The legendary Nurburgring in the Eiffel Mountains of Germany is the venue to begin the second half of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship. Porsche is coming into their home race, after winning yet another 24 Hours of Le Mans, last month. The spirit of Le Mans, has come to Germany. Round four takes place today. It is the final race in Europe, before we race the flyaway events. In qualifying, in GTE Am, Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana scored their eighth striaight pole. Porsche with Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre, have the first pole ever. Jackie Chan DC Racing is on pole in LMP2 after G-Drive was disqualified. Oliver Jarvis and Thomas Laurent are the duo driving today. Jose Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi for Toyota start on pole.
The green flag, is next! The cars are on their formation lap. The #8 Toyota is slow, with Sebastien Buemi at the controls. These cars are very complex. Look for early penalties for LMP2. Nelson Panciatici will get a stop and hold, and Romain Rusinov will have a three minute stop and hold, and Jonathan Hirschi will have a major, seven minute penalty after hitting one of the Ford's. There will be an extra formation lap before we get going. Dollies are ready to get the #24 taken care of. If a car is running that slowly, you don't want to have an issue. Actually, it is the Toyota. Sebastien Buemi is trying to recycle the electronics.
The #2 Porsche was also having issues. The #8 Toyota is in trouble, down the back straightaway. Sebastien Buemi has to watch his mirrors. No combustion engine for the Toyota! This isn't good. He'll be in the lane, but we will indeed go racing. All cars assume grid formation. We have the clock running now. It's go time for everyone else. We're green at the Nurburgring! The Toyota has the inside line and here come the Porsche's! Masive lock up by the #92 Porsche! Ooh! The #35 Alpine has spun on the wet grass and he's spun around like a record. The TDS Oreca, the Tockwith Ligier, and the Jackie Chan cars is pushing. Problems for the ByKolles entry.
Toyota has an issue with the fuel pump on car #8. Porsche is at their home track. Toyota has dominated both six hour races we've had this year before Le Mans. Toyota has an advantage on the Porsche's andf the LMP2 cars. The GT cars are coming up through the field as we have greasy conditions at the moment. Car #35 is recovering after taking it's turn on the whirlygig. Three cars have to pit for penalties. Aston Martin with Marco Sorenson has taken the lead from Michael Christensen in LM GTE Pro. Don't take too much of the yellow curb.
There have been changes to Balance of Performance. Kamui Kobayashi is your leader. Grab a coffee and settle in for this one, folks. It's going to be good! Porsche has dropped back. Marco Sorenson is being hounded by Fred Makowiecki. Kamui Kobayashi has a lead over Timo Bernhard and Andre Lotterer. BMW is going to be here in LM GTE Pro next year. The #26 car has been summoned for it's penalty for three minutes as Romain Rusinov is penalized for contact with Khaled Al Qubaisi at Le Mans a month ago.
Ben Hanley has taken the penalty, into the lane immediately. The #66 Ford GT runs third in LM GTE Pro and we listen to the throaty roar of the Ford EcoBoost V6. Jonathan Hirschi has a seven minute penalty for overtaking and hitting the Ford on a red flag in qualifying. Aston Martin, Porsche, and Ford are at the top of this one in LM GTE Pro, as this is the first race for the automatic Balance of Performance in WEC. The Aston lunges past the Porsche, and here comes the Porsche through the left hand turns! Ooh! Porsche on the outside but the Aston Martin slams the door in his face.
Car #26 is back on track. Nelson Panciatici has a 30 second penalty. Fred Makowiecki is really hounding Marco Sorenson as the #24 hits the lane for a monstrous seven minute penalty. The only thing rising on a cold day at the Nurburgring, are some driver's blood pressures at the moment. Aston, Porsche, Ford, Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, Ferrari. That's your running in LM GTE Pro as Bruno Senna leads Mathias Beche in LMP2. Toyota #8 is five laps down due to it's fuel pump change. The TDS entry is loose into the chicane, as Alex Brundle in Jackie Chan entry #37 is pressing Nelson Panciatici in LMP2.
