Problems for the #7 Toyota, perhaps. What could the matter be? Pit stop time for the #32 United Autosports car, the Brundle/Cullen/Owen machine. That car had lost it's rear deck lid which flew off the car, and was retrieved by a marshal. Will Stevens is being chased by Jean-Eric Vergne. Not everything is set in stone in this motor race just yet. We are down to four hours and 45 minutes remaining as Will Stevens is still being harried by Jean Eric Vergne, both of these blokes used to race in Formula 1. Vergne had a heat soak incident on the car and it wouldn't start. Ho-Pin Tung hits the lane for service. There is a driver change. There is a nose change happening on the #38 car as well to adjust the balance on the car.
Again, we had a relatively low attrition rate, of 11 cars. 50 cars still remain in the motor race./ Jean Eric Vergne is throwing caution to the wind, as the #3 Rebellion car is boxed in the garage with Nathaniel Berthon at the wheel of it. Sebastien Buemi is just a minute and 48 seconds down on Mike Conway. The gap is narrowing. Fatigue is really beginning to set in at this point in the race. These next four hours will also tell us if the cars are going to last in terms of mechanical things, or crash avoidance. Stephane Richelmi is 15 laps down to the leaders. FAernando Alonso has been for the espressos and too bad they can't put espresso in the petrol tank of Toyota #8. They're not easing off, but, if you change your rhythm, it fcan be disastrous. Muscle memory, and driving flat out, those ideas go hand in hand. Adjusting into cruise mode, you get distracted. It's all about muscle memory to avoid mistakes. Now, the #3 Rebellion is back on track, but they've been demoted by the leading LMP2 car or so it seems.
SignaTech Alpine are ready for Ncio Lapierre and pit stop time for the #63 Corvette, so the #51 AF Corse Ferrari will inherit the lead in LM GTE Pro, and the #77 Porsche 911 RSR is back into the lead in LM GTE Am. Julien Andlauer, the Frenchman, is in the car. LMP2 cars are mixing it with LMP1's,. Charlie Eastwood is fastest in GTE Am in 13th in class. Good onya' TF Sport! GTE Pro sees many cars all on the same lap. Four and a half hours left. Loic Duval has Filipe Albuquerque following, but Albuquerque is down the order. Nicolas Lapierre is a lap up on Stephane Richelmi, who, in turn is being pressed by Loic Duval and the #3 Rebellion dives inside and goes wide as the #8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi, is going to go in full attack mode against the team car.
The attendance numbers are well down, because of the gloomy weather forecast. Sebastien Buemi is running three or so minutes behind Mike Conway. Car #54 has had 3:08 added and a load of laps deleted from it's lap count. That's the Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE with Giancarlo Fisichella at the wheel of it. Car #57 has had 1:38 added for exceeding the driving time. That's the Car Guy Racing Ferrari 488 GTE. Toyota #7 has been running absolutely flawlessly. Within the regulations, there are limits for how long drivers can spend at the wheel. Two cars dinged for this, the Giancarlo Fisichella Spirit of Race Ferrari, having four laps deleted from it's total; lap count, and problems for Inter Europol and Nigel Moore at the wheel of it. That Ligier is being torn up. He's got four miles to go.
Toyota #7 in the lane, fellas. What's the plan? Brand new tires for the #7 Toyota. Nigel Moore is making sure to get the Inter Europol car back slowly to the pit lane. Mikhail Aleshin has the #11 SMP Racing machine in the pit lane as well. Sebastien Buemi is kicking down the door and inviting himself to the party. The mechanic as the #85 Ford GT came in for service, lost a wheel nut off of a cable tie that is fastened to his overalls. Felipe Fraga is one lap up on Wei Lu in the JMW Ferrari. The #68 Ford GT runs wide, kicking up those sharp, stone like pebbles, the gravel in the gravel trap on the side of the road.
1:54 separates the two Toyota's. Alessandro Pier Guidi brings the #51 AF Corse Ferrari to pit lane, and here comes Antonio Garcia in the #63 Corvette which vaults to the lead in GTE Pro. Ferrari was moderately anonymous in qualifying. The Ferrari is a very balanced car. Porsche's used to be very specialized. It is a technique you develop with a Porsche, but the balance of the Ferrari is better, and it's easierr to take a car like that, to the limit. We are almost through 20 hours of the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans. Coming up on four hours to go.
Nico Lapierre leads Stephane Richelmi by a lap. The maximum permitted driving time, no driver can race for more than four hours in a period of six hours, and you cannot drive more than 14 hours in total. In LM GTE Pro, there is no regulated drive time, but there is for the LM GTE Am class. Four hours and five minutes left. We will be coming up to the end of the current hour and preparing to close in on the final hours of the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans before the "Super Season" ends. Rebellion have gotten noticed, but, they have had a real bad race. The drivers continue to recycle their rotation. A quick nap can really rejuvenate a driver.
Felipe Fraga is finding two seconds on the rest of the GTE Am field. That Keating car is quick, but Ben Keating still has three hours of drive time to accomplish. He will have to take the reins, soon.
Keating is very capable.
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