More pit stop time for AF Corse and has someone now spun behind the safety car? We are into a slopw zone here, under a second safety car. Bruno Spengler lost his rear wing, and we have LMP2 cars going off the road or stopping. In the pits, the Iron Lynx Ferrari. We go onboard with Norman Nato through the first chicane as the barriers are being repairsed and now, pit stop time for the #95 Aston Martin as well. Toyota #8 has been in the garage to fix overheating issues on the right front corner. Was it the brakes or the hybrid motor? The cars are now out of the Slow Zone and into the second chicane on the Mulsanne as we watch Jean Eric Vergne pressing Alex Brundle big style. This is a race for position,separating them by a few tenths of a second.
Work continues on #97. It was a really long stop for the Aston Martin. Alex Brundle is really pressing on. It's magical, here, in the middle of the night. Another slow zone, ten minutes into this hour. Be gradual with your deceleration so there's not a concertina effect. Both cars attacked the entry to the slow zone. Alex Brundle isn't losing time and Gabriel Aubry has made it home to the pit lane to fix the car. Brundle flashing the lights, and he is dropping back a few car lengths, with distorted airflow, and understeer. He is clawing it back and trying to move into the chicanes to advance. Norman Nato pits the #1 Rebellion.
No driver change. Fuel and tires only. Tatiana Calderon is pressing on just behind another LMP2 car I believe. #22 in the lane now too for scheduled service with Filipe Albuquerque at the wheel of it. G-Drive #16 also goes back on track. Lots and lots of LMP2 action right now. Porsche #91 makes a pit stop as well as we are entering yet another slow zone. United Autosport #32 of Alex Brundle is in the pit lane as well. There has never, ever been a red flag at Le Mans, although at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, there have been red flags before. Jota are naddressing an issue on their car as the yellow flags remain out.
They've got an electrical issue on that automobile. They can service other parts of the car, refreshing them, and we have rain at Marshal Post 30 entering the Porsche Curves. Not good. Jose Maria Lopez was loose at the bottomj of the esses before going into a Slow Zone. Another slow car out of the second chicane. WHich car is that? We have another slow zone. The Algarve Pro team has one of their cars in distress. That's the #16 Nick Tandy machine. Weather is now imminent. Jose Maria Lopez has run 116 laps (982 and a half miles). Oliver Jarvis is back into the garage.
Will Stevens is now into the garage. Porsche says we could see rain in the next hour and we are seeing more pit stops. G-Drive in the lane in the #26 car. We saw another car in the garage. It was either the Alpine or the Cetilar LMP2 machine. Couldn't tell which one. The second G-Drive car is back in the garage. Jean Eric Vergne was scrapping with Alex Brundle, but now, he is 53 seconds in-arrears. This is a split for the lead in the LMP2 class.
A massive number of recovery and repair vehicles, fixing the barriers. Pit stop time for the #75 Iron Lynx Ferrari, being serviced with the bonnet off the car. The dollies are being put under it to get it into the garage. Work carries on with the Iron Lynx car as we see the safety vehicles having to be cleared up, necessitating another safety car. Kazuki Nakajima speaks to his engineer and Sebastien Buemi will be the next driver in the rotation for Toyota #8. Leading GTE Am, we see the Iron Lynx #75 Ferrari that was just in the lane, and they are still there. They've got a power steering issue for Rino Mastronardi, Matteo Cressoni, and Andrea Piccini.
There's smoke than emanates from the Toyota's. It shouldn't be an issue, I don't think. Just over 16 hours on the board. The #21 DragonSpeed LMP2 car has just made a pit stop. That's the Memo Rojas, Juan Montoya, Timothy Buret car. Toyota #7 still leads overall as we are coming towards the end of the eighth hour under a safety car. #22 for United Autosport leads LMP2. We will get to the GTE Pro leaders soon, as the safety car is into the lane. We're back to green as the night is well and truly on at Le Mans with a raging scrap at the sharp end of LMP2. Alex Brundle vs. Jean Eric Vergne. In LMP2, 114 laps have been completed, 966 miles. Alex Lynn leads GTE Pro and Ross Gunnin GTE Am. We've seen this scrap, really, between Aston Martin and Ferrari.
Porsche does not have the horsepower. Balance of Performance really hurting Porsche, and they've had lots of woes mechanically, too. The Goodyear tires are coming into their own in the dark, in the cool of the night. The headlight glare will be intense in the dead of night on the darker sections of the road. Itr's very blidning out in the woods. Toyota #8 is in the lane for scheduled service, and Kazuki Nakajima still is driving. DFuel goes into the tank. They';ve solved the brake issues on that car. No tires. They had damaged front brake ducts. The #7 car is ready for a pit stop. Jose Maria Lopez will bring it in and hand over to Mike Conway.
Engineers will offer advice on the tires, but the driver's feeling of the car, will dictate how things will work, and what adhesion they have. The dew is going to affect the tires. Porsche #91 chases the #63 Ferrari. They just don't have the same straight line speed that the Ferrari's have.
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