More battling in GTE Pro. The procedure of the Full Course Yellow is under investigation. The GTE Pro battle still rages. Antonio Garcia being harried by Michael Christensen, driver two in Porsche #91. Garcia has to go defensive. Nick Tandy is closing up on Christensen and Garcia. The #17 SMP Racing BR1 is in the pit lane. A nose change for improving aerodynamics, or maybe there was damage. Breaking a dive plane is a real possibility over the floppies, the curbs at the side of the road. #17 has Egor Orudzhev of Russia, countryman Sergey Sirotkin, and Frenchman Stephane Sarrazin, sharing the automobile. Mike Conway was dinged by the stewards on Wednesday that we saw in the news highlights, and the FIA is watching him to make sure he doesn't make that same transgression again.
What a great start to this race. Toyota #7 pits again, from the lead. #8 has just pitted as well. Mike Conway stays in the car. Conway leads, but he has to be careful as we said above. Michael Christensen and Nick Tandy continue their battle. The Porsche's continue to chase Antonio Garcia in the Corvette. Aston Martin seem to be going backwards and there's near contact in LMP2 between Anthony Davidson and Nyck de Vries. DragonSpeed vs. Racing Team Nederland. Davidson is passed by one of the LMP1 cars. Other people are having their own battles, and they won't yield to you. Be careful out there. Toni Vilander is chasing Jeroen Bleekemolen in GTE Am. WeatherTech Ferrari vs. Keating Ford GT. We will have the up all night club, a bit later on. Full race coverage will continue tonight, on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog. Wall to wall coverage, was promised, and well, that's exactly what you are getting, fans.
Hydrogen fuel is the way of the future. We'll talk about that idea, later. We have the petrol/electric hybrid cars with the Toyota's right now, but, alternative fuel technology is making inroads not only at Le Mans, but in all sorts of racing. Goodyear is going to come into GT racing, and return actually, to LMP2 believe it or not. Goodyear and Dunlop are under the same company, but, it will be Goodyear coming into FIA WEC, soon. Good battle here, look, for LMP2 cars #25 and #48. IDEC Sport vs. Algarve Pro Racing. Paul-Loup Chatin and Paul Lafargue of France, sharing with Memo Rojas of Mexico, for IDEC. John Falb of the United States, and Frenchmen Andrea Pizzitola and David Zollinger, share the Portuguese Oreca Gibson.
GTE Pro is still hot and heavy. Ford, Ferrari, Corvette, Aston Martin, all in contention. Local yellow flag, someplace. But it is short. Now, Alessandro Pier Guidi has cut the fastest lap in GTE Pro at 3:51 and change. But, Ferrari might be coming into their own here in GTE Pro against their rivals. It is still going on. What a frantic pace! Matteo Cairoli has yet another issue in the #88 Dempsey Proton Porsche. We don't know why he spun off the road. He was in the gravel, and he's crawling. Debris on the road at Marshal Post 15. Something else has fallen off that automobile. The right front of the car, is cattywampus. Pit stop time again for Stephane Sarrazin in the #17 SMP machine. Satoshi Hoshino is not related to Kazuyoshi Hoshino, another driver who has raced at Le Mans. Satoshi Hoshino has run in Super GT and Blancpain GT Asia this year as well.
Something happened between the chicanes on the Mulsanne. Full Course Yellow for debris. #88 has lost a headlight, and they are throwing everyone at it in the garage, and a punctured tire for the #70 MR Racing Ferrari with Eddie Cheever III. at the wheel of it. His dad, Eddie Cheever Jr., drove the Silk Cut Jaguar for Tom Walkinshaw, back in the 1980s, something you have read about if you have seen the blog I have written about Group C Racing. Fortunately, this tire has not delaminated and become a flailing hazard, tearing the bodywork to shreds. The fight rages as we are back under green.
The loose headlight from the Dempsey Proton Porsche, has been cleaned up. Through Indianapolis, into Arnage again. Le Mans has it all, but it is such a long track, that it is really hard to learn for a driver. BMW in the lane, Corvette, Ferrari, and Ford, in the lane, and so too, LMP2 cars. 60 kilometers an hour is the pit lane speed limit. That's 37 miles an hour. BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, United Autosport, it's become the M25 motorway in England here. Only three drivers are allowed here at Le Mans. It is good that the teams can fuel the cars and change tires at the same time now. Alessandro Pier Guidi is chasing Harry Tincknell still, in GTE Pro. 48, 56, 60, 60. These are the tire allocations per class. So, you can do the math to find out how many sets everyone has. Four tire changes are quite common at Le Mans, and the tires are heated in a makeshift oven.
Ford #67 and Ferrari #51 in the lane. Driver change for the #67 Ford GT. Again, this is just like the M25 motorway encircling greater London, England. Sebastien Buemi is triple stinting aboard the #8 Toyota. At night, they will quadruple stint. Matthieu Jaminet has not stopped yet. Jan Magnussen and Patrick Pilet are battling in LM GTE Pro. Corvette vs. Porsche. Porsche #94 has yet to pit for a second time. Porsche #93 in the lane, too, and a penalty for the #10 DragonSpeed LMP1 car, for exceeding their fuel allotment on a stint. The team of Ben Hanley from England, Henrik Hedman from Sweden, and Renger van der Zande from Holland, are on the back foot.
Jan Magnussen is running his 21st Le Mans, and his 20th with Corvette. The privateer Keating Motorsports Ford GT is third in GTE Am. They got a Balance of Performance break, as the car lost ten kilos. Patrick Pilet, has his eyes on Jan Magnussen. Derek and Justin Bell almost won along with Andy Wallace, nearly won in 1995, but it was J.J. Lehto, Masanori Sekiya, and Yannick Dalmas, and both teams were racing the great McLaren F1. In GTE Pro, both Ford and Porsche, they run their cars in the spirit of the rules, but they are not quite traditional GT cars. The new Porsche 911 RSR 19, is being released next month at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Porsche have said they are interested in the new Hypercar category.
McLaren is also thinking about it. Stay tuned for more discussion about Hypercar, tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment