It is a new season of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The legendary Silverstone circuit in Silverstone, England is the venue, where now, two manufacturers (Porsche and Toyota) will battle to see who is number one. Enter, the legend. Push, push, push. Go faster. We are ready to race. We have lots to talk about. In qualifying, a dry track and mild conditions met th drivers. In LM GTE Am, it is Proton with Porsche, Spirit of Race with Ferrari, and the British favorites, Aston nMartin on pole. GTE Pro, saw the #95 Aston Martin nipped by the AF Corse Ferrari, and Harry Tincknell and
LMP2 saw DC Racing in third, Signatech Alpine, in second, and G Drive Oreca, starting on pole. In LMP1, Porsche #1 was third, with the two Toyota's on the front row. Stand by for the race start, coming up... next!
Cars are on track. We have one pace lap before we go green. Tire supplies have been reduced to four sets for qualifying and the race. LMP1 goes a lot shorter on their fuel range than the LM GTE Pro cars. Watch out for the left front tire. We miss Audi. Toyota and Porsche are here. Toyota has swept the front row for the first time since 2013. Toyota is running high downforce while Porsche runs a low downforce setup. Le Mans is the place for a low downforce track. It's run what you brung for this one. We're set to race at Silverstone, now!
Go! Mike Conway in the polewinning Toyota is now in the lead. Side by side for Porsche with Brendon Hartley going off the road as Nicolas Lapierre in the Alpine is next. Bruno Senna is up to second in LMP2. The speed of these cars around Silverstone is incredible. Clouds overhead, and we could see rain before this race is over. The track will be very cool. In GTE Pro, Ford #67 leads with Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell are going for it. Sam Bird in the #71 AF Corse Ferrari. Porsche is back in the GTE Pro squad.
Two drivers from the team go out to qualify, and the aggregate time is used for the qualifying time. The battle for LMP2 is running very well. Alex Lynn is driving for G-Drive in this race. He is a former GP3 and GP2 open wheel racer who has done very well in sports cars winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in IMSA. Tight action in GTE Pro. Sam Bird vs. Darren Turner. Ferrari vs. Aston Martin. Mike Conway has been passed by the sister Toyota of Sebastien Buemi. This is a high speed chess game right now with these mega horsepower LMP1 hybrids from Porsche and Toyota.
Nicki Thiim, Sam Bird, and Michael Christensen are all scrapping. These mid engine Porsche's are ones to watch. Are Porsche showing their hand or keeping cards in their pocket? All nine races are important, but Le Mans, the third round, in June, will be the biggest of all and you will hear about it here on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog. Porsche has tested over 50,000 miles for IMSA and the FIA WEC. Back in the day, Silverstone was a very fast track. But it is a lot more technical now. The Hangar straight between Becketts and Stowe is a major deal. ByKolles is in the lane with the CLM P1 with Nissan power. Robert Kubica was supposed to drive, but pulled out. Kubica maybe wants to have more time in the car.
The car had many issues at the prologue test at Monza. Rebellion used to be in LMP1 privateer, as Rebellion is now in LMP2, but Ginetta will build a new car, next year. Watch out for track limits and bounding over the curbs. Sebastien Buemi may have been put off the road by the DC Racing Jackie Chan entry. The corner speeds are massive here at Silverstone, as we see side by side stuff from the two Ford GT's with the Porsche right behind. This is good stuff! Stefan Mucke goes by Andy Priaulx. Priaulx better watch out! Driving defensively. The passenger side door on the GT may be ajar. Porsche qualifid seventh and eighth in GTE Pro and are moving up, fast.
In GTE Am, Francesco Castellaci is in the class lead. The sun is poking through the clouds as we go towards a half an hour into this race. Toyota has a seven second advantage over Porsche. Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas are not with Porsche anymore. Ford has a spare door that's ready to go. Racing is a hard business. Nick Tandy, and Andre Lotterer are the new Porsche factory boys. How will drivers work together? Chemistry has to gel. It's a hard business in racing. Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber are now full-time factory drivers.
Porsche fights for guys who are under contract, even with other teams. Gianmaria Bruni will be released to Porsche after the middle of the season. Kevin Estre is now in the full-time team. But, there will be a problem for Gianmaria Bruni coming in mid season. He was a Ferrari stalwart. GTE Pro will make five pit stops in this race. Andy Priaulx is now fifth in class and is in the lane now. Priaulx is a World Touring Car champion and ran in DTM with BMW, too. Great racing so far in hour one.
The entire LMP2 field is pitting now. All the cars have spec 4.2 liter Gibson motors. Oreca and Gibson are the spec chassis and motor for the new spec LMP2 racers in this event. Bruno Senna and Oliver Jarvis were the first two drivers to pit. Stefan Mucke fends off the challenge of Fred Makowiecki. We've seen this picture in IMSA in the United States as well as David Cheng is in the lane. David Cheng is sure he'll race Le Mans. Alex Brundle and Oliver Jarvis are in the car, and Jarvis is racing for Bentley in Bancpain GT. Makowiecki is pushing Mucke and gets the lead.
The sister car Michael Christensen is in contention too. Drizzle is coming. Silverstone is one track where it can rain on one part and be dry on the other. Silverstone is pretty bumpy this year compared to the past. The cars are porpoising. Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, has also gotten a lot bumpier. The sports cars are very quick, just a few seconds slower than the Formula 1 cars. The FIA and ACO thought they'd slowed these cars down but maybe not. They have reduced downforce by 30%. There are no side louvers on the car. Andreas Seidl and Frederic Vasseur, the team bosses for both Porsche and Toyota, are surprised.
Race Director Edoardo Freitas says the track is now wet. It's wet at Luffield, turn seven. Luffield to Woodcote. Pit stop time for Toyota. Porsche will go into the lead. Fuel is going in. Both Toyota's are in the lane and we're almost an hour into this event. Fuel only. Double stint for the tires and the drivers. Sebastien Buemi leads Mike Conway. Michael Christensen leads James Calado and Sam Bird. Toyota's thread the needle through traffic. Neel Jani and Brendon Hartley are both in the lane, too. Slick tires, the order of the day so far, even though rain is in the air.
The new LMP2 cars are four seconds faster than last year because of new aerodynamics. The sun is coming back again it looks like. There's a little drizzle still out there. I'm sorry, I couldn't hear that transmission. The sun was in my eyes. Hardy har har. Through the flowing, Maggots/Becketts corners. Just incredible. The Toyota's have really evolved. They ran a normally aspirated V8 and a super capacitor at first, but now have a 2.4 liter V6 turbo with battery power. In the lane comes Stefan Mucke in the second Ford GT as the Ferrari's scrap with the Porsche. Calado, Christensen, and others.
Rain in five minutes? Oh dear. Tire changes are being contemplated but might not be the best decision. Michael Christensen is in the pit lane. Porsche cleans the windshield instead of using tear offs. The 2001 Bentley Prototype was the first car to have a very small windshield. Pit lane is busy with GTE Pro and GTE Am pit stops for ASston Martin, Porsche, and others.
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