Roses are red, violets are blue. I smell another Toyota 1-2. Now, will that happen? We'll have to wait and find out. Both teams want to win and the #7 have been knocking on the door forever in this race. They are closing in on the Glickenhaus up ahead. Not sure which one. Finally, the #49 High Class Racing car has made it to the garage for repairs. Poor old Jan Magnussen has crashed twice. Toyota team manager Rob Leupen says that the #7 has been delayed. He hopes the cars can be kept in one piece. Toyota enjoys competition and it's good for them to have a new car as the TS050 was four years old already. Kamui Kobayashi is fine even after that scare he had on track earlier on.
Toyota #7 and Jose Maria Lopez have passed for the lead, and they lead by 1.4 seconds and a slow car looks like a Ferrari. It could be the Inception Racing automobile with Ben Barnicoat at the wheel of it. Porsche #92, fourth in GTE Pro and on the same lap as the AF Corse Ferrari, making a scheduled pit stop. A whole slew of LMP2's are in the pit lane and we are watching the Pansi Racing #65 and the #22 United Autosport car is in trouble with alternator failure. Now then, Ben Barnicoat is reported to be slow at marshal post six. Alpine in the lane, three laps down to the Toyota's. Louis Deletraz and the sister WRT car are in the lane as is the #36 Alpine.
There's still a long way to go. Ten hours and 50 minutes remaining. Ben Barnicoat is trundling his way back to the pits but is called by the stewards for running extremely slowly headed for marshal post eight. #20, the High Class LMP2 is in the pit lane, the Ricky Taylor, Anders Fjordbach, Dennis Andersen car. Inception Racing are readying to receive the Ferrari when it arrives in the lane. You've missed nothing at the front as Toyota #8, Brendon Hartley, pursues the team car #7 of Jose Maria Lopez, who is a couple seconds up the road. Tata was mentioned coming back for Hypercar which means we could see Jaguar back at Le Mans. Geely, from China, also owns Lotus. Could Lotus also come back to Le Mans? That's something to think about for car lovers and racing fans. Glickenhaus #709 is hanging on.
Both Corvette Racing crews are swarming the #64 team. All hands on deck. Oh dear. Oliver Jarvis gets out of the #82 Risi Competizione car which is having trouble. Ben Barnicoat's Ferrari is still crawling around the circuit and it has only three wheels on my wagon! Oh deary me. That's a bad deal. Left front, gone. Could they not recover that car? You have to run a full lap. Oh no. He's pulling off the croad, shrotcuttitng the corner. That small error in the pit stop has cost Inception Racing any good chance of a result. This is a bloody nightmare not only for Ben Barnicoat but for the other drivers. Goodness gracious! This is a bad deal.
Ben Barnicoat, mercifully makes it back to the pit lane. The team will have to check the car. The man with the rattle gun must be totally embarrassed and they will have to change the brake disc as well. They are the very last garage at the end of the pit lane. Alternator woes at United Autosport and Filipe Albuquerque, Paul di Resta, and Fabio Scherer are out. We wonder if the Hypercars will last. LMP2 car for the overall win. It is a tough call. WRT have done a stellar job so far. They've run faultlessly with both cars and Stoffel Vandoorne has the #38 Jota Sport car up there and the #34 Inter Europol Oreca have been up there with Renger van der Zande, Alex Brundle, and Jakub Smiechowski.
United Autosports stays in the race but they are out of contention for the race win. Corvette #64 has a fresh clutch and Alexander Sims is now going to give it all he has. Duqueine vs. High Class look, in LMP2. Pit stop time now for the #8 Toyota. Fuel and a driver change at the very least. Feverish work at Inception Racing still. Both Toyota's have 16 pit stops under their belts. This is a complete splitter change for the car, under ten and a half hours left as the first signs of dawn are coming. 200 laps completed for Toyota. Glickenhaus are hanging in there. LMP2 Pro Am is being led by Dragonspeed in the #21 with Juan Pablo Montoya at the wheel of it.
We have had several retirements that have been well documented. Good battle between Duqueine and High Class. This is for tenth overall. Tristan Gommendy vs. Marco Sorensen. But this is not for tenth, it is for some other place. Tenth and eleventh I should say. Alex Brundle is also running well and the same is true for Patrick Pilet in the #48 IDEC Sport entry. Toyota #7 in the pit lane. This race is not done and dusted yet by any means. Jose "Pechito" Lopez continues to stay in the car. He was run in World Endurance, World Touring Car Championship, and Formula E. Le Mans is the jewel in the crown. The Duqueine and High Class battle continues.
Ten hours and 20 minutes to go. You cannot box early. Trust me. The #71 Inception Racing Ferrari is back on the road with a new front end and splitter. Tough pill to swallow for these chaps. Alex Brundle is now in the lane in the #34 Intereuropol Oreca heading for a podium in LMP2. He and his co-drivers have fought their way forward indeed. The scrap is hot in GTE Am for fifth in class has Jaxon Evans vs. Paolo Ruberti. Dempsey Proton Porsche #77 vs. Iron Lynx Ferrari #60. It is some experience to see the headlights of these cars piercing the darkness. Yours truly experienced it at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and surely it is just as intoxicating at Le Mans.
The #22 United Autosports car, again, is out of contention due to a bad alternator. Nicky Catsburg has pitted the #63 Corvette C8.R. Alessio Picariello is next into the #18 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19. That is in GTE Am. The Alpine and the Glickenhaus are on the same lap, pushing each other hard, the #36 and #708. Glickenhaus looking for a podium. Pipo Derani is in the car now. Juan Pablo Montoya is looking for a class win here at Le Mans, so he won't get the triple crown. He will have to sign up for a factory team in Le Mans Hypercar.
A Ferrari pitted. Cannot tell which one and also we see the #26 G-Drive car in the lane as well. It is easy to lose downforce due to tire pickup, tire clag. Wow! Lopez in #7 nearly gets chopped by one of the Iron Lynx Ferrari's! Yikes! Water can help keep you hydrated. Don't use energy drinks because they will cause a crash. High Class Racing in, the #20 car is in the lane. Ben Hanley is now in the #21 Dragonspeed car. Toyota 1-2, but again, this is not done and dusted at all as Gianmaria Bruni looks on. Ferrari, Corvette, Porsche, Porsche. Glickenhaus #708 passes the #36 Alpine. Pipo Derani passes Matthieu Vaxiviere. A pressurized oil canister forces oil into the motor for an oil refill.
Nicky Catsburg is really setting a pace in GTE Pro and the Ferrari is 7/10ths of a second slower. The leading Porsche is close behind and we can see Gianmaria Bruni in the lane with Porsche #91. Fred Makowiecki will take over the car.
No comments:
Post a Comment