Sebastien Buemi has a regular pit stop. It is all routine. Mike Conway will also come in for service, as he takes the lead, briefly. We have had 20 lead changes, but they have only been among the Toyota's. A good duel between Scott Dixon and Mike Rockenfeller, continues. Ford vs. Corvette. Ford and Corvette will pit. Now, the #7 Toyota is in the lane, and so are the Rebellion, and the #92 "Pink Pig" Porsche, with Michael Christensen getting behind the wheel. Ryan Briscoe will take over the #69 Ford GT from Scott Dixon. Corvette and Ford pit, and Corvette beats Ford out of the lane. Corvette Racing has stellar pit stops. They are back to fifth in LM GTE Pro. Ferrari #52, has a penalty, with Toni Vilander at the controls. It is two laps up on the sister car.
Gianmaria Bruni, is back, and in a Porsche, in the #91 car with the Rothman's livery on it, but without the cigarette sponsorship. Harry Tincknell is in the #67 Ford, Ryan Briscoe into the #69 Ford, and Antonio Garcia in the #63 Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R-. 23 drivers in this race have started at least one Formula 1 race. Many of these drivers have also won in IndyCar and IMSA. This is a great field. Sebastien Buemi leads by 34.8 seconds over Mike Conway, as both Rebellion's remain third and fourth, with a ten lap cushion. The Rebellion's have not run perfectly. The #10 DragonSpeed LMP1 car, game over. Ben Hanley, binned it. We've seen a good number of retirements and have mentioned all of them, within the last hour or so.
Cetillar Villorba Corse just had a 58 minute lap time, for #47, with Felipe Nasr at the wheel of it, way back in 36th overall and 17th in LMP2. Antonio Garcia is still in a battle with Ryan Briscoe. Sebastien Buemi has run a 3:19 lap. 3:19.850. Rebellion has just done a fastest sector time. Phillip Eng is going to stay in for another stint, before handing over to Nicky Catsburg, I think. Catsburg is a Le Mans rookie. No real change in track temp. Nicky Catsburg was suggested to do another stint. He'll be doing a three hour stint. Alex Sims in the sister BMW, of course, wrecked.
It has been an encouraging return for BMW to Le Mans. Antonio Garcia is still out there with the #63 Corvette. That car has the second fastest GTE Pro lap time, set by who else. Garcia. This is Corvette's 20trh Le Mans and they've won eight. Harry Tincknell hits the pit lane. Tincknell will drop a few places. Billy Johnson in the #66 Ford has gone off the road at Arnage. Chip Ganassi Racing eschewing the idea of putting the car in the garage, as Sebastien Buemi pits. Eddie Cheever III. has been pinged for speeding and given a 105 second penalty. That a minute and 45 seconds. Wow.
Two safety car periods, and 13 slow zones in this race so far. Mike Conway takes the lead briefly, and the #8 car will go back into the race lead it seems. BMW #81 is back on track. Toyota has had only the stop/go penalties as long stops. Alexander Sims had a massive hit on the right rear corner when he crashed, and we've also documented the malaise for the DragonSpeed car. Game over. We also lost the #88 Dempsey Proton Porsche of course, in the second bend in the Ford Chicane. Ben Keating is up to third in GTE Am, and also, Tim Pappas in the second Proton Competition #99 car. The #84 JMW Ferrari is also out. Full daylight has returned to Le Mans.
Settle in for the final six hours or so of this motor race. Sam Bird has made a move, to tell Michael Christensen that he has speed. TF Sport has continually had issues thrown at them during this race. Euan Hanckey is knackered, totally washed out. He needs a rest. Toni Vilander, James Calado, and Sam Bird are still in the race for AF Corse. The Ford's were beginning to fade and the Ferrari's were stepping up. Corvette and Ford are also stepping up. As funny as it may seem, Le Mans has become an out and out sprint, despite the full day time and distance.
Antonio Garcia is down toa 3:50 lap time. Magnussen and Garcia have melded, and then, having a plug and play bloke for an enduro. But, Rockenfeller has been able to step up to the plate.
No comments:
Post a Comment