United Autosport has an oil leak. The stresses on these cars, are caused by those curbs and hitting them so hard, the sausage curbs, and the bollards, rattling the automobiles to pieces. That is why this race is called the Grand Prix of Endurance. It is an oil leak at United Autosport from a weld that split apart. Try and seal that leak and make sure there isn't one somewhere else. It's a broken seal on the engine. The oil was coming from the sister United Autosport car. 244 laps run for the LMP2 leader, 2,067 miles. Dry brake systems have dry quick releases. They have them for the motorcycles as well. A quick release to remove the caliper and keeping the discs on the bike, but in the car world, you change the whole disc. Everything else is fly by wire. The battle still rages away in LMP2.
Some of the retired drivers from this race include Toni Vilander and Juan Pablo Montoya and their respective teams. We have 11 retirements, from the marker of doom. 48 cars out of 59 starters are left. The #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing car, remember, was disqualified for outside assistance. The rain just has not come. We will have dry conditions for the whole remainder of this race, seven hours and 48 minutes. The cars are very resilient with contact. They'd have a sizable crash and then still not be so damaged. Audi used to have the whol;e rear end assembly, changing the rear axle and gearbox in five or six minutes. Daniel Serra is being monstered and passed by Harry Tincknell. The Ferrari vs. Aston Martin clash rolls on.
Tincknell is eking out a few car lengths. The Aston Martin is softly sprung, and so it is compliant over the bumps. The Ferrari will come alive in the high speed switchbacks such as the Porsche Curves or Tertre Rouge on the lead into the Mulsanne straight. One of the United Autosport cars is still in the garage. Kazuki Nakajima still leads in Toyota #8. They are seven minutes ahead of Norman Nato and Rebellion. One Toyota and two Rebellion's in podium contention. Toyota has just one bullet as they go for the hat trick.
It's been a great battle in GTE Pro. It is too bad Porsche's reliability has been a bear for this whole race. They will go back to the drawing board. They've had very limited running, had we not been interrupted by the Cornavirus pandemic. Marco Sorensen backed out of the throttle and decisively, cleanly letting in an LMP2 car but not losing much time, running cleanly into the braking zone for the chicane on the Mulsanne straight. This is zombie land now, truly, as the crews are working on their 40 winks. Now, troiuble for the #3 Rebellion of Louis Deletraz? They got the car going. It wouldn't fire, but it finally did.
It is the heat soak on pit stops, which is murder for starter motors. It causes mayhem even though the rule says the car must restart on it's own power. Push starts at Le Mans are verboten. Beitske Visser is in the #50 Richard Mille LMP2 car. Tantiana Calderon has raced Formula 2, and Beitske Visser was in the old, now defunct, Formula Renault 3.5 series. It is midnight, the witching hour, and Sunday morning back in the states. Nakajima, Nato, Berthon, Conway, the top four in LMP1. Sebastien Buemi is taking over Toyota #8 from Kazuki Nakajima. Harry Tincknell and Daniel Serra continue their scrum in GTE Pro. That's been hot and heavy since the Tricolore yesterday. #32 in pit lane for a driver change.
We say good morning to Damien Faulkner in the booth. Adrien De Leener is off the road and this has been a common occurence for this automobile the whole race through the Ford Chicane, or check that, through the first turn. United Autosport #32 is back in the race. Good morning, again, even though it's still dark. It's dark here in the states, and in France as well. Again, we see the #32 in the garage after taking advantage of happyu hour. As the darkness continues, we wonder when "zombie land" is going to end. The pit crews are right in it on top of the job though.
We also say good morning to Louise Beckett. The #22 and #32 cars are being run differently. Anthony Davidson pits from second in LMP2 for routine service. Anthony Davidson has never won Le Mans. He was with Peugeot and Toyota, two huge factory teams, and hasn't won. Bruno Senna will take over the #1 Rebellion from Norman Nato. This is Rebellion's swansong as well. An end of an era, as Toyota and Rebellion are both retiring their cars. The Rebellion's will come back as Alpine's. They will be in a "grandfathered" LMP1 class next year.
