The fueling situation continues to be a concern. Two Ford's are battling for position behind the #63 Corvette. Mike Rockenfeller vs. Scott Dixon and Joey Hand, with Antonio Felix da Costa in the #82 BMW M8 GTE. Harry Tincknell runs wide, and it's three wide between two Ford's and a BMW as Antonio Felix Da Costa swoops around the chicane on the Mulsanne! Wowzers! This is good stuff! GTE Pro cars used to have yellow headlight gels, but now, they are white headlights, just like the LMP1 and LMP2 cars. There were pit troubles for the #10 DragonSpeed car in LMP1 with Renger van der Zande at the wheel of it. Aston Martin #98, Ford #67, and the #44 Krohn Racing LMP2 car, have all been penalized for overtaking in the wrong place.
Jose Maria Lopez is now in pit lane again. Lopez stays in the car, and we won't have Kamui Kobayashi getting into the car. Kazuki Nakajima is now in the sister #8 Toyota, replacing Fernando Alonso. Neel Jani takes over from Bruno Senna in Rebellion #1. Rear lights out on the #47 Cetillar Villorba Corse car. BMW #82 is still chasing Ford #68. It's Antonio Felix Da Costa vs. Joey Hand, and Timothy Buret in the Panis-Barthez P2 car also makes a pass. Maxime Martin and Marco Sornsen are struggling with the Aston Martin Vantage right now. However, the BMW seems to be running very well. Aston Martin is not too far off the pace, but they still need to step up.
Romain Rusinov pits the #26 G-Drive car. Black and white flag for the #92 Porsche, for abuse of track limits. Kevin Estre is being a naughty boy, and doesn't want to be sent to the headmaster's office. Sunset will be in a couple more hours. 85 laps have been completed. G-Drive is running sixth overall, as the LMP2 leader, 47 seconds ahead of the Timothy Buret driven #23 United Autosport entry. Oreca, Ligier, Alpine 1-2-3 in LMP2, with Jonathan Hirschi and Memo Rojas next in line. Kevin Estre leads Nicky Catsburg in LM GTE Pro. So, it is Porsche vs. BMW. Earl Bamber and Richard Lietz follow, and Antonio Giovinazzi in the AF Corse Ferrari is next. The first Ford is only seventh in class. In LM GTE Am, Matt Campbell leads Liam Griffin and Jorg Bergmeister. Dempsey Proton, WeatherTech, and Project 1.
The track temp is getting colder is it gets darker. We have daylight, but no sun. 20.6 degrees Celsius. The two Toyota's are the only cars we have on the lead lap, and they are pulling away at will, adopting a conservative race strategy. We are now seeing races within the race.l Can anyone catch G-Drive in LMP2? GTE Pro is random, but spectacular. Toni Vilander will take over the #52 Ferrari, and Andy Priaulx will get into the #67 Ford GT. There will likely be a change in one of the Corvette's, as Renger van der Zande straight lines the Dunlop chicane.
A scrap develops for fifth in GTE Pro, hammer and tongs style! This is ace stuff. Just don't wallop into the barrier, boys. Pit stop time for Sven Mueller in Porsche 911 RSR #94. Romain Dumas is next into the car, but it was a tardy pit stop. The #93 car is also going to change, and perhaps also, the #92, in "the Pink Pig". Antonio Felix da Costa passes Antonio Giovinazzi. G-Drive continues to lead LMP2, and Renger van der Zande has moved ahead of the LMP2 leader. The #5 Ginetta is 18th overall, and it's sister car #6 is 21st in the overall. The #11 BR1 had engine electronics issues. Jenson Button is driving, or was. That car was in the lane and the garage for some time.
The ByKolles team has also had major issues. Third overall, is Egor Orudzhev. It's Orudzhev, not Drudzhev, as I spelled it before. I stand corrected. Stephane Sarrazin enjoys his new position in the BR1 team after driving factory cars for both Toyota, and before that, Peugeot. This is Stephane Sarrazin's 17th Le Mans appearance, and Sarrazin also drove the fabulous GT1 Aston Martin V12 Vantage. Ryan Briscoe has taken over the #69 Ford GT. Martin Tomczyk got new tires on the #81 BMW and Toni Vilander in the #52 Ferrari, the car no one expects to win, seems to be running really well. In LM GTE Pro, it is still a Porsche wash at the moment.
TDS Racing and IDEC Sport battle. #28 and #48 respectively. Paul Lafargue and Paul Loup Chatin of France, share #48 with Mexico's Memo Rojas, a name familiar to IMSA fans. Frenchmen Francois Perrodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere, and Loic Duval, share the car. Yellow flags appear at Indianapolis. There is a slow zone for Juan Pablo Montoya, going off the road in the #32 Ligier for United Autosports, and Toyota #8 pits. There was a nose change performed on the #8 machine. Use the time they have, to the limit. Toyota has been going through quite a few bits of bodywork. The slow zone covers Juan Pablo Montoya's incident where he's understeered off the road, and whacked the wall. Zonk! Montoya will lose time on this one.
Neel Jani pits the Rebellion. He has done a ten lap stint on fuel, which is oh, 86 miles or so. Stephane Sarrazin got 12 laps off his last fuel run, during the safety car. You are allowed to extend the fuel range, if the safety car is on the circuit. Martin Tomczyk is up to second in GTE Pro, with a Porsche, driven by Patrick Pilet, pushing Tomczyk, smashing over the curbs. Pilet gains ground hand over fist. Pilet is going to sweep past the BMW. Now, the overall leader is in the lane, the #7 Toyota of Jose Maria Lopez, and he is replaced by Kamui Kobayashi. The Porsche cannot get by the BMW into the second chicane. The BMW M8 GTE is bigger in size than the Porsche, but BMW is runjning better than people predicted they would, including yours truly.
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