The short highlight reel of the California 8 Hours, with Gregg Creamer and Calvin Fish providing the commentary.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
California 8 Hours Race Highlights
The short highlight reel of the California 8 Hours, with Gregg Creamer and Calvin Fish providing the commentary.
California 8 Hours Pole Shootout
Highlights of the Pole Shootout for the California 8 Hours. Once again, we join Greg Creamer, Calvin Fish, and John Watson for the call.
California 8 Hours Qualifying Highlights
The full video, and highlight reel of qualifying for the California 8 Hours. Greg Creamer, Calvin Fish, and John Watson were on the mic for all the action. Check it out.
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
post-race news after the California 8 Hours
All of the post-race coverage of the California 8 Hours, including the race highlights reports.
Race highlights
Marciello Leads After Opening Hour at Laguna Seca
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/marciello-leads-after-opening-hour-at-laguna-seca/
Mercedes Leading Race, Title Battles at Halfway
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/mercedes-leading-race-title-battles-at-halfway/
No. 8 Bentley Damaged After Corkscrew Contact
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/no-8-bentley-damaged-after-corkscrew-contact/
Audi 1-2 in California 8H; Vautier Wins IGTC Drivers’ Title
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/audi-1-2-in-california-8h-vautier-wins-igtc-drivers-title/
Post-Race news
Vautier: “Strange Feeling” to Win IGTC Title Without Marciello
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/vautier-strange-feeling-to-win-igtc-title-without-marciello/
Van der Linde: Land Won California 8H “From Pit Wall”
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/van-der-linde-land-won-california-8h-from-pit-wall/
Habul’s Bronze Cup Title Recovery “Too Close For Comfort”
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/habul-igtc-bronze-cup-title-win-too-close-for-comfort/
Laguna Seca Post-Race Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/laguna-seca-post-race-notebook/
The latest Double Stint Podcast, which includes a recap of the California 8 Hours, and an interview with the head honcho of Audi Sport Customer Racing, Chris Reinke.
Double Stint: California 8 Hours Recap; Chris Reinke Interview (10-30-18)
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/double-stint-california-8-hours-recap-chris-reinke-interview-10-30-18/
Race highlights
Marciello Leads After Opening Hour at Laguna Seca
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/marciello-leads-after-opening-hour-at-laguna-seca/
Mercedes Leading Race, Title Battles at Halfway
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/mercedes-leading-race-title-battles-at-halfway/
No. 8 Bentley Damaged After Corkscrew Contact
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/no-8-bentley-damaged-after-corkscrew-contact/
Audi 1-2 in California 8H; Vautier Wins IGTC Drivers’ Title
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/audi-1-2-in-california-8h-vautier-wins-igtc-drivers-title/
Post-Race news
Vautier: “Strange Feeling” to Win IGTC Title Without Marciello
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/vautier-strange-feeling-to-win-igtc-title-without-marciello/
Van der Linde: Land Won California 8H “From Pit Wall”
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/van-der-linde-land-won-california-8h-from-pit-wall/
Habul’s Bronze Cup Title Recovery “Too Close For Comfort”
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/habul-igtc-bronze-cup-title-win-too-close-for-comfort/
Laguna Seca Post-Race Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/laguna-seca-post-race-notebook/
The latest Double Stint Podcast, which includes a recap of the California 8 Hours, and an interview with the head honcho of Audi Sport Customer Racing, Chris Reinke.
Double Stint: California 8 Hours Recap; Chris Reinke Interview (10-30-18)
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/double-stint-california-8-hours-recap-chris-reinke-interview-10-30-18/
Monday, October 29, 2018
Weekly Racing Roundup (10-29-18)
Race report from the Michelin Le Mans Cup finale, BMW’s New DTM car breaks cover...
https://sportscar365.com/features/roundup/weekly-racing-roundup-10-29-18/
https://sportscar365.com/features/roundup/weekly-racing-roundup-10-29-18/
Enjoy This Video of Hans Stuck Driving The BMW E46 M3 GTR Around the Nordschleife
The V8-powered motorsport M3 is one of the all-time greats.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a22001979/enjoy-this-video-of-hans-stuck-driving-the-bmw-e46-m3-gtr-around-the-nordschleife/?src=socialflowFBRAT&fbclid=IwAR2J50oyZEaPqMKU0A9jTszoZbM5dCfNUZe9ad2w-7YIHfe6bO0deMM15H0
https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a22001979/enjoy-this-video-of-hans-stuck-driving-the-bmw-e46-m3-gtr-around-the-nordschleife/?src=socialflowFBRAT&fbclid=IwAR2J50oyZEaPqMKU0A9jTszoZbM5dCfNUZe9ad2w-7YIHfe6bO0deMM15H0
California 8 Hours: Land Audi wins, Vautier clinches IGTC title
Another, more brief race report on the California 8 Hours, covering what happened in both GT3 and GT4 classes. Plenty more post-race news is still to come, later this week, and tomorrow, expect to see a major post-race update.
https://www.motorsport.com/endurance/news/land-audi-wins-california-8-hours-vautier-clinches-igtc-title/3204951/?nrt=51
https://www.motorsport.com/endurance/news/land-audi-wins-california-8-hours-vautier-clinches-igtc-title/3204951/?nrt=51
Sunday, October 28, 2018
California 8 Hours: Hour 8 (the finish)
Raffaele Marciello whistles past the GT4 leader and he is taking huge risks, getting two wheels onto the dirt. This is all he’s got. The gap will be impossible, and Marciello needs a safety car. No more pit stops. Will there be a safety car to help the SunEnergy1 team? Maro Engel has to make up ten seconds to Dries Vanthoor. Marciello is 16 seconds inarrears of Engel, as TRG pits the GT4 leading car with Spencer Pumpelly taking it to the flag. Vesko Kozarov needs to have his driving time recycled before the end. Since that off, Marciello has not been showing pace even though the tires are fresh and the windscreen is clean. Maybe there is sand and other debris that has gotten into the suspension system or something.
More scrapping going on as Vincent Abril is fourth, with the dusty Mercedes of Raffaele Marciello going for it. He can’t push the car, and might lose the title. He has been charging all day. Meanwhile, the Land Audi team has been pouring things into the strategy to make it work. Bentley #8 is in the pits. Marciello has now made it to fourth after Bentley has pitted. The #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG GT3, might still be in contention. It’s possible Habul has the placing to win the Bronze Cup. Tim Pappas is still hoping for a championship even though they have been chasing the race all day.
Felipe Fraga passes Christian Vietoris. Pappas won’t be able to recover it seems. Pappas has to win, and he is not in a winning spot right now. Kelvin van der Linde continues to lead the motor race in the overall. Kelvin van der Linde still leads, but he did go off the road, and Dries Vanthoor is catching up. Maro Engel in third knows he is carrying Tristan Vautier’s hopes for the championship. We still have 40 minutes to go in this race. We have four different brands in the top eight places at this moment. Maxime Soulet has made a pass on Fred Makowiecki in the #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R.
Everyone thought the Mercedes would be the car to beat, and that’s not the case at this moment. Audi #29 has put together an incredible race to this point. These chaps haven’t really put a wheel wrong all day. #29 still leads, but the margin over Dries Vanthoor is just four seconds in arrears. Someone runs wide throwing up a sand cloud. Kelvin van der Linde is dealing with the lapped traffic well, even though the sun is getting low in the sky and blinding the drivers in certain places. The GT4 traffic is still out there. Coming through The Corkscrew, there is zero dust because of the extra green curbing.
The clag takes away the grip. Maro Engel remains in third place in the overall. Kenny Habul is involved in the solar energy business. Maro Engel is running quick, clean laps. There will be a bronze title and also, an overall championship. Raffaele Marciello just cannot recover the time he has lost as we pay tribute to the pit crews who not only set the cars up, but also make them go fast thanks to their outstanding pit work.
In GT4, Ian Lacey had to pit, for fuel, requiring a full 145 second stop, and Vesko Kozarov has taken over the lead in class. Just 25 minutes to go. Raffaele Marciello is in a scrum with Kelvin van der Linde, letting the wind out of the sails of Marciello’s championship hopes. Maxime Soulet in the #8 Bentley is a lap behind even though he is in the picture at the moment. The Mercedes air intakes point forward and are close to the tires. Raffaele Marciello and Kelvin van der Linde continue to battle for the fourth position overall.
More drama for Raffaele Marciello has another cut tire, and his championship hopes, they’ve evaporated. There is something consistent with another mistake for Marciello. The Mercedes just does not have the power. The hubs are sophisticated and there isn’t much torque needed to get the wheel off and make sure the drive pins don’t get sheared off. A lot of this technology is from DTM and F1. Kelvin van der Linde has opened his lead up to seven seconds. Just fifteen minutes to go. Remember, next year, this race is going to be in the spring, and it will be the second event of the IGTC season, in March, after the Bathurst 12 Hours.
So, if you are so inclined, check out the information for tickets etc. soon. Raffaele Marciello has completed a drive through penalty, compounding his misery in this race. Kelvin van der Linde and Audi are setting sail for a third straight manufacturers title. Audi won’t win the drivers championship for Land Motorsports, but the manufacturers cup will be theirs. Sheldon van der Linde had a penalty perhaps for exceeding the maximum stint length. Then comes the #44 Mercedes of Christian Vietoris. If Luca Stolz does not get lapped in the last eight minutes, the Pro Am title goes to Kenny Habul and company.
Stolz won’t be challenged. Just bring it home. We enter into the final few minutes of the season, in the California 8 Hours. Amazing execution by Land Motorsports, save for one penalty. Effort equals reward for these blokes. Audi will win the manufacturers championship, a three-peat. Two more laps to run for Kelvin van der Linde. We will run a minute over the eight hour time. This is it. It is the final lap. No white flag for one lap to go in international racing. Maro Engel should bring it home so Tristan Vautier will be the IGTC champion for 2018. Porsche will finish fourth with the #911 Wright Motorsports car, Land Motorsports wins the California 8 Hours and their third manufacturers championship!
Tristan Vautier is the champion of the Intercontinental GT Challenge! Kenny Habul is the Bronze Cup champion! In GT4, it is Vesko Kozarov winning the GT4 division! Tristan Vautier is overjoyed to be champion here.
Overall/Pro: #29 Mies/Haase/van der Linde Audi R8
Pro Am: #43 Marciello/Williamson/Goetz. Mercedes AMG GT3
GT4: #626 Kozarov/Roberts/Faulkner. Audi R8 GT4
Audi wins the manufacturers championship over Mercedes. Porsche, Bentley, and McLaren, who did not have a car enters at Laguna Seca, were third, fourth, and fifth. This celebration for Audi has taken four days to achieve. Drivers have to adapt to different teams depending on what continent everyone is racing on, and to different continents. Remember that next year, the California 8 Hours will be the second race along with the Bathurst 12 Hours, Spa 24 Hours, Suzuka 10 Hours, and the new Kyalami 9 Hours.
Bentley ran very well with M-Sport and K-PAX. This has been a treat to bring this race to you as the champagne is uncorked. Celebrate, Land Audi, you deserve it. The 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge is in the books. See you next year.
More scrapping going on as Vincent Abril is fourth, with the dusty Mercedes of Raffaele Marciello going for it. He can’t push the car, and might lose the title. He has been charging all day. Meanwhile, the Land Audi team has been pouring things into the strategy to make it work. Bentley #8 is in the pits. Marciello has now made it to fourth after Bentley has pitted. The #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG GT3, might still be in contention. It’s possible Habul has the placing to win the Bronze Cup. Tim Pappas is still hoping for a championship even though they have been chasing the race all day.
Felipe Fraga passes Christian Vietoris. Pappas won’t be able to recover it seems. Pappas has to win, and he is not in a winning spot right now. Kelvin van der Linde continues to lead the motor race in the overall. Kelvin van der Linde still leads, but he did go off the road, and Dries Vanthoor is catching up. Maro Engel in third knows he is carrying Tristan Vautier’s hopes for the championship. We still have 40 minutes to go in this race. We have four different brands in the top eight places at this moment. Maxime Soulet has made a pass on Fred Makowiecki in the #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R.
Everyone thought the Mercedes would be the car to beat, and that’s not the case at this moment. Audi #29 has put together an incredible race to this point. These chaps haven’t really put a wheel wrong all day. #29 still leads, but the margin over Dries Vanthoor is just four seconds in arrears. Someone runs wide throwing up a sand cloud. Kelvin van der Linde is dealing with the lapped traffic well, even though the sun is getting low in the sky and blinding the drivers in certain places. The GT4 traffic is still out there. Coming through The Corkscrew, there is zero dust because of the extra green curbing.
The clag takes away the grip. Maro Engel remains in third place in the overall. Kenny Habul is involved in the solar energy business. Maro Engel is running quick, clean laps. There will be a bronze title and also, an overall championship. Raffaele Marciello just cannot recover the time he has lost as we pay tribute to the pit crews who not only set the cars up, but also make them go fast thanks to their outstanding pit work.
In GT4, Ian Lacey had to pit, for fuel, requiring a full 145 second stop, and Vesko Kozarov has taken over the lead in class. Just 25 minutes to go. Raffaele Marciello is in a scrum with Kelvin van der Linde, letting the wind out of the sails of Marciello’s championship hopes. Maxime Soulet in the #8 Bentley is a lap behind even though he is in the picture at the moment. The Mercedes air intakes point forward and are close to the tires. Raffaele Marciello and Kelvin van der Linde continue to battle for the fourth position overall.
More drama for Raffaele Marciello has another cut tire, and his championship hopes, they’ve evaporated. There is something consistent with another mistake for Marciello. The Mercedes just does not have the power. The hubs are sophisticated and there isn’t much torque needed to get the wheel off and make sure the drive pins don’t get sheared off. A lot of this technology is from DTM and F1. Kelvin van der Linde has opened his lead up to seven seconds. Just fifteen minutes to go. Remember, next year, this race is going to be in the spring, and it will be the second event of the IGTC season, in March, after the Bathurst 12 Hours.
So, if you are so inclined, check out the information for tickets etc. soon. Raffaele Marciello has completed a drive through penalty, compounding his misery in this race. Kelvin van der Linde and Audi are setting sail for a third straight manufacturers title. Audi won’t win the drivers championship for Land Motorsports, but the manufacturers cup will be theirs. Sheldon van der Linde had a penalty perhaps for exceeding the maximum stint length. Then comes the #44 Mercedes of Christian Vietoris. If Luca Stolz does not get lapped in the last eight minutes, the Pro Am title goes to Kenny Habul and company.
Stolz won’t be challenged. Just bring it home. We enter into the final few minutes of the season, in the California 8 Hours. Amazing execution by Land Motorsports, save for one penalty. Effort equals reward for these blokes. Audi will win the manufacturers championship, a three-peat. Two more laps to run for Kelvin van der Linde. We will run a minute over the eight hour time. This is it. It is the final lap. No white flag for one lap to go in international racing. Maro Engel should bring it home so Tristan Vautier will be the IGTC champion for 2018. Porsche will finish fourth with the #911 Wright Motorsports car, Land Motorsports wins the California 8 Hours and their third manufacturers championship!
Tristan Vautier is the champion of the Intercontinental GT Challenge! Kenny Habul is the Bronze Cup champion! In GT4, it is Vesko Kozarov winning the GT4 division! Tristan Vautier is overjoyed to be champion here.
Overall/Pro: #29 Mies/Haase/van der Linde Audi R8
Pro Am: #43 Marciello/Williamson/Goetz. Mercedes AMG GT3
GT4: #626 Kozarov/Roberts/Faulkner. Audi R8 GT4
Audi wins the manufacturers championship over Mercedes. Porsche, Bentley, and McLaren, who did not have a car enters at Laguna Seca, were third, fourth, and fifth. This celebration for Audi has taken four days to achieve. Drivers have to adapt to different teams depending on what continent everyone is racing on, and to different continents. Remember that next year, the California 8 Hours will be the second race along with the Bathurst 12 Hours, Spa 24 Hours, Suzuka 10 Hours, and the new Kyalami 9 Hours.
Bentley ran very well with M-Sport and K-PAX. This has been a treat to bring this race to you as the champagne is uncorked. Celebrate, Land Audi, you deserve it. The 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge is in the books. See you next year.
California 8 Hours: Hour 7
Through turn six, up to The Corkscrew, there's great compression. Adrien Tambay won't be easy meat for the Audi's. GT3 cars are very aero dependent. Raffaele Marciello is running 1:25.3 with everyone else in the 1:26 bracket, about a second faster than his competition. Haase makes a good run up the Rahal straightaway into the brake zone for The Corkscrew. Tambay tries to hold position and Haase, he holds the spot. Adrien Tambay has gone backwards, but Tambay is playing guard for Marciello. Vincent Abril is holding Raffaele Marciello at bay. He is working Abril over into turn three, and Marciello passes. But now, he has to go for Maximilian Buhk, and Buhk does not have the pace.
Marciello looks inside, and Buhk covers! Well, he runs wide off the road briefly, and still holds Buhk off. Ooh! Both of these guys get run off the road up the hill! There's dust coming out of Raffaele Marciello's wheels! That was a banzai move and a mistake. Tristan Vautier is up to the position he needs to be in over Marciello to win the championship. Audi runs 1-2, and they would be in contention for the manufacturer's championship. Alex Riberas is running very, very well. He had a brief stint with Ferrari and is now with Audi. Racing with the GT4 cars has allowed the Audi to move away. Bentley #8 is in the lane, and just completed service to replace a cut down tire. Maximilian Buhk has Alvaro Parente to deal with in the #9 K-PAX Bentley. Buhk is going for it, but has to realize discretion is the better part of valor. He can't mash the throttle quick enough, and now has Alex Riberas all over him. The dynamic of this motor race is changing. People are beginning to really go for it.
Christopher Haase had the quickest lap of all the leading cars, last time around. If Haase wins, Vautier or Marciello has to finish in the top six, or Audi will win the title. Buhk lunges by Parente in turn 11. Marciello's car is fading. Audi is in really good shape for the manufacturer's title. Right now, they don't care about the driver's title. The manufacturer's cup is job security. There is not a massive amount of straight line performance difference between GT4 and GT3, but, GT3 has the aero and the braking power. Vesko Kozarov is one of the blokes in GT4 who has the pace in the class at the moment. He is in the GT4 spec Audi R8. Raffaele Marciello is still trying to regroup. New tires and a clean windscreen will help.
