Ten minutes into the eighth hour. Alex Brundle is chasing Matthieu Vaxiviere in LMP2. A major battle is on in this class. Jose Maria Lopez went wide and went across the gravel trap. They are now four seconds behind the #8 sister car. Kazuki Nakajima leads this motor race as it's pit stop time for the #92 Porsche 911 RSR with Kevin Estre staying at the wheel, and the sole remaining #63 Corvette is in the lane as well. The air temperature, the ambient, has become pretty chilly. Fears were that rain would really impede this race, but it hasn't so far. Again, the #64 Corvette, it's game over for them after the accident earlier and the #63 is the sole remaining bullet in the gun for Corvette Racing. GTE Pro has been wicked so far. The Ford teams are still hanging in there as well. Full Course Yellow. There's an incident on the road, someplace. Pit lane remains open under Full Course Yellow.
Toyota #7 has a braking issue. He's gone into the gravel, twice. But, the Full Course Yellow may be due to fluid on the road? That's a possibility. Green flag. Yellow is cleared up. Everything is bunched up thanks to these yellow flag intervals. Jose Maria Lopez is 4.3 seconds in-arrears of the #8. Antonio Garcia is chasing Harry Tincknell, in a big battle for fourth in class. LMP2 is back in action, look, as Jean Eric Vergne is chasing Andre Negrao, rather, I think it's the other way 'round. Anthony Davidson for DragonSpeed has closed up, but he isn't catching these other two. Ricky Taylor has control of the Jackie Chan DC Racing car #37. G-Drive and Signatech, have been glued together on the stops, and it's so true. They are still at it. The lane is really busy, and the G-Drive car had to be put on dollies to be reversed! Goodness! They didn't have the room to maneuver in the lane!
Nicolas Lapierre lost loads of time doing a driver change. G-Drive celebrates a clean pit stop. Has Lopez been dinged for track limits? Well, Lopez is fed up with his team mate. Calm down, Lopez is told by his engineer. Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich, when he ran the Audi Sport team, used to give drivers candies to calm their nerves. Maybe some of those sweets are needed now. There is a concert tonight, but we don't know who is playing. Earth, Wind, & Fire played a gig at Le Mans some years ago. Gianmaria Bruni is chasing Davide Rigon in GTE Pro down the Mulsanne in the darkness. Alessnadro Pier Guidi has gone around Harry Tincknell. Ford vs. Ferrari. Old memories of the '60s. That movie, will be out in November. Looking forward to it.
The AF Corse Ferrari is still out there, and here comes Toyota #8 into the lane. Nose change for Toyota, for their night headlights. Maybe they are adjusting for the darkness. Even as slippery as the Ford is aerodynamically, the V8 turbo Ferrari will have more oomph than will the turbo V6 Ford. It's pitch dark at Le Mans now. They sweep through the double left handers in the Porsche Curves. Pit stop time for the #11 SMP Racing BR01. New tires, fuel, and a driver change for that car. Concert time, and the band could be a different one than mentioned earlier. It could be a band called The Stranglers. Toyota #7 in the pit lane. Toyota #8 has been through four noses. Alonso is still upset, and maybe, so is one of the drivers in #7.
Is their smoke emanating from one of the Toyota's? Maybe it is just an illusion. The duel is between Kazuki Nakajima and Jose Maria "Pechito" Lopez. There is another yellow flag, and Pedro Lamy in the #98 Aston Martin has smashed the wall it seems. Aston Martin is having a fraught race so far. Pedro Lamy has binned it on his outlap. 60 cars still in the race after Marcel Fassler had a donut, and a donut is a fully damaged car looking for an insurance claim. Game over. There is moisture, humidity, mist in the air right now. Nakajima leads Lopez by half a second. There might be smoke coming out of the Toyota. There is a wooden plank for legality for ride height, under the car. Is that plank wearing away?
Night at Le Mans is absolutely fantastic. In the old days, 24 hour races were engineering test, on public roads, point to point in cars. Gordon Bennett, a newspaperman was instrumental in getting endurance road racing started. All the cars were painted in colors of the nations they came from. The BMW M8 is in the pit lane, and so is the #66 Ford GT. Ford and BMW, sadly, will not be in the WEC next year. Amazingly, BMW has found more pace than they had last year. It is sad to think that gorgeous BMW M8 won't be racing. That's a very pretty race car despite it's size being larger. Alessandro Pier Guidi is pressing the Porsche, which is in the lane, with Gianmaria Bruni at the wheel of it. So many nose changes are happening, either to fix noses, splitters, and headlights, or, it is balance changes in the cars.
Different downforce trims help. Toyota #7 is having trouble it seems, with the braking system. Jose Maria Lopez could be having brake issues. LMP2 stays as is, the top class will be addressed by the new Hypercar idea. The rule of three drivers has been around for a good while. Nico Lapierre in the pit lane for LMP2. Lapierre is being servived, and Jean Eric Vergne has exited the pit lane. The gap has ballooned to a few seconds. But. the gap may close if there is a safety car or a slow zone. Franz Ferdinand is the band playing the concert here at Le Mans. GTE Pro is bringing the action. Kevin Estre battles Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Garcia. Jean Eric Vergne is pressing on in G-Drive car.
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