Lilou Wadoux is still stuck behind the GTE cars and thus has not made as much progress as she'd probably like. Now, I could have sworn we were just hearing about Lilou Wadoux and her race but perhaps I am just imagining things, as we continue to have a look in at this Peugeot issue. Paul di Resta is headed back to the lane. Remember, last year, Glickenhaus had gear selection issues on their Hypercar throughout last year, and Peugeot could very well be experiencing similar types of issues. The #56 Team Project 1 Porsche is in the lane for service and a driver change. Gunnar Jeanette out and Ben Barnicoat in. We can hear over the din in the pit lane Gunnar Jeanette yelling instructions to Ben Barnicoat to make sure the car is running properly, but I cannot figure out what he is saying. It is very hard to hear in the pit lane. "What did you say?! Huh? I didn't hear you!"
Ben Barnicoat is a great driver and we have seen him run very well in GTE and in GTD Pro for Lexus in IMSA. ARC Bratislava in the meantime, have been in the garage for a half an hour. Will we see them back in the race? Yours truly is highly doubtful that will be the case. But, there's a long way to go yet. We are just past 1/4 of the way into this one, folks. Now, Mr. Goodwin is telling us that Mathias Beche was at the controls when the car came back out on track. But I am scratching me head here, along with Mr. Haven. I am right with him in saying that I wonder if the car came back on track. Two words. Question mark. Ah. I am very much mistaken as the car is sitting n the pit apron with a driver in it and the door open.
That repair took 11 minutes. The car is only a lap down. Hmmm. Good to see ARC Bratislava here. Ferrari and Corvette both pit in GTE Pro. Tommy Milner in the #64 Corvette and we see both Ferrari's in the lane, too. James Calado and Antonio Fuoco. After just a tad over two hours, James Calado now hands Ferrari #51 to Alessandro Pier Guidi and the Italian shall begin his stint behind the wheel. Facetiously, Alessandro could do the next six hours if he wanted to. Not! He is limited by drive time regs of course. Although, we know Alessandro Pier Guidi is the Energizer Bunny, sometimes. We look in replay at that battle from the very start between Gianmaria Bruni in the #91 Porsche and the #52 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco.
That was a humdinger of a scrap indeed! Fuoco went to the lead I believe. We also saw James Calado make his move on Gianmaria Bruni covered by the pocket handkerchief. By going a lap longer on fuel, Calado was able to get a pit stop under Full Course Yellow. Everyone in GTE Pro is stopping now save for Kevin Estre in Porsche #92. The deal is that Estre must stop but he desperately needs or wants a Full Course Yellow to be able to do it so he can leapfrog everyone else for track position. #91 is back on track but did not pit. Now that is strange.
Peugeot #93 in the pit lane. Time for a driver change as Paul di Resta gets out of the car. Will it be Jean Eric Vergne or Mikkel Jensen getting into the car? Now, #93 is on the dollies and is going to be wheeled back to the garage for more maintenance. There's got to be an electronic glitch. Toyota #7 in pit lane too as Mike Conway is set to go out for his stint having taken over from Jose Maria Lopez. Jose Maria Lopez of course is a three-time champion in FIA World Touring Cars. In replay, we can see the issues Paul di Resta had with the Peugeot running straight on, onto the runoff pavement.
He was putting the car down a few gears, before it conked out. But then, the old Control, Alt, delete routine (just like your computer at home) seemed to bring the beast back from the dead so to speak. The dashboard looked like it lost all signals. Now, the rule of thumb in motor racing is, if the car has all four wheels and is not on fire or upside down, you know without a doubt, that the electronics have gone on the fritz. On modern race cars nothing else breaks. The sister #94 Peugeot undergoes a routine pit stop as Toyota Technical Director David Flourry looks on, keeping an eye on the rival team. Flourry was a longtime employee at Oreca.
#94 is now back on track. Toyota #8 has now run 61 laps, 205 miles. Paul di Resta has fallen to fifth spot in Hypercar but is dropping like a stone down the order. Roberto Gonzalez is being told to go for it on the restart. So, Roberto Gonzalez will have a battle on his hands with a fellow bronze rated driver, the Angolan Rui Andrade. Sacre bleu! Peugeot's misery continues! #94 is now stopped out on the circuit! He! Regarde ca! It's Monza, part two. Nico Muller is on his out lap in car #94. Be advised that we have another car off the road. Nico Muller is being told to power cycle the car. This is the same as when Sebastien Buemi had his troubles with Toyota #8 at Spa Francorchamps back in May.
