Oliver Jarvis continues to push with the Nissan. 129 laps on the board, 368 miles. Oliver Jarvis is running in the better of the two KCMG Nissan GT-R's so far. Nick Tandy has recorded a lap of 1:30.876 as Dries Vanthoor goes off the road. The Lumirank is out of kilter due to Hugo de Sadeleer having transponder issues on the Aston Martin. de Sadeleer has buckets of straight line speed, though. Slow motion shots through Crocodile look really cool, but there's tons of dust being kicked up. Maxime Soulet in the #107 Bentley is warned for track limits since the reset. Christian Krognes hits the pit lane from second spot. Nick Tandy can now chase down Michael Christensen in a fair fight.
Dust on track at Barbecue Bend. Now, double stinting for the tires for the Walkenhorst BMW. The #22 Rinaldi Ferrari is a lap adrift, but it is a car we have not seen. WTM Racing powered by Rinaldi with South African David Perel in his home race, and German drivers Jochen Krumbach and Leonard Weiss. We see cars continually running wide at Cheetah corner. The team manager of the #62 R-Motorsport Aston is being summoned to the stewards for stint time violation. Nick Tandy bounding over the curbs. That sausage curb at Sunset is where that was. Tim Torsten Muller had to do a Control, Alt, Delete and restart the #40 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes AMG GT3, sharing with fellow German Valentin Pierburg and Portugal's Miguel Ramos.
Pit stop time for the Dinamic Porsche and the Schnitzer BMW. In the manufacturer's cup, Porsche may beat Mercedes. They are ahead, at 136 points over 129 points for Mercedes. Both Porsche's from the lead have spun! Michael Christensen was tagged by Nick Tandy, and both of those blokes rotated! That was an avoidable fracas. Is there damage to the diffuser on Christensen's car? There is some damage to Tandy. Christensen slows, Tandy clsoes up, tags Christensen, and they both rotated. Tandy did not slow down enough. Dries Vanthoor and Hugo de Sadeller scrap through Sunset. Vanthoor is not close enough and de Sadeleer stays ahead as Oliver Jarvis is monstering Markus Winkelhock through Barbecue!
Winkelhock tried into Sunset and couldn't quite make it. More action as Markus Winkelhock is being monstered by the Nissan and Christensen and Tandy are both in the lane at lap 136. 388 miles done and dusted. Oliver Jarvis now has managed to pass Dries Vanthoor. Vanthoor just can't make it work. New boots on the #31 Porsche. That incident, between #20 and #31 is under investigation by the stewards. This is very similar to the Vettel and Leclerc scrape up in the F1 race in Brazil last weekend. Tandy has lost time after going dancing with Michael Christensen. Michael Vergers is the driving standards advisor, a former sports car and open wheel racer from England.
Ricky Collard, his stint aboard the #62 Aston Martin was being looked at. Yelmer Buurman is still at the wheel of the #10 Mercedes now in the lead. Luca Stolz has not taken the controls of that car yet, and maybe is reserved if there's rain in our future. It does not look like it now. We've got four hours and 41 minutes to go. Markus Winkelhock goes off the road and back on through Sunset. He was way wide in the dirt on the outside of Sunset there. He's a lucky chap as the barrier is moved back from where it used to be years and years ago. Dries Vanthoor is now at the wheel of the #25 WRT Audi. Dennis Olsen may be in the Frikadelli #31 Porsche. Dennis Olsen is now 13th overall, and Olsen will have to take a penalty. He will be fuming! It wasn't his fault. Dries Vanthoor is now taking over the lead and the Mercedes runs 139 laps and drops out of the top ten.
Laurens Vanthoor is now back at the wheel of one of the other Porsche's. Olsen takes the penalty. Take your medicine. Keep going. Dennis Olsen tries making a move on Oliver Jarvis, through the Mine Shaft and back through Crowthornes. Olsen goes outside in Sunset, and he's prying the door open into Clubhouse, but no. Audi, Mercedes, and BMW are still fighting for the title. Romain Dumas is now at the wheel of the #911 car sharing with Dirk Werner (another championship contender), and Sven Muller.
