Stephane Sarrazin pits the Toyota. The new Toyota TS050 is a sharp sword. They want to be the first Japanese make to win at Le Mans (and only the second in history), to do so, since Mazda won in 1991.Scott Dixon has been running in the 3:53 range. Toyota #5 in the lane, and is on it's way. The Toyota's run first and third at the moment. Twilight, at Le Mans. The pace is very quick. If Toyota can maintain 14 lap stints, they can skip a stop. You can get an extra lap per stint, and eliminate a couple of pit stops. All of the LMP1 Hybrid's have had a significant share of the lead except for the #7 Audi that was in the garage. The #46 Thiriet TDS machine just took the LMP2 lead. We have dealt with incidents, sans the safety car, and it's gone well. You can't gain a complete lap back, on pace, if you hit th garage.
Speed wins this race, and there is less traffic, and also, the slow zones help. Soon, it will be dark, and I mean, really, really dark. Whoa! One of the Ford's gets squeezed. Timo Bernhard runs second at the moment, to the Toyota. Porsche tells him, "keep pushing". The Toyota's have really surprised everyone at this point in time. This is an all new car for the team. They've changed to a turbocharged motor, and changed their energy storage, from a super capacitor, to a battery. Hybrid technology, is no longer a gimmick just to help with emissions. It is now, the wave of the future. So, just take a hard look at these cars and you will understand why.
We will have a little more coverage here in hour seven. Then, we'll break away for a while, and have some sporadic updates, before going all in, for tonight, when it is twilight in the states, to morning in France. Your car has broken down, and you have changed into your street clothes. If you've wrecked the car, thwe team boss, turns his back on you. If the team car wins, the one you aren't driving, you are gutted. It's a morbid thought. But, it's true. If you are the driver who lets your team down, you are a wreck.
Oh dear. KCMG is slowing. They have a problem. The #1 Porsche hits the lane. The #13 Rebellion also pits, with 19 year old driver, Matheo Tuscher of Switzerland, at the controls. He is the youngest driver at Le Mans, this year. Action continues under a summer moon. Defending LMP2 champions KCMG are having trouble. The car was crawling to pit lane. Bradley says that the team has lost telemetry and had other issues with the radio communication. Matt Howson and Tsugio Matsuda, share the car. Richard Bradley normally runs with Manor. Manor had two cars in the championship and still do, but they couldn't get their second entry filed for Le Mans in time.
Darkness continues to fall over Le Mans. Folks, we have much more coverage from Le Mans, coming your way. Night falls, and the party begins, in earnest, here at Le Mans. 8.47 miles around, as we see another slow zone with double yellow flags. The Bugatti circuit is located within the ground of the ACO property here at Le Masns where MotoGP raced in May, which you may have read about on my motorcycle racing blog. Neel Jani and Brendon Hartley are the two fastest drivers for Porsche at this point. A blue flashing light means a car behind. Nick Tandy ran fastest last year at Le Mans which is why his team won.
Now, we see too, that the SAFER barrier, it comes right up to the verge between the curb and the track. We'll see you in an hour and a half.
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