In ten seconds, the Full Course Yellow will end, and we shall be back to green flag racing. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow removed. Green flag. Porsche #92 has finally stopped, the Danish driver Michael Christensen at the wheel of it as we go green. Porsche just barely got away with that late, late pit stop by the skin of their teeth! Egad! A battle between two of the Ferrari's is ensuing, for the GTE Am lead, look. Italy's Francesco Castellaci leads for AF Corse ahead of the Iron Dames with Rahel Frey of Switzerland currently driving. The battle rages on in LMP2 ass well as we see this one for seventh place. Rui Andrade, the Angolan driver racing under a Portuguese license, he has his hands full with Roberto Gonzalez. It is RealTeam by WRT vs. Jota.
Gonzalez was told to get a wriggle on and push it. Andrade has less grip in the corner than Gonzalez does so no wonder Roberto was told to push, push, push. Car #71 has been issued a drive through penalty by the stewards for contact with the #44 car that we saw earlier. This is the Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE, the all-French entry of Gabriel Aubry, Frank Dezoteux, and Pierre Ragues. The Ferrari is aware of the Ferrari. You need information for both cars to make good decisions. It is so dang loud at the track with these cars flying around. Believe me. I have been to a sports car race or two before. Drive through penalty issued to the GTE Am leader for not respecting Full Course Yellow procedures! That is Francesco Castellaci who we saw earlier! Well, well, well.
This shall shake it all up in GTE Am. Car #44, the ARC Bratislava LMP2 car will also get pinged with a drive through penalty and so will the #71 for a variety of transgressions from the previous Full Course Yellow that we saw, not the most recent one. The penalties go through stages of being recorded and reported and then it is passed along to the stewards, the team, the driver, and to those of us broadcasting the race, so the chaps in the commentary box, or yours truly diligently typing away at the computer. It has to go through a chain of sorts, obviously, but is fairly instantaneous.
Porsche #88 in GTE-Am, has spun, the Texan, Fred Poordad at the controls. Poordad has to be careful. Uh, Fred, there's an LMP2 car right behind you, mate. Kuba Smiechowski, the Polish driver is at the wheel of the Inter Europol entry he shares with Alex Brundle and Esteban Guttierez, Brundle from England, the son of 1988 Le Mans winner and Formula 1 commentator, Martin Brundle, and Guttierez hailing from Mexico. That was way too close for comfort! Poordad spins off the road and the LMP2 boys almost get collected! Roberto Gonzalez, meanwhile, pulling out to pass Rui Andrade. Oh boy. How will this one come out in the wash?
Gonzalez from Mexico, Andrade from Angola. Gonzalez has the grip. Outside, no. Inside? They touch! Andrade barely keeps it on the road! Wow! Fun stuff to watch! Great stuff here! Holy smokes! Jean Eric Vergne, after the delay for the #93 Peugeot 9X8, he has uncorked the best lap run by that car for the whole race thus far! A 1:39.741! That's really motoring and getting the job done! Vergne is really giving it some welly! He says to himself "if the car is going to break, I am going to as damn fast as I can before it goes bang." Meanwhile, in the swansong for GTE Pro, we have a great battle for second in class as Nick Tandy is being monstered by Michael Christensen! Corvette vs. Porsche. Have a Captain Cook at this, ladies and gents.
Christensen has just begun his stint aboard Porsche #92, and we shall hear from his co-driver Kevin Estre right now. Estre says the start was good yet chaotic. He was defending position and knew the #52 Ferrari had better tire degradation before Porsche made an early pit stop before the Full Course Yellow. Porsche knows they are faster than Corvette, but they will have a hard time trying to catch the Ferrari's. We watch Ben Keating, fifth in GTE Am, just passed by Nicki Thiim in the #98 Northwest AMR Aston Martin. Keating is doing a triple stint and the #98 team has now cycled all their drivers through at least once with Nikki Thiim, Paul Dalla Lana, and David Pittard, all having been at the wheel during the race thus far.
Keating will do all his drive time at the beginning before handing over to let Henrique Chaves and Marco Sorensen drive the rest of the race. Keating ahead of P.J. Hyett. Two and a quarter hours into this race and we have no idea who will win any of the titles yet in GTE Pro. Ferrari has a slight advantage over the Corvette of Nick Tandy with Michael Christensen pushing and with Miguel Molina behind him. Tandy is doing all he knows to fend off the others and doing massive favors for the #51 Ferrari. The sun is beginning to set or so it appears. Molina is really pushing hard with the sister Ferrari 40 seconds up the road.
The Corvette is holding up the other battle as the Toyota goes through, but Molina holds his ground and has to let the Inter Europol car and the #7 Toyota by as Toyota are now lapping Alpine in Hypercar. Toyota absolutely dominating as we speak. #52 has the speed in GTE Pro. That's for dead sure. How will the stewards look at the shemozzle between the Ferrari and the Porsche? But there was no contact as we look at the replay. Nick Tandy is grinning like a Cheshire cat and motoring on up the road. Christensen is being told to continue and not worry about what the stewards do. Keep your head down and carry on.
Peugeot are also still in a sticky situation as Paul di Resta says it has not been easy after a shunt and having to do a reset. At the moment things are fine, but it is a shame they are still behind, but they want to keep going and test the durability and performance of their car. It has to be frustrating though. They know they have to keep pushing as #93 and Jean Eric Vergne passing Rui Andrade in #41 in LMP2. Peugeot still dealing with software issues. Heat and vibration are what electronics hate. Those are never factors in the engine compartment of a modern race car. Not. Just kidding! More GTE Am class scrapping with Claudio Schiavoni and Christian Ried.
Proton Competition will field a Porsche hypercar next year and Iron Lynx will run with Lamborghini in 2024. So, the GTE teams are going to be getting into factory and customer prototypes. Iron Lynx has GT3 with Lamborghini elsewhere but then will run both in IMSA and in WEC in 2024. Iron Lynx run by the Piccini brothers, two former racing drivers themselves, so they know exactly what they are doing. Rahel Frey continues to lead GTE Am sharing the car with Sara Bovy and Michelle Gatting. We saw Bovy get pole and she and Ben Keating are equal on two career poles in GTE Am and they are the only two to have more than one pole award to their credit.
There is full respect, mutual respect, between Sara and Ben in spite of the fact they are indeed rivals. The second place GTE Pro battle between Tandy and Molina continues in earnest while we are chatting about how GTE Am is going. Iron Lynx if they win today, they could score their first World Championship as factory Porsche #92 and factory Ferrari #52 are under investigation for the fracas we saw earlier. Miguel Molina will cop a penalty for that. It was #92 and not #91. Molina has the speed, putting pressure on Nick Tandy. God help us if they cannot tell the difference between the two Ferrari's.
Roberto Gonzalez has been going for it and is back to sixth in class in LMP2 but needs to knock out driver time for the professional drivers in the car. Will Stevens and Antonio Felix Da Costa still need to go ahead and drive. Blue flags for the GTE cars with an LMP2 coming fast. Blue LMP, it says on the computer screen in the cockpit. We see a fight between the Toyota's. Brendon Hartley in #8 is being harried by the #7 of Mike Conway. Someone will get on the phone to the team and say, "let me past". So, the team might grant him a pass by asking Brendon to move over. Conway will get two flying laps to prove he can pull away but if he does not, Hartley shall pass back by.
GTE Pro is getting spicy! Molina wants to send it past Tandy but there's no way because Phil Hanson is ahead in the #22 LMP2 car from United Autosport. There are more LMP2 cars there too. This is a bit of a mess as Rene Rast moves past Miguel Molina and Rast is closing in on Phil Hanson in LMP2. Driver speed and who has which tires, that is what muddies the water in these scraps at least in LMP2 as we are taking a look now. Mike Conway does not want to lose time and asks, "why doesn't Brendon just let me go?" You don't want one car bottled up behind a slower sister car as Ricardo Pera shall cop a drive through penalty from seventh in GTE Am for a coming together earlier with Lilou Wadoux.
Drivers would like to fight their teammates head-to-head, but the team does not want damage to the cars and risks of a Did Not Finish in the results sheet. Before we get back to the rest of the race, let's look at Hypercar points. Right now, as things stand, Toyota #8 would be champions by 21 points over Alpine #36 with the team of Hartley/Hirakawa/Buemi all on 160 points compared to Negrao/Vaxiviere/Lapierre tallying 139 points presently. But all of this can change so it is hard to trust this "points as they run" stuff.
Ricardo Pera will serve a penalty after argy bargy with Lilou Wadoux in the #1 Richard Mille Racing Oreca LMP2 earlier in the race. Pera at the wheel of the #86 GR Racing GTE Am class Porsche 911 RSR-19 sharing of course with Ben Barker and Mike Wainwright. They are seventh in GTE Am currently, down the class order. Mike Conway seems to be complaining, however, it is difficult and personal when fighting your teammate. You want to fight but don't risk damaging the car.
In LMP2, Rene Rast is crawling all over the back of Phil Hanson! I wonder how this one will turn out. Rast sells Hanson the dummy and makes the pass into turn one. OK. That one is done and dusted for now. Rast has fresher tires and more grip, or more speed. The Corvette and the Ferrari are now pulling away from the Porsche teammates. No further action between #52 and #92. The marshals appear to be taking a hands-off approach. Ooh! Nick Tandy has to put the squeeze play on Frank Dezoteux in the Spirit of Race Ferrari and also passes Miguel Molina.
Get out of dodge! That is what the LMP2 drivers and GTE Am drivers have to do with these GTE Pro lads coming right through. The GTE Pro battle for second spot rages on. But there is no further action insofar as the ding dong we saw between Porsche #92 and Ferrari #52. Put that one to rest for now. Phil Hanson is given a track limits warning as here in Bahrain, there are lots of fast straights and sinuous sections of turns. You carry a lot of speed through the corners and this makes Hypercar overtaking harder. They are quick in a straight line but slower in the corners.
The two Toyota's are about to put a lap on the #36 Alpine which was a title contender coming into this motor race but their title chances are fading with the setting desert sun here in Bahrain for the grandfathered Rebellion R13 LMP1 car. Next year, Alpine will pause their Hypercar effort and see Signatech stepping back to LMP2 competition with a two-car team before returning with their own car, a Hypercar design, or LMDh/GTP design in 2024. That will add more spice to LMP2 because the SignaTech team have won LMP2 races and titles before.
They will be very busy next year between LMP2 and also the Hypercar program. Bruno Famin, a project leader at Alpine used to be with Peugeot in the 908 diesel LMP1 days while also working at the FIA. Brendon Hartley is eking out a gap over Mike Conway as the gap is tooing and froing. Mike Conway being asked if he can go fast? He replies, "yes, it's possible." The sun sets quicker in the Bahrainian desert as we are closer to the equator than we would be in North America or Europe. Sara Bovy and Iron Dames have had a great season and have gotten stronger.
They know the competition is still difficult. She scored another pole yesterday, in Friday qualifying and says the team gave her the best car she could have hoped for. She was taken by surprise about the pole but has been doing very well, taking things step by step and race by race. They have a system as a team that works. The Iron Dames have really been going for it. We expect to see the Iron Dames in a Lamborghini in IMSA and probably in FIA WEC as well, and in Ferrari Challenge Europe. Doriane Pin is testing an LMP2 car? We'll see.
Wow! Some door to door argy bargy here between Nicky Leutwiler in the #46 Team Project 1 Porsche and Fred Poordad who is still in the #88 Dempsey Proton Porsche, being lapped. Fred Poordad has done a double stint and Nicky Leutwiler was fastest in GTE Am in Free Practice 3. Fred Poordad is done with his stint. Will it be Jan Heylen or Patrick Lindsey stepping aboard? We're about to find out. Toyota #7 now just 6/10ths of a second behind the sister car #8 which has now put 78 laps in the book. 262 miles. Robin Frijns, for contact, has copped a suspended five second penalty which will be taken at the end of the race I guess. That's odd.
Mike Conway got blunted by the sister Toyota as they pass Ed Jones and/or Roberto Gonzalez in one of the Jota cars and now, Jan Heylen has indeed taken over the #88 Dempsey Proton Porsche. Hello to Damien Faulkner, Northern Irishman who is a former Porsche racer and sports car racing commentator. Nico Muller is now in the #94 Peugeot 9X8 and says the car balance is working out in the less delayed of the two Peugeot's running third overall while the sister #93 is still in recovery mode in eighth place closing fast on Oliver Jarvis in the #23 United Autosport LMP2 entry.
Meanwhile, the #1 Richard Mille Racing Oreca LMP2 has come to the pit lane and we are watching another GTE Pro battle between the Corvette of Nick Tand, the #64 C8.R and Miguel Molina at the wheel of the #52 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE. Next year in FIA WEC we will have at minimum, 11 Hypercars battling each other for victory, and I do believe we shall see at least that, maybe a dozen, in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship as well. Then, in 2024, we are talking about at least 16-18 Hypercars if we see privately run Peugeot's.
This is going to be bonkers! Some of the grid will fill out once the probable customer cars coming. Now, Hypercar/GTP/LMDh and so on is going to grow organically as Group C did in the 1980s and the same with the original IMSA GTP at that same time with very cool cars that every team wants to race. We are seeing the makings of another renaissance in sports car racing. I know. I know. I keep yammering about it on and on and on, talking your ear off. But I am so excited! We are about to enter another golden age of endurance racing and I am ready for it!
The LMP2 teams will want to run a Hypercar even though they are far more expensive than an LMP2, but Proton Competition and Iron Lynx, which are GT teams, if supply chains recover, there will be more cars. It will be a golden era and how long it will last, is less to do with the racing and more to do with the health of the global economy as we continue to hear about that blasted war in Ukraine. But enough politics. Back to the motor racing. As you were, ladies and gentlemen. #52 Ferrari passes #64 Corvette for second. A Ferrari 1-2, but a gap growing to 32 seconds.
Ferrari were freaking out earlier of course, or at least James Calado was, about A. being down on power and B. boiling the tires off the car, they seem to be coming back into the picture frame as we speak, as I sit here and continue typing words onto my blog template screen. The switcheroo on the inside in turns six, seven, and eight, is how that change happened between the Ferrari and the Corvette while the poor old factory Porsche's are languishing behind this scrum to the tune of five seconds! Jeepers creepers! Porsche best pour on more steam if they want to take the fight to Maranello and Detroit. Hello, Stuttgart? Is anyone home? James Calado, we know, is unhappy. But he might be playing a good hand of poker here. The scoop is, he is pulling away, in spite of clicking the radio and freaking out to the team and moaning "I am too slow! Give me some more speed!"
Oh! An LMP2 drag race in the lane? Well, not really. That is United Autosport coming in for a stop and RealTeam being released from the box. Calado is eking out the gap because Nick Tandy in the Corvette knows he does not have the speed and so in order to fend of The Prancing Horse, he is forced to drive a very wide Corvette indeed, thank you. He has to give the chaps in Maranello an ice cream headache if he is going to provide for competition and so far, these two automotive giants have really been pestering each other, driving both their respective fanbases nuts. \
To tell the truth, it looks like Ferrari and Corvette may very well be on the same strategy as both pitted during Full Course Yellow. Now then, in LMP2, the #31 WRT entry is in the pit lane. The Porsche's, as I said, are languishing, and this is allowing for the Corvette's to make inroads. They know. They smell blood in the water as one shark chasing after two compromised minnows at this stage of the game. #31 going for a tire change as well as fuel. A year ago, Porsche had fresher tires at the end of this motor race. Recall, they were as parsimonious as a church mouse with their tires and that is how they were able to pour on the steam at the end of the 2021 Bahrain final. This year, could they have that same trick up their sleeve?
Keywords, to quote Martin Haven who just said it, "parsimonious as a church mouse." Brendon Hartley leads Mike Conway in the two Toyota's. Conway has been half a second behind Hartley and has not yet been allowed to prove his speed. The team has not told him he can pull the pin and sail past the sister car, at least not yet. He needs to have enough distance to have a lunge at his Kiwi teammate. Hartley eased his way into the stint while Conway has been pushing hard and pushing his tires as we see the #83 AF Corse LMP2 car in the pit lane. The gap to the Porsche is beginning to shrink from te leading #51 Ferrari in GTE Pro. Yet, there are still other GTE Pro cars inbetween.