Sheldon van der Linde has gone ahead of Christian Krognes. BMW may have another pit stop in the future as Dries Vanthoor clears Enam Ahmed in one of the Aston Martin's. The gap is 1.9 seconds. Oliver Jarvis pits from second place and we have an Audi 1-2 with four and a half hours to go, and no rain yet, thankfully. Dries Vanthoor has brought the #25 Audi to the lane. The Land Motorsport Audi takes over the race lead. Four and a half hours to go. Christopher Mies will get aboard the #29 Land Audi as we see a very close shave between Oliver Jarvis, and a Mercedes, and there's a shredded right rear tire on the #108 Bentley with Andy Soucek at the wheel!
The tire is shredding, and the wheel has been ripped to shreds! Wow! The rear fender is gone and is off the car and on the pavement of the racing line! The tire went bang, and deflated. It was super heated and exploded. He's back out with lighter weight. Will it be underweight if it wins? It's the new Bentley Continental GT two and a half, looking more like a Morgan or a Caterham. Christian Krognes leads over Sheldon van der Linde. It's a BMW 1-2. Schnitzer vs. Walkenhorst, 148 laps, 422 miles. #31 almost hits the Nissan! Olsen is really going for it. Fred Vervisch is being pressured, and so is Joao Paulo De Oliviera. Romain Dumas covers Dennis Olsen as well! Olsen brakes late and passes Romain Dumas.
We're just over halfway in this race. Richard Attwood won the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Porsche 917 by running a conservative pace. That's the good way to run an enduro, but today, you've got to go for it. Joao Paulo de Oliviera is running ahead of Dennis Olsen, but de Oliviera understeers, and he's off the road! One up, and three down, after running wide! Romain Dumas has gone by. This is wild! Drive to the edge of adhesion on the Pirelli tires! Romain Dumas is 11th overall. Four hours and 20 minuts on the board as Christian Krognes leads by three seconds over Sheldon van der Linde. Tons of clag on the side of the track.
Katsumasa Chiyo is set to take over the #35 KCMG Nissan. Vervisch vs. Olsen for ninth overall and for points for the title. Sheldon van der Linde balked by one of the Mercedes. Luca Stolz is out of sequence, behind one of the Bentley's. #108 is the Bentley will damage. Michael Christensen can start reeling in Christian Krognes. The #42 BMW of Sheldon van der Linde is back in the pit lane. A driver change for the car. Who is getting in? It is full service. But, there's something going on. More battles as Dennis Olsen is nose to tail with Fred Vervisch. Vervisch is there, and Olsen dives by!
BMW #42 is back on track, and Martin Tomczyk is now at the controls. Christian Krognes pits the #34 Walkenhorst BMW M6 GT3. Mikkel Jensen or Nicky Catsburg will get into that car. Maybe there will be need for brake pad changes before this race is over. Nissan #35 in the lane, and Chiyo san will take over from Joao Paulo de Oliviera. A flapping bonnet for the #42 Schnitzer BMW. Michael Christensen leads from Hugo de Sadeleer. Third is Oliver Jarvis followed by Laurens Vanthoor, and then Maxime Soulet. The BMW is stopping before the #20 Porsche. Will the Porsche lose or gain?
#188, the Aston Martin, still has Alexander West, the Swede, at the wheel. He shares with Chris Goodwin from England and Come Ledogar from France. Luca Stolz is really quick in the #10 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes. Bentley #108 is due to hit the pit lane. The #34 BMW has a failed drink straw. Christian Krogne's helmet was de-laminating due to the heat. Yuck! That's got to be a terrible feeling. A wilting helmet! We are working lap 158. 450 miles done. Full Course Yellow, for debris, possibly.
The light is beginning to fade, and we're going top have darkness in an hour. There's cloud around, but no rain yet. Mikkel Jensen did a best First Sector time, but it is irrelevant due to the Full Course Yellow as Laurens Vanthoor has hit the pit lane for service, while Kevin Estre will take over the #20 GPX Porsche. He blistered the opposition in his first two stints, in the wet, at the Spa 24 Hours. Porsche #31 is in the lane, Dennis Olsen still at the wheel. Same for the #25 WRT Audi. This Full Course Yellow is for debris, and there will be a safety car. Has Porsche #31 worked its way back into the game? Maybe.
#20 in the lane from the lead on lap 159. Are there tires? Yes. New tires for #20 and new driver. A new driver, and a new set of boots, only makes sense. Kevin Estre is back in the lead, possibly, as we see the KCMG Nissan also in the lane. No safety car yet. Oliver Jarvis brings the #18 in, the aforementioned KCMG car. Debris has to be swept up at the Mine Shaft, and it is in progress.
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