Tor Graves in the #24 LMP2 car spins. He loops it all by himself, but the Porsche's had to split the spinning LMP2! Wowzers! Paul Dalla Lana tries to take the lead in LM GTE Am, and he might have the line. Or does he? Yes, he does. Egad! Tor Graves has a definite issue as Fred Makowiecki passes Michael Christensen. All four factory Porsche's in the same picture. Wow. Porsche hopes their staff photographer got a shot of that one! Toyota #7 of Mike Conway remains third in the overall. Keep digging deep even if you are a lap down. This is so true for Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima in the #8 Toyota.
Pit stop time in GTE Am. We will miss the final hour of this race. But, next weekend, you will be able to find out how things come out in the final hour of the race on Sunday. The #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche is in pit lane. The #77 car has seen a good race today. Love the 2015 spec old school sound of the Flar 6 Porsche with a rear mounted engine and also enjoy the scream of the flat 6 in the new mid-engine factory Porsche. On it like sonnet, is the #77 racer! Wow! You will see the final hour of this event if you are authenticated for Fox Sports Go, online. Ford vs. Aston Martin. On board, with the Ford. Olivier Pla, wants by Daniel Serra. Marco Sorenson is behind in the sister Aston Martin, trying to lap both of these blokes.
The forward facing camera on the Ford, is reminiscent of the camera angles from Steve McQueen's "Le Mans" film. Monster oversteer for the Aston! Can the Ford make a move? Race leader Nick Tandy moves past this battle and Tandy sensibly waits for his chance to pass, going on his merry way. Toyota #8 is next in LMP1. Well, check that, it's #7. The two Toyota's are still going for it. Was there a wide line for one of these GTE cars? Maybe it was a trick of the cameras. Ford takes a wide line, as we keep seeing these marvelous pictures off the GT's nose. He's so close, looking at the onboard shot from inside the cockpit.
He's banging the car over the curbs. Olivier Pla is going for it, but this is for fifth in class, unlike being for the win, as it was at Le Mans last month that came out in Aston Martin's favor. Olivier Pla is frustrated. There is a new automated method for Balance of Performance. They have less weight and a bigger air restrictor. But the Ford's have more weight, 44 pounds added. It's achieved through computer technology and algorithms. The Aston stretches over the Ford even with an aero advantage for the lower, sleeker, mid engined GT compared to the big, brutish V8 Aston.
Where oh where, can Andy Priaulx be? Will sector times be affected by the auto BoP? We'll talk about that later, because these blokes are pressuring each other with traffic! Well done by Oliver Webb to take it easy and not create any more risks. Points are at stake for a world championship. Aston Martin, and Ford, they both want to win in a huge way. Traffic ahead. Johnny Adam will take over the car from Daniel Serra at Aston Martin for the next stint. A Manor LMP2, car #24 squeezes past Olivier Pla. Tor Graves is in that Manor.
The Aston Martin holds his line and the LMP2 leader of Thomas Laurent is wisely aware that the LM GTE Pro boys are fighting for the lead in class. These three cars are all prepared in Britain. Oh my! No dice for the right hand turn for the Frod's. The Aston Martin of Daniel Serra has the speed. Pla has his team mate right on his gearbox. Get past the Aston, and hold Andy Priaulx at bay. More defensive lines taken by the Aston. Side by side. Ford on the grass! He's ahead, Pla. But he'll need to give the spot back up to the Aston.
The marshals may just ping Olivier Pla for that little indiscretion. Pla and Serra have had their scrum, and ultimately, Pla had to give up the place. Priaulx has better tires than does Pla. Priaulx is now up to fifth in LM GTE Pro. Priaulx and Tincknell lead the points in LM GTE Pro. Serra had to make way for a Prototype, and Pla made the move, but maybe it wasn't fair and square. The intensity of this race is something else as Nick Tandy leads Earl Bamber by just two seconds for the overall victory.
Nikki Thiim in Aston Martin #95 holds fourth in LM GTE Pro as Daniel Serra dives for the lane. Just under an hour and a half to go. Johnny Adam takes over for Daniel Serra. Rebellion #31 of Filipe Albuquerque, is on the chase for the LMP2 class win. But, they have troubles with a right rear wheel that is ripped off the hub. Rebellion will now have to fight back. Bruno Senna is back on track. Porsche #1 continues to lead, and they led until late morning at Le Mans before the engine packed up. They had a 12-13 laps advantage at that time.
Tandy leads Bamber. Will Porsche do the team orders thing? We'll have to find out. "Quick" Nick Tandy is thrashing that Porsche 919 ahead of his team mate. Who will blink first for the last full service pit stop, and also, for the final splash of fuel? Andre Lotterer will take the #1 Porsche to the finish. He wants to win a race for Porsche after being with Audi and Audi Sport Team Joest before they left the WEC. Toyota #7 is still third overall.
Nicolas Lapierre is pursuing Matthias Beche in LMP2. Three cars are scrapping for LM GTE Am honors as well. Andre Lotterer will take over the #1 Porsche which has a ten and a half second cushion. Nick Tandy will hand the car over soon as he is at the top of the hill after the Michael Schumacher S. Michael Schumacher here at the Nurburgring, and Ayrton Senna at Interlagos, are the only drivers who have driven through corners named after themselves. It's like reading your own obituary or maybe, attending your own funeral. How horrid!
Porsche in the lane. Scheduled stop, going to plan. Andre Lotterer is into the car. Fuel only. Wait. Tires will be changed, too. Oh dear! Trouble on the left rear tire. That slows the stop down quite a bit. It'll be mighty close. Porsche #2 is into the lane, too. Timo Bernhard is going to take car #2 to the finish. An hour and ten minutes left. This will be crucial before a final splash and dash. Don't upset the apple cart. Everything is fine. Andre Lotterer stays ahead of Timo Bernhard. The lead has been halved, but is unchanged.
Toyota now in the lane, with #7. Kamui Kobayashi takes over from Mike Conway. They are a full pit stop behind the Porsche 919 of Timo Bernhard. Despite being eight seconds faster in the lane, Bernhard is still second. It's still a Porsche 1-2. The battle will go down to the wire. Lotterer vs. Bernhard. 1:41.8 for Lotterer. 1:41.5 for Bernhard. Three cars separated by twelve seconds. Still a ton to play for as we head for the final hour. Car #35 has been in the lane with a gearbox problem. Manor #24 is in the overall LMP2 order, but is laps behind, ninth overall.
Ben Hanley is eighth in one of the other LMP2 machines. The Porsche's are getting closer. Lotterer wants his first victory as a Porsche driver. He'll join a rare breed of drivers who have won for two factory teams in WEC competition. The finish is going to be a barn burner. Kamui Kobayashi is matching the pace of the Porsche's. The Porsche's seem to be falling into the clutches of the Toyota's. More traffic as Mathias Beche fends off Nicolas Lapierre.
Alessandro Pier Guidi is still leading LM GTE Pro in his Ferrari. Bernhard has cut the lead down.
*Special notice. We are at the end of hour five at the Nurburgring. But, next weekend, there will be highlights of the drama filled final hour, here at the Nurburgring, in a special "Checkered Flag" blog entry for the Nurburgring 6 Hours. Stay tuned for that as yours truly, will take you to the end of this race, and see who will be the winners of the Nurburgring 6 Hours. We'll be here at 10:30 A.M. Central Time, next Sunday, to finish this one. After that, we will see these cars in Mexico City, Mexico, at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, coming up in September.
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