Trouble for nthe #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, with Matthias Lauda at the wheel. Matthias Lauda, is the son of Formula 1 legend, Niki Lauda. Car #28 pits. This is the last year for the open cockpit cars at Le Mans, before going back to all closed cars, similar to the old Group C days in the 1980s. Pippo Derani said something interesting. "Le Mans chooses you." Indianapolis, is the same way. We had a totally unexpected winner at Indy. Matthias Lauda, is trying Control Alt Delete, but might be afraid of the front loader, trying to retrieve the car. These cars are so controlled by ECU's and onboard computer systems, you literally have to reboot the car, just like a computer. Still two hours and 54 minutes left.
Viktor Shaitar runs third in LMP2. He is one of the defending LMP2 champs here at Le Mans. Enough is enough. They nabbed Matthias Lauda. Anthony Davidson may be in trouble, for going too fast through a slow zone. Where was my countdown? Stephane Sarrazin in the second Toyota, is in the garage, More crew members can work on the car a lot faster than being in pit lane. There was some substantial damage. The team knows where the slow zone is, and Anthony Davidson had to ask. He may have not been counted to the end of the slow zone, but that's ridiculous. Conversely, flags are waving to say, slow down to 80 kilometers an hour. Nothing is being looked at right now.
Sarrazin's sister Toyota is being repaired. Oliver Jarvis and the Audi, lost telemetry, but now seems to be running at full song. 200 mile per hour tape is being applied to one of the body panels at the back of the car. This will drop the #6 Toyota down the order. For Anthony Davidson, he continues to lead. It is clouding up a shade over Circuit de la Sarthe. But the weather will be clear, to the end of the race. The #6 Toyota is back out on track with a new nose and lots of bear bond tape. As a driver, drive the car. The engineers will tell you if there is a problem.
Stephane Sarrazin is now in the #6 Toyota. The aerodynamic loading pulls the undertray to the ground, and the Bear Bond holds it on. Two and a half hours to go, and that's a standard sprint race distance. You don't hit a car with a sledgehammer before a sprint race. Problems from earlier in the race, can sometimes come back to bite you. But other times, the car still runs like a top. Bear Bond is super, super, super, super sticky duct tape. Ford continues to run well. Stephane Sarrazin is three laps down to the race leader. It sounds like Sarrazin is having issues with the balance of the car. There's an aerodynamic imbalance, perhaps, due to having to put the Bear Bond on the car.
Drivers hydrate a lot, but have no issues about going to the bathroom, because it all goes out in perspiration. Although, that isn't always the case, at least if you overhydrate, and you have to pee in the car. Porsche #2 in the hands of Neel Jani, hits pit lane. Porsche seems to be getting good fuel mileage based on their backtiming of the race on fuel calculations. They won't need to make an extra pit stop. Two hours and 18 minutes left, and cars are very, very close, up front. Patrick Long has brought Porsche #88 up to second in LM GTE Am, but is now behind Porsche. This could be the final race for the Ferrari 458 Italia, as thje 488 GTE is a better car.
Anthony Davidson is in the lane. Kazuki Nakajima, takes over, and should take the car, to the checkers. The #62 car is in, and the team is doing a rear brake pad change. Jeff Segal is at the controls in the #62. Over two hours left in this race. Again, Happy Father's Day, everyone. Joey Hand brings the leading #68 Ford GT to pit lane. Ford has been nearly flawless to this point. Fuel and a driver change, as well as tires. Dirk Mueller takes over the car. Giancarlo Fisichella is second for Risi Competizione. Mueller should be able to finish this race out.
American drivers and teams have done well. Scuderia Corsa is up on the next two cars in LM GTE Am. David Heinemeier Hansson and Rui Aguas, follow. Rebellion were thought to be bulletproof in the LMP1-L class. But, that wasn't true here at Le Mans. This race is not over yet. Kazuki Nakajima still has the overall lead.
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