Maximilian Buhk has no pressure at the moment. He just needs to crank out the laps. Raffaele Marciello has the race craft and the competitive drive, but he needs to be tempered a little bit. In GT4, Vesko Kozarov still leads, and he did extremely will in Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car, TCR. Ian Lacey is has taken over the Ginetta, and the second Murillo Racing Mercedes is third, the Mosing/Probert/Piscitell car. SunEnergy1 needs to keep the car on the road and keep reeling off the laps. Ryan Dalziel brings the #63 DXDT Racing Mercedes to the pit lane as Felipe Fraga still has the #42 Strakka Racing Mercedes, while Jeroen Bleekemolen is back at the wheel of the #54 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3R.
The #75 Mercedes is predicted to fall short of completing 70% race distance. Felipe Fraga is Kenny Habul's best friend right now. Off the road for Marciello! Yikes! He's struggling with the car. His windscreen is really dirty. He needs a clean windscreen. Take the tear off, off the screen on the pit stop. Audi has found the pace at the moment. Marciello wants to get that car to the lane in the next 20 minutes to clean the car up on the final stop. The windscreen is completely opaque. Dirk Werner in the #911 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Stolz has gone by Werner it seems. Charles Espenlaub in the lane with the #22 Aston Martin Vantage GT4.
Marciello has a close moment with Jade Buford sliding sideways in the GT4 Mustang! Yikes! Colton Herta went off the road in the sole remaining Hyundai I30N TCR. Christopher Haase has the lead still. When you put this car with the two WRT cars, the paint schemes resemble the American flag. Alone, the car is known as “the candy cane”. Audi is still in place for the manufacturers cup as we have mentioned a lot today. Audi is going for the hat trick on the manufacturers cup as Mercedes seems to be fading. Marciello will pit in a minute and a half of or so.
The drivers Championship could still go the way of Mercedes, but it is hard to say. Marciello is digging himself into a hole right now. New tires just can’t cut the deficit down. Raffaele Marciello needs a safety car as the Land Audi pits and Kelvin van der Linde will finish the race. Everyone is good on time and Marciello pits, the dust is on the inside of the car. The crewman is blowing dust out of the wheel rims and the radiators. They need to clean the windscreen. Maxi Buhk changes to Maro Engel.
Buhk was losing time to the Hyundai coming off pit lane but it wasn’t an issue. The danger is that new tires can be a false sense of security. Don’t push too hard or the car will swap ends. All of the championship contenders have done their final stops, and the last hour of the race and the season, is next.
Marciello looks inside, and Buhk covers! Well, he runs wide off the road briefly, and still holds Buhk off. Ooh! Both of these guys get run off the road up the hill! There's dust coming out of Raffaele Marciello's wheels! That was a banzai move and a mistake. Tristan Vautier is up to the position he needs to be in over Marciello to win the championship. Audi runs 1-2, and they would be in contention for the manufacturer's championship. Alex Riberas is running very, very well. He had a brief stint with Ferrari and is now with Audi. Racing with the GT4 cars has allowed the Audi to move away. Bentley #8 is in the lane, and just completed service to replace a cut down tire. Maximilian Buhk has Alvaro Parente to deal with in the #9 K-PAX Bentley. Buhk is going for it, but has to realize discretion is the better part of valor. He can't mash the throttle quick enough, and now has Alex Riberas all over him. The dynamic of this motor race is changing. People are beginning to really go for it.
Christopher Haase had the quickest lap of all the leading cars, last time around. If Haase wins, Vautier or Marciello has to finish in the top six, or Audi will win the title. Buhk lunges by Parente in turn 11. Marciello's car is fading. Audi is in really good shape for the manufacturer's title. Right now, they don't care about the driver's title. The manufacturer's cup is job security. There is not a massive amount of straight line performance difference between GT4 and GT3, but, GT3 has the aero and the braking power. Vesko Kozarov is one of the blokes in GT4 who has the pace in the class at the moment. He is in the GT4 spec Audi R8. Raffaele Marciello is still trying to regroup. New tires and a clean windscreen will help.
Maximilian Buhk has no pressure at the moment. He just needs to crank out the laps. Raffaele Marciello has the race craft and the competitive drive, but he needs to be tempered a little bit. In GT4, Vesko Kozarov still leads, and he did extremely will in Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car, TCR. Ian Lacey is has taken over the Ginetta, and the second Murillo Racing Mercedes is third, the Mosing/Probert/Piscitell car. SunEnergy1 needs to keep the car on the road and keep reeling off the laps. Ryan Dalziel brings the #63 DXDT Racing Mercedes to the pit lane as Felipe Fraga still has the #42 Strakka Racing Mercedes, while Jeroen Bleekemolen is back at the wheel of the #54 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3R.
The #75 Mercedes is predicted to fall short of completing 70% race distance. Felipe Fraga is Kenny Habul's best friend right now. Off the road for Marciello! Yikes! He's struggling with the car. His windscreen is really dirty. He needs a clean windscreen. Take the tear off, off the screen on the pit stop. Audi has found the pace at the moment. Marciello wants to get that car to the lane in the next 20 minutes to clean the car up on the final stop. The windscreen is completely opaque. Dirk Werner in the #911 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Stolz has gone by Werner it seems. Charles Espenlaub in the lane with the #22 Aston Martin Vantage GT4.
Marciello has a close moment with Jade Buford sliding sideways in the GT4 Mustang! Yikes! Colton Herta went off the road in the sole remaining Hyundai I30N TCR. Christopher Haase has the lead still. When you put this car with the two WRT cars, the paint schemes resemble the American flag. Alone, the car is known as “the candy cane”. Audi is still in place for the manufacturers cup as we have mentioned a lot today. Audi is going for the hat trick on the manufacturers cup as Mercedes seems to be fading. Marciello will pit in a minute and a half of or so.
The drivers Championship could still go the way of Mercedes, but it is hard to say. Marciello is digging himself into a hole right now. New tires just can’t cut the deficit down. Raffaele Marciello needs a safety car as the Land Audi pits and Kelvin van der Linde will finish the race. Everyone is good on time and Marciello pits, the dust is on the inside of the car. The crewman is blowing dust out of the wheel rims and the radiators. They need to clean the windscreen. Maxi Buhk changes to Maro Engel.
Buhk was losing time to the Hyundai coming off pit lane but it wasn’t an issue. The danger is that new tires can be a false sense of security. Don’t push too hard or the car will swap ends. All of the championship contenders have done their final stops, and the last hour of the race and the season, is next.
California 8 Hours: Hour 6
Romain Dumas also had a close moment. The Wright Motorsports team has had some right rear tire issues with the pressures on their Pirelli rubber. The #911 Porsche is two laps down to the race leader. Mercedes #75 is in the pit lane for a stop. If they drop 90 laps behind, they won't make the distance percentage limit. Keep clicking off the laps, and forget about lap times. It goes from thinking about, where do I finish?, it is, will I finish? Luca Stolz will get into the car on this stop. Mercedes have thought through everything, with details on their GT3 car. Audi #29 pits as well, clearing a tear off off of the windshield. Mercedes had a low pivot swing axle on the W196 Grand Prix car, which wasn't on their production cars, but back then it was win on Sunday, sell on Monday.
Dries Vanthoor has brought the #19 Audi R8 to pit lane for a scheduled stop which will be a clean one, with a delay as per the rules. 1:40.0, that's a joker stop. Right within a second of the delta. Holy smokes! Lewis Williamson has really done a sterling stint this time. He's been very impressive either on his own, or battling with the #8 Bentley Continental GT3. Nick Leventis in the sister car leads the Bronze category. That is the car he shares with David Fumanelli and Felipe Fraga of course. The GT4 leading Porsche Cayman of Derek DeBoer is in. GT4 has a five lug nut tire, allowing two rattle guns for their stops. They are allowed to let the lug nuts fall onto the ground. A good stop for Derek DeBoer, again, sharing with Sean Gibbons and Spencer Pumpelly, promoting Matt Fassnacht back to the lead in GT4 and Frank Gannett back to second in class. In fourth, James Sofronas moves past Tim Probert in the #65 Murillo Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 he shares with Justin Piscitelli and Jeff Mosing.
Lewis Williamson pits. Vautier is also in the lane on the next lap. He will be out of the car, and another driver will get into the car. Maximilian Buhk is that driver. Andy Soucek is now behind Lewis Williamson as Bryan Sellers in the #9 K-PAX Bentley takes the lead briefly before his pit stop. Markus Winkelhock is looking to get by Andy Soucek and he does. He has slightly fresher tires than Andy Soucek does. Winkelhock in his efforts, has to challenge the Bentley which has a higher straightaway speed than the Audi. He has a run, and is too premature to make it work. Soucek has to exercise patience. The Audi has more grip than the Bentley does, but the Bentley has the power.
Soucek just has to hit his marks, and exit his corners cleanly. Bryan Sellers pits the #9 K-PAX Bentley Continental GT3 from the lead. Soucek gets balked, and the Audi's pass him, and Soucek is off the road into the dust! Traffic out of The Corkscrew, and Soucek has a flat left rear tire, and he is not goiung to make it to the pit lane, and has to do a whole lap! If that tire totally delaminates, he will smash into a wall. The Bentley slammed into the right rear of the BMW, the M4 GT4. This is a full course yellow flag. The aerodynamics, rear diffuser, and brake lines will be torn up. The rear corner is dragging on the deck. He is now in the lane.
Is the car safe to race? There was some movement in the rear wheel, and also, a shade of bodywork damage on the left rear fender. One of the tie rod ends has maybe taken a hit. In multi-class sports car racing, these kinds of incidents are bound to happen. This was clearly an avoidable incident. Tim Pappas will have to get back into the #54 car. But, Jeroen Bleekemolen is currently at the wheel, and he spins the tires out of the lane. Why did he light it up? Jeroen, why did you try to do a burnout? Tim Pappas back in, too. Tim, be careful. He is on the rev limiter as well. The marshals will wave by the GT4 and TCR cars, to clear the road for GT3 cars.
The #22 Aston Martin pits. Jeroen Bleekemolen was just short on his stint. The car is not driving the way it was earlier. Tim Pappas will be given a short stint, and then, Jeroen Bleekemolen may get back into the car. If Kenny Habul wins, the title is his. So, Tim Pappas has to push in order to be in contention for the Bronze Cup. There is still a lot of grit and clag all over the road. The #87 Vital Speed Ferrari put in some great drives until they were involved in that crash earlier with the TCR Hyundai. We are back to green flag racing, this time! Three abreast down the order into the Andretti hairpin.
Potential argy bargy, as Markus Winkelhock has to pass Mikael Grenier, the Canadian. Maximilian Buhk in the sister car, he has to get on the wheel to help Tristan Vautier. Bentley is in the lane. This is a drive through penalty for the contact with the BMW M4 earlier. Christopher Mies wants by the Bentley, but no dice. The first generation Bentley also has good straight line speed. Adrien Tambay is defending around Maximilian Buhk and Tambay just dispenses with Buhk, taking him into the sand, offline. The #29 Land Motorsports Audi has worked their way back into contention. Lewis Williamson is finding speed.
The #175 car does not seem to have the outright pace to go after the #43 car. Christopher Mies is passing the #9 Bentley for position, and Adrien Tambay roughs up Alvaro Parente now at the wheel of the #9 Bentley Continental GT3, and poor old GMG has lost a tire, with James Sofronas at the wheel of the GT4 leading Audi R8 GT4... the left rear wheel departed the car, as the nut was not tightened down or something. Another local yellow. We were told full course yellow, but are still green. This will have to be a safety car. We are indeed under full course yellow. Pit lane does not close in IGTC competition. Keep back timing the race. Two hours and 12 minutes left. Christopher Mies lost a lot of spots, but he pitted, and that's why. So, it was a strategy call.
Land can make this race work on one more pit stop. Audi could win, on pit strategy because they won't beat Mercedes on pace. Markus Winkelhock is in the lane with many other cars. They have one more stop.Two more 65 minute stops. When the eight hours falls, don't risk having to do an extra lap if the clock hasn't run out. Again, the GT4 traffic may be waved around. Lewis Williamson pits. Maybe he's done a stop a lap too late. Strakka releases the car after a slow stop, that will nail them in terms of track position. Williamson will have to be in attack mode. In racing, think smart. Think fast, but also, think smart.
Curioser and curioser, as they say. We are going back to green. Wait until the control line before accelerating, as the #29 squeezes into the middle of the pack into turn one. It's an Audi 1-2 and they could steal Mercedes' thunder. Alex Riberas is third, and Robin Frijns is second. Things have definitely begun to happen in this motor race. Know when to react. Preparation + opportunity = luck.
Dries Vanthoor has brought the #19 Audi R8 to pit lane for a scheduled stop which will be a clean one, with a delay as per the rules. 1:40.0, that's a joker stop. Right within a second of the delta. Holy smokes! Lewis Williamson has really done a sterling stint this time. He's been very impressive either on his own, or battling with the #8 Bentley Continental GT3. Nick Leventis in the sister car leads the Bronze category. That is the car he shares with David Fumanelli and Felipe Fraga of course. The GT4 leading Porsche Cayman of Derek DeBoer is in. GT4 has a five lug nut tire, allowing two rattle guns for their stops. They are allowed to let the lug nuts fall onto the ground. A good stop for Derek DeBoer, again, sharing with Sean Gibbons and Spencer Pumpelly, promoting Matt Fassnacht back to the lead in GT4 and Frank Gannett back to second in class. In fourth, James Sofronas moves past Tim Probert in the #65 Murillo Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 he shares with Justin Piscitelli and Jeff Mosing.
Lewis Williamson pits. Vautier is also in the lane on the next lap. He will be out of the car, and another driver will get into the car. Maximilian Buhk is that driver. Andy Soucek is now behind Lewis Williamson as Bryan Sellers in the #9 K-PAX Bentley takes the lead briefly before his pit stop. Markus Winkelhock is looking to get by Andy Soucek and he does. He has slightly fresher tires than Andy Soucek does. Winkelhock in his efforts, has to challenge the Bentley which has a higher straightaway speed than the Audi. He has a run, and is too premature to make it work. Soucek has to exercise patience. The Audi has more grip than the Bentley does, but the Bentley has the power.
Soucek just has to hit his marks, and exit his corners cleanly. Bryan Sellers pits the #9 K-PAX Bentley Continental GT3 from the lead. Soucek gets balked, and the Audi's pass him, and Soucek is off the road into the dust! Traffic out of The Corkscrew, and Soucek has a flat left rear tire, and he is not goiung to make it to the pit lane, and has to do a whole lap! If that tire totally delaminates, he will smash into a wall. The Bentley slammed into the right rear of the BMW, the M4 GT4. This is a full course yellow flag. The aerodynamics, rear diffuser, and brake lines will be torn up. The rear corner is dragging on the deck. He is now in the lane.
Is the car safe to race? There was some movement in the rear wheel, and also, a shade of bodywork damage on the left rear fender. One of the tie rod ends has maybe taken a hit. In multi-class sports car racing, these kinds of incidents are bound to happen. This was clearly an avoidable incident. Tim Pappas will have to get back into the #54 car. But, Jeroen Bleekemolen is currently at the wheel, and he spins the tires out of the lane. Why did he light it up? Jeroen, why did you try to do a burnout? Tim Pappas back in, too. Tim, be careful. He is on the rev limiter as well. The marshals will wave by the GT4 and TCR cars, to clear the road for GT3 cars.
The #22 Aston Martin pits. Jeroen Bleekemolen was just short on his stint. The car is not driving the way it was earlier. Tim Pappas will be given a short stint, and then, Jeroen Bleekemolen may get back into the car. If Kenny Habul wins, the title is his. So, Tim Pappas has to push in order to be in contention for the Bronze Cup. There is still a lot of grit and clag all over the road. The #87 Vital Speed Ferrari put in some great drives until they were involved in that crash earlier with the TCR Hyundai. We are back to green flag racing, this time! Three abreast down the order into the Andretti hairpin.
Potential argy bargy, as Markus Winkelhock has to pass Mikael Grenier, the Canadian. Maximilian Buhk in the sister car, he has to get on the wheel to help Tristan Vautier. Bentley is in the lane. This is a drive through penalty for the contact with the BMW M4 earlier. Christopher Mies wants by the Bentley, but no dice. The first generation Bentley also has good straight line speed. Adrien Tambay is defending around Maximilian Buhk and Tambay just dispenses with Buhk, taking him into the sand, offline. The #29 Land Motorsports Audi has worked their way back into contention. Lewis Williamson is finding speed.
The #175 car does not seem to have the outright pace to go after the #43 car. Christopher Mies is passing the #9 Bentley for position, and Adrien Tambay roughs up Alvaro Parente now at the wheel of the #9 Bentley Continental GT3, and poor old GMG has lost a tire, with James Sofronas at the wheel of the GT4 leading Audi R8 GT4... the left rear wheel departed the car, as the nut was not tightened down or something. Another local yellow. We were told full course yellow, but are still green. This will have to be a safety car. We are indeed under full course yellow. Pit lane does not close in IGTC competition. Keep back timing the race. Two hours and 12 minutes left. Christopher Mies lost a lot of spots, but he pitted, and that's why. So, it was a strategy call.
Land can make this race work on one more pit stop. Audi could win, on pit strategy because they won't beat Mercedes on pace. Markus Winkelhock is in the lane with many other cars. They have one more stop.Two more 65 minute stops. When the eight hours falls, don't risk having to do an extra lap if the clock hasn't run out. Again, the GT4 traffic may be waved around. Lewis Williamson pits. Maybe he's done a stop a lap too late. Strakka releases the car after a slow stop, that will nail them in terms of track position. Williamson will have to be in attack mode. In racing, think smart. Think fast, but also, think smart.
Curioser and curioser, as they say. We are going back to green. Wait until the control line before accelerating, as the #29 squeezes into the middle of the pack into turn one. It's an Audi 1-2 and they could steal Mercedes' thunder. Alex Riberas is third, and Robin Frijns is second. Things have definitely begun to happen in this motor race. Know when to react. Preparation + opportunity = luck.
