There is one slow zone, running from pit out, through the Dunlop chicane and the esses, and there is another at Tetre Rouge. The Krohn Racing Ligier is off the road, with Tracy Krohn at the wheel, getting up on th curb, and losing the car, spinning out. He was trying to pass Matthew Howson in the #47 KCMG entry. #34 is in and also in the lane is the #97 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Richie Stanaway, Fernando Rees, and Johnny Adam, share the car. Slow zone extended. Another look at Marc Miller's shunt into the Dunlop chicane... ker-runch! The carbon fiber bodywork shred, and the tire barrier grabs the car, like grabbing a baseball with a catcher's mitt. Oliver Jarvis in the #8 Audi R18 eTron Quattro, pits.
We are 62 laps, (525 miles), into this race. More issues for the #4 ByKolles car. Control, Alt., Delete, for the ByKolles machine. Mark Webber continues to lead Le Mans, with Marc Lieb in the #2 sister Porsche. Kamui Kobayashi is going for it. This is Mark Webber's fourth start at Le Mans, and Webber wants to win Le Mans. Marc Lieb pits from third in the sister Porsche. A modern race car driver, has to be able to drive, but also, be an engineer. The #82 Ferrari still leads GT Le Mans, with the Ford's still pushing, and these blokes are literally nose to tail. Both Ferrari and Ford had weight added late before the race.
But, at the moment, nmaybe the weight has helped. Ford and Ferrari lead. On this track, since it's such a momentum track, the weight element won't be a concern. Kamui Kobayashi still leads for Toyota, and the top five cars, are currently on the lead lap. Go to the FIA WEC official website and check out timing and scoring, as you watch coverage on Fox Sports. Whoops. Remy Streibig gets on the whirlygig. Streibig gets pushed wide, and smashes the wall in the Porsche Curves! Oh deary me! As I was saying, he is sharing the #28 Pegasus Racing Morgan Nissan with Leo Roussel and Ines Taittinger. An all French squad.
Run hard and run smart. That's what you have to do. The yellow flags at Daytona, if you are a lap down, it's easy to get a lap back. Stretch out your lead, and keep pace with everyone, here at Le Mans. You just don't see the cautions. There's a maximum of three drivers running in each car at Le Mans, with four or five, at Daytona. Ford and Ferrari, they continue the legendary battle, that goes back to the 1960s. Contact is made with the #50 Larbre Competition Corvette C-7-R-. Oswaldo Negri Jr. and Mike Shank Racing, they haven't quit, but they are on fuel strategy. They are two laps down, playing a fuel mileage game.
Ryan Briscoe passes Toni Vilander. The Ford has more top end pace than does the Ferrari, with the BoP changes. Aston Martin is off an on, with Paul Dalla Lana at the controls, getting loose and going through the gravel trap. A battle in LMP2 between Oreca Nissan's #26 and #46. Will Stevens and G Drive vs. Mathias Beche and Thiriet By TDS Racing. Corvette doesn't have the pace they've hoped for this weekend. Is it the BoP? You have to have pace, but, you have to endure. Porsche has fine tuned their cars (the 919 and the 911 RSR), while other makes (Toyota, and Audi in LMP1, and Ford and Ferrari in GTE Pro), are still learning. Matthew Rao spins the #46 LMP2 machine.
We are nearing the end of the fourth hour of this race. Oliver Jarvis and Marc Lieb are battling each other. Matteo Malucelli has passed Scott Dixon. The #8 Audi is pitting, and they've been going 13-14 laps on fuel stints. Porsche will pit for fuel. But, the #1 Porsche and #7 Audi are told that they must respect track limits. Kamui Kobayashi is still running very well with the #6 entry. Toyota, mid-season, last year, wrote off 2015, and committed to 2016. Rebellion is slow, as Dominik Kraihamer has a cut tire, from one of the rocks on the race track. Porsche pits, and they didn't take tires, according to Andreas Seidl, the team manager,
Audi ended up putting a new door on the car. Marc Lieb pits the #2 Porsche. No tires waiting. Pit delta is 53 seconds, but if tires and drivers are changed, 20 seconds is added to the delta. Rebellion are back on track and it's routine service for Christopher Hoy, who is a British cyclist. Whoa! Anthony Davidson, off the road, just a bit outside, to pass his competition. Marcel Fassler is running well in the #7 Audi, but, that car is a few laps down after their earlier troubles. #46 pits from fourth in LMP2. Joey Hand still leads in LM GTE Pro. Three of the four Ford's are running in contention, as more issues arise for the #34 Race Performance car.
One of the Alpine's passes the MSR Ligier. Ferrari is in the pits. Not sure which one. Ooh! The #57 Corvtte is off the road, with Mark Patterson sharing with Johnny O'Connell and Oliver Bryant. Hopefully he didn't get beached in the gravel trap. The #92 Porsche has had some issues, and needed a hub change after the drive pins were sheared off. This is four races, in 24 hours, with the four classes that race against each other. Oh. Chris Cumming in the #31 car is off the road in the Porsche curves. The tires are toasted. Chris Cumming is trying to back up, and now, he is on his way.
The two Toyota's had recent similar incidents. Kobayashi lifted a bit, and loaded the axles on the car. Christophe Tinseau pits the #84 car. They have to put the car on the dolly's, and take the steering wheel off, to put a pole onto the steering column, lifting Sausset, into the car. He has an automatic gearbox. He cannot do this, with a coupe. Only with an open cockpit Prototype. Frederic Sausset, shares with Christophe Tinseau, and Jean Bernard Bouvet. We've seen more LMP1 cars here at Le Mans in the past, but, we've got the most competitive field in a while.
The #31 ESM car is in pit lane. Same for car #36. This is the LMP2 leading Alpine of Gustavo Menezes, Nicolas Lapierre, and Stephane Richelmi. Ryo Hirakawa leads LMP2 in the #46 Thiriet by TDS Racing entry. Professional racing drivers, thrive, under pressure. Gustavo Menezes has been doing very well, racing in sports cars. Pit stop time, for G Drive Racing. #26 had to serve a penalty for pitting, with the engine running. That's a no no. Neel Jani has done very well, as a Porsche driver, having run for the Rebellion team, just a few short years ago.
What a difference a few hours makes. No more rain, cool temperatures, and sunshine. But, there's lots of debris on the road. Audi has been racing a diesel engine, for a decade now, and have proven the cars are much cleaner, and they don't smoke, smell, or rattle. Pit stop time for the Audi. Fuel and tires, on this stop. They have bright headlights, that have low power. LED headlights. Porsche is also setting up for a scheduled pit stop. When you change tires, you change drivers, or vice versa. Porsche #1 pits with Mark Webber at the controls. Webber, out. Timo Bernhard, in.
Bernhard is the longest tenured driver in this Porsche 919 program. He's been coming to Le Mans for a decade, and came here, with Audi, years ago, on loan, from Porsche. Kamui Kobayashi has to watch for slower cars. Now, there were pit inquiries for #2 and #8 that could have caused a penalty. Audi has already had issues with the #7 car that has had a penalty or two. There are tons of rocks off line in the Ford Chicane. One of the Ford nGT's makes a scheduled pit stop. That's the #68 Ford GT and Sebastien Bourdais is racing now. Scott Dixon is all over his team mate right now. We are in twilight, in a transitional stage, between daylight and darkness.
When someone shortcuts the course, the rocks can fly onto the road, and create punctures. Risi Competizione still leads LM GTE Pro with Matteo Malucelli at the controls of their Ferrari 488 GTE.
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