For the first time, since 2013, the FIA World Endurance Championship comes to Sebring International Raceway, for the 1,000 Miles of Sebring as a round of their "Super Season" and a precursor to the IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring, running it's 67th renewal, tomorrow. On pole, as they have been for all of the "super season" races, so far, is Toyota, and the #8 TS050 in the hands of Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, and Fernando Alonso. Once again, this track is a former WW. II. bomber base. It is steaming hot outside, as well as having a chance for rain. We have eight hours of racing, ahead of us.
Allan McNish is the Grand Marshal, and he is here, ready to go. There is a record crowd for this race. The fans are crowded on the circuit. Records were broken, if you were with us for qualifying last night. Porsche #77 and dempsey Proton on pole in GTE Am. In GTE Pro it was a battle between Ford and Aston Martin. One of two Aston Martin's made it into the session, but it was Porsche, Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre taking pole. In LMP2, the Michelin/Dunlop tire battle was on. Jackie Chan DC Racing, car #38 of Gabriel Aubry and Stephane Richelmi, scored pole. LMP1 honors, went again, to Toyota, and the trio of Fernando Alonso, Kazuki Nakajima, and Sebastien Buemi.
The atmosphere here at Sebring, is an otherworldly experience. Corvette Racing, has an entry for another one off race as they did in Shanghai, China, last time out, a race that yours truly will post, in the place where it took place, last November. Ford has two cars here, and two in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Ford is chasing down Porsche in GTE Pro, for points. The sister car #67, is also ready to go. This track is so, so bumpy. IMSA, the FIA, and the ACO remember Formula 1 Race Director Charlie Whiting, who passed away suddenly, this week. The American flag and the green flag, are being dropped in by parachute.
There's 140 cars between the IMSA cars and the FIA WEC cars. We've heard "The Star Spangled Banner", and now, it is time, for this motor race, to get underway. Gerard Neveu and Scott Atherton are on the grid, and we are ready to clear the grid. Sebring was the venue for the first FIA WEC race, and the first American Le Mans Series race, in 1999, 20 years ago this weekend. Sebring, is part of the Holy Trinity of sports car racing, along with Daytona and Le Mans. Clearwater Racing's Matt Griffin won't race today, but he is in the broadcast booth with commentators Martin Haven and Graeme Goodwin.
8 hours, 268 laps, 1,000 miles. Any of those times, and distances, will be acceptable as we are getting closer to the start. The herringbone formation is still on the grid, and the WEC pit lane is here, on the back straight, not on the front straight where the IMSA cars are for tomorrow. One minute to the race start. BMW is finding their suspension gives them a lot of confidence coming into this motor race. They've done a full season of IMSA with the M8 as well. Start clearing the grid. It's time! Gentlemen, start your engines! 30 second board, on the grid. The Porsche safety car leads the formation lap as Allan McNish waves the green flag.
No need for gaps. Catch up to the pole sitter, to the safety car, boys. Organize the cars on the back straight. Each Toyota has two wins apiece. Rebellion has won one race, after Toyota got booted at Silverstone. OK. Cinch down the belts. It's time to race. The safety car is going to pull off, and we're underway! Sebastien Buemi leads Thomas Laurent. Augusto Farfus is leading LM GTE Pro at the moment. It is a clean start. The track is six kilometers, 3.74 miles. We've got some dandy battling at the moment here, chaps. Toyota's are already pulling away, look. Nyck de Vries, meanwhile, the Dutchman, is moving up through the field quickly. Porsche #92 leads Ford #67 in GTE Pro.
The #63 Corvette of Antonio Garcia wants by Stefan Mucke. Alex Lynn is moving up in GTE Pro as well, and they had a steering wheel issue in qualifying last night. You can only pass a GTE car in certain places on this circuit. #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing is second, and third, Signatech Alpine. Drive to the tire. Don't slide the tires too much, boys. You are sliding the car, and torturing your tires. Don't do that. The track temperature is 56 degrees Celsius as DragonSpeed passes Rebellion. Ben Hanley passing Bruno Senna as Ho-Pin Tung has the door slammed in his face by the Alpine. Porsche leads Ford in GTE Pro. Two late starters, Neck de Vries and Alex Lynn, are catching up. 1:42.8, a new lap record as sebastien Buemi leads this motor race.