Well, well, well. I say, the plot doth thicken a wee bit. The light fades but it will take a good while for the tarmac here at Bahrain International Circuit to surrender it's heat as the Toyota goes inside the RealTeam LMP2 entry, the #41 car. Conway squeezes past Norman Nato of France. He cut a brilliant lap in qualifying in the dark of night. He is heavily laden with petrol after just leaving the pit lane. Now then, more LMP2 pit action as we see the #9 Prema Orlen car prepared for service. We have a driver change. WRT has gone by the #9 and the #22 United Autosport car which pitted but had a ten second stop and go penalty added to it's stop for an infraction.
WRT have been gifted with an opportunity. This is manna from heaven for those boys if they can make hay while the sun shines. Well, it will not be shining much longer before we hit the hours of darkness here in Bahrain as we talked about earlier, being so close to The Equator. Sean Gelael, the reining Asian Le Mans Series champion. Gelael will not come back to the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series over the winter. He was not the champion. It was Rodrigo Sales this year. We are going to see a big grid for Asian Le Mans Series and yours truly does hope to cover that action if he can.
It indeed appears that one of the two Jota cars will be our champions in LMP2, but we don't know which one of the green and black cars it will be just yet, either #28 or #38. You will have to stay tuned to find out. Prema needed a bonus point for pole and didn't get it. So, they are no longer championship contenders in LMP2. Brendon Hartley continues on his merry way in the race lead. Once again, the #8 Toyota trio could be in the pound seats for the championship because they continue to hold sway by 21 markers in the title fight over the Alpine trio. If #7 wins the race tonight and #8 are second it is not enough.
#8 would still take the title. The Toyota's have indeed passed the Alpine. Unless something massively dramatic happens, Alpine's title hopes have had a dagger forced through their hearts. Criminy. We now have a Captain Cook ate GTE Pro points in the swansong for the division. Ferrari's Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado are expected to win the title, and projected to do so by 31 points over their nearest rivals, Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen at Porsche with Gianmaria Bruni five points down and Antonio Fuoco a futher two points behind. Dear, dear me, as the floodlights come on. #51 passes the #98 Am class Aston Martin.
Iron Dames lead GTE Am with 14 seconds in hand over their neearest competitor. In the points table in GTE Am (for the teams), this is the picture. TF Sport with the #33 Aston Martin lead the championship on 141 points, 15 points ahead of Northwest AMR on 126. Third is the Iron Dames Ferrari, the car we are seeing on screen right now, at 108 points, 33 points out of the lead. Fourth on back, those three teams really don't have much of a chance unless something unexpected happens before this race is completed. Dempsey - Proton Racing with their Porsche have 77 points to match their car number. A point behind them on 76 is the #54 Ferrari for AF Corse, and then it is the beleaguered #46 Team Project 1 Porsche with a measly 48 points earned.
Alessandro Pier Guidi is in a very comfortable spot, 30 seconds up the road from AF Corse factory Ferrari teammate Miguel Molina. These two I am pretty sure will be a part of the AF Corse run team for Ferrari in Le Mans Hypercar next year. Rahel Frey leads Francesco Castellaci in another all-Ferrari battle in GTE Am. Ben Keating in fourth followed by David Pittard. Satoshi Hoshino brought the #777 D'station Aston Martin to the pit lane and got out of the car but it looks like he is being arrested and his crewmen have slapped handcuffs on him. Freeze! You're under arrest! No. He was sweating pints for two and a half hours.
So, his pit crew realizes they have to get him out of the car and sit him down and get him some water or some fluids, so the poor chap doesn't dehydrate in this desert heat! A battle for sixth ensues in LMP2 with Louis Deletraz aboard the #9 Prema entry and Will Stevens in the #38 Jota entry. Stevens is told to close the gap and he has to cut 14 qualifying laps in order to do it. Go, go, go. Put the hammer down and give it all you've got, sunshine. Stevens is the Pro driver amid a sea of Silver rated drivers who just aren't going to be as quick no matter how hard they try and no matter what on earth they do during their stints.