California 8 Hours: Hour 5
If drivers find clear track, they are running consistently in the 1:26 lap time range. The leaders will pit in the next seven or eight minutes it seems. Tristan Vautier may be able to pass Maximilian Goetz, but no. He got pinched by the GT4 Mercedes. Fuel and one tire, 61 seconds, and fuel and four tires in 50 seconds. But, you could trim time off doing both. However, it may be that you do two separate 45 second stops. The #29 Land Motorsports Audi R8 is in the lane, with Christopher Haase. Come in, do fuel. Go out, come back around, and do tires. The pit stop is very quick. Kelvin van der Linde is actually back at the controls of the car. The #19 WRT Audi of Robin Frijns is now in, for scheduled service.
Into the pit lane is the leader, the #43 Mercedes. Maximilian Goetz may do a double stint. Indeed, he will. 41.0 on the stop. Near perfection on the stop, with no need for a joker. In GT4, the #12 Ginetta G55 of Drew Staveley leads. Again, he is sharing with Ian Lacey and Frank Gannett. The Mustang and the Panoz Avezzano, they have had a litany of issues, for both of the cars, today. Frank Gannett is only in his second season of racing of any kind. This is a huge step as he ran the Pirelli World Challenge Sprint and SprintX championships, doing it solo. The team has mentored him on the endurance racing idea. They will be running a new car, next year, and Frank's wife Jenny may race next year, but that is uncertain as of yet.
The wind has been gusting, blowing sand onto the road, as the air in the morning was as still as a church mouse. Bryan Sellers has done extremely well in the K-PAX Bentley. He will be finishing up his maximum drive time as he hits the pit lane, ending his stint. Actually, there will be no driver change. Fuel only it seems. Bryan Sellers won the championship in IMSA GT Daytona with Paul Miller Racing in their Lamborghini Huracan GT3. The Mercedes has been running exactly as prescribed, like a train. But, the Bentley #8 continues to push. Fred Makowiecki is currently at the wheel of the #911 Wright Motorsports Porsche, running sixth overall. He has the #17 WRT Audi of Alex Riberas right behind him.
Makowiecki makes clean passes on the #66 TRG Porsche and the sole remaining #99 Hyundai TCR car. It is great to see Wright Motorsports having the chaps running for Manthey Racing for the balance of the season, and John Wright, the team owner, has integrated the three of them into his operation really well. We watch Ian Lacy again in the Ginetta. Matt Fassnacht is running very well in the GT4 spec Mercedes AMG. Maxime Soulet has a slight advantage over the Mercedes. Fassnacht drops a wheel and allowing the team car to go by as Kenny Habul has another off course excursion! Oh dear.
He ran wide, and then, fortunately got back on the road. You aren't in the zone, and you are trying to not go off the road, but then, you get sneaked up on by another car. Colton Herta is in the #98 Hyundai I30N TCR right now, driving with his dad Bryan, and also, George Kurtz. A TCR car has a great power to weight ratio, and they do make a lot of horsepower with a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder, and they run within a second of the GT4 machines. Tom Dyer in the #67 Porsche in GT4 is stopped, and Frank Gannett has spun briefly in the Andretti hairpin.
Frank Gannett is slightly behind Derek DeBoer. Lewis Williamson meanwhile, has reeled in Maxime Soulet for the overall lead. Tristan Vautier is third. The battle between Bentley and Strakka Mercedes continues. Shinya Michimi in the #46 PPM Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 lets the faster cars by, and Williamson is trapped behind the Ginetta, allowing Tristan Vautier to go for the gap. Was Vautier responsible enough to earn a penalty, as the #67 has a whale of a tank slapper and does the shimmy shimmy shake up the hill, with Tom Dyer at the wheel of it.
That was a highlight reel worthy piece of driving! He's taken half a milimeter of rubber off those rear Pirelli tires! Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Williamson is reeling in Soulet. Did Vautier damage a dive plane giving a nerf to Williamson? Has his aero been busted? Oh man! Soulet had to check up, or he would have plowed into that GT4 Mercedes! Williamson was in that scrap as well! Phew! That was so, so close to contact! Will the stewards look at track limits for that one? That was an evasive move that actually worked. Soulet was the meat in the sandwich, and man, just inches, a ream of paper, between those two chaps. The Bentley checked up for obvious reasons. That was wild!
Williamson has been told to give the place up. Give back the spot, and these two are going to keep going with a ding dong battle, to get away from Tristan Vautier in third. The #175 Mercedes does have all it's dive planes on it. The car is quick, but stout too. We are closing in on this race getting really exciting with just a shade over three hours to go. Maxime Soulet also drops a wheel slightly, trying to get away from the Williamson/Vautier boxing match. Vautier has thankfully tempered his driving today, so far. But the red mist will come down in the last couple hours. If the Bentley is out front, that is not a problem. But if the Mercedes #43 is ahead of Mercedes #175, look out. Derek DeBoer has the #66 TRG Porsche Cayman ahead in GT4.
Kevin Buckler is a good driver with a lot of success, a winner at Daytona in the Rolex 24. His team I think, also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in GT. Dries Vanthoor is going for it, and so is Lewis Williamson, who is quicker than the Bentley. Are the Bentley's tires starting to fall off? More GT4 traffic as Williamson squrezes by, and Vautier is balked. Meanwhile, Bentley is in the pit lane. There is a driver change. Andy Soucek is back into the car. There is no weak link in the driver's strength. Lewis Williamson is getting comfortable with leading this motor race.
It seems that the #43 has the edge on setup between the two rival Mercedes cars. You can strategize for the whole race, but when it comes to crunch time, just go for it. Porsche #911 in the pits. The #91 Reardon Racing Audi R8 GT4 of Jeff Burton has spun. He shares with Jessica Burton and James Burke. Williamson passes by a Lamborghini and one of the Aston Martin's. When the tires get knackered, they drop off dramatically. Williamson is really going for it, but establishing a gap over Tristan Vautier. Pick your moment to drop the risk level.
Into the pit lane is the leader, the #43 Mercedes. Maximilian Goetz may do a double stint. Indeed, he will. 41.0 on the stop. Near perfection on the stop, with no need for a joker. In GT4, the #12 Ginetta G55 of Drew Staveley leads. Again, he is sharing with Ian Lacey and Frank Gannett. The Mustang and the Panoz Avezzano, they have had a litany of issues, for both of the cars, today. Frank Gannett is only in his second season of racing of any kind. This is a huge step as he ran the Pirelli World Challenge Sprint and SprintX championships, doing it solo. The team has mentored him on the endurance racing idea. They will be running a new car, next year, and Frank's wife Jenny may race next year, but that is uncertain as of yet.
The wind has been gusting, blowing sand onto the road, as the air in the morning was as still as a church mouse. Bryan Sellers has done extremely well in the K-PAX Bentley. He will be finishing up his maximum drive time as he hits the pit lane, ending his stint. Actually, there will be no driver change. Fuel only it seems. Bryan Sellers won the championship in IMSA GT Daytona with Paul Miller Racing in their Lamborghini Huracan GT3. The Mercedes has been running exactly as prescribed, like a train. But, the Bentley #8 continues to push. Fred Makowiecki is currently at the wheel of the #911 Wright Motorsports Porsche, running sixth overall. He has the #17 WRT Audi of Alex Riberas right behind him.
Makowiecki makes clean passes on the #66 TRG Porsche and the sole remaining #99 Hyundai TCR car. It is great to see Wright Motorsports having the chaps running for Manthey Racing for the balance of the season, and John Wright, the team owner, has integrated the three of them into his operation really well. We watch Ian Lacy again in the Ginetta. Matt Fassnacht is running very well in the GT4 spec Mercedes AMG. Maxime Soulet has a slight advantage over the Mercedes. Fassnacht drops a wheel and allowing the team car to go by as Kenny Habul has another off course excursion! Oh dear.
He ran wide, and then, fortunately got back on the road. You aren't in the zone, and you are trying to not go off the road, but then, you get sneaked up on by another car. Colton Herta is in the #98 Hyundai I30N TCR right now, driving with his dad Bryan, and also, George Kurtz. A TCR car has a great power to weight ratio, and they do make a lot of horsepower with a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder, and they run within a second of the GT4 machines. Tom Dyer in the #67 Porsche in GT4 is stopped, and Frank Gannett has spun briefly in the Andretti hairpin.
Frank Gannett is slightly behind Derek DeBoer. Lewis Williamson meanwhile, has reeled in Maxime Soulet for the overall lead. Tristan Vautier is third. The battle between Bentley and Strakka Mercedes continues. Shinya Michimi in the #46 PPM Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 lets the faster cars by, and Williamson is trapped behind the Ginetta, allowing Tristan Vautier to go for the gap. Was Vautier responsible enough to earn a penalty, as the #67 has a whale of a tank slapper and does the shimmy shimmy shake up the hill, with Tom Dyer at the wheel of it.
That was a highlight reel worthy piece of driving! He's taken half a milimeter of rubber off those rear Pirelli tires! Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Williamson is reeling in Soulet. Did Vautier damage a dive plane giving a nerf to Williamson? Has his aero been busted? Oh man! Soulet had to check up, or he would have plowed into that GT4 Mercedes! Williamson was in that scrap as well! Phew! That was so, so close to contact! Will the stewards look at track limits for that one? That was an evasive move that actually worked. Soulet was the meat in the sandwich, and man, just inches, a ream of paper, between those two chaps. The Bentley checked up for obvious reasons. That was wild!
Williamson has been told to give the place up. Give back the spot, and these two are going to keep going with a ding dong battle, to get away from Tristan Vautier in third. The #175 Mercedes does have all it's dive planes on it. The car is quick, but stout too. We are closing in on this race getting really exciting with just a shade over three hours to go. Maxime Soulet also drops a wheel slightly, trying to get away from the Williamson/Vautier boxing match. Vautier has thankfully tempered his driving today, so far. But the red mist will come down in the last couple hours. If the Bentley is out front, that is not a problem. But if the Mercedes #43 is ahead of Mercedes #175, look out. Derek DeBoer has the #66 TRG Porsche Cayman ahead in GT4.
Kevin Buckler is a good driver with a lot of success, a winner at Daytona in the Rolex 24. His team I think, also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in GT. Dries Vanthoor is going for it, and so is Lewis Williamson, who is quicker than the Bentley. Are the Bentley's tires starting to fall off? More GT4 traffic as Williamson squrezes by, and Vautier is balked. Meanwhile, Bentley is in the pit lane. There is a driver change. Andy Soucek is back into the car. There is no weak link in the driver's strength. Lewis Williamson is getting comfortable with leading this motor race.
It seems that the #43 has the edge on setup between the two rival Mercedes cars. You can strategize for the whole race, but when it comes to crunch time, just go for it. Porsche #911 in the pits. The #91 Reardon Racing Audi R8 GT4 of Jeff Burton has spun. He shares with Jessica Burton and James Burke. Williamson passes by a Lamborghini and one of the Aston Martin's. When the tires get knackered, they drop off dramatically. Williamson is really going for it, but establishing a gap over Tristan Vautier. Pick your moment to drop the risk level.
California 8 Hours: Hour 4
Meanwhile, the Ferrari has crashed! Right in the middle of The
Corkscrew! Slow down! The other car involved is one of the TCR Hyundai
I30N's. Trevor Baek spun, and the Hyundai with Michael Lewis at the
wheel, crunch!, he speared right into the Ferrari. Pit strategy will now come back into play. Trevor Baek spun, and Michael Lewis had no place to go. Ouch! Both cars are moving. Now, Lewis will be fine. But, the Ferrari has broken rear suspension on it. The Hyundai actually parks. Baek's Ferrari has a flattened tire and the car is totally toed out. That is a solid wreck. They need to put that car on the wrecker. Poor old Trevor Baek has done very well in Ferrari Challenge. Marino Franchitti has been doing a lot of work with Baek. Franchitti finished on the podium with Mazda Team Joest at Petit Le Mans.
Now, the initial contact with this incident, was with Adrien Tambay in the #44 Strakka Racing Mercedes AMG GT3. That must have been a real big clout. #44 is the Jack Hawksworth, Adrien Tambay, Christian Vietoris car. Pit stop time for the leaders. Stuart Leonard and Patrick Long, right up at the sharp end of the race at this point. Now, there's some service with the boot up on the Porsche. Something is wrong with the Porsche. The oil cooler and radiator are always vulnerable on the car, since Porsche's have been mostly water cooled as opposed to the old air cooled cars, for the last 20 years. Has Bentley tried to do a short fill on fuel? They very well could have.
The poor old Ferrari is being loaded onto the rollback. Not a lot of front end damage to the Ferrari, so it was a glancing blow with the Hyundai. Vincent Abril will benefit from the GT4 wave by. Rodrigo Baptista brings the #9 K-PAX Bentley Continental GT3 to the pit lane and will hand the car over to Bryan Sellers. Christian Vietoris says that the Ferrari just turned into his Mercedes. Vietoris didn't spin. The Ferrari spun into The Corkscrew, according to Vietoris' perspective. Accidents are confusing, for those who witness them, and the same is true in racing. We are coming close to the halfway mark, and will be at the end of this current hour.
Maybe Trevor Baek can get more track time. Some GT4 cars are pitting, now that this is an extended yellow flag. Spencer Pumpelly is easing his way up into the top of the tree in GT4. We are back to green flag racing. Vincent Abril brought the cars up to the line very slowly. Jordan Pepper is making the #7 Bentley Continental GT3 really wide, to get back on the lead lap, holding up Maximilian Goetz in the Mercedes AMG GT3. Lots of elevation change at Laguna Seca, and it is hard to brake into the corner even though the GT3 cars have ABS. ABS being anti lock braking system. A left rear tire puncture for the #63 DXDT Racing car shared by Ryan Dalziel, Mike Hedlund, and the chap currently driving, David Askew.
Jordan Pepper is running 1.2 seconds slower than team mate Vincent Abril, backing up the pack of cars behind him. Watch out for the curbs, so that tires don't get cut down. Be patient. The back side of those curbs are trouble. The back end of the curb can bend wheels and cut tires down. Use the smooth side of the curb. The championship fight between Marciello and Vautier, Marciello's car is quicker as Tristan Vautier in the #175 car is losing pace. It's around the pace of the individual drivers, rather than the car because both cars in contention are Mercedes AMG GT3's. Rainey Curve is also a real tough place to put the car without going off the road, and if you do go off the road, you are going to go for a wild ride.
Dirk Werner scraps past Robin Frijns. He comes back, and Frijns slams the door in Werner's face. Vincent Abril is running slower than his pursuers. Lapped traffic is the culprit. Adrien Tambay was very competitive and a race winner in DTM before coming to GT3. Maximize opportunity running against your opponents. Laguna Seca is a very hard track to pass on. When you as a driver are affecting someone else on your tream trying to win a championship, that's tough. Meanwhile, some argy bargy between Felipe Fraga and Jordan Pepper! Yikes! A good old slap as Pepper kind of came down, and Fraga's right front hit Pepper's left rear.
The bottom skirt on the car has been slightly damaged. Maximilian Goetz came in just fine, but Felipe Fraga was playing the game of no more Mr. Nice Guy. Spencer Pumpelly and Andrew Davis have been swapping spots in GT4. Spencer Pumpelly, has been super fast, but the tire degradation and compliance are a question mark on that Porsche Cayman GT4 racer. Andrew Davis has had a lot of success in IMSA and in the old Grand American Road Racing Association. Davis also has been developing, earlier in the year, the Audi RS3 TCR car. One of those cars was supposed to enter this race, but the team and drivers withdrew, leaving the two Hyundai's to race each other in TCR.
Dirk Werner and Christopher Haase are in a sure humdinger of a battle at the moment. There is a fresh new crop of good racing drivers coming up into top level sports car racing. The single seater route is becoming a more impossible path. You see guys running 2-3 championships, 30 races a year. Jade Buford in the #10 PF Racing Mustang is pitting. Simulators are how drivers learn race tracks. That's because on track testing is becoming too expensive. Maximilian Goetz, meanwhile, is catching Vincent Abril. He is within a second.
Andy Soucek chose not to pit during the previous yellow flag. So, his tires might just be getting knackered. George Kurtz leads TCR along with the Bryan and Colton Herta. That's the sole remaining Hyundai in this race. The Racer's Group team owner, Kevin Buckler, is very impressed with how his drivers and cars are doing. There's a long way to go. Kevin Buckler, as an amateur club racing team, was based at Laguna Seca. We have a driver change for the #8 Bentley. Maxime Soulet now at the wheel of the Bentley.
Felipe Fraga hits pit lane. Strakka Racing, again, has done very well learning a totally new car with the Mercedes AMG GT3. The AMG GT3 was a far more sorted, developed car, than was the McLaren 650S GT3. Without a doubt, Mercedes and Audi are at the top. To do the tire changes, you have two blokes in the lane, and just one rattle gun. Maximilian Goetz leads the motor race overall right now. #29 is dialing up the wick again, and they are gaining on their competition, currently fifth in the overall with their Audi R8, Christopher Haase at the wheel of it.
We've said it a bunch, but it's been a pleasant surprise to see the Bentley at the sharp end of the field in this motor race so far. Pit stop time for Andrew Davis in the second place GT4 Audi R8 GT4. 145 seconds for a full service pit stop minimum time. That is marked for any refueling. If you need a splash and dash at the finish, it's pretty much game over and your race goes totally pear shaped. The aforementioned Jorgensen Strom Racing BMW M4 GT4 has gone well, but they may be getting dinged with a drive through penalty for exceeding the 65 minute maximum drive time limit. If you catch a yellow at the end of your stint, it extends to 70 minutes.
Robert Orcutt and Chris Bellomo both compete in a regional amateur Porsche Cayman club racing championship in California. Vautier clears the traffic without getting stymied. Rafaelle Marciello has had an outstanding season. But, Tristan Vautier wants to beat him for the IGTC cup. The cream always rises to the top. Marciello is the driver gradually coming up to being the go to guy for Mercedes GT3. Also watch Luca Stolz. Stolz is a silver rated driver, and he is also a top driver. He should be a platinum rated driver. Stolz has run with Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating in IMSA GT Daytona, IMSA's GT3 class. We are coming up to half distance. This race will get tasty in the next hour or so.
