Vanthoor is sizing up Daniel Serra. Davide Rigon, Sam Bird, and Miguel Molina have almost been walloped with a ten second penalty in the sister #71 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE. Fuel saving and fighting for position, and managing the tires, it is so hard to do. The best drivers can do all three. Egor Orudzhev is in the pit lane for scheduled service. The SMP car did not get the first lap advantage, but they are in better shape than Rebellion in the non hybrid LMP1 class. The Toyota's have been driving defensively, elbows out, and the Rebellion and the BR have been stymied somewhat. The battle is still raging in GTE Pro! Yikes! Daniel Serra dives around Earl Bamber at Indianapolis, and Bamber has to realize discretion is the better part of valor at Arnage. Again, that 4.0 liter flat six Porsche motor is amazing in how it sounds.
Daniel Serra is still being chased by Earl Bamber, who steals a draft off an LMP, look. This GTE Pro scrum is fabulous stuff and so no wonder the director is sticking with this. Just wonderful stuff in GTE Pro. More pit action, as Rebellion is in the lane, and so are others. G-Drive and Alpine are consecutively in the lane once more. This is the lead battle in LMP2. The G-Drive tire carrier almost got clipped by the Alpine! That was close! There was a close shave between United Autosport and one of the other LMP cars, but the GTE Pro battle is still the one we are watching. Fernando Alonso hits the pit lane for another scheduled pit stop. To Alonso, this car has been driving like a pig as of late. 20 years ago, Peter Dumbreck had that horrible back flip in the Mercedes CLR. That is why thr modern LMP cars have cutouts at the top of the fenders.
Toyota #7 in the lane with Kamui Kobayashi still driving. So much for coasting and short shifting in GTE Pro. We've been beating this drum all race so far, but these chaps have really been bringing the action all race so far as we are at the four and a half hour mark now. Poor old Daniel Serra has just been held up like mad by the Corvette of Rockenfeller. Mike Rockenfeller is pushing, though. GTE Pro has freedom to do their own fuel strategy. Last year, they couldn't. It'll make a difference of one less stop during the course of this motor race. Gustavo Menezes is harrying Fernando Alonso, and a close shave there between David Heinemeier Hanson and the Rebellion. The AF Corse Ferrari is gaining strength on the Corvette it seems.
A train of cars benefits the bloke at the back of the train, who is the caboose, the most, and Daniel Serra has had enough of Mike Rockenfeller, and makes a pass, slamming the door directly in his face. Will the Porsche's get a bite of the apple here without it turning sour? Vanthoor is caboose on this train. Ferrari's more or less anonymous during qualifying, and well, being invisible during quali has helped them be front and center in the motor race in GTE Pro. Pit stop time for Bamber in car #93. It's a standard stop as Bamber stays in the car. Refueling and tearing the plastic tear off away from the windscreen to givr Bamber clear vision.
Stoffel Vandoorne is glued to both Romain Rusinov and Nathaniel Berthon. Bamber is back in the race and is cleared by the LMP2 cars. Rockenfeller is content to ride behind Serra at the moment. Stoffel Vandoorne is reeling in Nathaniel Berthon. This is part of the LMP1 battle with the non hybrids as the sister BR1 of Egor Orudzhev is in the lane. Driver cahgne happening, and who now, is into the car? Difficult to tell. Four mechanics, and two wheel rattle guns are allowed in the lane. Wow! The older spec Aston Martin V8 Vantage, has spun way off the road! That's the escape road down to Arnage. Paul Dalla Lana, the Canadian, had that spin, sharing with Portugal's Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda of Austria. We remember Mathias' dad, Niki, the F1 world champ, who died recently.
Pedro Lamy is also an ex F1 driver. Dalla Lana did not spinh into a gravel trap. He does have steering trouble as the #63 Corvette hits the lane. Mike Rockenfeller stays in the car. He ran with Audi here for many years and then, he ran with them in DTM as well. Rockenfeller barged over one of the floppy curbs. Laurens Vanthoor is off the leash, but he has to do it only on his in lap,a dn he's got to box now for fuel. September 1st at Silverstone for the new season, Paul Dalla Lana will have the new Aston Martin, and the Am cars have to be a year old. We are at the end of the same season that we ran Le Mans in last year, book ending the WEC. Ferrari and Porsche both in for scheduled pit stops and so does Nathaniel Berthon in the #3 Rebellion, sharing with Thomas Laurent and Gustavo Menezes.
Ferrari #51 in the lane and so is Porsche #92. But Serra has a slow stop, meaning Vanthoor leapfrogs the Ferrari on the stops. Serra's stop was slow! The Ferrari boys took two left side tires and Vanthoor is being warned that the Ferrari has fresher left side tires. 1.9 seconds covers the top three in GTE Pro right now. Francesco Castellaci has lost it in the left hander in the Porsche Curves. On the inside, it's beige concrete, but on the outside, a real gravel trap. We will need a slow zone after Castellaci rotates on the whirligig. Full Course Yellow, and we have the full track under yellow as the marshals have to dig Castellaci out of the gravel. Romain Rusinov and Pierre Thiriet have both pitted.
They need fuel, right on the edge of fuel capacity. The provision in the rules is emergency service for a splash and a dash on fuel. Castellaci's Ferrari is being craned away after his quick spin into the gravel trap. 12 former winners of Le Mans are here watching the race. Jacky Ickx, Henri Pescarolo, Hurley Haywood, and more. Castellacci in the Ferrari has a flat tire. We're back to green and Daniel Serra has pressure of all kinds from Mike Rockenfeller. The tires have cooled under Full Course Yellow. The Porsche is really quick after the Full Course Yellow's. David Heinemier Hanson is stuck behind Francesco Castellaci, and Heinemeier Hanson will be fuming! He will lose time. Corvette vs. Ferrari, and no dice as Serra slams the door in Rockenfeller's face once again.
I will make the effort to pass me as hard and painful as possible. That's the message. The traction is a net benefit. Balance of Performance is still bugging Aston Martin.
No comments:
Post a Comment