The lap record, is still held by the 2009 Peugeot 908 HDI FAP, driven at that time, a decade ago, by Sebastien Bourdais, in the diesel days. The Aston Martin has passed both Dempsey Proton Porsche's in GTE Am. The gentleman drivers are starting in daylight, and the more experienced blokes will be better in the darkness, later on, as we get to the end of this motor race. Pit work now for the #1 Rebellion as the engine cover comes off. Bruno Senna at the wheel of it, and that's not good. Ooh. some argy bargy, look, between Stefan Mucke and Antonio Garcia! Dear me! That was close! The lead battle in GTE Am is the #56 Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR, of Egidio Perfetti, a backup car, as their main car was destroyed in a fire during the test session for this race, last week.
The gearbox maybe is having issues. it's a software glitch, it seems, for the Rebellion racer. All the LMP2 cars are on the limit with their suspension damping. Ho-Pin Tung has a tire issue it seems. It's Aston Martin vs. Ferrari through Sunset Bend, look. Vitaly Petrov and Ben Hanley are in their own battle as Nicki Thiim passes James Calado. Kevin Estre still leads Harry Tincknell in GTE Pro. Bruno senna is now back into the race, but he's lost five laps. Any repairs behind the wall should be avoided since this an American style pit lane, with separate garages and not like in Europe with the pit and garage in the same place.
The #38 Ho Pin Tung, pits. Alex Lynn is about to pass Davide Rigon sharing with Sam Bird, and Lynn makes the pass. The Ferrari has to play the long game right now, but they could get quicker. They did in the opening events of the Super Season, last year, in 2018. At dusk, Ferrari could come back. Porsche's are renowned for traction, and so, they are especially good over the bumps at the moment. Porsche leads GTE Pro and GTE Am. The factory car, and then, the Project 1 car. Toyota's are running three seconds apart. Jose Maria Lopez is quick on clear track, but slower than Sebastien Buemi in traffic.
Dempsey Proton swaps spots. Is that by design? Hmmm. SMP and DragonSpeed are still battling in their BR01 prototypes. Ben Hanley is using less road than is Vitaly Petrov at the moment. Hanley is thinking, "come on, Vitaly. Move over, please." Jose Maria Lopez is having some trouble in traffic as Anthony davidson hits pit lane. This is early on, 14 laps into the motor race. Make that, 15, for routine service. Neck de Vries has moved to 4th spot in LMP2 in the North American debut of the Dallara LMP2 car, although the IMSA Cadillac is also running a Dallara chassis.
Antonio Garcia is catching Augusto Farfus. check that. Garcia has passed Martin Tomczyk and Stefan Mucke in the Ford. Harry Tincknell and Andy Priaulx are second. Billy Johnson and Jonathan Bomarito are the two third drivers this weekend. Bomarito is Tincknell's co-driver at Mazda in IMSA. He has fit in very well in the Ford GT. Bruno Spengler and Alexander Sims are the third drivers for BMW in the MTEK M8 cars. Pastor Maldonado says that the tires are the problem for the #31 Dragonspeed machine as the #38 car is in the lane for service, look. Perfetti and Lauda continue their battle in GTE Am. No further action on investigating the race start, by the stewards.
Antonio Garcia has left the door open for Stefan Mucke, and the BMW says "I'll take some of that, too", and Martin Tomczyk also gets a bite of the cherry in that scrap, look. Michelin is supplying a different tire to GTE Pro compared to the GT tires in IMSA for the 12 Hours tomorrow. The Porsche seems to be easier to drive and control at this stage, as we see Henrik Hedman taking over from Ben Hanley in the #10 DragonSpeed BR01. Ho Pin Tung is back in the motor race after a vibration problem on the car.