The #75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes is in the lane. They are repaired and will go back out on track. They have been in the garage a long time, and they need the 70% drive time. Excuse me, 70% race distance. Vautier wants by Goetz for the lead.
Now, the initial contact with this incident, was with Adrien Tambay in the #44 Strakka Racing Mercedes AMG GT3. That must have been a real big clout. #44 is the Jack Hawksworth, Adrien Tambay, Christian Vietoris car. Pit stop time for the leaders. Stuart Leonard and Patrick Long, right up at the sharp end of the race at this point. Now, there's some service with the boot up on the Porsche. Something is wrong with the Porsche. The oil cooler and radiator are always vulnerable on the car, since Porsche's have been mostly water cooled as opposed to the old air cooled cars, for the last 20 years. Has Bentley tried to do a short fill on fuel? They very well could have.
The poor old Ferrari is being loaded onto the rollback. Not a lot of front end damage to the Ferrari, so it was a glancing blow with the Hyundai. Vincent Abril will benefit from the GT4 wave by. Rodrigo Baptista brings the #9 K-PAX Bentley Continental GT3 to the pit lane and will hand the car over to Bryan Sellers. Christian Vietoris says that the Ferrari just turned into his Mercedes. Vietoris didn't spin. The Ferrari spun into The Corkscrew, according to Vietoris' perspective. Accidents are confusing, for those who witness them, and the same is true in racing. We are coming close to the halfway mark, and will be at the end of this current hour.
Maybe Trevor Baek can get more track time. Some GT4 cars are pitting, now that this is an extended yellow flag. Spencer Pumpelly is easing his way up into the top of the tree in GT4. We are back to green flag racing. Vincent Abril brought the cars up to the line very slowly. Jordan Pepper is making the #7 Bentley Continental GT3 really wide, to get back on the lead lap, holding up Maximilian Goetz in the Mercedes AMG GT3. Lots of elevation change at Laguna Seca, and it is hard to brake into the corner even though the GT3 cars have ABS. ABS being anti lock braking system. A left rear tire puncture for the #63 DXDT Racing car shared by Ryan Dalziel, Mike Hedlund, and the chap currently driving, David Askew.
Jordan Pepper is running 1.2 seconds slower than team mate Vincent Abril, backing up the pack of cars behind him. Watch out for the curbs, so that tires don't get cut down. Be patient. The back side of those curbs are trouble. The back end of the curb can bend wheels and cut tires down. Use the smooth side of the curb. The championship fight between Marciello and Vautier, Marciello's car is quicker as Tristan Vautier in the #175 car is losing pace. It's around the pace of the individual drivers, rather than the car because both cars in contention are Mercedes AMG GT3's. Rainey Curve is also a real tough place to put the car without going off the road, and if you do go off the road, you are going to go for a wild ride.
Dirk Werner scraps past Robin Frijns. He comes back, and Frijns slams the door in Werner's face. Vincent Abril is running slower than his pursuers. Lapped traffic is the culprit. Adrien Tambay was very competitive and a race winner in DTM before coming to GT3. Maximize opportunity running against your opponents. Laguna Seca is a very hard track to pass on. When you as a driver are affecting someone else on your tream trying to win a championship, that's tough. Meanwhile, some argy bargy between Felipe Fraga and Jordan Pepper! Yikes! A good old slap as Pepper kind of came down, and Fraga's right front hit Pepper's left rear.
The bottom skirt on the car has been slightly damaged. Maximilian Goetz came in just fine, but Felipe Fraga was playing the game of no more Mr. Nice Guy. Spencer Pumpelly and Andrew Davis have been swapping spots in GT4. Spencer Pumpelly, has been super fast, but the tire degradation and compliance are a question mark on that Porsche Cayman GT4 racer. Andrew Davis has had a lot of success in IMSA and in the old Grand American Road Racing Association. Davis also has been developing, earlier in the year, the Audi RS3 TCR car. One of those cars was supposed to enter this race, but the team and drivers withdrew, leaving the two Hyundai's to race each other in TCR.
Dirk Werner and Christopher Haase are in a sure humdinger of a battle at the moment. There is a fresh new crop of good racing drivers coming up into top level sports car racing. The single seater route is becoming a more impossible path. You see guys running 2-3 championships, 30 races a year. Jade Buford in the #10 PF Racing Mustang is pitting. Simulators are how drivers learn race tracks. That's because on track testing is becoming too expensive. Maximilian Goetz, meanwhile, is catching Vincent Abril. He is within a second.
Andy Soucek chose not to pit during the previous yellow flag. So, his tires might just be getting knackered. George Kurtz leads TCR along with the Bryan and Colton Herta. That's the sole remaining Hyundai in this race. The Racer's Group team owner, Kevin Buckler, is very impressed with how his drivers and cars are doing. There's a long way to go. Kevin Buckler, as an amateur club racing team, was based at Laguna Seca. We have a driver change for the #8 Bentley. Maxime Soulet now at the wheel of the Bentley.
Felipe Fraga hits pit lane. Strakka Racing, again, has done very well learning a totally new car with the Mercedes AMG GT3. The AMG GT3 was a far more sorted, developed car, than was the McLaren 650S GT3. Without a doubt, Mercedes and Audi are at the top. To do the tire changes, you have two blokes in the lane, and just one rattle gun. Maximilian Goetz leads the motor race overall right now. #29 is dialing up the wick again, and they are gaining on their competition, currently fifth in the overall with their Audi R8, Christopher Haase at the wheel of it.
We've said it a bunch, but it's been a pleasant surprise to see the Bentley at the sharp end of the field in this motor race so far. Pit stop time for Andrew Davis in the second place GT4 Audi R8 GT4. 145 seconds for a full service pit stop minimum time. That is marked for any refueling. If you need a splash and dash at the finish, it's pretty much game over and your race goes totally pear shaped. The aforementioned Jorgensen Strom Racing BMW M4 GT4 has gone well, but they may be getting dinged with a drive through penalty for exceeding the 65 minute maximum drive time limit. If you catch a yellow at the end of your stint, it extends to 70 minutes.
Robert Orcutt and Chris Bellomo both compete in a regional amateur Porsche Cayman club racing championship in California. Vautier clears the traffic without getting stymied. Rafaelle Marciello has had an outstanding season. But, Tristan Vautier wants to beat him for the IGTC cup. The cream always rises to the top. Marciello is the driver gradually coming up to being the go to guy for Mercedes GT3. Also watch Luca Stolz. Stolz is a silver rated driver, and he is also a top driver. He should be a platinum rated driver. Stolz has run with Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating in IMSA GT Daytona, IMSA's GT3 class. We are coming up to half distance. This race will get tasty in the next hour or so.
The #75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes is in the lane. They are repaired and will go back out on track. They have been in the garage a long time, and they need the 70% drive time. Excuse me, 70% race distance. Vautier wants by Goetz for the lead.
California 8 Hours: Hour 3
Christopher Mies has now made his way to seventh place overall. Trouble for Bentley. They've spent ten minutes in the pit lane, but now have to take it to the garage. Jules Gounon was at the wheel of it, sharing with Jordan Pepper and Steven Kane of course, as Andy Soucek has the wheel of the #8 sister car, sharing with Vincent Abril and Maxime Soulet of course. At the start of the 2018 Pirelli World Challenge season, K-PAX was going through chassis' like candy after cars being wrecked. They facilitated cars coming from Asia so the team could race. Strakka Racing Mercedes is in the lane with two of their cars. By stopping, topping up with fuel, you are back timing the race to the eighth hour at the end. Maximilian Buhk is at the wheel of the SunEnergy1 car, also in the lane, waiting for the delta time in the pit lane to be chewed up and swallowed.
There are lots of calculations. But, there is a system of live timing the driver can see in the car, so they don't beat the pit stop delta of 101 seconds as Baptista brings the generation one Bentley to the lane. Rodrigo Baptista stays in the car, before Bryan Sellers takes over. Sellers says it is hard to drive a right hand drive car. Your apex and reference points totally change. Pro drivers adapt to cars all the time. Alex Riberas also pitted the #17 WRT Audi R8 of Alex Riberas, Sheldon van der Linde and Stuart Leonard. The #99 Hyundai I30N TCR is back on track. Lewis Williamson is now at the wheel of the #43 Mercedes AMG GT3 and has the speed on fresh tires while Andy Soucek needs to pit for new skins, as his tires are knackered more than likely.
Fix the car for safety reasons and also for performance. Now, did a pit crew lose a tire in the lane? That will mean a drive through for one of the Bentley's as Steven Kane is still out there, pounding around. The new Bentley's will be handed to K-PAX Racing after this race is complete, as mentioned. Andy Soucek leads Christopher Mies, and the #87 Vital Speed Ferrari 488 GT3 is in third with Marino Franchitti driving, sharing with Trevor Baek and Jeff Westphal. Stuart Leonard is now at the wheel of the #17 Audi R8. Alex Riberas says the team's race has been mistake free so far. Quick decisions are crucial in endurance racing even though the races are long.
Christian Vietoris is running really well in one of the Mercedes' for Strakka. Problems for the Ginetta as he had to do an electronics reset on the car. Ian Lacy is still at the wheel. Drew Staveley had gone to the lead at the start, and then, faded. The Ginetta is lightweight and has narrow tires. Narrow tires will be chewed up quicker than wider tires. The #54 Black Swan Porsche 911 GT3R has Patrick Long at the wheel of it. It's the first time Patrick Long and Jeroen Bleekemolen have driven together with Tim Pappas. The Ginetta had an electrical issue, and needed a reboot. Control, Alt, Delete. You can't do a Control, Alt, Delete on your golf game or your baseball game, chaps. Hardy har har.
Raffaele Marciello won't win this championship. He has to fall on the sword, and win a championship for the manufacturers. Splitting drivers for the sake of the manufacturer results, can cause one driver in contention to lose, and another driver to win an individual championship. The Panoz is in the garage. Drama for the #51 Panoz Avezzano, the Preston Calvert, Mat Keegan, Ian James car. In GT4, Matt Fassnacht in the #34 Murillo Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 leads, sharing with only one other co-driver, Christian Szymczak. They lead the #2 GMG Racing Audi R8 GT4 of Andrew Davis, Jason Bell, and James Sofronas.
We will get back to the race, there are some technical difficulties with the app at the moment, ladies and gentleman. Will try and catch up.
Andy Soucek has 22 seconds over Christopher Mies, despite tire degradation and Maro Engel was all over Markus Winkelhock, where he locks up! Yikes! He had to release the brake pedal and go outside in the Andretti hairpin, and deary me, Winkelhock slams the door in Engel's face! At least they know who is going to be a target. Momentum is still key with these equally balanced GT3 racers. Winkelhock is blocking deliberately. Now, will the stewards have something to say about that? Only make one move. Don't weave defensively all over the road. Engel looks inside, and yikes! Engel makes the pass on Marcus Winkelhock.
Engel has sliced through the two Murillo Mercedes' in a phenomenal move, look. Romain Dumas is now at the wheel of the #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Andy Soucek leads this motor race, driving the car beneath it's threshold. Stretch the fuel, because Bentley is on a different strategy from Audi and Mercedes. The Ferrari is in the lane, Marino Franchitti handing over to Trevor Baek. This is the #87 Vital Speed Motorsports entry. There could be problems for Vital Speed since their stop time is longer than expected. Andy Soucek has gone by the #10 PF Racing Ford Mustang GT4 of Jade Buford, James Pesek, and Canadian veteran Scott Maxwell.
Andy Soucek is on his own lap, having not stopped yet. The Bentley Boys are pushing the envelope for an advantage here. The #29 Land Motorsport Audi is in the lane. Christopher Haase will take over the wheel. Depending on where you are pitted, here at Laguna Seca, the pit lane is on an incline, on a hill. So, be careful with the brakes. The Audi is back on track now. Andy Soucek is not too far behind Christopher Haase on pit strategy and pit sequence. The pit stop delta is 1:50, nine seconds off the minimum. Hmmm. Soucek is stretching his fuel mileage. Yikes. The top five cars are running in the 1:26 range, 1:26.8-1:26.9 seconds.
More intermittence from the stream, folks. Hang on a minute.
We have seen little trouble with dropping wheels off the road and dragging sand onto the road. The #51 Panoz Avezzano, is returning to the track after being in the garage for repairs, as we still have some tech difficulties with the stream here. Bentley #8 is now in the lane, and Vincent Abril now gets into the car. Maxime Soulet is the third driver in the #8 Bentley Continental GT3, the second of the two new generation factory cars. Lewis Williamson moves the #43 Mercedes back to the overall lead, as Nick Leventis pits the team car in the Pro Am class.
Strakka Racing has been in prototype competition, but is now solidly racing in GT3. Strakka has also raced McLaren's before. Christopher Haase is running much faster than leader Lewis Williamson. Kudos to the #113 RHC Jorgenson Strom BMW M4 GT4 shared by Daren Jorgenson, Jon Miller, and Brett Strom. David Roberts, Max Faulkner, and Vesko Kozorov, in the #626 Rearden Racing Audi R8 GT4 just pitted, and so has Patrick Long in the #54 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3R. The maximum drive time for any driver is three hours and 15 minutes, that's total drive time throughout the rest of the race. Don't max out each driver. A three hour stint even in cool weather, would be too tiring. They'll double stint before the finish.
There is still a wonderful sound of a Porsche flat six motor. Just incredible. Apologies, for losing the stream of the race. It is back up and running, now.
Lewis Williamson has a big advantage, 33 seconds, over Maro Engel in the second place Mercedes AMG GT3. Two Mercedes AMG GT3's are leading the motor race. Christopher Haase is doing all he can to bring himself back into contention for the motor race. Lewis Williamson has run a good stint so far as Markus Winkelhock drops a wheel, slightly, in the #19 Audi Sport Team WRT Audi R8. Felipe Fraga is leading in Pro Am. He cut his teeth in Brazilian stock cars, and he has done very well so far in his GT3 career. He did very well in Petit Le Mans, the final IMSA race run at Road Atlanta a few weeks back. Fraga has speed and everything, but he has an effervescent personality and is a likable bloke.
Fraga threaded the needle in GT4 traffic, by the #66 TRG Porsche Cayman Clubsport in GT4 being shared by Derek DeBoer, Sean Gibbons, and veteran, Spencer Pumpelly. The sister car, #67 has at the wheel of it, Chris Bellomo, Robert Orcutt, and Tom Dyer, three more Americans. Dyer, has run in IMSA competition in the North American Endurance Cup. Markus Winkelhock doesn't have the speed and balance with the Audi. The Bentley, has the pace at the moment. Although, the Mercedes AMG's are running 1-2. Audi is fourth. Audi needs a big day to beat Mercedes in the manufacturer's cup.
Romain Dumas with the #911 Wright Motorsports Porsche, is going for it. He's fifth in GT3. Dumas raced at Pikes Peak at the hill climb earlier in the year. Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard had some great runs here at Laguna Seca with the factory Roger Penske run Porsche RS Spyder, battling with the diesel Audi and the factory Acura LMP1 cars. Dumas said of the Bathurst circuit in Australia, that it is a blend of the Nurburgring and Pikes Peak, which is very accurate. A corner on that track, Skyline, is unreal;.
There are lots of calculations. But, there is a system of live timing the driver can see in the car, so they don't beat the pit stop delta of 101 seconds as Baptista brings the generation one Bentley to the lane. Rodrigo Baptista stays in the car, before Bryan Sellers takes over. Sellers says it is hard to drive a right hand drive car. Your apex and reference points totally change. Pro drivers adapt to cars all the time. Alex Riberas also pitted the #17 WRT Audi R8 of Alex Riberas, Sheldon van der Linde and Stuart Leonard. The #99 Hyundai I30N TCR is back on track. Lewis Williamson is now at the wheel of the #43 Mercedes AMG GT3 and has the speed on fresh tires while Andy Soucek needs to pit for new skins, as his tires are knackered more than likely.
Fix the car for safety reasons and also for performance. Now, did a pit crew lose a tire in the lane? That will mean a drive through for one of the Bentley's as Steven Kane is still out there, pounding around. The new Bentley's will be handed to K-PAX Racing after this race is complete, as mentioned. Andy Soucek leads Christopher Mies, and the #87 Vital Speed Ferrari 488 GT3 is in third with Marino Franchitti driving, sharing with Trevor Baek and Jeff Westphal. Stuart Leonard is now at the wheel of the #17 Audi R8. Alex Riberas says the team's race has been mistake free so far. Quick decisions are crucial in endurance racing even though the races are long.
Christian Vietoris is running really well in one of the Mercedes' for Strakka. Problems for the Ginetta as he had to do an electronics reset on the car. Ian Lacy is still at the wheel. Drew Staveley had gone to the lead at the start, and then, faded. The Ginetta is lightweight and has narrow tires. Narrow tires will be chewed up quicker than wider tires. The #54 Black Swan Porsche 911 GT3R has Patrick Long at the wheel of it. It's the first time Patrick Long and Jeroen Bleekemolen have driven together with Tim Pappas. The Ginetta had an electrical issue, and needed a reboot. Control, Alt, Delete. You can't do a Control, Alt, Delete on your golf game or your baseball game, chaps. Hardy har har.
Raffaele Marciello won't win this championship. He has to fall on the sword, and win a championship for the manufacturers. Splitting drivers for the sake of the manufacturer results, can cause one driver in contention to lose, and another driver to win an individual championship. The Panoz is in the garage. Drama for the #51 Panoz Avezzano, the Preston Calvert, Mat Keegan, Ian James car. In GT4, Matt Fassnacht in the #34 Murillo Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 leads, sharing with only one other co-driver, Christian Szymczak. They lead the #2 GMG Racing Audi R8 GT4 of Andrew Davis, Jason Bell, and James Sofronas.
We will get back to the race, there are some technical difficulties with the app at the moment, ladies and gentleman. Will try and catch up.
