Will the LMP1 cars take just two more pit stops? We are on lap 132 in this race right now. The #71 AF Corse Ferrari is in the lane, and Sam Bird is out of the car. Pippo Derani is running very well right now for ESM. They are fifth in LMP2 right now, passing the Strakka car. ESM is not sure they will stay in WEC or run in IMSA next year. Denmark is a tiny country, but produces lots of great racing drivers. Ford vs. Ferrari resumes as the win for LM GTE Pro. James Calado is now at the wheel of the #51 AF Corse car. Khalid Al Qubaisi may have been replaced by Patrick Long in the Abu Dhabi Proton machine. Oh! Contact! Porsche on Porsche! Marc Lieb was too committed to the corner! Yikes! That gives Porsche team management a heart attack!
Rare mistake by Marc Lieb. Ker-rash! Wouldn't be surprised, if Lieb gets a penalty. We have another full course yellow. Debris on the road, and the #88 Porsche has spun off. This will determine the stewards decision. #88 is stuck in the gravel trap. Bad move. Similar to Brendon Hartley's wreck at Silverstone at the season opener back in April. Pit stop time for the top contenders. Full Course Yellow. Incident between cars #2 and #88, under investigation. This is the fourth full course caution of the race. Everyone is headed for the pit lane. Both Porsche's and both Audi's pitted. Neel Jani is in the #2, and that Porsche could very well get a penalty. They had to change the nose on the car.
There's a broken dive plane on the #2 where he tapped the GT car. The Porsche pits were stacked with both cars in the lane at the same time. Loic Duval and Andre Lotterer take over the driving chores in the #8 and #7 Audi R18's. The #88 car was retrieved from the gravel trap. We await the decision of the race stewards. The stewards have asked the management of the #2 Porsche to come for a meeting. Track cleanup is very effective right now, and we have just over an hour and a half of racing remaining, here at the Nurburgring.
Here comes the green. We're green again, as the two Toyota's go wheel to wheel! Stephane Sarrazin and Sebastien Buemi are going for it. Loic Duval also loses control and the back end of the Audi starts dancing around! I wonder if his foot slipped while we were going to green or still under full course yellow. Yikes! We have bright sunshine and blue skies. There was heavy rain earlier in the week. The weather changes in the Eiffel Mountains very quickly. Alpine built small displacement cars in France, and Alpine ran in the small displacement Index of Performance class back in the mid 1960s.
Drivers have to be aware that their bosses are looking over your shoulder, all the time. Hundreds of millions of dollars are invested by manufacturers to win these races.
1. Put up a lap time.
2. Don't break the race car.
Pippo Derani, at age 22, is amazed at where he is as a racing driver right now, as are those of us (like yours truly), who cover the sport. It's go time for Mark Webber, for sure. No word on penalties for the #2 car as yet. Car #2 reported to the stewards for causing a collision. If Jani has to serve a drive through penalty, he will lose position. No chance of rain, about 75 degrees, and an hour and a half of racing remains in the 6 Hours of the Nurburgring. Porsche has been told to reverse positions and car #2 will get a penalty. Porsche boss Andreas Seidel knows what the situation is. But, Mark Webber is not a fan of team owners.
Race Director Edoardo Freitas hammered the drivers saying "do not hit slower cars!" Now, hit the lane, for the drive through penalty, for the Porsche. Where is the #8 Audi? The #8 just nabs him with a pit lane delta of 25 seconds. The headlights on these Prototypes, are so intense, the GT drivers get their vision obscured. So they have only three flicks of the lights allowed before making a pass. Ambient temperature and track temperature are very close, but usually, the track temperature is warmer.
GTE Pro cars are vert quick, but they don't have the lightning acceleration of the hybrid LMP1 cars. The #6 Toyota of Stephane Sarrazin has been issued a passing flag at turn four. Marc Lieb accepts that he hit the #88 Porsche 911 RSR. One of them racin' deals. The Audi porpoises over the bumps. One hour and thirteen minutes left to go. One more blog entry on this race, coming, before we wave the checkers on this motor race ladies and gentlemen. The #12 Rebellion AER was in the garage briefly. They have a solid lap lead over their team mate, as Nick Heidfeld is driving. A man who had a good Formula 1 career, who took a pole with Williams, but never a Formula 1 win, as Loic Duval takes a place.
Black and white flag for the #67 Ford GT of Harry Tincknell. Stefan Mucke is in good shape on fuel in the sister car. Neel Jani goes outside and Loic Duval locked the brakes, and washed Neel Jani off the road. Awkward! Nick Heidfeld had pole in Formula 1 here in 2005, finishing second, for Williams, with Mark Webber as his team mate. Webber wrecked on lap one. Neel Jani has not shown the pace to clear Loic Duval by now. Mark Webber has a 30 second lead at the moment. Webber has not won yet, and only has three and a half points! Loic Duval holds Marc Lieb. Mark Webber is allowed to get away. Porsche will run their 2015 spec battery pack for the rest of the season.
It's a series of hundreds of lithium ion cells encased in a metal shell. Andre Lotterer runs deep on the brakes. We are coming to an hour to go. Mark Webber draws his lead out more.
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