The Cadillac looks to be a raceable, comfortable car, and he is hounding the Peugeot as they pass the Ferrari 488 GTE and Bamber dives inside. He wants to do the over/under and try not to be held up by the French car. Gustavo Menezes at the wheel of the #94 Peugeot. Bamber has the speed compared to Menezes. You know Earl Bamber is going to try sending it. He does. He makes the move in turns 12 and 13 for fifth place. Cadillac are off sequence compared to everyone else. Robin Frijns and Phil Hanson continue their battle in LMP2. United Autosports vs. Team WRT. Albert Costa is no longer a factory Lamborghini driver. He is not part of that effort like he was in GT3. Ferrari #54 of Davide Rigon passes Nicolas Varrone in the #33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
Esteban Guerreri has pitted the #4 Vanwall which has been fast and reliable both at Sebring and here at Portimao. Nicklas Nielsen for Ferrari says that the #50 is performing well even though they don't have enough pace to try and duel with the Toyota's just yet. Frijns continuing to chase Hanson in LMP2. Car #51, the second Ferrari 499P will be using more fuel. Ferrari have lost their hybrid power to fill the gaps. Troubles very real at Ferrari and AF Corse but Antonio Giovinazzi is still pushing hard. Earl Bamber is catching him in the Cadillac while Gustavo Menezes in the Peugeot is on a fastest race lap. Giovinazzi can still get into the picture.
Louis Deletraz is making inroads on teammate Robin Frijns. Frijns got held up by traffic and of course Phil Hanson is next up in LMP2. The wind has picked up a tad here on the Algarve. It is a tailwind. Both WRT cars are in a convoy here and we see Robin Frijns right in with Louis Deletraz and both chasing down Phil Hanson. The slower car may immediately speed up. These three are in a battle with the Vanwall Hypercar. Axcil Jeffries, drive through penalty in the #98 Northwest AMR entry. Team boss Paul Dalla Lana suffered the same fate. They have issues keeping the car on the road while ORT by TF Sport with their Aston Martin does not.
Someone goes off the road and back on, right on the lock stops! That was an accident that fortunately did not happen. Robin Frijns is another tooth on the sprocket but he has totally put his tires through the ringer as Yifei Ye is pushing, pushing, pushing as well. In GTE Am, Matteo Cressoni in the Iron Lynx Porsche over Nicolas Varrone in the #33 Corvette and the #85 Iron Dames Porsche of Rahel Frey and Lilou Wadoux is in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE. Phil Hanson and Louis Deletraz are really going for it and we might have a headwind rather than a tailwind as the Vanwall is slicing and dicing it's way through. The Vanwall is still in need of more speed.
The Vanwall must be on older tires at this stage. The "slower" the car is, the quicker you are through turn five as Phil Hanson still has his hands full with Louis Deletraz for dead sure. Deletraz is getting his elbows out. Ferrari #51, Antonio Giovinazzi is told he is closing on the Porsche. Having all the mental capacity to check the car software and can still drive, it is absolutely unreal. Cadillac #2 is now back into the pit lane. Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche, Ferrari, Peugeot. That is the top five. Lilou Wadoux is running very well in the #83 Ferrari taking time out of the #85 Iron Dames Porsche of Rahel Frey.
Nico Varrone still leads with the Corvette in GTE Am. Oliver Jarvis pits from the LMP2 lead followed by Mirko Bortolotti who actually hit the lane first. #23 is down and away. Phil Hanson goes back to he top of the pile in LMP2. Hanson's lead is 2.3 seconds over Yifei Ye, Oliver Jarvis, Mirko Bortolotti, Albert Costa, Robert Kubica, and Ferdinand Habsburg. Bortolotti battling Jarvis. This is getting spicy. Ben Hanley now gets into the #22 United Autosports car. Ferrari team manager (#51) asked to report to the Race Director. That was an immediate warning to the car. Is it a sensor issue? What is the deal? Is the espresso machine not working?