Pressure, pressure, pressure as Porsche is pushing Aston Martin. Slicing and dicing between LMP1 and LMP2 cars. Kamui Kobayashi and Andre Lotterer battle. Lotterer says it's been quite the experience driving the Porsche in the new high downforce trim. Timo Bernhard is going after it right now, too. This is intense stuff. No further action for the Nelson Panciatici incident from earlier as the #61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari is moving up in LM GTE Am as the #71 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE has been in the garage and is now back out.
Marco Sorenson has run a 1:59 flat. 1:59.029, and is 4/10ths quicker than the Porsche 911 RSR. There's nothing in it in the GTE Pro class right now, as tire buildup is becoming an issue. Electrical issues for the #71 Ferrari. That is the car of Davide Rigon. Marco Sorenson is not having it's own way. He's losing time to the Porsche. Olivier Pla is at the wheel of the Ford. The two Clearwater Ferrari's have passed the Proton Porsche in LM GTE Am. Francesco Castellaci muscles his way past Christian Ried.
Aston Martin continues to lead in the production based class. Kamui Kobayashi leads Timo Bernhard and Andre Lotterer in LMP1. Bruno Senna leads Mathias Beche and Oliver Jarvis in LMP2. Vitaly Petrov and Nicolas Lapierre are next in the order. Clearwatrer passes Spirit of Race in LM GTE Am, in a scrum of Ferrari's. Francesco Castellaci could be called in for a penalty by the stewards. This is some intense action right now. Pit stop time now, for LMP2. The hybrid powered leaders will come in soon. The GTE Pro boys will pit soon, too. Kamui Kobayashi and Timo Bernhard are in a major scrap now. This is tight action. Lotterer tucks inside. Porsche wants GT victory on both sides of the Atlantic, especially in their home race today in LM GTE Pro.
Aston Martin may introduce a new GTE car in the not too distant future. The Gulf Racing UK Porsche is being lapped. The Aston Martin is the oldest car in LM GTE Pro competition. Wow! There's a major scrasp between Porsche and Ford, and Ferrari, too! Porsche has gone through on Aston Martin, too! Turn four exit, has a warning on it from race control. Yikes! Mike Wainwright was holding up the other GTE Pro cars. The Aston Martin ran wide. Unbelievable! Sorenson made a mistake.
Makowiecki's lead is now 1.47 seconds. Ford and Ferrari hang on in LM GTE Pro. Olivier Pla wants by Marco Sorenson. But James Calado is right on Pla's rear bumper. The GTE cars have their own World Championship this year, don't forget. The #8 Toyota is moving up. Porsche has a three second lead in LM GTE Pro. The LMP2 cars are still amazingly quick here at the shorter circuit at the Nurburgirng. Roberto Merhi at the wheel of the Manor LMP2 entry. Merhi had to keep out of the way of the leaders. We're 53 minutes into this event now. The Porsche's and Toyota's should pit very soon.
Slicing and dicing in front as Kamui Kobayashi is on a mission. Porsche is harrying Toyotas as we see pit stops beginning. Can these blokes stretch their fuel and eliminate an extra stop? All three leaders hit the lane. Porsche #1 will be on fresh tires. Four sets of tires are allowed. Just 16 tires. So, you have to double stint at least once. Kobayashi out. Jose Maria Lopez into the car. Brendon Hartley takes over the Porsche. Hartley and Earl Bamber, two of the Le Mans winners, have raced together or against each other for many years. Rain could be a factor in the last couple hours so the tire allocation with rain tires won't matter.
Neel Jani clears the sister Porsche and will press the Toyota. Jani is flying right now. Can they chase the Toyota down? Toyota does continue to lead by 1.2 seconds. One hour, done and dusted.
No comments:
Post a Comment