8 Hours of Portimao: Hour 2

Alpine continues to lead the motor race.  We’ve had some local yellows for debris and innocent spins.  We did see a synchronized spin for Roberto Gonzalez and Ben Hanley.  Ben Keating served a ten second penalty and is now chasing the Car Guy #57 Ferrari.  Not sure who is driving that car at the moment.  Richard Westbrook is very happy to be a part of a new team, and a new car.  The tires are troubling.  They get blistered after 3-4 laps.  They cannot double stint the tires.  This is a test session for the car.  The rear tires are being blistered all the time.

Westbrook says Glickenhaus and the whole team are glad to be here racing in the WEC.  We can see a lead change in GTE Pro as James Calado moves ‘round Neel Jani, as Porsche are working on tire preservation.  In LMP2, Norman Nato is chasing Roberto Gonzalez.  Tomonobu Fujii in the D’Station Aston Martin is now back to the front in GTE Am ahead of Ferrari and Thomas Flohr, and another Aston Martin for Paul Dalla Lana in car #98.  Then comes Giorgio Sernagiotto in the Cetilar Ferrari. 

There’s a lot of flapping bodywork at the back of the #70 RealTeam Racing entry with Norman Nato at the controls.  Kevin Estre is briefing Michael Christensen on the tire conditions as the Pier Guidi/Calado Ferrari is leading LM GTE Pro right now.  Giorgio Sernagiotto is right on Paul Dalla Lana’s gearbox.  Be ahead at the end of the motor race.  That is the key.  Alex Brundle has uncorked his fastest lap of the race so far as Nicolas Lapierre pushes the gap out on Sebastien Buemi to 12 seconds.  Alpine Elf Matmut have taken delivery of a second chassis, for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  We will have only one entry for Alpine, not two.

Sebastien Buemi says that the tires are much better than yesterday in qualifying.  This race is worth points and a half with the eight hour duration.  Buemi runs wide and recovers.  Dominique Bastien is back in the race after pit stops but they are off sequence and Thomas Flohr passes for the lead.  The two Jota cas are nose to tail.  Sean Gelael, the Asian Le Mans Series champion, at the wheel of #28.  LMP2 pit stops are coming up again, for round two as we see the #777 D’Station Aston Martin into the lane.  Tatiana Calderon is the next driver into the #1 Richard Mille Racing Oreca, sharing with Beitske Visser and with Sophia Florsch.

Ferdinand Habsburg is next into the WRT LMP2 car replacing Robin Frijns.  DragonSpeed into the lane and ditto for RealTeam, High Class and Racing Team Nederland, I believe.  Sebastien Buemi is losing time and is worried.  He is having issues with passing the LMP2 cars.  Alpine #36 in the lane from the lead as Andre Negrao takes over from Nicolas Lapierre.  They have to check the radio to make sure it is working properly.  RealTeam Racing take the lead in LMP2 as Giedo van der Garde and Anders Fjordbach pit.  Who will be the next driver into the #20?  We’ll find out.

Andre Negrao is now third.  59 laps completed for that team.  Jose Maria Lopez will slot into second after the pit stops are completed.  Wholesale driver changes in LMP2 as Sean Gelael goes ahead of Frits van Eerd.  Wayne Boyd is into the United Autosports car and there are other cars, can’t tell where they are.  Radio comms have been reestablished at Alpine.  Something went wrong with the spare helmet or the radio system.  Louis Deletraz takes over from Alex Brundle.  Jota Sport now run 1-2.  Jose Maria Lopez moves past the High Class car of Dennis Andersen. 

Miro Konopka is still driving the ARC Bratislava LMP2 car.  Konopka did not even start at Spa.  Now, both Jota cars are in the lane.  Driver changes for both #28 and #38.  Esteban Garcia takes over the #70 RealTeam automobile.  Rahel Frey has taken over the #85 Iron Lynx Ferrari.  Thomas Flohr is now being chased by Giorgio Sernagiotto.  Ferrari #83 is back on track after 14 minutes in the garage, Alessio Rovera at the wheel of it.  Marco Seefried is now the driver of the #88 Dempsey Proton Porsche with Christian Ried still steering #77.

Calado runs 18 seconds ahead of Jani in LM GTE Pro.  Ferrari vs. Porsche.  Both Toyota’s should pit again soon.  #7 is ahead of the Alpine.  The Toyota’s are just a second and a half apart.  Anthony Davidson is now in the #38 Jota Sport LMP2 car.  Ben Hanley will get a drive through penalty for tipping Roberto Gonzalez into that spin we saw earlier.  Henrik Hedman is being lapped now by the second and third place cars in LMP2 as Ferdinand Habsburg leads the class ahead of Wayne Boyd.  Boyd in the United Autosport car. 

Ferdinand Habsburg still looking for traffic.  The Intereuropol car runs wide with Louis Deletraz at the wheel of it, finishing fourth last year in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  Marco Seefried will be investigated for a pit stop procedure infraction.  They are 14 laps behind.  We still have six hours of racing to go or thereabouts.  Pit stop time now for ARC Bratislava.  Miro Konopka ma be replaced in the car, and yes, he is.  Miro Konopka completes his first driving stint without major drama in FIA WEC.  This team races in Creventic, Asian Le Mans, FIA WEC, and other racing championships in Europe.  Satoshi Hoshino outbrakes himself.

