Less than one hour to go, and Neel Jani is in the lane, for his final stop, perhaps. If they will make it, they'll be on fumes. Jani sets fastest race lap. Jani ran 51 minutes on that last stint with fuel. 56 minutes now remain. Let's hope he still has petrol in the tank. It was a quick stop. The race to the finish, should be a dandy. The AF Corse Ferrari's continue leading both GT classes. An early stop was the only way for the leading Porsche to try to hang in there. #2 pitted again, for right side tires. It was a two tire stop for the Porsche on the previous one. The double pit stop, could win the race for Porsche. Good luck to the Audi boys, catching them.
The gap is 54 seconds, with a 35-40 second pit lane delta, and the stop. 15 seconds, to top up the fuel tank. Traffic is also a factor. Who will roll the dice? Filipe Albuquerque leads Pippo Derani in LMP2 by 41 seconds as the KCMG LM GTE Am Porsche is nudged aside. Neel Jani pitted, as he heard a tire pressure alarm, in the cockpit. The left side tires were changed, and they very well may have dodged a bullet as they look for a win here at Silverstone. Yikes! A podium run, for Toyota. They only saw two podiums last year. Here, at Silverstone, as well as in Bahrain. Neel Jani did have a right front tire puncture when he pitted. Marcel Fassler has 55 seconds in hand, in the lead, over Jani. However, Fassler still needs to stop one more time.
The gap is 55.8 seconds to be precise. Fassler opens the gap, very slightly. He stays on track. Watch the traffic. That will determine when the final stop is executed. Neel Jani ran fast lap at 1:40.3. The Audi has run solidly at 1:40.4. So, there's nothing in it. Fassler runs wide over the curbs. He ran afoul of the rules and using the curbs last year. Will he do so again? He has opened the margin, and grown it to 56 seconds. The Porsche is definitely in the window and the pressure will be on the pit crews indeed.
In third, is the #6 Toyota TS050 with Kamui Kobayashi at the wheel. Kobayashi was the reserve driver for Toyota, last year. The Ford GT's are fifth and sixth in LM GTE Pro, and they hoped to have more left in the locker. But, not today. Sam Bird and Davide Rigon could be on their way to a GTE Pro class win. Christian Ried in a Porsche leads LM GTE Am. Audi are making the call as to when to bring Fassler into the lane for the final stop. Does he need new tires? If he takes fresh tires, it puts him behind the eight ball. The gap shrinks to 54 seconds. Fassler, in the lane, now. There will be fuel. No tires. Where is Neel Jani? He will assume the race lead. Fassler holds the lead.
The Porsche is at full chat with hot tires. Seven seconds is the gap at the moment. It's now down to the drivers, as we are less than 35 minutes away, from the finish. Fassler got no penalty for track limits. Only three official retirements of the 33 starters in this race. Wow. What will Neel Jani have up his sleeve? We'll find out. There's a ways to go yet. Klaus Bachler in the pole winning LM GTE Am Porsche 911 for Proton, has a right front suspension breakage. Same problem for #77 earlier in the race. There's a major scrum for second between Gianmaria Bruni and James Calado. It's a Ferrari 1-2 in LM GTE Pro.
Anthony Davidson was close to Rene Rast in the G Drive LMP2 machine. Porsche is so focused on Le Mans, they did not have a high downforce set up for here at Silverstone. They won last year. They thankfully came back to the Silverstone setup, has worked. However, Audi, may repeat, as Silverstone winners this year, just as they did, a year ago. Marcel Fassler tells engineer Lena Gade, "leave me alone, now". It's not a distraction. But, Fassler believes that he needs to concentrate on things.
Work continues on the #88 car. Meanwhile, it's ka-blammo for the #97 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. The V8 motor, has gone up in smoke. Game over. Wow. What a start to the year for Fassler. Richie Stanaway was the driver in the Aston Martin that had the motor let go. We now have less than 20 minutes remaining. The KCMG Porsche was pushed to the garage with another suspension issue. Manor Racing has been running well on their FIA WEC LMP2 debut. The gap at the front is down to 8.4 seconds. The two Ford's run close together as Harry Tincknell has passed Olivier Pla. Davide Rigon and Sam Bird have led every lap while Gianmaria Bruni and James Calado are second in class. Emmanuelle Collard has the LM GTE Am lead in another AF Corse Ferrari.
Neel Jani is 7.8 seconds behind the Audi. Porsche was not looking for this outcome, after winning six straight races, last year. The #2 car did not have the same setup as the #1 that was flipped on it's side earlier on in the race. The face of LMP2 changes next year with the global LMP2 platform with Dallara, Ligier, and a couple other brands, with Gibson branded engines. Both Alpine's have gone off the road. Both are forced wide and off the road. Meanwhile back at the Manor manor, (no pun intended), things are looking good. The gap shrinks back to just under ten seconds as we get closer to the end of this race. It'll be game on for the championship. Last year in this race, Toyota was no place.
No penalty for an earlier incident. Neel Jani in the Porsche and Kamui Kobayashi took splash and dash pit stops. It is amazing when you look at the resources for these big teams. 250 people, thousands and thousands of miles of testing, and millions of dollars spent in the budgets. RGR By Morand is running very well, and AF Corse stands to win for Ferrari in both GT classes. Pedro Lamy has moved the #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage to second in class. Fourth and fifth for the two Ford GT's. Less than five minutes now remain in this race. The podium should include an Audi, a Porsche, and a Toyota.
Fassler should maintain a rhythm, and Audi passes Toyota. Neel Jani will be disappointed with these results as we watch a replay of the sideways flip of the sister Porsche, skidding across the grass and getting on it's side. Marcel Fassler can't lose. He's won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, with Corvette Racing, and now, Fassloer will win, with Audi at the 6 Hours of Silverstone, for the moment. It's not over just yet. It will be the fourth LMP1 victory for Audi at Silverstone in five tries and the third for the trio of Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer, and Benoit Treluyer.
One more lap, for Audi, here at Silverstone. We may see rain in the next race at Spa. This is the last year of Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich as head of Audi Sport. Audi, wins at Silverstone! LMP2 is won by RGR Morand. LM GTE Pro and LM GTE Am wins, both go to AF Corse!
Overall/LMP1: #7 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer Audi R18
LMP2: #43 Gonzalez/Albuquerque/Senna Ligier JS P2 Nissan
LM GTE Pro: #71 Rigon/Bird Ferrari 488 GTE
LM GTE Am: #83 Collard/Perrodo/Aguas Ferrari 458 Italia
That's it, from Silverstone. We'll see you, for round two of the FIA WEC at the 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps, at the mighty Spa circuit in the Ardennes Forest, in Belgium, in a little less, than three weeks. So long, everyone.
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