There's a penalty in a slow zone for Paul Dalla Lana, Ross Gunn, and Augusto Farfus. Are they in the garage? Nope. They are still running. Paul Dalla Lana is another man who wants a win here and can't believe he has not been able to do it. You don't want to lose teams that can't build a new car for new regulations. Existing cars are grandfathered in. Then the old cars have their performance adjusted, to match the new cars being built. Charlie Eastwood has brake pad knockoff, pumping the brake pedal on the straights, heading over those sauasge curbs. He does not want a long brake pedal at the next braking zone.
Use your left foot to tap the pedal. Many drivers are left foot braking but a lot of the GT cars still have clutches. Panis Racing vs. G-Drive in LMP2. Scary things if you have to rebooit the car. Reboot the ECU if the car stalls. Marco Sorensen has been down on pace with his Aston Martin. Just keep going. Aston is playing it safe, going rot ehw rold championship as we get towards the end of another racing hour. A gorgeous orange sunrise is coming towards us. The dawn is breaking here at Le Mans and we have just over seven hours left. Mikkel Jensen is battle Matthieu Vaxiviere ion the LMP2 class. Jensen is setting himself up on the first chicane on the Mulsanne.
They go offline into the grit and clag on the side of the road. That is how you pick up punctures on the hard shoulder of the public road. You will Fred Flintstone your tires our puncture them entirely. These two cars are evenly matched, but this is Mikkel Jensen's first Le Mans 24 hour race. Matthieu Vaxiviere is right in the pocket. The greats are as cool as a cucumber on the radio, and they don't get flustered. Tom Kristensen, Jacky Ickx, Derek Bell, Henri Pescarolo. Jensen is bish bash boshing it throught the Dunlop curves.
Drive through penalty for someone, not sure who. Just noticed the Race Control notice. James Allen is back in the SO24 by Graf LMP2 car sharing with Charles Milesi and Vincent Capillaire, the Australian and the two Frenchman. The timing screens should be lighting up with Happy Hour specials, but no. The morning dew is settling on the circuit, taking the frosting off the top of the cake as it were. We are three hours away from the business end of this motor race where the engines are turned up to the mega level and the elbows come out.
The sun is beginning to rise. Dawn and dusk at Le Mans are amazing with the flames out the exhuasts, the headlights, and the glowing brake discs.
Mikkel Jensen is pressurizing Matthieu Vaxiviere. That was naughty. Moving as you brake is just not on. Into the chicane, Jensen tries going on the outside and almost gets chopped! What was less than a car length, extends to two and maybe three. Vaxivieres gets balked again by a GT car. The video game of lights that is the night at Le Mans is done and dusted now. This battle is fascinating for the LMP2 class. Jensen's rear wing is flatter than the car of Vaxiviere. Jensen has lost momentum. He could drop back a couple of car lengths, charging the apex off the slow corners. He peels into the lane saying, "that's it. I surrender."
His tires are knackered. No further Ferrari shock failures. We have seen pit work from Toyota #8 and several LMP2 cars. Think of tire allocation. The rain has never come. The rain just disappeared. The treat of an entire night of heavy rain, and there was lightin in the distance that never made it's way to the circuit. United Autosport #22 in the lane as well, Phil Hanson going out for another stint. Jota Sport also in the lane. Of course, again, the pit crews can only change tires with two rattle guns. Lay the tires on the ground, and you can't leave them upright so they roll away. You will be risking a penalty if you do.
Those wheels are very heavy. 40 kilograms at least. We have seen pit stops, and Frits van Eerd aboard the #29 Racing Team Nederland Dallara LMP2, spinning into the gravel trap. This has put us in a Slow Zone situation. We have to start thinking about driver times as we head into daylight. We'll see more mishaps in the daylight after the fairly consistent portion of the night. You can only drive a maximum of four hours in every six hour stretch and well, we have six and a half hours to go. We are pressing on towards 8AM on Sunday, French time. The headlights help light up the apex of the corner when the car is at the right trajectory.