Andy Soucek has 22 seconds over Christopher Mies, despite tire degradation and Maro Engel was all over Markus Winkelhock, where he locks up! Yikes! He had to release the brake pedal and go outside in the Andretti hairpin, and deary me, Winkelhock slams the door in Engel's face! At least they know who is going to be a target. Momentum is still key with these equally balanced GT3 racers. Winkelhock is blocking deliberately. Now, will the stewards have something to say about that? Only make one move. Don't weave defensively all over the road. Engel looks inside, and yikes! Engel makes the pass on Marcus Winkelhock.
Engel has sliced through the two Murillo Mercedes' in a phenomenal move, look. Romain Dumas is now at the wheel of the #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Andy Soucek leads this motor race, driving the car beneath it's threshold. Stretch the fuel, because Bentley is on a different strategy from Audi and Mercedes. The Ferrari is in the lane, Marino Franchitti handing over to Trevor Baek. This is the #87 Vital Speed Motorsports entry. There could be problems for Vital Speed since their stop time is longer than expected. Andy Soucek has gone by the #10 PF Racing Ford Mustang GT4 of Jade Buford, James Pesek, and Canadian veteran Scott Maxwell.
Andy Soucek is on his own lap, having not stopped yet. The Bentley Boys are pushing the envelope for an advantage here. The #29 Land Motorsport Audi is in the lane. Christopher Haase will take over the wheel. Depending on where you are pitted, here at Laguna Seca, the pit lane is on an incline, on a hill. So, be careful with the brakes. The Audi is back on track now. Andy Soucek is not too far behind Christopher Haase on pit strategy and pit sequence. The pit stop delta is 1:50, nine seconds off the minimum. Hmmm. Soucek is stretching his fuel mileage. Yikes. The top five cars are running in the 1:26 range, 1:26.8-1:26.9 seconds.
More intermittence from the stream, folks. Hang on a minute.
We have seen little trouble with dropping wheels off the road and dragging sand onto the road. The #51 Panoz Avezzano, is returning to the track after being in the garage for repairs, as we still have some tech difficulties with the stream here. Bentley #8 is now in the lane, and Vincent Abril now gets into the car. Maxime Soulet is the third driver in the #8 Bentley Continental GT3, the second of the two new generation factory cars. Lewis Williamson moves the #43 Mercedes back to the overall lead, as Nick Leventis pits the team car in the Pro Am class.
Strakka Racing has been in prototype competition, but is now solidly racing in GT3. Strakka has also raced McLaren's before. Christopher Haase is running much faster than leader Lewis Williamson. Kudos to the #113 RHC Jorgenson Strom BMW M4 GT4 shared by Daren Jorgenson, Jon Miller, and Brett Strom. David Roberts, Max Faulkner, and Vesko Kozorov, in the #626 Rearden Racing Audi R8 GT4 just pitted, and so has Patrick Long in the #54 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3R. The maximum drive time for any driver is three hours and 15 minutes, that's total drive time throughout the rest of the race. Don't max out each driver. A three hour stint even in cool weather, would be too tiring. They'll double stint before the finish.
There is still a wonderful sound of a Porsche flat six motor. Just incredible. Apologies, for losing the stream of the race. It is back up and running, now.
Lewis Williamson has a big advantage, 33 seconds, over Maro Engel in the second place Mercedes AMG GT3. Two Mercedes AMG GT3's are leading the motor race. Christopher Haase is doing all he can to bring himself back into contention for the motor race. Lewis Williamson has run a good stint so far as Markus Winkelhock drops a wheel, slightly, in the #19 Audi Sport Team WRT Audi R8. Felipe Fraga is leading in Pro Am. He cut his teeth in Brazilian stock cars, and he has done very well so far in his GT3 career. He did very well in Petit Le Mans, the final IMSA race run at Road Atlanta a few weeks back. Fraga has speed and everything, but he has an effervescent personality and is a likable bloke.
Fraga threaded the needle in GT4 traffic, by the #66 TRG Porsche Cayman Clubsport in GT4 being shared by Derek DeBoer, Sean Gibbons, and veteran, Spencer Pumpelly. The sister car, #67 has at the wheel of it, Chris Bellomo, Robert Orcutt, and Tom Dyer, three more Americans. Dyer, has run in IMSA competition in the North American Endurance Cup. Markus Winkelhock doesn't have the speed and balance with the Audi. The Bentley, has the pace at the moment. Although, the Mercedes AMG's are running 1-2. Audi is fourth. Audi needs a big day to beat Mercedes in the manufacturer's cup.
Romain Dumas with the #911 Wright Motorsports Porsche, is going for it. He's fifth in GT3. Dumas raced at Pikes Peak at the hill climb earlier in the year. Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard had some great runs here at Laguna Seca with the factory Roger Penske run Porsche RS Spyder, battling with the diesel Audi and the factory Acura LMP1 cars. Dumas said of the Bathurst circuit in Australia, that it is a blend of the Nurburgring and Pikes Peak, which is very accurate. A corner on that track, Skyline, is unreal;.
California 8 Hours: Hour 2
The GT4 cars are even more evenly matched than the GT3 cars. The GT4 cars achieve their lap times in many different ways. The #6 U.S. RaceTronics Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo is an entry to watch with 15-year-old Steven Aghakani at the wheel of it, sharing with fellow American Richard Antinucci and Briton Taylor Proto. Raffaele Marciello still leads and has the edge on Sheldon van der Linde with the pit stops coming up. Maximum stint time is 65 minutes. Marino Franchitti will get into the lone Ferrari in the field, soon, as Mark Wilkins is off the road with the Hyundai I30N. There is a mechanical issue. He has a loose wheel somehow, or a suspension failure. Adrien Tambay pits the #44 Mercedes AMG GT3. Everyone needs to pit in the next nine minutes. The pit lane will be jammed. We are under our first full course yellow flag. The stewards are giving the leader a margin of protection, but his gap is being chewed into by the leaders, his pursuers.
Under GT3 rules, you have to be in the lane for 50 seconds maximum. Fuel before changing tires. Marciello hands over to one of his team mates. Is something amiss with the fueling rig? Land and WRT also pit. This is tight as the first of eight hours is now done and dusted. Mercedes #43 got held up by some GT4 cars. Yours truly is blending the last part of the first hour into the second hour of the race because there is just tons of action all over the track right now. Whoops. We have drama under yellow. The #22 Automatic Racing Astonn Martin Vantage GT4 is out of fuel, Charles Espenlaub at the wheel of it. Charlie Putman will be next into the car before third driver Eric Lux takes his Stint. The team has had to superglue the car back together after a shunt on Thursday in practice. The car is n the lane for fuel and driver changes. The TCR Hyundai had a broken suspension system and that is why it ran off the road.
No wave bys means that cars will get trapped behind the safe car, but a full fuel load gives you more time to fuel it in the lane, at 145 seconds. We remain under yellow after the pit stops, and we hope for a green flag, momentarily. Oh boy. There will be a GT4 wave by, a gift for the Aston Martin. This is the smart thing to do. Dries Vanthoor can close up on Christopher Mies. Each class can have their own battle so they minimize the risks on restarts. It is a double win. If your class leader is behind you, you will be trapped behind the safety car. The #19 Audi has Dries Vanthoor and Markus Winkelhock. All four championship contenders are in the top four. Maximilian Goetz has to put the welly down, now. The Aston Martin #22 topped off with petrol. The fresh tires are still being bedded in.
Tim Pappas is a lap down. The Black Swan crew has to sacrifice track position and Tim Pappas has to keep the car on the lead lap for team mates Patrick Long and Jeroen Bleekemolen. David Askew spins the #63 DXDT Mercedes on cold tires. He shares the car with Ryan Dalziel. All four lead cars have championship drivers at the wheel. WRT Sporting Director Thierry TSsin, is a former driver, and he knows how to strategize for the team. Now, the #29 Audi may have passed under yellow and he will be dinged for that one by the marshals. Why would Christopher Mies have done something to incur a drive through penalty? Not a smart move by the veteran Audi pilot. After serving this penalty, Mies passes Marino Franchitti in the sole Ferrari in the field.
Mies has to be cautious so he doesn’t abuse his tires. Peter Baron, team strategist says there’s no drama after the penalty. The pass was made under full course yellow. Steven Kane is under real pressure from David Fumanelli. Maxime Soulet is the driver in the sister car. Kane is a little Terrier, and will push hard. Another SteK,a Mercedes, the #44 car of Jack Hawksworth, he is going for it as well. A tight squeeze, forcing the issue on the Murillo Racing GT4 Mercedes AMG GT4. The mountings for the damaged body parts on Hawksworth’s car, is a concern. Mercedes #75 is in the lane, with Kenny Habul at the wheel of it. It is a drive through penalty for working on the car outside the pit box.
He has to get to the 70% mark to earn points. Mat Keegan is now leading GT4 for Panoz. The #12 Ginetta is now second in class, Frank Gannett at the wheel of it. We have another full course yellow, and the #75 and #46 are off the road, with the Lamborghini Huracan GT3, with Steve Dunn at the wheel. Both these cars are beached. The #8 Bentley Continental GT3 pits as does the #29 Land Audi. There is damage to the #75 and the left front corner of the car just wouldn’t turn. Shinya Michimi, one of the drivers in #46, wants to have success, but acknowledges PPM is in a learning curve in their first GT3 race, and he won the 2016 Lamborghini Super Trofeo championship.
Is the tire wrapped around the suspension? If so, that is not good for his championship hopes in the Bronze Cup. Tim Pappas is his close rival. He has finished his stint and Patrick Long, and Jeroen Bleekemolen, will share the car. It’s a question of damage limitation. But, the car is dialed in. We are back to green flag racing now. Fred Makowiecki in the Wright Motorsports Porsche, the #911, is running very well. Patrick Long's experience makes their team even stronger. You can bring cars from Europe, but the manufacturers also support the national series. All the entries are not direct factory cars, but there are outstanding teams operating the cars.
Maximilian Buhk is chasing Dries Vanthoor right now, as Christopher Mies is coming back, and has charged to sixth thanks to the yellow. He is pushing, now, getting around the #626 Rearden Racing Audi R8 GT4 with Vesko Kozarov, David Roberts, and Max Faulkner. Maximilian Goetz is opening the margin up. Again, the Mercedes AMG GT3 is such a compliant car. The Porsche 911 GT3R is a twitchier, less easy car to drive. Compliance means the front and back of the car work in unison. These GT3 cars have tons of downforce. Andy Soucek is running very well, and now, Rodrigo Baptista has the controls of the #9 K-PAX Bentley Continental GT3. The Panoz has made a pit stop. The Brazilian is sharing with Alvaro Parente from Portugal, and American Bryan Sellers.
Christopher Mies will have a drive through penalty for an unsafe release. This was a long while ago, but the marshals are going to penalize him. Mies lit up the tires in the working lane of pit lane. The GT4 drivers can go further on fuel. Reset the fuel to run out of fuel earlier to make the 65 minute stint length limit, so you don't run out of gas. You cannot run an hour and a half on tires because the degradation is greater than saving time on pit stops. Christopher Mies is now up to tenth overall. The mechanic should have spotted that Mies needed to stop for the Panoz. For the #51 Panoz, that may have been a drive through. The middle lane cannot be used to drive out of.
If someone is in the fast lane and you want to release the car, you can, as long as it is safely done, when you transition to the fast lane. Jack Hawksworth, a lap down, is slicing through GT4 traffic. Kelvin van der Linde says, keep digging. There's lots more racing left.
Under GT3 rules, you have to be in the lane for 50 seconds maximum. Fuel before changing tires. Marciello hands over to one of his team mates. Is something amiss with the fueling rig? Land and WRT also pit. This is tight as the first of eight hours is now done and dusted. Mercedes #43 got held up by some GT4 cars. Yours truly is blending the last part of the first hour into the second hour of the race because there is just tons of action all over the track right now. Whoops. We have drama under yellow. The #22 Automatic Racing Astonn Martin Vantage GT4 is out of fuel, Charles Espenlaub at the wheel of it. Charlie Putman will be next into the car before third driver Eric Lux takes his Stint. The team has had to superglue the car back together after a shunt on Thursday in practice. The car is n the lane for fuel and driver changes. The TCR Hyundai had a broken suspension system and that is why it ran off the road.
No wave bys means that cars will get trapped behind the safe car, but a full fuel load gives you more time to fuel it in the lane, at 145 seconds. We remain under yellow after the pit stops, and we hope for a green flag, momentarily. Oh boy. There will be a GT4 wave by, a gift for the Aston Martin. This is the smart thing to do. Dries Vanthoor can close up on Christopher Mies. Each class can have their own battle so they minimize the risks on restarts. It is a double win. If your class leader is behind you, you will be trapped behind the safety car. The #19 Audi has Dries Vanthoor and Markus Winkelhock. All four championship contenders are in the top four. Maximilian Goetz has to put the welly down, now. The Aston Martin #22 topped off with petrol. The fresh tires are still being bedded in.
Tim Pappas is a lap down. The Black Swan crew has to sacrifice track position and Tim Pappas has to keep the car on the lead lap for team mates Patrick Long and Jeroen Bleekemolen. David Askew spins the #63 DXDT Mercedes on cold tires. He shares the car with Ryan Dalziel. All four lead cars have championship drivers at the wheel. WRT Sporting Director Thierry TSsin, is a former driver, and he knows how to strategize for the team. Now, the #29 Audi may have passed under yellow and he will be dinged for that one by the marshals. Why would Christopher Mies have done something to incur a drive through penalty? Not a smart move by the veteran Audi pilot. After serving this penalty, Mies passes Marino Franchitti in the sole Ferrari in the field.
Mies has to be cautious so he doesn’t abuse his tires. Peter Baron, team strategist says there’s no drama after the penalty. The pass was made under full course yellow. Steven Kane is under real pressure from David Fumanelli. Maxime Soulet is the driver in the sister car. Kane is a little Terrier, and will push hard. Another SteK,a Mercedes, the #44 car of Jack Hawksworth, he is going for it as well. A tight squeeze, forcing the issue on the Murillo Racing GT4 Mercedes AMG GT4. The mountings for the damaged body parts on Hawksworth’s car, is a concern. Mercedes #75 is in the lane, with Kenny Habul at the wheel of it. It is a drive through penalty for working on the car outside the pit box.
He has to get to the 70% mark to earn points. Mat Keegan is now leading GT4 for Panoz. The #12 Ginetta is now second in class, Frank Gannett at the wheel of it. We have another full course yellow, and the #75 and #46 are off the road, with the Lamborghini Huracan GT3, with Steve Dunn at the wheel. Both these cars are beached. The #8 Bentley Continental GT3 pits as does the #29 Land Audi. There is damage to the #75 and the left front corner of the car just wouldn’t turn. Shinya Michimi, one of the drivers in #46, wants to have success, but acknowledges PPM is in a learning curve in their first GT3 race, and he won the 2016 Lamborghini Super Trofeo championship.
Is the tire wrapped around the suspension? If so, that is not good for his championship hopes in the Bronze Cup. Tim Pappas is his close rival. He has finished his stint and Patrick Long, and Jeroen Bleekemolen, will share the car. It’s a question of damage limitation. But, the car is dialed in. We are back to green flag racing now. Fred Makowiecki in the Wright Motorsports Porsche, the #911, is running very well. Patrick Long's experience makes their team even stronger. You can bring cars from Europe, but the manufacturers also support the national series. All the entries are not direct factory cars, but there are outstanding teams operating the cars.
Maximilian Buhk is chasing Dries Vanthoor right now, as Christopher Mies is coming back, and has charged to sixth thanks to the yellow. He is pushing, now, getting around the #626 Rearden Racing Audi R8 GT4 with Vesko Kozarov, David Roberts, and Max Faulkner. Maximilian Goetz is opening the margin up. Again, the Mercedes AMG GT3 is such a compliant car. The Porsche 911 GT3R is a twitchier, less easy car to drive. Compliance means the front and back of the car work in unison. These GT3 cars have tons of downforce. Andy Soucek is running very well, and now, Rodrigo Baptista has the controls of the #9 K-PAX Bentley Continental GT3. The Panoz has made a pit stop. The Brazilian is sharing with Alvaro Parente from Portugal, and American Bryan Sellers.
Christopher Mies will have a drive through penalty for an unsafe release. This was a long while ago, but the marshals are going to penalize him. Mies lit up the tires in the working lane of pit lane. The GT4 drivers can go further on fuel. Reset the fuel to run out of fuel earlier to make the 65 minute stint length limit, so you don't run out of gas. You cannot run an hour and a half on tires because the degradation is greater than saving time on pit stops. Christopher Mies is now up to tenth overall. The mechanic should have spotted that Mies needed to stop for the Panoz. For the #51 Panoz, that may have been a drive through. The middle lane cannot be used to drive out of.
If someone is in the fast lane and you want to release the car, you can, as long as it is safely done, when you transition to the fast lane. Jack Hawksworth, a lap down, is slicing through GT4 traffic. Kelvin van der Linde says, keep digging. There's lots more racing left.
California 8 Hours: Hour 1
It is time for the final race of the 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge, the California 8 Hours at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. For the second straight year, the Intercontinental GT Challenge will determine champions on the Monterey Peninsula. We have multiple classes, and a huge field. Five classes are running, believe it or not. The grip is not very available in the cool weather here at Laguna Seca. Tire performance will be key. 33 cars will start. At the wheel, will I divebomb a slower car into The Corkscrew?
We have the top drivers here. The talent in the field is stacked. On the pole position, is the #29 Land Motorsport Audi R8 of Christopher Mies, Kelvin van der Linde, and Christopher Haase. Raffaele Marciello is tied for the championship lead in this, the finale of the season. Strakka Racing is going for the manufacturers title for Mercedes. Kenny Habul is going for the Rookie of the Yesr title. Some teams are running their first endurance races, with endurance drivers. The track is low grip and very dusty. Team Panoz is racing for a trophy but also for the memory of Dr. Don Panoz. The IGTC is now on its fourth continent.
The grid is clear. We are set to race. The command is given, drivers, start your engines! Two formation laps before Old Glory waves to send the drivers and cars on their journey. We are set for a start. Points protagonists in the drivers and manufacturers cups are ready. We will find out who is thinking the big picture, and who is going for it when the red mist comes down. Here we go. The flag drops, and we are racing. Van der Linde is leading and everyone is clean so far into the third turn.