Toyota #7 is in the lane, too. Quite the ding dong battle in GTE Pro. Corvette vs. Porsche vs. Aston Martin. Aston is now the bread, the bun, and Porsche, is the sausage with extra mustard, look. The clouds have come, and the overcast skies tell us the track temperature is dropping, it is fluctuating, and that will affect tires later in the race. Pit stop time for sebastien Buemi in Toyota #8. Ford vs. BMW in the twisty bits. Martin Tomczyk has some argy bargy, look, with the Ford GT of Stefan Mucke. Gently, boys. Estre, Tincknell, and Farfus, they are flying at the head of the GTE Pro field.
Still work going on on the #38 car. Ho-Pin Tung is caboose on the field at the moment. It seems to be an electrical issue, looking at the coil packs and the engine. Gustavo Menezes and Stephane Sarrazin battle for third in LMP1 for the best non-hybrid runner. 1:56 is the lap time range for these cars at this stage. Corvette is having issues with the balance of the car, according to Jan Magnussen. Tire warmers are allowed here in WEC, but not in IMSA for tomorrow's race. As the track cools, there should be more traction. Heating or not heating tires, doesn't affect how they blister or they don't blister.
It is too hot for softs at the start. Wait until the evening to change compounds based upon the track temperature. #67 runs wide in turn five, and he gets snookered by the BMW. No grip on the tires. The gap is still two seconds with the Porsche leading GTE Pro. Bruno Spengler is suiting up to get ready for his stint. What parts are being repaired on the #38 car? We'll need to find out. Maybe the battery is going flat, or there is a misfire. The weather patterns tell us, that there's lots of rain to the south of us. The rain will come, between 6PM and 7PM. So, we could be in for wet racing later on today.
Stephane Sarrazin is inching away from the Rebellion at the moment. We are watching that battle, having completed 29 of 268 laps. Neck de Vries started stone last, and he got snookered behind a Porsche! Yikes! He is chasing pierre thicket, and the Porsche was not aware of the LMP2 car on his outside! Yikes! Egidio Perfetti had to hang on tight there. Augusto Farfus catches the Porsche and makes the pass on Kevin Estre. BMW gets better the longer the stint goes, RE: their tires. Jackie Chan DC Racing are still tracing their problems. This battle is more difficult for the Porsche with less straight line speed than the BMW M8 GT has. Whoops! Giorgio Roda runs wide and spins off the road, look. He locked the brakes, turning left, and didn't settle the car before going back to the right, changing direction.
Traffic is a bugaboo right now. The GTE Am cars are a year old, but they are the basic spec of the new cars as James Calado hits pit lane for service in his Ferrari. This is a decent old scrap on the in lap. Harry Tincknell should stop, and give the wheel to Andy Priaulx. Porsche's drivers are suited and booted for the race as well. We are close to the first round of pit stops for GTE Pro. Farfus and Estre stay out. Tincknell, tomczyk, and Mucke are all in the lane, and so is Matthias Lauda. The old spec Aston Martin is a thirsty motorcar. Paul Dalla Lana at the wheel of it. BMW has been leapfrogged by Ford, look.
Nicky Catsburg, Billy Johnson, and Andy Priaulx have taken over their respective cars while Bruno Senna pits the #1 Rebellion and goes back out. Dempsey Proton and TF Sport pit and so does the #92 Porsche, #82 BMW, and the #88 Porsche. Factory Porsche, factory BMW, and Dempsey Proton Am Porsche. Alex Lynn pits Aston Martin #97 and we'll see who gets back into the car on the driver change. Augusto Farfus will hand over to Bruno Spengler. Julien Andlauer and Matteo Cairoli are now in the Dempsey Proton cars. The two gentleman drivers are having a good battle as they survive this race in order to win it.
That's the story of endurance racing as Andy Priaulx takes the lead in GTE Pro.
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