We've been seeing a lot of coverage of both LMP2 and the GTE classes where the Aston's and Ferrari's have been on top of darn near everything. Almost the witching hour. We've continued to see the battling go on in LM GTE Pro as Ferrari and Aston Martin continue battling and the LMP2 scrap is as hot as ever. Antonin Borga loocks up in his battle with Andre Negrao. Nyck De Vries is up there, but he's 17th in class in LMP2, however he has been showing a good turn of speed. Pit stop time for Aston Martin. This Aston Martin and Ferrari battle has been simmering. However, this is Ross Gunn in the Am class car. He leads GTE Am. Andre Negrao has just passed Antonin Borga. Racing Team Nederland are flying right now even though they are next to last in LMP2 as far as the order we can see.
These LMP2 cars are what the Daytona Prototype International cars in IMSA are based on for chassis' but not for engines. Negrao is really pushing hard right now. He might get sway with that at the stewards discretion. He opens the steering and keeps the car pinned. Harry Tincknell has the Aston Martin in second place right now. He is really pressing the Ferrari and makes the pass on the #51 entry. Again, we are into the zombie land stage where the pit crews are tryung their hardest to get some sleep. We have a smooth, high grip line on some parts of this track even though it is a public road with a crown in the middle of it.
#34 is in the lane, the Inter Europol LMP2 car from Poland, their Ligier is in the lane. Interpol is a Polish baker that distributes food for hospitality. The engines scream into the kink in Indianapolis. We can still savor the sound of these great cars that have internal combustion engines before we go eventually, to all electric formulas. We are at 1:00 A.M. French time, 6:00 P.M. Central U.S. time. Mike Conway is a lap up on Sebastien Buemi. Bruno Senna is third, a lap behind Buemi. The LMP1 cars are strung out. The United Autosports LMP2 cars are fifth and sixth overall. Job van Uitert and Phil Hanson.
Now, we have a Porsche off the road, the #89 Team Project 1 Porsche with Greek driver Andreas Laskaratos. Augusto Farfus is leading Emmanuelle Collard, and Charlie Eastwood. The Project 1 #89 of Laskaratos is buried in the gravel, and we are at thw witching hour and as Marvin Gaye famously sang, we are headed for the night shift. Derek Bell has emailed the boys at Eurosport and he is digging it. He ran the last time in 1996. He almost got a sixth win in 1995 in the Harrod's McLaren. Derek, Misty, and Justin, good to hear from you all.
Mark Cole and Damien Faulkner are in the house, before we hear again from Chris Parsons. We have lots of catching up to do. We've got a slow zone on track. #89 is still in strife, but it has just been cleared. Julien Piguet and Stephen Brooks share with Andreas Lasakaratos. Juan Pablo Montoya aboard the DragonSpeed entry right now is a greatly exciting driver to watch whether he is racing here at Le Mans or in IMSA back home with the Acura team. The expected rain has not arrived yet. We had thunderstorms in the south. So, we will have to see what the radar is going to look like.,
We saw thunderstorms earlier on that seemed quite close. #34 pits again. Toyota, Toyota, Rebellion, Rebellion, United. That's the top five, with one LMP2 car. Pit stop time as well for the #1 Rebellion with Bruno Senna behind the wheel at present. Although its a 24 hour race, drivers are flogging it. Transport the vehicle and do your job, taking care of the car for the first 20 hours, and then throw caution to the wind for the last four or so hours. Get your elbows out, turn the engine up a notch, and go for it, mate. But now, open the steering, and don't wreck your tires. The Jumbo team are waiting for their Oreca to pit. They had water pressure troubles in their radiator earlier in the race.
Signatech are currently down in ninth in LMP2 and we've seen a lot of LMP2 action as of late. Sleep is all important for the drivers. The mechanics don't get much rest. Meantime, the #89 Porsche is in the garage with troubles. At least it came back after being caught out on the circuit a bit earlier on. The pro drivers will be doing more at night. This is Andreas Laskaratos, the Am Team Project 1 car compared to their two Pro entries. tHE ACO official is trying to inspect the ifting hooks that attach to the roll cage. They need to be inspected. That fitting should just slide right in so the marshals and safety workers can lift the car.
The #54 AF Corse Ferrari has pitted. That's Swiss driver Thomas Flohr and his two co-drivers, Italians Giancarlo Fisichella and Francesco Castellaci. Watch your track limits if you have an onboard camera in the car as we watch the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche running wide through Mulsanne with Matt Campbell at the controls, fifth in LM GTE Am. It's not like the Aussie to make a mistake like that, but he could be on knackered tires or the brakes are a tad spongy, perhaps. Rebellion #3 pits from fourth spot. Nathaniel Berthon out and it's either Romain Dumas or Louis Deletraz. That's a sporty and yet blue chip livery. The Cetillar car has a great livery and so does the ByKolles. I guess we are picking losers here. The red TF Sport Aston has a good plain livery. So, we have smoke coming out the back of a Ferrari through Indianapolis.
Ah. It's Sam Bird in the #71 AF Corse Ferrari third in GTE Pro! He has the car going again, but hes's got a tire down. You can hear the tire swishing and the car is listing to the right. Duncan Cameron had double rear punctures on each side of course. We have the #75 Iron Lynx Ferrari back in the lane, Rino Mastronardi in the car. Olivier Pla is giving the #82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE a nice ride with Sebastien Bourdais and Jules Gounon. The WeatherTech car, the other American Ferrari had a shock failure earlier in the race. Laurens Vanthoor is told that the Ferrari is having a puncture issue, and the other drivers are saying, "allons-y!", "hurry up!"
Emmanuelle Collard follows him in. There is a driver change for Sam Bird. Is it Davide Rigon or Miguel Molina? Now, the right side rear tire has not shredded, but they are putting the car on the dollies, and they might be doing a brake change. Nope. Nope. Nope. There's a shock or something in the suspension. They are changing the right front brake or checking the hub and the upright. They might have a shock failure and they do. It needs a new shock absorber. This is a legacy of smashing the curbs. It's a component failure.
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