Less than two seconds between Sebastien Buemi and Jose Maria Lopez.  Andre Negrao will have to pick up the pace.  He is 7/10ths down on the Toyota’s and they will get quicker as the fuel load burns off.  Lopez and Buemi have been in their cars since the race began.  So, we will see tire changes and driver changes.  Into the lane comes Porsche #91.  Gianmaria Bruni pitted early for vibration in the tires.  We are getting close to the end of another racing hour.  Bruni hands the #91 Porsche to Fred Makowiecki.  Five LMP2 cars all want the same real estate.  This right action.  Thomas Jackson gets passed by Anthony Davidson and others.  Dennis Anderson, gets the break.

Rahel Frey and Matteo Cressoni, the two Iron Lynx cars chase each other.  Toyota will see Mike Conway in the #7 car and Brendon Hartley in the #8.  Whoa!  Henrik Hedman gets monstered by two more LMP2 cars!  Squeaky, squeaky there, look.  Oh dear!  The Glickenhaus of Ryan Briscoe has spun, and he may have a false neutral.  He goes inside, and tried moving in on a couple of GTE cars.  He’s lost drive.  He could not grab first gear and could not clear the Aston Martin or the Porsche.  Briscoe is driving back to the pits. 

There’s a vibration on the righthand side of the car, and has a slipping clutch to deal with.  Bring it back slowly.  Toyota in the lane here in #7.  Mike Conway takes over the controls.  Andre Negrao moves around Toyota #7.  New tires for Conway.  The Glickenhaus has a slipping clutch.  The clutch has probably been overheating.  Wayne Boyd locks up and ALMOST gets chopped by the Porsche!  The tires are flat spotted, and the Glickenhaus has a slipping clutch.

Sebastien Buemi still in the Toyota and he is through.  Glickenhaus, again, in the garage, making repairs.  He is used to this, fixing a car in the Nurburgring 24 Hours.  They have to take the tail off the car to get the engine cover off.  Joest Racing, who had successes aplenty with Audi at Le Mans and with Mazda in the IMSA championship, one of the developers of the Glickenhaus.  Jaxon Evans is now in the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche and the second #88 car is in the hands of Marco Seefried.  Scott Andews has moved around the #98 Aston Martin, who locks up the brakes and speeds in the lane, not down to 60 kilometers an hour.  The Glickenhaus is now back in the pit lane, trying to get back on track.  A splash of petrol, and they are going back into the race, as they learn the game of FIA World Endurance Championship racing.  This is one of the bigger grids in WEC history outside Le Mans.

The Glickenhaus team is checking things, checking the clutch, changing the nose and more.  He wil come back to the pits.  This is surely a test session for the team.  The car looks great, however, it still needs reliability.  Big damage to the #777 D’Station Aston Martin on the right front corner.  The sister car, #33, has Dylan Pereira at the controls.  Two hours ito the race.  Alpine leads Toyota and the leading WRT LMP2 car.  78 laps on the board now.

One outlap and the Glickenhaus is backm in the garage, fixing the car.  Briscoe out of the car.  It will be a very long stop, or it is game over for the boys.  Six hours left in the race.  They have a long time to fix the car even if a clutch is needed.  No drive on the Glickenhaus.  No bite on the clutch at all.  Change the clutch, chaps.  So, they are planning that repair.  Hopefully they can get back out and learn a heck of a lot about the car in race trim before the season continues.

Porsche #92 in the lane from second in LM GTE Pro with Neel Jani at the keyboard.  Ferrari takes the lead in GTE Pro, James Calado in the #51 entry.  Tires, fuel, and a driver change.  The tires are twisted on the Porsche.  So, this track at Portimao is abusing the tires.  D’Station are in the lane in the Aston as we mentioned.  Matteo Cressoni gets a track limits warning in the #60 Iron Lynx Ferrari.  Ferrari’s run in the top four in GTE Am.  Pit stop time now too for the #51 or #52 CAR.  A modern race car is robust and utilitarian while looking svelte and lovely on the outside.

Brendon Hartley and Mike Conway, the internecine Toyota scrum.  Andre Negrao actually leads the motor race.  The odds are stacked in favor of Toyota if they can run cleanly.  The Alpine just cannot carry enough petrol in it’s tank per the rules.  The trouble for the Hypercar drivers is that the LMP2 cars are right on the same pace here at Portimao.  The Hypercars don’t have the boost that the old LMP1 cars had.  Cetilar, AF Corse, and Kessel have all pitted in GTE Am for the Ferrari teams.  Roberto Lacorte is back in the Cetilar Ferrari once again.

Driver change for Kessel and it could be Mikkel Jensen at the wheel of that one.  Speeding in the lane for the LMP2 leader?  Yes.  Ferdinand Habsburg also has been pinged for disrespecting blue flags?  That is what we hear.  Cannot verify it.  Rahel Frey is in the lane and a driver change is happening.  This is the Iron Dames car.  Toyota #8 finally passes the #31 WRT car.  Ferdinand Habsburg has been lapped. 

Only the Hypercars, with the Alpine, and the two Toyota’s, are on the lead lap.  Traffic is just going to be a bigger issue for Hypercar.  The cars do not have the available boost that the LMP1 cars had.  Jim Glickehaus says that the car was handling erratically due to the wrong tire pressures.  They had contact as well as we’ve seen.  Unfortunately, the clutch is toasted, and needs to be replaced.  They will need an hour to fix the car.  He is upfront and totally honest about what is going on.  Mike Conway is pushing, and I don’t have to tell you, hard.  Sebastien Buemi is being eaten up.  Sebastien, Mike is quicker than you.