We begin hour three, and the battles remain hot and heavy. To finish first, first you must finish. The old adage is so important here at Le Mans. It is a sprint race, but it's based on stint performance and fuel loads. Race clean. Don't take risks. Jordan King, Matthias Beche, and Paul di Resta are all battling in LMP2. High Class vs. United Autosport vs. Jackie Chan DC Racing. 33 cars have been accepted for the FIA WEC next year, which is actually beginning in September at Silverstone. We will talk about the 2019-2020 season, soon. New regulations include going back to no work on the car during refueling on pit stops, and success ballast just like in GT3 and in the British Touring Car Championship. Jordan King still leads Paul di Resta, and di Resta gets chopped by a slow Porsche. Not sure which one it is.
The gap has opened between the Corvette and Patrick Pilet's Porsche, according to commentators Mark Cole and Damien Faulkner on Eurosport/Motor Trend. Patrick Pilet, as he is driving, is looking 100 meters ahead of him. His movements on the steering wheel and the pedals, are all subconscious. Jan Magnussen has run here for Panoz and for Audi in the past as Michael Christensen is told he is leading the World Championship in GTE Pro, and is the only GTE Pro car double stinting tires. Jonathan Bomarito, Michael Christensen, and Alessandro Pier Guidi are all in a scrap. Tires are being single stinted, and they get cleaned and reheated. Roberto Gonzalez and Stephane Richelmi are battling in LMP2. DragonSpeed vs. Jackie Chan DC Racing.
There's a lot of manufacturer interest for Hypercar. Aston Martin expects to sell cars to private teams, and we see the #1 Rebellion had spun a short time ago. Was that the #1 car, or the #3? It is either Gustavo Menezes or Bruno Senna. Ah. Thankfully, the DragonSpeed car is back on track, and for now, the smoke is gone. With Hypercar, R Motorsport will be the first customer for the new Aston Martin Valkyrie. Hughes de Chaunac at Oreca, is going to build a hypercar, but he wants a mnaufacturer. Toyota will be racing a prototype hypercar. ByKolles, Porsche, McLaren, and Glickenhaus have also expressed interest. This is very encouraging for the future of the FIA WEC and Le Mans, too.
Back in the 1980s, there were seven brands during the Group C era. Ford, Ferrari, two Porsche's and another Ferrari, are all scrapping in GTE Pro. Richard Lietz and Michael Christensen are going for it. What are the team orders? Don't hit each other, whatever you do! Richard Lietz wants it, but he just can't take risks. The team manager will box your ears if you trade paint. Dempsey Proton leads Keating Motorsports in GTE Am by 25 seconds. Euan Hankey has third place in GTE Am in the Aston Martin, the #90 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GTE. The Englishman shares with Charlie Eastwood from Ireland, and Salih Yoluc from Turkey. Ah. We've seen pit stops for LMP2 including the #36 SignaTech Alpine, Nico Lapierre, Andre Negrao, and Pierre Thiriet.
One of the Rebellion's is in the garage. #1 is in dire straits again, in the garage with mechanical woes. The #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing car has also made it's pit stop. David Heinemeier Hanson of Denmark, sharing with Jordan King from England, and Ricky Taylor from the United States, who drives the Oreca built Penske Acura in IMSA in the U.S. The Rebellion is wheeled back out on track and he'll keep going. Patrick Pilet has very nearly caught Jan Magnussen. Toyota #8 is in the lane. Fernando Alonso gets into the car, not where he wants to be at this moment. He's back on track, cinching up the seatbelts as the car is launched on it's hybrid electric motors.
There was an idea of doing one kilometer of driving on hybrid electric power, but it has been cancelled, because Hypercar won't require mandatory hybrid systems. It will be available, but, it won't be required. Toyota #7 is in the lane, and there's a new driver going into the car. Is it Jose Maria Lopez or Kamui Kobayashi? Most cars are now left hand drive so as to not interfere with refueling during the driver change. The great Porsche 956 and 962, those cars were right hand drive. What will be done at Interlagos when they go there next year? That's a counterclockwise track. Some other changes will be four and eight hour races instead of just six hour races. It is virtually impossible to have a Le Mans sans a safety car.
There will be 65 cars able to start this race in the future. We have 61 now of course. We could negate the safety car because of the Full Course Yellow routine. The safety car regs have always been a bugaboo. Track conditions and grip will evolve providing that we have no rain in the race, but we've had a lot of rain during practice and qualifying. The balance of the car has to work out so the car isn't understeering or oversteering too much, either way. Team Manager of the #4 car to Race Control, immediately. That's the ByKolles C1/01 LMP1 car.
Jonathan Bomarito is closing up on James Calado in GTE Pro and a spin for Richard Westbrook in Porsche Curves in the #69 Gulf liveried Ford GT for the car that won 50 years ago with Jacky Ickx and Jackie OIliver, and we have a Full Course Yellow on the speedway. Westbrook may have pitched the tires and spun, thankfully not hitting anything. The marshals may be picking up tire debris out there. The #29 Racing Team Nederland car lost a tire and some bodywork there. The yellows are out for the Jumbo Supermarkets car. Frits van Eerd, Nyck De Vries, and Giedo van der Garde. Nyck De Vries is at the wheel of the Jumbo car right now.
Corvette #63 is in the pit lane for scheduled service. Westbrook spun the car, and he was behind another GTE car that was committed to the corner. Jan Lammers raced the Jumbo Supermarkets car in his final Le Mans, last year. Full Course Yellow. But now, we are back to green flag. Now, AF Corse, they may have changed tires, and if they have, they're in the pound seats. Westbrook is going to need new boots, having Fred Flintstoned the car. He'll be handing the automobile to Barney Rubble. No. Just kidding! Westbrook is sharing with Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon. The Full Course Yellow is again, under investigation. The TF Sport Aston Martin, threads the needle. The attrition rate has been way down so far.
All 61 cars are still in the race. We don't want to pull the market of doom out of it's drawer yet. The Sharpie of doom. Joey Hand, Richard Lietz, and Sam Bird are all scrapping, and one of the Corvette's is flying as well. Sam Bird is alongside, monstrering Richard Lietz, and he makes the move! Well done, lad. Joey Hand, Sam Bird, and Richard Lietz, are all flying, and Lietz continues. It was Patrick Pilet in one of the other cars making a stop. Actually, it's Laurens Vanthoor. Unsafe pit release for the #67 Ford. Yikes! We are losing Ford and BMW in WEC. They've decided to commit to Formula E. A 30 second stop.go for the #20 LMP2 car, speeding under FCY. That's the Danish High Class Racing Oreca, with Mathias Beche at the wheel, sharing with Dennis Andersen and Anders Fjordbach.
AF Corse #51 is in the lane. James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and Daniel Serra. The balance of the car shifts tons from stint to stint here at Le Mans. Good scrap in LMP2 as we watch Roberto Gonzalez being chased by Jordan King. GTE Pro is really close, with just tenths of seconds between the cars. Speed down the Mulsanne straight, sneeze, and lose spots hand over fist. King vs. Gonzalez on the Mulsanne straight, and into the chicane at Mulsanne, and King forces Gonzalez wide! Jeepers! That was good stuff! Look in your mirrors as much as possible. That's the key. 3/4 of your vision is consumed by the fenders.
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