Mark Webber has a 33 second lead gap over Marcel Fassler. Could Webber win four races in a row? That would be astonishing. Romain Dumas needs to book it, and pass the Audi's to clinch the constructor's championship, for Porsche, as has been mentioned, throughout this whole race. Chris Cumming, is gaining, on Nick Tandy, in LMP2. Rui Aguas has served a drive through penalty. He is coming in for his final pit stop, and he is back on schedule. This is a real championship challenge. The #72 Ferrari has not done well today. But, the #77 Porsche of Patrick Long, is also not as far up as he needs to be, to gain enough points, for the LM GTE Am championship crown.
50 minutes to go. No further action, on the incident, involving someone reversing into another race car. Mark Webber, looks to win his fourth FIA WEC race in a row. The #96 Aston Martin hits pit lane. they were in a podium place, until Liam Griffin took the car, off the road. Romain Dumas sets fast lap of this motor race at 1:48.1. A boatload of cars are under investigation by the stewards. Porsche Team Manthey, pits one of their cars. Marcel Fasssler runs his fastest lap of the event at 1:48.6. Mark Webber is controlling the race. But, another stop will be needed, for the top four cars. It's never a done deal. Make sure the car restarts on final stops. Porsche has not been faultless in their reliability all year, despite their triumphs.
#18 had to have a new engine, earlier in the week, before the race, when trouble with the throttle, caused a misfire. The #47 KCMG car pits for the final time. Fuel only for Nick Tandy. Audi will roll the dice. Loic Duval will get a new set of Michelin tires. Slick tires, will not even have a chance, to be double stinted here. Marcel Fassler had a bit of a problem, trying to pass a GTE Pro car. Richard Lietz and Michael Christensen, make their final pit stop. Marcel Fassler runs second overall. Audi #8 has pitted. Now, Audi #7 has done so. The Audi takes tires, apparently.
Oh. Left hand side tires only, for the #7. Wow. Loic Duval spend 1:05 in the pits. Andre Lotterer spent a solid minute in pit lane, despite a low fuel level. Lotterer is right up behind the #17 Porsche to unlap himself. Watch out, boys. This could end in tears. Ah. Well, Audi is slightly faster. Or, rather, they were, in the dry, earlier in the week, at 309 kilometers and hour (193 miles an hour). Porsche has a fuel advantage. But, they need extra pace, from new tires. The advantage will be until Webber comes into pit lane.
Tom Dillman retains the LMP2 lead and Pedro Lamy relinquishes in the LM GTE Am lead to the #83 car in the hands of Francois Perrodo. Webber is in the lane, now. This is Formula 1 thinking. The time delta is so great, they can't allow Audi to eat into their lead. Will this win the race for Porsche? Webber knows he has to push, and attack, the Audi. Lotterer has been passed by Romain Dumas out of pit lane. Lotterer is a long way back, (down by 40 seconds). Dumas has to get after it if he wants a podium. Audi will have to leave Loic Duval on track, and hope they can hold off the charge by Mark Webber.
Can Romain Dumas leapfrog the Audi's on his last stop? We'll see. Twenty eight minutes to go in this race. Andre Lotterer pushes for all he's worth, setting a new fast lap and lap record at 1:46.6. He goes off the road, to do it. Romain Dumas is faster than Loic Duval right now. The Porsche's are faster than the Audi's. Romain Dumas goes off line just a bit. Audi is not giving up. It's all to play for. What will Romain Dumas do with his final pit stop?
Romain Dumas pits, and what will happen, on the stop? Fuel only. No tires. Track position is what they want and need. Roll the dice, chaps. Roll the dice. Audi trumps Porsche in the pits. But, Audi, has older tires. Mark Webber leads by about half a minute, back to Andre Lotterer, and Loic Duval, is third. Andre Lotterer has to find nine seconds, and go for it. What does he have left in the locker? A crash, between the Rebellion, the Strakka car, and perhaps, the CLM. Big damage to the Rebellion. Simon Trummer will win the race in the non hybrid LMP1 sub class. We could have a full course yellow. No safety car.
Full course yellow in less than 30 seconds. Audi, will not get second position back. 15 seconds to full course yellow. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... full course yellow. Less than eight minutes to go in this race. Will it finish, under yellow? This has put a halt to the battles for the wins. Crucial battles might be stopped, for podium places, too. 30 seconds to a green flag. Here we go. It's a sprint to the finish. Mark Webber can just coast from here.
Porsche will finish 1-2, despite two different strategies between the cars. This race isn't quite over yet. The driver's championship might go to Audi if they get to second. But, Porsche, will win the manufacturer's cup. There's no question of that, now. Lotterer is eating into the gap, but, it won't be enough. Porsche is going to win another FIA World Endurance Championship race, today, in China. Oh dear. Steam comes from one of the Rebellion machines, with Matheo Tuscher at the wheel. There's a fire at the back of that Rebellion.
We might have to end the race here and now, to get assistance to Tuscher. Oh my! KCMG will be on the podium! G Drive car #28, spins off the road! The #28 car's chances of the LMP2 championship, vanish! Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley, and Timo Bernhard, win four in a row! Porsche is manufacturer's world champion! If they finish well in the finale, they are 2015 world champs. Porsche are provisional champions. Signatech Alpine, win LMP2.
Porsche also wins LM GTE Pro with Richard Lietz and Michael Christensen, and in LM GTE Am, it's AF Corse with their #83 Ferrari 458 Italia in the hands of Francois Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard, and Rui Aguas.
Overall/LMP1: #17 Bernhard/Webber/Hartley Porsche 919 Hybrid
LMP2: #36 Panciatici/Chatin/Dillmann Alpine A450b Nissan
LM GTE Pro: #91 Lietz/Christensen Porsche 911 RSR
LM GTE Am: #83 Perrodo/Collard/Aguas Ferrari 458 Italia
The final race of the 2015 season, will be the 6 Hours of Bahrain at the Sakhir Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, in less than three weeks. Also, yours truly, has not had a chance to blog the Spa 6 Hours from back in May, in Belgium. Might still have an opportunity to do so. Stay tuned for details. Might have to blog the Bahrain and Spa races, later on, but, will get to both of them.
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