Some slight argy bargh in the midfield, The #54 black Swan Porsche of Tim Pappas is passed by Tristan Vautier, plunging through the Corkscrew for the first time. Tim Pappas is the Bronze driver. Any driver needs to drive for 90 minutes. Here comes the GT4 battle. Drew Stavely in the Ginetta leads. Kelvin van der Linde leads by 1.3 seconds, as Robin Finns is pressing Raffaele Marciello. Low grip in the infield, and watch for the sand. Turn the wheel a long way to get the car to bite as you drop ten stories from The Corkscrew to Rainey Curve.
Stuart Leonard is battling Tristan Vautier. Tim Pappas in the Black Swan Porsche is going for it S the PF Racing Ford Mustang GT4 has a driveline issue with Jade Buford at the wheel of it. Vautier is still going for it. The rules allow ten minutes for repairs, and then they have to go the garage. Kelvin van der Linde sets fast lap at 1:24.023. The cool weather makes engine power and grip of the Pirelli P Zero tires peak, at this time.
Drew Staveley continues leading GT4, aboard the #12 Ginetta G55 he shares with Frank Gannett, and Ian Lacey. We watch the sole Ferrari in the field. It has taken eight laps for the leader to catch up to the TCR and GT4 machines. Robin Frijns is now three seconds behind Van der Linde. He’s losing the gap to the leaders, but needs to be patient. Frijns is trying to put Raffaele Marciello under pressure. Raffaele Marciello is indeed passed by Frijns, as we get into the rhythm of this race. Three totally different drivers will all behave differently. With the hillside, have any teams used spotters to watch? That would be a good idea.
Adrien Tambay is pressurizing Stuart Leonard and he also got parked by Luca Stolz. The AKKA ASP drivers have been separated for this race. Anxious crew members looking on. Be prepared, if you are a slower car, to be passed by a GT3 car. Luca Stolz Leads Pro Am over David Fumanelli, Brandon Gdovic, and ofhers. Fumanelli in the #42 Strakka Racing Mercedes AMG GT3, the lead car on their three car squad, is sharing with Nick Leventis and Felipe Fraga, the Frenchman, and the Brazilian, sharing with the Italian.
The lead scrap is heating up as Kelvin van der Linde is being hounded by Raffaele Marciello. Marciello can run a wider line. The Audi is good on tires, and the Mercedes is even better. The car has very good compliance on the road. Christopher Mies, Haase’s co-driver humorously said he is too old and too slow to qualify. Raffaele Marciello moves past the Audi another time. Check that, it is the Lamborghini with Brandon Gdovic at the wheel of it. Marciello got caught behind a GT4 Audi. The blokes in GT4 get shocked by the GT3 boys. The Pro rated drivers are responsible to avoid argy bargy with slower cars.
Mark Wilkins leads the sister Hyundai I30N of Colton Herta, who is racing with his dad, Bryan Herta, the first pro race for Bryan Herta in a decade. There is a large gap between Robin Frijns and Tristan Vautier, who has made a pass on Stuart Leonard. Drew Staveley continues to lead GT4 with the Ginetta. Incidentally, the third driver for BHA with Bryan and Colton Herta, is George Kurtz. The sister #99 Hyundai is being shared by Mason Filippi, Michael Lewis, and Mark Wilkins.
The lead scrum is still red hot. Marciello is 3/10ths behind van der Linde and he runs wide! It’s cut and thrust on the road here. Things are pretty spicy, at the moment. No opportunity for an overtake as they lap by the GT4 Audi of James Sofronas. Luca Stolz is following the sister SunEnergy1 Mercedes of Tristan Vautier. He is falling behind Robin Frijns, scrapping through traffic. Hopes are for an even ebb and flow through traffic, but be careful and be patient. The factory Bentley is running very well. Three Bentley’s are running eighth, tenth, and eleventh. Two factory cars and the K-PAX year old Bentley Continental GT3. The Panoz Avezzano lets the leaders through.
Alvaro Parente in the dark green Bentley is outpacing the factory car of Jordan Pepper right now. Dirk Werner in the #911 Porsche 911 GT3R for Wright Motorsports. The scenery in the Monterey Peninsula and around Big Sur is just gorgeous. Dirk Werner moves past Alvaro Parente, look. Is Alvaro conserving the tires? Yes. Bentley is being really cautious. The Porsche 911 has extra bite because of the rear engine design. The #91 Reardon Racing Audi R8 GT4. Drew Staveley is being chased by the Aston Martin of Charles Espenlaub, the Aston Martin GT4 V8, has the legs on the Ginetta. The Ginetta is a Ford V6 powered boutique car. The Panoz is special, honoring Dr. Don Panoz’s legacy. “For The Fans” was his mantra. The Panoz Avezzano was introduced last year, and they have been really good in Pirelli World Challenge. Preston Calvert sharing with Matt Keegan, and Ian James.
We have the top drivers here. The talent in the field is stacked. On the pole position, is the #29 Land Motorsport Audi R8 of Christopher Mies, Kelvin van der Linde, and Christopher Haase. Raffaele Marciello is tied for the championship lead in this, the finale of the season. Strakka Racing is going for the manufacturers title for Mercedes. Kenny Habul is going for the Rookie of the Yesr title. Some teams are running their first endurance races, with endurance drivers. The track is low grip and very dusty. Team Panoz is racing for a trophy but also for the memory of Dr. Don Panoz. The IGTC is now on its fourth continent.
The grid is clear. We are set to race. The command is given, drivers, start your engines! Two formation laps before Old Glory waves to send the drivers and cars on their journey. We are set for a start. Points protagonists in the drivers and manufacturers cups are ready. We will find out who is thinking the big picture, and who is going for it when the red mist comes down. Here we go. The flag drops, and we are racing. Van der Linde is leading and everyone is clean so far into the third turn.
Some slight argy bargh in the midfield, The #54 black Swan Porsche of Tim Pappas is passed by Tristan Vautier, plunging through the Corkscrew for the first time. Tim Pappas is the Bronze driver. Any driver needs to drive for 90 minutes. Here comes the GT4 battle. Drew Stavely in the Ginetta leads. Kelvin van der Linde leads by 1.3 seconds, as Robin Finns is pressing Raffaele Marciello. Low grip in the infield, and watch for the sand. Turn the wheel a long way to get the car to bite as you drop ten stories from The Corkscrew to Rainey Curve.
Stuart Leonard is battling Tristan Vautier. Tim Pappas in the Black Swan Porsche is going for it S the PF Racing Ford Mustang GT4 has a driveline issue with Jade Buford at the wheel of it. Vautier is still going for it. The rules allow ten minutes for repairs, and then they have to go the garage. Kelvin van der Linde sets fast lap at 1:24.023. The cool weather makes engine power and grip of the Pirelli P Zero tires peak, at this time.
Drew Staveley continues leading GT4, aboard the #12 Ginetta G55 he shares with Frank Gannett, and Ian Lacey. We watch the sole Ferrari in the field. It has taken eight laps for the leader to catch up to the TCR and GT4 machines. Robin Frijns is now three seconds behind Van der Linde. He’s losing the gap to the leaders, but needs to be patient. Frijns is trying to put Raffaele Marciello under pressure. Raffaele Marciello is indeed passed by Frijns, as we get into the rhythm of this race. Three totally different drivers will all behave differently. With the hillside, have any teams used spotters to watch? That would be a good idea.
Adrien Tambay is pressurizing Stuart Leonard and he also got parked by Luca Stolz. The AKKA ASP drivers have been separated for this race. Anxious crew members looking on. Be prepared, if you are a slower car, to be passed by a GT3 car. Luca Stolz Leads Pro Am over David Fumanelli, Brandon Gdovic, and ofhers. Fumanelli in the #42 Strakka Racing Mercedes AMG GT3, the lead car on their three car squad, is sharing with Nick Leventis and Felipe Fraga, the Frenchman, and the Brazilian, sharing with the Italian.
The lead scrap is heating up as Kelvin van der Linde is being hounded by Raffaele Marciello. Marciello can run a wider line. The Audi is good on tires, and the Mercedes is even better. The car has very good compliance on the road. Christopher Mies, Haase’s co-driver humorously said he is too old and too slow to qualify. Raffaele Marciello moves past the Audi another time. Check that, it is the Lamborghini with Brandon Gdovic at the wheel of it. Marciello got caught behind a GT4 Audi. The blokes in GT4 get shocked by the GT3 boys. The Pro rated drivers are responsible to avoid argy bargy with slower cars.
Mark Wilkins leads the sister Hyundai I30N of Colton Herta, who is racing with his dad, Bryan Herta, the first pro race for Bryan Herta in a decade. There is a large gap between Robin Frijns and Tristan Vautier, who has made a pass on Stuart Leonard. Drew Staveley continues to lead GT4 with the Ginetta. Incidentally, the third driver for BHA with Bryan and Colton Herta, is George Kurtz. The sister #99 Hyundai is being shared by Mason Filippi, Michael Lewis, and Mark Wilkins.
The lead scrum is still red hot. Marciello is 3/10ths behind van der Linde and he runs wide! It’s cut and thrust on the road here. Things are pretty spicy, at the moment. No opportunity for an overtake as they lap by the GT4 Audi of James Sofronas. Luca Stolz is following the sister SunEnergy1 Mercedes of Tristan Vautier. He is falling behind Robin Frijns, scrapping through traffic. Hopes are for an even ebb and flow through traffic, but be careful and be patient. The factory Bentley is running very well. Three Bentley’s are running eighth, tenth, and eleventh. Two factory cars and the K-PAX year old Bentley Continental GT3. The Panoz Avezzano lets the leaders through.
Alvaro Parente in the dark green Bentley is outpacing the factory car of Jordan Pepper right now. Dirk Werner in the #911 Porsche 911 GT3R for Wright Motorsports. The scenery in the Monterey Peninsula and around Big Sur is just gorgeous. Dirk Werner moves past Alvaro Parente, look. Is Alvaro conserving the tires? Yes. Bentley is being really cautious. The Porsche 911 has extra bite because of the rear engine design. The #91 Reardon Racing Audi R8 GT4. Drew Staveley is being chased by the Aston Martin of Charles Espenlaub, the Aston Martin GT4 V8, has the legs on the Ginetta. The Ginetta is a Ford V6 powered boutique car. The Panoz is special, honoring Dr. Don Panoz’s legacy. “For The Fans” was his mantra. The Panoz Avezzano was introduced last year, and they have been really good in Pirelli World Challenge. Preston Calvert sharing with Matt Keegan, and Ian James.
A couple more pre-race stories from Laguna Seca
A couple more pre-race IGTC stories, leading into the 2019 season before today’s running of the California 8 Hours.
Bronze Cup Drivers Reflect on IGTC Season
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/bronze-cup-drivers-reflect-on-igtc-season/
...and
Ratel Upbeat on California 8H Future Despite Date Change
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/ratel-upbeat-on-california-8h-future-despite-date-change/
Bronze Cup Drivers Reflect on IGTC Season
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/bronze-cup-drivers-reflect-on-igtc-season/
...and
Ratel Upbeat on California 8H Future Despite Date Change
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/ratel-upbeat-on-california-8h-future-despite-date-change/
THE CONTENDERS - Intercontinental GT Challenge - 2018 California 8 Hours
Saturday, October 27, 2018
California 8 Hours stories of interest before the race tomorrow
A few more stories of interest before the California 8 Hours tomorrow. One, a feature story on Bryan and Colton Herta.
BHA’s California 8H Entry to Feature Bryan and Colton Herta
https://www.motorsport.com/endurance/news/herta-colton-bryan-hyundai-igtc/3197364/?filters%5Bevent%5D%5B0%5D=260682&nrt=51
The other, another story highlighting Christopher Haase’s pole position.
California 8 Hours: Haase puts Land Audi on pole
https://www.motorsport.com/endurance/news/haase-puts-land-audi-on-pole-after-tight-battle/3204074/?filters%5Bevent%5D%5B0%5D=260682&nrt=51
BHA’s California 8H Entry to Feature Bryan and Colton Herta
https://www.motorsport.com/endurance/news/herta-colton-bryan-hyundai-igtc/3197364/?filters%5Bevent%5D%5B0%5D=260682&nrt=51
The other, another story highlighting Christopher Haase’s pole position.
California 8 Hours: Haase puts Land Audi on pole
https://www.motorsport.com/endurance/news/haase-puts-land-audi-on-pole-after-tight-battle/3204074/?filters%5Bevent%5D%5B0%5D=260682&nrt=51
Saturday news and qualifying highlights from Laguna Seca
Pre-race news, plus qualifying highlights before the California 8 Hours, tomorrow.
Wendl: Mercedes-AMG ‘Splitting the Risks’ in IGTC Title Pursuit
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/wendl-mercedes-amg-splitting-the-risks-in-igtc-title-pursuit/
Strakka Quickest in Qualifying, Top 15 Progress to Shootout
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/strakka-quickest-in-qualifying-top-15-progress-to-shootout/
Haase Puts Land Audi on Pole for California 8H
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/haase-puts-land-audi-on-pole-for-california-8h/
Haase: In-race Strategy Calls Key for Victory
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/haase-in-race-strategy-calls-key-for-california-8h/
Laguna Seca Saturday Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/laguna-seca-saturday-notebook-2/
Wendl: Mercedes-AMG ‘Splitting the Risks’ in IGTC Title Pursuit
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/wendl-mercedes-amg-splitting-the-risks-in-igtc-title-pursuit/
Strakka Quickest in Qualifying, Top 15 Progress to Shootout
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/strakka-quickest-in-qualifying-top-15-progress-to-shootout/
Haase Puts Land Audi on Pole for California 8H
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/haase-puts-land-audi-on-pole-for-california-8h/
Haase: In-race Strategy Calls Key for Victory
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/haase-in-race-strategy-calls-key-for-california-8h/
Laguna Seca Saturday Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/laguna-seca-saturday-notebook-2/
Friday, October 26, 2018
33 cars on entry list for California 8 Hours
In case you missed it, here is the entry list for the California 8 Hours, now minus the Audi RS3 LMS that was to have competed in TCR against the BHA Hyundai’s.
https://www.motorsport.com/endurance/news/33-cars-on-entry-list-for-california-8-hours/3201135/?nrt=51
https://www.motorsport.com/endurance/news/33-cars-on-entry-list-for-california-8-hours/3201135/?nrt=51
Friday headlines from Laguna Seca
More headlines from Laguna Seca, leading up to the California 8 Hours.
Dumas: Wright “As Capable” as Manthey
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/dumas-wright-as-capable-as-manthey/
Wright Leads Porsche 1-2 in Free Practice
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/wright-leads-porsche-1-2-in-free-practice/
Haase, Land Quickest in Pre-Qualifying
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/haase-land-quickest-in-pre-qualifying/
Policand: California 8H: “Great Experience” for U.S. Debut
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/policand-california-8h-great-experience-for-u-s-debut/
Laguna Seca Friday Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/laguna-seca-friday-notebook-2/
Dumas: Wright “As Capable” as Manthey
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/dumas-wright-as-capable-as-manthey/
Wright Leads Porsche 1-2 in Free Practice
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/wright-leads-porsche-1-2-in-free-practice/
Haase, Land Quickest in Pre-Qualifying
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/haase-land-quickest-in-pre-qualifying/
Policand: California 8H: “Great Experience” for U.S. Debut
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/policand-california-8h-great-experience-for-u-s-debut/
Laguna Seca Friday Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/laguna-seca-friday-notebook-2/
Lexus Partners with AIM Vasser Sullivan to Compete In IMSA’s GTD Class
Lexus will partner with AIM Vasser Sullivan to campaign two Lexus RC F GT3 race cars in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship for the 2019 season.
https://www.imsa.com/news/102018/lexus-partners-aim-vasser-sullivan-compete-imsas-gtd-class
https://www.imsa.com/news/102018/lexus-partners-aim-vasser-sullivan-compete-imsas-gtd-class
Thursday, October 25, 2018
California 8 Hours headlines, continued
More news from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, in the lead up to the California 8 Hours.
Audi Unveils Stars & Stripes Liveries for California 8H
Teams Unload for California 8H
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/teams-unload-for-california-8h/
K-PAX “Very Excited” for Jumpstart on 2019 With Bentley
https://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/k-pax-very-excited-for-jumpstart-on-2019-program-with-bentley/
Winkelhock Not Focusing on IGTC Title Battle
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/winkelhock-not-focusing-on-igtc-title-battle/
SunEnergy1 Quickest in Thursday Test
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/sunenergy1-quickest-in-thursday-test/
Laguna Seca Thursday Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/laguna-seca-thursday-notebook-2/
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/teams-unload-for-california-8h/
K-PAX “Very Excited” for Jumpstart on 2019 With Bentley
https://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/k-pax-very-excited-for-jumpstart-on-2019-program-with-bentley/
Winkelhock Not Focusing on IGTC Title Battle
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/winkelhock-not-focusing-on-igtc-title-battle/
SunEnergy1 Quickest in Thursday Test
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/sunenergy1-quickest-in-thursday-test/
Laguna Seca Thursday Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/laguna-seca-thursday-notebook-2/
More news before the California 8 Hours this weekend
Plenty of news ahead of this weekend’s California 8 Hours, the final event of the 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge.
Dumas, Makowiecki, Werner in Wright Porsche for California 8H
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/dumas-makowiecki-werner-confirmed-in-wright-porsche-for-california-8h/
IGTC Points Leaders Marciello, Vautier Split Up for California 8H
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/igtc-points-leaders-marciello-vautier-split-up-for-california-8h/
K-PAX to Run Special Bentley Livery at California 8H
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/k-pax-to-run-special-bentley-livery-in-california-8h/
33 Entries for California 8H
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/33-entries-for-california-8h/
DXDT Set for Endurance Debut, Prep for Blancpain GT America
https://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/dxdt-set-for-endurance-debut-prep-for-2019-blancpain-gt-america-campaign/
Wright Ready for California 8H After Tight Turnaround
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/wright-ready-for-california-8h-after-tight-turnaround/
Dumas, Makowiecki, Werner in Wright Porsche for California 8H
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/dumas-makowiecki-werner-confirmed-in-wright-porsche-for-california-8h/
IGTC Points Leaders Marciello, Vautier Split Up for California 8H
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/igtc-points-leaders-marciello-vautier-split-up-for-california-8h/
K-PAX to Run Special Bentley Livery at California 8H
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/k-pax-to-run-special-bentley-livery-in-california-8h/
33 Entries for California 8H
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/33-entries-for-california-8h/
DXDT Set for Endurance Debut, Prep for Blancpain GT America
https://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/dxdt-set-for-endurance-debut-prep-for-2019-blancpain-gt-america-campaign/
Wright Ready for California 8H After Tight Turnaround
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/wright-ready-for-california-8h-after-tight-turnaround/
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
stories from IMSA's official website, about the Michelin Sports Car Encore, & more
Some very, very noteworthy stories from IMSA's official website, for you to peruse.