Alpine #36 in the pit lane for service. Stevens is really pushing right now. This is the stint in LMP2 though where each driver will cement the rhythm of the rest of the race for their respective team as we watch a battle of two Frenchmen farther down the LMP2 order for 11th and 12 with Charles Milesi for Richard Mille Racing in hot pursuit of Matthieu Lahaye for Ultimate. #29 vs. #1. Brendon Hartley leading the motor race is on the horn to the Toyota mechanics saying, "I am having a big problem with downshifting!" Well, well, well. This is going to continue thickening that plot. That is not ideal for the #8 side of the Toyota garage. If memory serves me, we have seen Toyota deal with gearbox issues before both this season and in the recent past.
This is a story we shall follow up on as #8 is most likely the Hypercar champion elect. But things could very well change if the gearbox issues worsen. We'll keep you posted as the motor race wears on. The championship battle is a two-horse race between Toyota #8 and Alpine #36. So, the #94 Peugeot 9X8 is a buffer between these two cars. The team is telling Brendon Hartley they have a backup plan to work out this shifting issue. The team has made a change to the shifting map and Brendon Hartley got on the radio and said something to the effect of "guys, this isn't going to work."
Toyota could be running to a given pace because there is no difference between their lap times right now with #7 running just 8/10ths of a second behind as we complete 87 laps, 292 and a half miles. Alternatively, I don't think Toyota would be running to a pace otherwise we would not have heard Mike Conway begging to be let by claiming he is faster than Brendon Hartley is. This is all very confusing with the traffic. Mike Conway cannot inch up on the sister car. Brendon Hartley says yes, I will stick to the fuel target. What we can sense from that radio transmission is that Toyota have either an energy use target or a fuel target that they are not meeting.
Kamui Kobayashi is playing his team boss role and has not driven the #7 Toyota since Free Practice 3 happened. That is peculiar as he is indeed tabbed to drive the #7 in the race with Mike Conway and with Jose Maria Lopez. So, the top three in Hypercar sees the two Toyota's followed by the contending Peugeot. #8 followed by #7 followed by #94. Kobayashi will be the third driver into the car and can adapt to anything but it 9s a long time to wait. Will Steven is being told he can pass the Prema LMP2 car, one of their rivals, but there must be a bit of confusion on the team whether they are referring to #38 or #28.
We've been brought a publication here. Jota Sport car identification for dummies. Well, we'll have to turn to page #28 or page #38 to figure out what on earth is going on and just hope that the rest of the book isn't blank. Ah. Words, words, words. Sometimes we have too many words. This is a real chuckle factory because we know that the only way to tell these cars apart is by differently color wheel nuts which we cannot see! Oh boy. It just makes our jobs here on the journalistic side of sports car racing that much more difficult. Here comes one Jota car, or the other. Wait. Which is it? OK. Why don't you write this on your form (deep inhale, followed by angry yelling), I don't know! Followed by insane giggling by yours truly behind the computer!
Jota are moving one of their teams to Hypercar with the new Porsche presumably just so they can tell their two cars apart! One green and one yellow, unless of course... audible screaming... they paint the other one yellow! Oh no! We're doomed! Please excuse me. I've got to get a grip. Having way, way too much fun here in Bahrain. Mr. Anthony Davidson in the commentary box, you Sir, (a former Jota driver), are my hero! I quote Anthony, "the drivers themselves asked me to complain so that they can tell the difference as well. It's not just us." The Toyota pit crew are doing calesthenics before their next pit stop.
Keep yourselves limber chaps as we don't want anyone falling down on the job. Rene Rast is cool as a cucumber even though it is hot in the car and he did put in a great double stint just now. The car is working well and WRT are in the lead with still five hours left. We're only an hour in if we were in a standard WEC race but one more hour removed from this one and we'll be halfway home here in Bahrain. Trust me, there's a long way to go and you don't want to go anyplace as the excitement continues. It is a lot more racing. Another two hours, and another 25% distance to cover. It would make it easier on me with writing about these things if the normal races outside of Le Mans were all six hours in duration.
It just adds to the stress on the tires and fatigue of the drivers more than anything else.
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