There is a mixed bag of talent that will run the cars. Bronze drivers will compete today, or tomorrow. If you are running a P1 car or a GTE Pro car, it will be hard to see what will happen with the drivers in the P2 and GTE Am cars. More pit action. Frederic Sausset's #84 car pits, and so do some of the GT cars. Richard Bradley leads LMP2 and we watched the pit stop, with Frederic Sausset, is his specially adapted LMP2 racer, to accommodate for his physical challenges. The team has a device, to help Sausset out of the car, and he uses hand controls, to drive it, also using a wheelchair, when he isn't in the car. Have no limits. That's true in racing, as in life. This is a different race than the 24 Hours of Daytona. The field doesn't bunch up, and you don't see as many yellow flags.
With all the extra horsepower in a hybrid Prototype, you have to plan ahead. You can be aggressive. But stay in touch for the first half, and make your move, in the second half. Run the pace. But don't coast. You cannot save energy. These are near perfect race conditions since the rain has gone away. In the lane now is the #36 SignaTech Alpine, shown in fifth in class, with Nicolas Lapierre at the controls. For Manor, it's their third sports car race. Tor Graves, Mat Rao, and Roberto Merhi at the controls. Risi Competizione has Toni Vilander in their Ferrari, making their first Le Mans start, in six years.
We started this race in the wet, and tires were changed from wets to drys. How will things continue to unfold through the pit stop sequences? It is hard to get into a rhythm if the weather constantly changes. Toni Vilander and Giancarlo Fisichella have wins. Matteo Malucelli has experience, but hasn't won at Le Mans yet. The Balance of Performance, needs to be closer. Wouldn't it be great, if Giuseppe Risi's team, from Houston, Texas, get a great result, here at Le Mans? The #51 AF Corse Ferrari is in the garage. Porsche is leading overall. Ford leads LM GTE Pro, looking for a win, 50 years after Ford won Le Mans, overall.
Porsche makes another scheduled pit stop. Mark Webber gets into the #1 Porsche 919. The crew has issues with tires, changing a few. Mike Conway and Toyota have gone to the front of this field. Conway has taken time to come to grips to prototype racing, after being an Indycar driver. We watch Danny Watts, in the #42 Strakka LMP2 entry. That car is a Gibson 015S Nissan. Danny Watts shares with Nick Leventis, and Jonny Kane. Keep in mind, these cars are the last open cockpit LMP2 cars we'll see before new regulations take form, next year.
We watch LMP1 cars working through GT traffic. In endurance racing, do heads up driving. Don't react to someone else's reaction as Matthias Beche chases Roberto Merhi. Merhi has Formula 1 and DTM experience. The track temperature is 23.9 Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit). This is the longest dry run the teams have had all weekend. Joey Hand is booking it, hauling the mail, in the Ford GT. Car #25 pits. This is the Algarve Pro Racing entry. More about that car, shortly. Joey Hand, is up on the Ferrari by 6/10ths of a second in terms of fast lap. Two of the Ford GT's are battling. Ryan Briscoe vs. Joey Hand.
Joey Hand is making just his second Le Mans start in five years. Can Ford win Le Mans? Pit stops continue. Meanwhile, let's look at that car mentioned earlier. That's the #25 Algarve Pro Racing entry, that was in the lane. It's a Ligier JS P2 Nissan, in the hands of British drivers Michael Munermann and Christopher Hoy, and and the Frenchman with an Italian name, Andrea Pizzitola. Kamui Kobayashi is closing on Mark Webber. A few issues in LMP2 are the SMP Racing BR01 sliding off the road, and then, the #34 car, going off the road and almost hitting the tires! More data on the LMP2 cars in a second. We watch in replay, the Ford GT battle.
Toyota in the lane, unscheduled, for the #5 of Anthony Davidson. They had an issue with their tires. Roberto Merhi also pits after a close moment in the Manor entered LMP2 racer. Matthias Beche will take the LMP2 lead. Track temperature is dropping slightly. Lots of rocks on the road right now. The gravel here at Le Mans, is very sharp, and the pieces are almost like arrowheads. The #46 car pits. Richard Bradley is leading LMP2 in the #47 Oreca Nissan. The Oreca in LMP2 is faster in a straight line, than is the Ligier. Toni Vilander now leads LM GTE Pro and problems for the #91 Porsche 911 RSR.
Back to those driver lineups for a moment. Car #5 for Toyota has Anthony Davidson of England, Kazuki Nakajima of Japan, and Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi. The sister car (#6) has Mike Conway of England, mentioned earlier, Stephane Sarrazin of France, and Kamui Kobayashi of Japan. Sarrazin has also driven in factory efforts for Chrysler and Peugeot, in years past. The #34 car in LMP2 is Swiss team, Race Performance, running an Oreca Judd with Switzerland's Nicolas Leutwiler, Shinji Nakano of Japan, and James Winslow of England.
Meanwhile, the #91 Porsche, is spewing steam and has a holed radiator. Marc Miller and Leh Keen's car, has stopped. They've wrecked the #89 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR. Porsche's LMP1 effort now returns to the front. It's Porsche vs. Toyota at the moment. The sister #92 factory GT Porsche is in trhe lane as well for a standard stop. Earl Bamber is being relieved by Jorg Bergmeister. Marc Miller was all sideways when he wrecked, spinning the car around. That car is substantially crunched with the right rear and the right front hitting the barrier.
We see the ByKolles CLM pitting. Car #34 is continuing to have issues. .Argy bargy in GTE Pro, as it's Marco Sorensen in the #95 Aston Martin, Tommy Milner in the #64 Chevrolet Corvette C7R and Davide Rigon in one of the Ferrari 488 GTE's. Battles everywhere. We've got action all over the speedway.
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