Preparations Continue For Number of Teams In Advance of IMSA Michelin Sports Car Encore
https://www.imsa.com/news/102018/preparations-continue-number-teams-advance-imsa-michelin-sportscar-encore
Team Owners Discuss Advantage of IMSA Michelin Sports Car Encore Participation
https://www.imsa.com/news/102018/team-owners-discuss-advantage-imsa-michelin-sportscar-encore-participation
Performance Tech Sees IMSA Michelin Sports Car Encore As Opportunity to Build Team Chemistry
https://www.imsa.com/news/102018/performance-tech-sees-imsa-michelin-sportscar-encore-opportunity-build-team-chemistry
Preparations Continue For Number of Teams In Advance of IMSA Michelin Sports Car Encore
https://www.imsa.com/news/102018/preparations-continue-number-teams-advance-imsa-michelin-sportscar-encore
Team Owners Discuss Advantage of IMSA Michelin Sports Car Encore Participation
https://www.imsa.com/news/102018/team-owners-discuss-advantage-imsa-michelin-sportscar-encore-participation
Performance Tech Sees IMSA Michelin Sports Car Encore As Opportunity to Build Team Chemistry
https://www.imsa.com/news/102018/performance-tech-sees-imsa-michelin-sportscar-encore-opportunity-build-team-chemistry
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
more IMSA headlines
More of the latest IMSA news, now that the off season has truly begun.
Michelin, IMSA Working on Expanded Green Initiatives
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/michelin-imsa-working-on-expanded-green-initiatives/
GT3-Spec Ford GT Under Evaluation
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/gt3-spec-ford-gt-under-evaluation/
Trent Hindman’s latest column.
HINDMAN: Yeah, No Pressure!
https://sportscar365.com/features/commentary/hindman-yeah-no-pressure/
DragonSpeed Confirms Rolex 24 LMP2 Program
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/dragonspeed-confirms-rolex-24-lmp2-program/
Mustang Sampling, Action Express Extend Partnership
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/mustang-sampling-action-express-extend-partnership/
This week’s Double Stint Podcast, which covers IMSA, and more. There is an interview with Scott Hargrove from Pfaff Motorsports, and a preview of this weekend’s California 8 Hours for the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the finale of that championship.
Double Stint: News Recap; Scott Hargrove Interview (10-23-18)
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/double-stint-news-recap-scott-hargrove-interview-10-23-18/
Michelin, IMSA Working on Expanded Green Initiatives
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/michelin-imsa-working-on-expanded-green-initiatives/
GT3-Spec Ford GT Under Evaluation
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/gt3-spec-ford-gt-under-evaluation/
Trent Hindman’s latest column.
HINDMAN: Yeah, No Pressure!
https://sportscar365.com/features/commentary/hindman-yeah-no-pressure/
DragonSpeed Confirms Rolex 24 LMP2 Program
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/dragonspeed-confirms-rolex-24-lmp2-program/
Mustang Sampling, Action Express Extend Partnership
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/mustang-sampling-action-express-extend-partnership/
This week’s Double Stint Podcast, which covers IMSA, and more. There is an interview with Scott Hargrove from Pfaff Motorsports, and a preview of this weekend’s California 8 Hours for the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the finale of that championship.
Double Stint: News Recap; Scott Hargrove Interview (10-23-18)
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/double-stint-news-recap-scott-hargrove-interview-10-23-18/
Monday, October 22, 2018
Weekly Racing Roundup (10-22-18)
Race reports from the International GT Open and China GT finales...
https://sportscar365.com/features/roundup/weekly-racing-roundup-10-22-18/
https://sportscar365.com/features/roundup/weekly-racing-roundup-10-22-18/
15-car FIA GT World Cup Entry List Released
FIA releases 15-car entry list for November’s GT World Cup at Macau...
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/gt-world-cup/15-car-fia-gt-world-cup-entry-list-released/
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/gt-world-cup/15-car-fia-gt-world-cup-entry-list-released/
Friday, October 19, 2018
Petit Le Mans Post Race News (continued)
Plenty more post-race news after the Petit Le Mans.
Acura Using Michelin ‘On Track Opportunities’ for NSX GT3 Evo
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/acura-using-michelin-on-track-opportunities-for-nsx-gt3-evo-development/
Petit Le Mans Sights & Sounds
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/petit-le-mans-sights-sounds/
Ricky Taylor’s final column of 2018.
TAYLOR: Wrapping Up My First Season at Acura Team Penske
https://sportscar365.com/features/commentary/taylor-wrapping-up-my-first-season-at-penske/
Acura “Pushing Hard” for Early NSX GT3 Evo Homologation
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/acura-pushing-hard-for-early-nsx-gt3-evo-homologation/
Acura Using Michelin ‘On Track Opportunities’ for NSX GT3 Evo
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/acura-using-michelin-on-track-opportunities-for-nsx-gt3-evo-development/
Petit Le Mans Sights & Sounds
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/petit-le-mans-sights-sounds/
Ricky Taylor’s final column of 2018.
TAYLOR: Wrapping Up My First Season at Acura Team Penske
https://sportscar365.com/features/commentary/taylor-wrapping-up-my-first-season-at-penske/
Acura “Pushing Hard” for Early NSX GT3 Evo Homologation
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/acura-pushing-hard-for-early-nsx-gt3-evo-homologation/
Thursday, October 18, 2018
more post race news after the 6 Hours of Fuji
A small amount of post-race news after the 6 Hours of Fuji.
Lindsey: Fuji Win Sets Project 1 in “Promising Position”
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/lindsey-fuji-win-sets-project-1-in-promising-position/
James Calado’s latest column.
CALADO: Fuji Frustration
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/calado-fuji-frustration/
Larbre Signs Guibbert For 6H Shanghai
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/larbre-signs-guibbert-for-6h-shanghai/
Lindsey: Fuji Win Sets Project 1 in “Promising Position”
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/lindsey-fuji-win-sets-project-1-in-promising-position/
James Calado’s latest column.
CALADO: Fuji Frustration
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/calado-fuji-frustration/
Larbre Signs Guibbert For 6H Shanghai
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/larbre-signs-guibbert-for-6h-shanghai/
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Petit Le Mans Race Broadcast
Follow this link for the race broadcast of last weekend’s Petit Le Mans, and enjoy.
more IMSA news after Petit Le Mans
More post-race news after the Petit Le Mans.
Inside Acura’s NSX GT3 Evo
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/inside-acuras-nsx-gt3-evo/
IMSA Competitors Honored at WeatherTech Night of Champions
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/imsa-competitors-honored-at-weathertech-night-of-champions/
2019 Plane Progressing for JDC-Miller
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/2019-plans-progressing-for-jdc-miller/
Lexus Partners with AIM Vasser Sullivan for 2019
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/lexus-partners-with-aim-vasser-sullivan-for-2019/
3GT Planning GTD Return
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/3gt-planning-gtd-return/
Inside Acura’s NSX GT3 Evo
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/inside-acuras-nsx-gt3-evo/
IMSA Competitors Honored at WeatherTech Night of Champions
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/imsa-competitors-honored-at-weathertech-night-of-champions/
2019 Plane Progressing for JDC-Miller
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/2019-plans-progressing-for-jdc-miller/
Lexus Partners with AIM Vasser Sullivan for 2019
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/lexus-partners-with-aim-vasser-sullivan-for-2019/
3GT Planning GTD Return
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/3gt-planning-gtd-return/
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
post-race stories after the 6 Hours of Fuji
Post-race headlines after the 6 Hours of Fuji, and another post-race disqualification, unfortunately, for one of the Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche's in LM GTE Am.
Button Leads Hour 1 as No. 3 Rebellion Crashes Out
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/button-leads-hour-1-as-no-3-rebellion-crashes-out/
Toyota Restores Fuji Lead; Holds Clear 1-2 at Halfway
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/toyota-restores-fuji-lead-holds-1-2-at-halfway/
No. 7 Toyota Crew Takes First Win of Season
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/toyota-crew-takes-first-win-of-season/
Fuji Race Highlights
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/fuji-race-highlights-2/
Dempsey-Proton Porsche Loses Fuji Class Podium
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/dempsey-proton-porsche-loses-fuji-class-podium/
Fuji Post-Race Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/fuji-post-race-notebook-4/
Button Leads Hour 1 as No. 3 Rebellion Crashes Out
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/button-leads-hour-1-as-no-3-rebellion-crashes-out/
Toyota Restores Fuji Lead; Holds Clear 1-2 at Halfway
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/toyota-restores-fuji-lead-holds-1-2-at-halfway/
No. 7 Toyota Crew Takes First Win of Season
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/toyota-crew-takes-first-win-of-season/
Fuji Race Highlights
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/fuji-race-highlights-2/
Dempsey-Proton Porsche Loses Fuji Class Podium
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/dempsey-proton-porsche-loses-fuji-class-podium/
Fuji Post-Race Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/fuji-post-race-notebook-4/
Monday, October 15, 2018
Petit Le Mans post-race news
All of the post-race coverage after the thrilling IMSA season finale at Road Atlanta, including the highlights of the race in full.
Bomarito Leads Opening Hour as Derani Hits Trouble
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/bomarito-leads-opening-hour-at-petit-le-mans/
Montoya Crashes Out in Hour 2
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/montoya-crashes-out-in-hour-2/
Curran Leads After 3 Hours at Road Atlanta
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/curran-leads-after-3-hours-at-road-atlanta/
Penske Leads Petit Le Mans at Halfway Mark
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/penske-leads-petit-le-mans-at-halfway-mark/
Five Championships Clinched in First Four Hours of Petit Le Mans
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/five-championships-clinched-in-first-four-hours-of-petit-le-mans/
GTLM Championship-Leading Corvette Crashes Under Yellow
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/championship-leading-corvette-crashes-under-safety-car/
Jordan Taylor Out Front With Two Hours To Go
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/jordan-taylor-out-front-with-two-hours-to-go/
All But One Endurance Cup Title Clinched With Two Hours to Go
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/all-but-one-endurance-cup-title
Porsche Wins; Corvette Clinches GTLM Drivers’ Title
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/porsche-wins-corvette-clinches-third-straight-gtlm-drivers-title/
WTR Wins in Fuel Mileage Thriller; Nasr, Curran Claim Title
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/wtr-wins-petit-le-mans-nasr-curran-claim-title/
Petit Le Mans Post-Race Interviews
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/petit-le-mans-post-race-interviews/
Braun: CORE Did ‘All We Could Do’ in Fuel Mileage Title Outcome
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/braun-core-did-all-we-could-do-in-fuel-mileage-title-outcome/
Fehan: GTLM Drivers’ Title “Won in the Garage”
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/fehan-gtlm-drivers-title-won-in-the-garage/
Curran Was “Almost In Tears” In Drama-Filled Run to Second Title
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/curran-almost-in-tears-in-nail-biting-run-to-second-championship/
Porsche Trio Delighted with Third Major Win of Year
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/porsche-trio-delighted-with-third-major-win-of-season/
Snow: Stiff Competition Makes GTD Title Special
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/snow-stiff-competition-makes-gtd-title-special/
Continental Tire Petit Le Mans Post-Race Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/continental-tire-petit-le-mans-post-race-notebook-2
Goikhberg, Keating Earn Le Mans Invites with Trueman/Akin Award
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/goikhberg-keating-secure-24h-le-mans-auto-invites-with-trueman-akin-awards/
Lexus, 3GT End Partnership
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/lexus-3gt-end-partnership/
HPD Trackside: Petit Le Mans Recap
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/hpd-trackside-petit-le-mans-recap/
Bomarito Leads Opening Hour as Derani Hits Trouble
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/bomarito-leads-opening-hour-at-petit-le-mans/
Montoya Crashes Out in Hour 2
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/montoya-crashes-out-in-hour-2/
Curran Leads After 3 Hours at Road Atlanta
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/curran-leads-after-3-hours-at-road-atlanta/
Penske Leads Petit Le Mans at Halfway Mark
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/penske-leads-petit-le-mans-at-halfway-mark/
Five Championships Clinched in First Four Hours of Petit Le Mans
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/five-championships-clinched-in-first-four-hours-of-petit-le-mans/
GTLM Championship-Leading Corvette Crashes Under Yellow
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/championship-leading-corvette-crashes-under-safety-car/
Jordan Taylor Out Front With Two Hours To Go
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/jordan-taylor-out-front-with-two-hours-to-go/
All But One Endurance Cup Title Clinched With Two Hours to Go
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/all-but-one-endurance-cup-title
Porsche Wins; Corvette Clinches GTLM Drivers’ Title
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/porsche-wins-corvette-clinches-third-straight-gtlm-drivers-title/
WTR Wins in Fuel Mileage Thriller; Nasr, Curran Claim Title
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/wtr-wins-petit-le-mans-nasr-curran-claim-title/
Petit Le Mans Post-Race Interviews
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/petit-le-mans-post-race-interviews/
Braun: CORE Did ‘All We Could Do’ in Fuel Mileage Title Outcome
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/braun-core-did-all-we-could-do-in-fuel-mileage-title-outcome/
Fehan: GTLM Drivers’ Title “Won in the Garage”
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/fehan-gtlm-drivers-title-won-in-the-garage/
Curran Was “Almost In Tears” In Drama-Filled Run to Second Title
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/curran-almost-in-tears-in-nail-biting-run-to-second-championship/
Porsche Trio Delighted with Third Major Win of Year
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/porsche-trio-delighted-with-third-major-win-of-season/
Snow: Stiff Competition Makes GTD Title Special
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/snow-stiff-competition-makes-gtd-title-special/
Continental Tire Petit Le Mans Post-Race Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/continental-tire-petit-le-mans-post-race-notebook-2
Goikhberg, Keating Earn Le Mans Invites with Trueman/Akin Award
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/goikhberg-keating-secure-24h-le-mans-auto-invites-with-trueman-akin-awards/
Lexus, 3GT End Partnership
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/lexus-3gt-end-partnership/
HPD Trackside: Petit Le Mans Recap
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/hpd-trackside-petit-le-mans-recap/
Sunday, October 14, 2018
Winner & Highlights of the 6 Hours of Fuji
Konnichiwa. Welcome, to Japan, and to Fuji Speedway, in th shadow of the majestic Mount Fuji, for the 6 Hours of Fuji, round number four of the FIA World Endurance Championship "Super Season" for 2018-2019. The crowd is looking for a more enjoyable race than what they encountered last year with heavy clouds and torrential rain.
On a wet track, here in Fuji, we are ready to bring the action. In qualifying, as always, the first cars on track are those from the GT classes, GTE Pro and GTE Am. The track is dry for qualifying. Porsche and Aston Martin would battle in GTE Am. Third quickest in the session was the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche 911 RSR shared by Australian Matt Campbell, Christian Ried of Germany, and Julien Andlauer of France. They looked extremely fast early on, but they were snookered, by of all cars, their team mate. The #88 Dempsey Proton Porsche 911 RSR in the hands of Italian's Matteo Cairoli and Giorgio Roda, sharing this weekend with Japan's Satoshi Hoshino, romped to the top of the tree.
Both factory Aston Martin's were in the top three places in GTE Pro. If you were to look at this as a chocolate cream sandwich cookie, while the Aston Martin's were the cookies, the #82 BMW M8 GTE for BMW Team MTEK, was the cream. This car, with just a two driver lineup for the Fuji race, featuring Tom Blomqvist and Antonio Felix Da Costa, the Briton, and the Portuguese. It was the "Dane Train" Aston Martin, the #95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Niki Thiim and Marco Sorenson who put their car on pole. They claimed the first pole for the brand new Aston Martin Vantage GTE, with it's all new 4.0 liter turbo V8 engine.
Up next, it was time for the Prototype classes to qualify, LMP2 and LMP1. Two battles fought in LMP1. Who would be the better of the Toyota's, and, who would be best of the rest. Second fastest in LMP2 was the all Malaysian Jackie Chan DC Racing entry, car #37 driven by Jazeman Jafaar, Weiron Tan, and Nabil Jeffri. The pole sitting car, would be the DragonSpeed entry, however, the #31 Oreca 07 shared by Roberto Gonzalez, Pastor Maldonado, and Anthony Davidson. In LMP1, we saw late flying laps by both Rebellion cars, putting them squarely on the second row of the grid. The closest challenger to the Toyota duo, will be Neel Jani in the #1 car, as he ran third quickest. Sebastien Buemi was going for pole in Toyota #8, made a mistake, and had to settle for second spot. On pole, is the sister Toyota, #7, of Jose Maria Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi, and Mike Conway.
On to race day. Capacity crowds are here, to cheer on their home favorites, Toyota who start on pole and lock out the front row. Both Toyota's were actually penalized in qualifying. Before the race, we even see our old buddy, jet pack man, whizzing around in mid air on his super hover board, wowing the fans and giving a lot of people the thought, "dude, you have to be plumb crazy to be able to do something like that!" After all the pageantry and festivities before the race, it's now time to get down to business.
It has been drizzling on the grid. The track is soaking, as it's the wettest it's been all weekend here, at Fuji. The cars accelerate away on a very wet track! They started the race and ran the first lap behind the safety car. But now, three minutes in, it's time to turn 'em loose! Red lights, on. Red lights, out, windshield wipers on, and we're away! Kazuki Nakajima and Andre Lotterer lead the field, as Gustavo Menezes wants to go by Lotterer! Andre Lotterer stays on the inside while his team mate Menezes drifts wide. They did their best those two, to avoid any kind of argy bargy. The DragonSpeed car is geting after it early, going by the two SMP Racing LMP1 cars, with Ben Hanley at the wheel of it, sharing with James Allen, the young Australian. So, an Aussie and a Brit are in that car.