Maybe it is a request for an espresso. Then again, probably not. Toyota #7 is in the lane with Jose Maria Lopez. Lopez will be debuting in the European Le Mans Series next weekend for their season opener. Vector Sport team boss must answer the bell for something. Yifei Ye stays in the #48 Jota car. Yifei Ye a Porsche factory driver as well and will be driving the #38 Jota Sport Porsche 963 at Spa in two weeks. Yifei Ye will be the first Chinese driver in a Hypercar. Louis Deletraz says the WRT car #41 is improving and they were in a fight with the sister #31 car of Robin Frijns.
Kevin Estre still being reeled in by Antonio Giovinazzi. #51 has clear sailing it appears. Ferrari are learning how to deal with issues as they crop up and of course Toyota has had the most experience dealing with any and every possible issue. Giovinazzi is driving the car and flipping switches for systems and they are using bucketloads of fuel but the hybrid is only harvesting, and not deploying as much. Maybe he is in recharge mode to increase the SOC, the State of Charge of the battery. The former Formula 1 drivers know how this works because the Formula 1 cars also have hybrid power these days of course. #51 needs more hybrid charge.
Reliability of these sports cars has increased by leaps and bounds in the past decade or so. Ferrari in the lane to replenish the fuel tank. Alessandro Pier Guidi now into the #51 Ferrari which is also undergoing fueling and tire changing. The IMSA GTP cars carry 110 liters of the fuel with a standard 50 horsepower hybrid package with all different engines of course. Antonio Giovinazzi has been working his tail off. Since the first lap, a long brake pedal. Issues on energy regeneration as well. It was a tough stint, one of the hardest of his career. A lot of heat and a lot of stamina for these athletes. 136 laps now completed by Toyota #8. 382 miles.
Hirakawa leads Molina by over a second. Pier Guidi chasing Makowiecki for sixth as well. Matthias Kaiser and Simon Mann in an LMP2 and a GTE Ferrari in the way. The Hypercar teams here in WEC and in IMSA are trusting their major factory talent from several places bringing professional motorsport back up to another fabulous level. Porsche and Ferrari, the two most successful manufacturers by far, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Fred Makowiecki was an occasional GTE Pro Porsche driver. At Ferrari, they are going to double stint the tires for Alessandro Pier Guidi. He is very clinical and mechanical. He knows the plan. Ferrari #51 has potential and the #8 Toyota is coming fast.
These two will be lapped. Fred Makowiecki started out in 2004 in a Dodge Viper. Makowiecki runs wide under braking leaving himself vulnerable. Ryo Hirakawa now in the lead of the motor race as the Pier Guidi and Makowiecki scrap continues. Toyota #8 lead with two hours and ten minutes to go and have lapped all the way up to fourth place. So only three cars may finish on the lead lap. Hirakawa, Pier Guidi, Estre. Peugeot, Cadillac, Porsche, Ferrari next up. Ex Audi and Rebellion engineer Justin Taylor is the voice talking to Alessandro Pier Guidi.
Pier Guidi gets chopped by Makowiecki. He still has some front brakes but not much. They are quicker and pulling a gap on the Porsche. Thomas Flohr spins after contact with the #22 United Autosport car. He did not yield enough room even though he had a blue flag notice on his dashboard. His eyes are on poles, his head on a pivot. Gustavo Menezes in the #94 Peugeot 9X8 in fourth is having the display on the steering wheel strobing in his face and getting little to no information. We have half a dozen Hypercars, broken into three different pairs.
Pit stops coming for Hypercar in the next handful of laps. Half a dozen of them. Rahel Frey spins somehow. Driver change for Peugeot #94. Gustavo Menezes out and I think they might change the steering wheel as well. It must be Loic Duval who will get in as we have pit stops for Ferrari and for Toyota. Race leader, #8 in. You are only burning fuel at a greater rate if you don't have hybrid power. A clinical stop for Toyota #8. Brendon Hartley on 149 laps, 419 miles. Trouble for Fred Makowiecki who might be running out of energy. He is coasting.
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