to come in, and it's getting wetter and darker. Throw away the earlier idea, that the rain would stop. It will keep bucketing with rain. Julien Canal takes over the #26 G Drive Racing Ligier JS P2 Nissan. Ryan Dalziel is way back. No tires. It's Ligier 1-2-3. Onroak Automotive has two brands, in the top five in LMP2. Three Ligier's and two Morgan's. Pierre Kaffer pits the ByKolles machine. We've got a little race under yellow, between the #92 Porsche and the #71 Ferrari.
This is similar to a virtual safety car. The cars are frozen in their positions, running at a constant speed. 42 laps have been run so far. 142.2 miles. 15 seconds to green. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Green. We are back to full racing speed. That's the call from Edoardo Freitas. Get the heat back into the tires. There's lots more spray up on the track now. The cars are moving huge amounts of water. This is now getting very difficult, as the #50 Corvette of Gianluca Roda is off the road one more time. Oh boy. Patrick Dempsey also goes off the road. He has spun at the entrance to pit lane.
He was facing the wrong way. Also, synchronized spinning by one of the other cars. It's the Shanghai synchronized spinning championship! Christian Ried is back on the road, but his tires, are toasted. Pepe Derani has had an off. Correction. Julien Canal. He did not take tires. Alex Brundle was 17 seconds quicker last time around than Ryan Dalziel. Alex Brundle is ten seconds quicker than the LMP2 leader. Ooh. A big slide, too, for SMP Racing. The #72 car spins. Now, the #26 G Drive car is also under investigation by the stewards.
Ooh. The Rebellion is beached in the gravel. Dominik Kraihamer at the controls. He can't go sideways, and he stops immediately. The adage of "just add water" is definitely true, here in Shanghai. Lap times are now in the 2:06-2:07 range. We have another full course yellow, in less than a minute. Matt Howson has pitted. Howson has taken over from Nick Tandy in the #47 car. We are under full course yellow. Snatch the cars, and send the marshals to clean up the gravel in turn six.
The #7 Audi pits for a tire change. Full course yellows are a good time to make your pit stop and not lose time. In Pro classes, the driver time maximums are not too much consequence. But, in the Am classes, there are more crucial driver times to follow in order to score points. The weather conditions are as bad as they have been since the race started. Larbre Competition team boss Jack Leconte, looks on, as the team has just made another pit stop. The #98 Aston Martin could be readying for changing to full wet tires.
Nicolas Sylvest in the Corvette has spun, and, well, Alexander Wurz in the Toyota, had no place to go except off the road, to get by! Is there someone in front of me? Oh rats! I have to brake to avoid this guy in front of me! Yikes! The lap time spread is between 4:10-4:18 under safety car conditions. No chances being taken by anyone at the moment. The rain has mitigated offline rubber buildup on the outside of the circuit. If it were dry, you'd get buildup on the tires. We are ready for a green flag. It's soaking wet out there.
15 seconds to green. 10. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Green! The LMP1 cars rocket away. Oh no! Alex Wurz has spun the Toyota. Kazuki Nakajima in the sister car, passes the #26 G Drive entry.
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