Car #7, the Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez was at the back of the field, racing through the spray. GTE Pro was a regular street fight from the word go. Fernando Alonso says, "oh man, this is hot stuff", referring to the racing. That's true, Fernando. The last time he was here, he was winning a Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix. It was, at the front with the Toyota's, but it was really getting tasty in the GTE Pro division in the middle of the field. The manufacturer teams from Ferrari, Ford, BMW, and Porsche were putting on a great show, and the LM GTE Am machines didn't disappoint either.
Although, in the wet, Paul Dalla Lana, the Canadian Aston Martin pilot, got a free ride on the whirligig. He cuts a corner and finds zero grip on the wet curbs. Gustavo Menezes who had his troubles at the very beginning, was not faring too well as Jenson Button, the former Formula 1 World Champion, passed him. Actually, it was both SMP BR01's that mugged Menezes. Button, and Stephane Sarrazin each took a shot at him and got by. In GTE Pro, it was a slug fest between Aston Martin and BMW. Aston Martin had the edge in qualifying, while BMW drew first blood in the race, but then, the Aston's returned with a monstrous right hook.
DragonSpeed meanwhile, gets smoked by the Le Mans winners, the #36 SignaTech Alpine Alpine A470 Gibson in the hands of Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao, and Pierre Thiriet. SMP and Rebellion, too, were scrapping for the position of the best non hybrid LMP1 car, and of course, the only hybrid's are the Toyota's. Pit stops commenced as the weather changed and the rain subsided. Wet tires, or slick tires. Take your pick, but do so, wisely. Meanwhile, one of the SMP cars had no choice but to lose a wheel. The left rear departs company with the car. Well, it has to be said. You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel. Step one. Lose wheel. Step two. Crawl back to pit lane and tell the crew, "I need a new wheel, now, please!"
Toyota #8, the Sebastien Buemi, Fernando Alonso, Kazuki Nakajima car, leads the motor race. The track is still damp. But then, a huge shunt! The #70 MR Racing Ferrari 488 GTE explodes a tire, and it shreds the bodywork to smithereens. The right front tire is gone, and he's running on the rim, as he also decimates one of the DHL sponsorship signboards at the side of the track. This is the car of Olivier Beretta, Eddie Cheever III., and hometown favorite Motoaki Ishikawa. The #70 didn't make it back to pit lane.
The question is, why did this tire fail? A tire will fail at the highest possible revolutions. There's debris everywhere. If people want to pit and take tires, this is the time, the moment to get something done about how a car is handling. We are seeing light rain in the forecast, which throws another spanner into this race, ladies and gentlemen. Looking at the incident again in replay, the right rear tire... boom! It explodes, and shreds itself, and the bodywork on the back of the Ferrari. Motoaki Ishikawa, driving that car, is just a passenger. There's nothing he can do. That's massive damage, and the car will be headed for the garage for quite some time. So, with a colossal debris field out there, it was decided to put the race under full course yellow. The track was cleaned up and the cars, not being able to make service stops however, were led through the pit lane during this time. Pit stops took place after the cleanup, and there was more tire gambling. Which one do you choose? Do you go for full wets, intermediates, or slicks?
Let's clarify. A full wet tire has tread on it to channel water away. An intermediate is also called a "hand cut" tire, where a tire tech takes a hot iron and cuts grooves into what is essentially a slick tire, and of course, a slick tire is the definitive tire for racing with absolutely no tread on it's surface. The answer was, if you were off the road on the wet grass, it didn't matter what kind of grip you got. Gustavo Menezes finds this out, the hard way. He slides, hitting the grass, and at full chat, he slews sideways again, and, wallop! He goes straight into the tire barrier. Big damage to the #3 Rebellion R-One. He had no temperature in the tire, and no grip, and when you don't have those things, well, the tire might as well be a piece of wood rattling around on the back of the stub axle. Menezes' shunt extends the safety car period. As the cars continue behind the safety car, the track surface is beginning to dry.
The Porsche 911 RSR's are languishing down towards the tail of the GTE Pro field and they just don't have the oomph to stay with the Ford's, Aston Martin's, BMW's, and Ferrari's. Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz sharing car #91, and #92 with Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre driving. In the LM GTE Am class, it was the Gulf Racing Porsche 911 RSR, #86, in the lead for a wee while. Michael Wainwright and Ben Barker, sharing this weekend with Austrian Thomas Thomas Preining. Giancarlo Fisichella makes his way by the #86, driving his #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE he shares with fellow Italian Francesco Castellaci, and Switzerland's Thomas Flohr. LMP2 saw Signatech Alpine battling back towards the top three, aiming to get ahead of their rivals at TDS Racing. The #28 TDS Racing machine, being driven by the French trio of Francois Perodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere, and Jean-Eric Vergne. As the track begins to dry, we see the Aston Martin factory cars struggling for pace. The Porsche 911 RSR's are working their way back to the sharp end in GTE Pro. The better track conditions are seemingly also benefitting both of the AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE's, of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi, and Sam Bird and Davide Rigon.
Everyone is on slick tires and the track here at Fuji, is showing far more than just a narrow dry line. Pit stop time for Ford and for BMW. The same is true of the aforementioned Ferrari's. Ford shows in the top three in LM GTE Pro with the #67 car of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell. Ferrari leads and are in a hotly contested battle with the #82 BMW M8 GTE of Antonio Felix Da Costa and Tom Blomqvist. Dempsey Proton and Gulf Racing Porsche's along with the TF Sport Aston Martin are ahead in the LM GTE Am category. In GTE Pro, the BMW's began struggling for pace, but the balance was there, see sawing every which way.
There was some contact between the #71 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE and the aforementioned #31 LMP2 car that was the class pole sitter. Both cars consequently had to head for the pit lane with broken suspension. This ruined Ferrari's race in GTE Pro. They were totally out of contention for class honors. One hour of racing, remains, at Fuji Speedway. Porsche leads in both LM GTE Pro with the factory cars, and in LM GTE Am. The race settled down towards the end, and Team Project 1 would earn the accolades in LM GTE Am, winning the class with their #56 Porsche 911 RSR in hands of Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Lindsey, and Egidio Perfetti. Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre are victorious in LM GTE Pro, for the second time in the "Super Season" having teamed with Laurens Vanthoor to win Le Mans with their special tribute to the "Pink Pig" Porsche 917 for that race. Jackie Chan DC Racing goes 1-2 in LMP2, with the #37 car, taking it's first, and the team's third win in the "Super Season". Congratulations to the all Malaysian squad of Jazeman Jaafar, Weiron Tan, and Nabil Jeffri.
Toyota goes on to score their third win of the "Super Season", but, with the sister car, as the #7 TS050 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez, are your overall winners! Toyota wins, at home, at Fuji Speedway! It's fitting, since it is their own track, and they earn the spoils of victory in their own backyard with a 1-2 finish.
Overall/LMP1: #7 Conway/Kobayashi/Lopez Toyota TS050
LMP2: #37 Jaafar/Tan/Jeffri Oreca 07
LM GTE Pro: #92 Christensen/Estre Porsche 911 RSR
LM GTE Am: #56 Bergmeister/Lindsey/Perfetti Porsche 911 RSR
AS amazing as it is to believe, we are halfway through the "Super Season". Four events down, and four still to run before we crown champions at the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans. Round five of the championship, is in a month, the 6 Hours of Shanghai at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China, on the third Sunday in November. Stay tuned for that race. Looking forward to it. Sayonara, for now, everyone.
On a wet track, here in Fuji, we are ready to bring the action. In qualifying, as always, the first cars on track are those from the GT classes, GTE Pro and GTE Am. The track is dry for qualifying. Porsche and Aston Martin would battle in GTE Am. Third quickest in the session was the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche 911 RSR shared by Australian Matt Campbell, Christian Ried of Germany, and Julien Andlauer of France. They looked extremely fast early on, but they were snookered, by of all cars, their team mate. The #88 Dempsey Proton Porsche 911 RSR in the hands of Italian's Matteo Cairoli and Giorgio Roda, sharing this weekend with Japan's Satoshi Hoshino, romped to the top of the tree.
Both factory Aston Martin's were in the top three places in GTE Pro. If you were to look at this as a chocolate cream sandwich cookie, while the Aston Martin's were the cookies, the #82 BMW M8 GTE for BMW Team MTEK, was the cream. This car, with just a two driver lineup for the Fuji race, featuring Tom Blomqvist and Antonio Felix Da Costa, the Briton, and the Portuguese. It was the "Dane Train" Aston Martin, the #95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Niki Thiim and Marco Sorenson who put their car on pole. They claimed the first pole for the brand new Aston Martin Vantage GTE, with it's all new 4.0 liter turbo V8 engine.
Up next, it was time for the Prototype classes to qualify, LMP2 and LMP1. Two battles fought in LMP1. Who would be the better of the Toyota's, and, who would be best of the rest. Second fastest in LMP2 was the all Malaysian Jackie Chan DC Racing entry, car #37 driven by Jazeman Jafaar, Weiron Tan, and Nabil Jeffri. The pole sitting car, would be the DragonSpeed entry, however, the #31 Oreca 07 shared by Roberto Gonzalez, Pastor Maldonado, and Anthony Davidson. In LMP1, we saw late flying laps by both Rebellion cars, putting them squarely on the second row of the grid. The closest challenger to the Toyota duo, will be Neel Jani in the #1 car, as he ran third quickest. Sebastien Buemi was going for pole in Toyota #8, made a mistake, and had to settle for second spot. On pole, is the sister Toyota, #7, of Jose Maria Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi, and Mike Conway.
On to race day. Capacity crowds are here, to cheer on their home favorites, Toyota who start on pole and lock out the front row. Both Toyota's were actually penalized in qualifying. Before the race, we even see our old buddy, jet pack man, whizzing around in mid air on his super hover board, wowing the fans and giving a lot of people the thought, "dude, you have to be plumb crazy to be able to do something like that!" After all the pageantry and festivities before the race, it's now time to get down to business.
It has been drizzling on the grid. The track is soaking, as it's the wettest it's been all weekend here, at Fuji. The cars accelerate away on a very wet track! They started the race and ran the first lap behind the safety car. But now, three minutes in, it's time to turn 'em loose! Red lights, on. Red lights, out, windshield wipers on, and we're away! Kazuki Nakajima and Andre Lotterer lead the field, as Gustavo Menezes wants to go by Lotterer! Andre Lotterer stays on the inside while his team mate Menezes drifts wide. They did their best those two, to avoid any kind of argy bargy. The DragonSpeed car is geting after it early, going by the two SMP Racing LMP1 cars, with Ben Hanley at the wheel of it, sharing with James Allen, the young Australian. So, an Aussie and a Brit are in that car.
Car #7, the Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez was at the back of the field, racing through the spray. GTE Pro was a regular street fight from the word go. Fernando Alonso says, "oh man, this is hot stuff", referring to the racing. That's true, Fernando. The last time he was here, he was winning a Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix. It was, at the front with the Toyota's, but it was really getting tasty in the GTE Pro division in the middle of the field. The manufacturer teams from Ferrari, Ford, BMW, and Porsche were putting on a great show, and the LM GTE Am machines didn't disappoint either.
Although, in the wet, Paul Dalla Lana, the Canadian Aston Martin pilot, got a free ride on the whirligig. He cuts a corner and finds zero grip on the wet curbs. Gustavo Menezes who had his troubles at the very beginning, was not faring too well as Jenson Button, the former Formula 1 World Champion, passed him. Actually, it was both SMP BR01's that mugged Menezes. Button, and Stephane Sarrazin each took a shot at him and got by. In GTE Pro, it was a slug fest between Aston Martin and BMW. Aston Martin had the edge in qualifying, while BMW drew first blood in the race, but then, the Aston's returned with a monstrous right hook.
DragonSpeed meanwhile, gets smoked by the Le Mans winners, the #36 SignaTech Alpine Alpine A470 Gibson in the hands of Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao, and Pierre Thiriet. SMP and Rebellion, too, were scrapping for the position of the best non hybrid LMP1 car, and of course, the only hybrid's are the Toyota's. Pit stops commenced as the weather changed and the rain subsided. Wet tires, or slick tires. Take your pick, but do so, wisely. Meanwhile, one of the SMP cars had no choice but to lose a wheel. The left rear departs company with the car. Well, it has to be said. You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel. Step one. Lose wheel. Step two. Crawl back to pit lane and tell the crew, "I need a new wheel, now, please!"
Toyota #8, the Sebastien Buemi, Fernando Alonso, Kazuki Nakajima car, leads the motor race. The track is still damp. But then, a huge shunt! The #70 MR Racing Ferrari 488 GTE explodes a tire, and it shreds the bodywork to smithereens. The right front tire is gone, and he's running on the rim, as he also decimates one of the DHL sponsorship signboards at the side of the track. This is the car of Olivier Beretta, Eddie Cheever III., and hometown favorite Motoaki Ishikawa. The #70 didn't make it back to pit lane.
The question is, why did this tire fail? A tire will fail at the highest possible revolutions. There's debris everywhere. If people want to pit and take tires, this is the time, the moment to get something done about how a car is handling. We are seeing light rain in the forecast, which throws another spanner into this race, ladies and gentlemen. Looking at the incident again in replay, the right rear tire... boom! It explodes, and shreds itself, and the bodywork on the back of the Ferrari. Motoaki Ishikawa, driving that car, is just a passenger. There's nothing he can do. That's massive damage, and the car will be headed for the garage for quite some time. So, with a colossal debris field out there, it was decided to put the race under full course yellow. The track was cleaned up and the cars, not being able to make service stops however, were led through the pit lane during this time. Pit stops took place after the cleanup, and there was more tire gambling. Which one do you choose? Do you go for full wets, intermediates, or slicks?
Let's clarify. A full wet tire has tread on it to channel water away. An intermediate is also called a "hand cut" tire, where a tire tech takes a hot iron and cuts grooves into what is essentially a slick tire, and of course, a slick tire is the definitive tire for racing with absolutely no tread on it's surface. The answer was, if you were off the road on the wet grass, it didn't matter what kind of grip you got. Gustavo Menezes finds this out, the hard way. He slides, hitting the grass, and at full chat, he slews sideways again, and, wallop! He goes straight into the tire barrier. Big damage to the #3 Rebellion R-One. He had no temperature in the tire, and no grip, and when you don't have those things, well, the tire might as well be a piece of wood rattling around on the back of the stub axle. Menezes' shunt extends the safety car period. As the cars continue behind the safety car, the track surface is beginning to dry.
The Porsche 911 RSR's are languishing down towards the tail of the GTE Pro field and they just don't have the oomph to stay with the Ford's, Aston Martin's, BMW's, and Ferrari's. Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz sharing car #91, and #92 with Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre driving. In the LM GTE Am class, it was the Gulf Racing Porsche 911 RSR, #86, in the lead for a wee while. Michael Wainwright and Ben Barker, sharing this weekend with Austrian Thomas Thomas Preining. Giancarlo Fisichella makes his way by the #86, driving his #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE he shares with fellow Italian Francesco Castellaci, and Switzerland's Thomas Flohr. LMP2 saw Signatech Alpine battling back towards the top three, aiming to get ahead of their rivals at TDS Racing. The #28 TDS Racing machine, being driven by the French trio of Francois Perodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere, and Jean-Eric Vergne. As the track begins to dry, we see the Aston Martin factory cars struggling for pace. The Porsche 911 RSR's are working their way back to the sharp end in GTE Pro. The better track conditions are seemingly also benefitting both of the AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE's, of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi, and Sam Bird and Davide Rigon.
Everyone is on slick tires and the track here at Fuji, is showing far more than just a narrow dry line. Pit stop time for Ford and for BMW. The same is true of the aforementioned Ferrari's. Ford shows in the top three in LM GTE Pro with the #67 car of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell. Ferrari leads and are in a hotly contested battle with the #82 BMW M8 GTE of Antonio Felix Da Costa and Tom Blomqvist. Dempsey Proton and Gulf Racing Porsche's along with the TF Sport Aston Martin are ahead in the LM GTE Am category. In GTE Pro, the BMW's began struggling for pace, but the balance was there, see sawing every which way.
There was some contact between the #71 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE and the aforementioned #31 LMP2 car that was the class pole sitter. Both cars consequently had to head for the pit lane with broken suspension. This ruined Ferrari's race in GTE Pro. They were totally out of contention for class honors. One hour of racing, remains, at Fuji Speedway. Porsche leads in both LM GTE Pro with the factory cars, and in LM GTE Am. The race settled down towards the end, and Team Project 1 would earn the accolades in LM GTE Am, winning the class with their #56 Porsche 911 RSR in hands of Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Lindsey, and Egidio Perfetti. Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre are victorious in LM GTE Pro, for the second time in the "Super Season" having teamed with Laurens Vanthoor to win Le Mans with their special tribute to the "Pink Pig" Porsche 917 for that race. Jackie Chan DC Racing goes 1-2 in LMP2, with the #37 car, taking it's first, and the team's third win in the "Super Season". Congratulations to the all Malaysian squad of Jazeman Jaafar, Weiron Tan, and Nabil Jeffri.
Toyota goes on to score their third win of the "Super Season", but, with the sister car, as the #7 TS050 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez, are your overall winners! Toyota wins, at home, at Fuji Speedway! It's fitting, since it is their own track, and they earn the spoils of victory in their own backyard with a 1-2 finish.
Overall/LMP1: #7 Conway/Kobayashi/Lopez Toyota TS050
LMP2: #37 Jaafar/Tan/Jeffri Oreca 07
LM GTE Pro: #92 Christensen/Estre Porsche 911 RSR
LM GTE Am: #56 Bergmeister/Lindsey/Perfetti Porsche 911 RSR
AS amazing as it is to believe, we are halfway through the "Super Season". Four events down, and four still to run before we crown champions at the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans. Round five of the championship, is in a month, the 6 Hours of Shanghai at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China, on the third Sunday in November. Stay tuned for that race. Looking forward to it. Sayonara, for now, everyone.
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