#7 currently leads the championship and they don't want to lose the title, so they need the double points, so they don't have to play catch up for the final races at Monza, Italy, Fuji, Japan, and Bahrain. 3AM on Sunday. That is where we are at Le Mans. "Coach Kamui". I like that. But it sounds like the world's worst bus service. Kamui Kobayashi racing at 190+ miles an hour, 313 kilometers an hour, VMAX. Maximum velocity. Damp, dense air at night makes the speed slower. Toyota #8 now in the lane while Kobayashi is stuck in traffic. Brenon Hartley leads the motor race while pitting. They want to even up the balance here or so it seems.
Ryo Hirakawa takes over Toyota #8. Jedi master chasing the apprentice while Felipe Nasr leapfrogs both Ricky Taylor and Oliver Rasmussen. Felipe Nasr being told he has a gap developing ahead of Julien Canal while it sounded like Sebastien Buemi was bluing on the radio at Toyota again. No Lotus in Hypercar. Geely and Tata won't do it, so no Jaguar. Major manufacturers might just evaluate the Hypercar class. At least one or two more boutique brands but still mainstream might enter the house. Audi, that one is dead, and what a dang shame. They have other priorities because they want to go to Formula 1. Audi has had prestige from success at Le Mans for all those years with what, 13 wins I think.
Too little cake, too much coffee, and pit crew members dancing! Oh dear! Nasr still chasing Canal. Corvette #63 is still in the game. They just left the pit lane I believe when we have not heard Mr. Haven and Mr. Goodwin debating desserts which has been pretty darn humorous. Me, trying to figure out what a Lamington is. Just give me cookies or pies. Felipe Nasr passing Julien Canal. Team Penske vs. Panis Racing. #64 Corvette is scoring points for WEC because it is their WEC entry. 12 hours and 45 minutes to go. #38 Will Stevens leads the rest of the pack in LMP2. Jota, Prema Orlen, Panis, Penske, WRT, Cool Racing, Jota, TDS X Vaillante, United, and Team WRT.
Tatos chocolate bars? No. Vegemite dairy milk? Are you kidding! Red lemonade? Pink lemonade. Strawberry? Raspberry? Salt and vinegar chips. Oh yeah. Salt and vinegar donuts? Oh dear God! Ben Barnicoat won karting in 2012 ahead of illustrious F1 drivers like Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. Ben Hanley competes in karting as a more senior driver in the world championships through CIK and FIA for karting. In the meantime, the #35 Ultimate car has a roundy round through Mulsanne corner. A loop de loop? Maybe not that far. Nyck de Vries is also a junior world karting champ. Lilou Wadoux aboard the #1 Richard Mille car taking over from Charles Milesi.
Driver change at the #38 Jota team too as Will Stevens finishes a stint and hands over to Antonio Felix Da Costa, again. Roberto Gonzalez won't be back for a while. #5 and #65 in the lane as well, Felipe Nasr it appears stays in #5. Nyck de Vries passes Job van Uitert while a Ferrari takes evasive action avoiding the LMP2 cars. Jeepers! There was almost contact at Dunlop curve between the Duqueine and the Ferrari. That was Reshad De Geres I believe. Every minute of this motor race so far has been prime time entertainment as we see Oliver Rasumussen being chased by Nyck de Vries.
We saw pit stops for the WeatherTech Porsche and a number of LMP2 cars. We have the #8 Toyota in the lane as yours truly was eating pizza for dinner. We have heard Corvette were changing the diffuser. We also have had vigroous debates about what is the best dessert. I won't even go there as we see the Maple Leaf of the Canadian flag for Northwest AMR and Paul Dalla Lana as he and Zacharie Robichon I believe are the two Canadians in the race this year. Pit stop time for the #10 Vector Sport LMP2 car down the order after woes earlier in the motor race. That was a triple stint for the latest driver, well, Ryan Cullen is going to start a quadruple stint, before we get to halfway.
Ryan Briscoe in the #709 Glickenhaus and Pipo Derani now ninth for the #708 Glickenhaus. Antonuo Felix Da Costa the leader in LMP2. Laurens Vanthoor and Fred Makowiecki lead GTE Pro ahead of Nick Tandy. So, Porsche, Porsche, Corvette, and then James Calado is fourth. Paul Loup Chatin is told he has a blistered tire, one that had come off the car, thank God, and not on the car currently. Maybe Paul Loup Chatin was bluing on the radio about a vibration.
Lilou Wadoux and Ferdinand Habsburg both pit as we are seeing shroter and shorter stints through the darkness here at Le Mans especially in LMP2. Stints are too dang short and it's ridiculous. Ferdinand Habsburg to the lane and Andre Negrao now well down the order, losing time and track position and they need to be a lap up on everyone else while it is hard for that car to pass any LMP2's. Porsche #92 in the lane from the GTE Pro lead. Laurens Vanthoor out, and into the #91, the sister car, Fred Makowiecki.
Felipe Fraga chasing down Miguel Molina in a battle of the Ferrari's. Molina in the #74 Riley Motorsports Ferrari. Nick Tandy in the meantime, second in class in GTE Pro. The Balance of Performance change for the Alpine, I don't want to talk about it during the race, but the change the organizers made was a terrible idea! The car is way off the pace on straight line speed. The clutch was having a massive problem as well which just made the situation worse. It is a can of worms. The Alpine of course because of it's parentage, has a smaller fuel tank coming from the old days of LMP1. Slowing the Alpine down has fallen flat on it's face.
The #32 WRT car has pitted with Rolf Ineichen. Blimey. Who hasn't been in the lane here in the dead of night. For 2025, will Oreca or Ligier be grandfathered into the new LMP2 regs? Well, are we going to get enough to fulfill demand? Also, are we going to put them in alongside the new card? We have to look at the performance window according to our pal Graham Goodwin. This new AOP, Adjustment of Performance will take place twice a year to prevent dominance by one company like Oreca. Never fall asleep in a garage. Humina, humina, humina, humina, as Jackie Gleason would say. White flag for a slow moving automobile.
Glickenhaus #708 could have been in trouble, but he is passing an LMP2. #71, Spirit of Race Ferrari, game over. Break out the marker of doom. Game over for Gabriel Aubry and company from an hour and a half ago. Big time brake explosion in to Mulsanne corner and that is the #27 CD Sport entry.
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