Those are the daytime running lights. Can the #51 Ferrari claw back ten seconds? It's possible. The Ferrari has pace and they might just be able to keep up. We ought to keep studying that gap. Richard Westbrook is next, a lap down, for Aston Martin while the sister Aston leads. Westbrook and Harry Tincknell come from Ford and the Ford GT program. The GT was as close to a prototype car as you can imagine, for a GT car. What a gorgeous race car. Richard Westbrook said that the downforce level of the Aston Martin was "scary".
The Aston Martin rear diffuser is king size and so the mechanics cannopt stand pushing the car around the paddock. The Aston Martin is so, so different from the Porsche and Ferrari in terms of length and/or size. Emmanuel Collard has run Le Mans 23 times. He has won this race for Porsche and he is chasing Christian Ried. Experience in sports cars counts as much as raw pace. Experienced drivers can help with things like how the cockpit is laid out and what are the fundamental designs and the default settings on the car. In a three driver team, a different driver qualifies the car compared to the bloke who starts the car. One chap is very quick for qualifying, and another is experienced at the team boss will say "you start the race." Le Mans is so important to not get sucked into the adrenaline and hype. The same is true for a race like the Rolex 24 at Daytona. You have to get through the race's opening stint, and then you can dive into the event and go for it.
Le Mans is such a massive event with things like the parade through the town and scrutineering at Place de Jacobins and other things. Richard Mille Racing Teamand Algarve Pro Racing are battling for tenth in LMP2. The LMP2 cars get balked behind the Mentos Porsche. Tatiana Calderon has lost track position. She actually got blocked ba Ferrari and then by the Porsche from Karting through the Porsche Curves and the Ford Chicane. Tatiana Calderon checks her mirror before turning. Her spatial awareness wouldn't have kicked in, and the two cars would have sailed off into the weeds. Alex Lynn in suited and booted, ready to take over the #97 Aston Martin. He has taken to sports car racing like a duck to water.
In about 20 minutes, we will have the length of time of a regular FIA WEC race. Harry Tincknell will hand the #97 Aston Martin to one of his team mates. The Ferrari just does not have the same straight line speed. But the handling of the Ferrari is going for it. Shiny, sticker tires onto the Aston Martin. Brand new Michelin tires. James Calado has run 253 laps (2,143 miles). Salih Yoluc is in the pit with the TF Sport Aston Martin, car #90, taking measurements of the brake disc. They've changed brakes on that Aston Martin. The Cetilar #47 Dallara LMP2 is in the pit lane. Dallara has not had the edge in LMP2. Ligier and Oreca, the French chassis' are working out well. Toyota #8 is in the lane.
They are allowed nine tear offs on the windscreen. Sebastien Buemi is in the car. Bruno Senna at the wheel of the #1 Rebellion. Lifting and coasting is the best way to make fuel saving work whether it is a hybrid or petrol motor in the car. Save fuel bit by bit every lap. Dragonspeed, Intereuorpol, and United Autosport are all in the lane as the sister Rebellion is still making hay while the sun shines, Nathaniel Berthon at the wheel of it. Arrive in the braking zone a couple kilometers slowe than you otherwise would have.
Be careful of short shifting. You are trying to preserve the motor, but rougher shifting can rattle your drive train and make the gearbox go bang. That's where ECU engine maps come into play. Mikkel Jensen is catching Julien Canal, the second driver in the #31 Panis Racing LMP2 car. Sports cars run heavier on full fuel tanks and harder tires than a single seat car like a Formula 1 car. Durability comes at the expense of eweight incrase. There is a brake change going on for the #51 AF Corse Ferrari leading GTE Pro. Those discs are scalding hot. 400 degrees Centigrade and up. Ouch! Patrick Pilet, "Super Sub", and he was a steward for the Porsche Carrera Cup support race, and now he is driving an LMP2 car.
The #31 car is on new tires. Lots of understeer on the exit of the corner. Jensen has more pace than Canal does and Canal runs wide not hooking into the apex at Mulsanne corner. Pit stop tikme for Rebellion $1 as we continue watching the third place LMP2 class battle. Canal is ahead of Jensden., and Jensen is the shark. Jensen is the shark chasing Canal, the minnow. But we're not going to see the battles. Cripes. That's not good. We are the end of Happy Hour and the end of "zombie land" as the sun is rising.
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