Porsche #5 in the lane for fuel and service. Fuel only and a driver change as Michael Christensen takes over the #5. Earl Bamber in the #2 Cadillac is now moving up. Kevin Estre is describing snappy, twitchy handling through slow speed corners. That Porsche 963 is extremely tail happy. The Cadillac on a completely different strategy and they might not be able to catch up with the Ferrari's. Driver change and service for Prema and the #63 LMP2 car. We have gone fully green for four hours now and none of the Hypercars have gone a full tank of fuel, or on a full stint I ought to say. Estre says it has been a hot, tough, strategic race because of the lack of Full Course Yellow and going green all the way thus far. Fuel saving is going to be critical.
Zero Full Course Yellows and zero safety cars at Portimao thus far. We are getting far fewer track limits warnings. #33 Corvette C8.R in the lane and Nicky Catsburg will take over from Nico Varrone. Antonio Felix Da Costa back into the #38 Oreca. This car has yoyoed up and down the order. Jacques Villeneuve is now in the #4 Vanwall and the Toyota #7 has gained one place to tenth. Commentator's curse! We were just talking about the Vanwall and it is stopped on the road! Deary me! Colin Kolles, team boss, cannot be happy. They are racers. They want to go for it. Now, he is back underway is Jacques Villeneuve. It had a Control, Alt, Delete situation.
I have to wonder what that whole spiel was about. We have had very few track limits notifications. Fabio Scherer chasing Antonio Felix Da Costa for sixth in LMP2. Bent Viscaal overtook Antonio Felix Da Costa off the track which is not what you are supposed to do. Jacques Villeneuve was told to stop. He was almost to the pit lane and the team wanted him to shut the car off. They are still having issues. Area 51 is the safe haven for the hybrid cars. But the Vanwall is not hybrid powered of course. Daniil Kvyat in the LMP2 leading car being monstered by Ben Hanley in the #22 United Autosport entry. Daniil Kvyat is now minted as a Lamborghini Hypercar factory driver for next year.
Earl Bamber in the Cadillac catches Antonio Fuoco in the Ferrari hand over fist. No power steering for Michael Christensen in the #5 Porsche 963! Oh boy! I wonder if the gearbox will be affected. Losing hydraulics means the fluid has to be manually put through the system doubling the load on the steering. Team manager for the #41 WRT car in the hands of Robert Kubica. Dollies are ut at Porsche? No. Maybe not. The #7 Toyota are continuing on the comeback trail. The engine cover is off the Porsche and back on reconnecting the hydraulic lines but it is on the dollies going back to the garage.
This is not a quick fix. Bad news for the #23 United Autosports car which is a five second time penalty. Five seconds added for a pit stop infringement. Well, well, well. Toyota #7 stopped in the blend lane at the pit lane. No power. Power cycle the car. Ah. Michelle Gatting fending off Alessio Rovera in GTE Am. Iron Dames Porsche vs. AF Corse Ferrari. Toyota #7 has dropped back out of the points behind the Vanwall and they will still overhaul the #5 Porsche. Gatting and Rovera scrapping for the lead in GTE Am. They had to pass one of the Peugeot's. Rovera was teammates last year to Nicklas Nielsen. A Ferrari factory GT driver. Michelle Gatting also driving superbly with Nicky Catsburg 14 seconds down in the Corvette.
Corvette actually leading GTE Am right now as we speak. Porsche Penske Motorsports might be experiencing both sides of the coin. A win yesterday in IMSA at Long Beach but trouble today at Portimao. Viscaal, Da Costa, Scherer, scrapping big style in LMP2. Da Costa wants the spot back but let me tell you, he is experiencing snap understeer. Ferrari second and third in Hypercar currently. Antonio Felix Da Costa right on Bent Viscaal's six. Da Costa says "I've had enough of this!" passes, and presses ye olde bye bye button!
Viscaal sees he is in the danger zone but he knows he's the minnow being swallowed whole by the shark. Very little brakes into turn five on slimy tires covered in junk all over and he lost traction. Power steering issues at Porsche. The #708 Ryan Briscoe driven Glickenhaus is in the lane and has he stayed in the car? I think so. Pietro Fittipaldi had a huge accident at Spa and broke his leg several years ago. Henrik Hedman and Ben Hanley were his teammates at DragonSpeed back in those days. Fittipaldi running ahead of Charles Milesi. Milesi might just be a part of the new Alpine Hypercar program coming next year. We'll have to wait and see.
Meanwhile, at Porsche, team boss Urs Kuratle says that the power steering has indeed been the issue, changing the rack and the control unit. Is the #6 safe? Yes. They will keep fighting. Ferrari #51 in the pit lane still with brakes smoking like chimneys. The rotors are being ground up. A brake change this late in the race? Dear me! Look at the dust! That's caustic stuff! Yuck! Kvyat and Hanley battling hard in LMP2. Fresher front tires can help braking and Toyota #7 has gone by the #4 Vanwall but they are still in the basement for the most part in spite the woe for the #5 Porsche.
Vector Sport were just in the lane for pit stop action with the #10. #48 can still win LMP2 but they are not on the board for points and therefore the true LMP2 battle is Prema vs. United Autosports. Kvyat and Hanley are still pushing hard. Alex Lynn is now driving the #2 Cadillac for the final stint of the race. Brendon Hartley is about to lap the second place Ferrari! Holy mackerel! One healthy car from each of the top teams. Healthy or not delayed I ought to say. Every manufacturer has had mechanical woe save for the Cadillac, the Ganassi car. You never want to go a lap down in an endurance race. Toyota won an eight hour race once, by two laps.
We are almost to the end of a six hour event. All the other manufacturers are consistently improving. Some minor damage for the #41 WRT LMP2 car after their skirmish with the #22 United Autosports car. An hour and a quarter to go here at Portimao. Antonio Felix Da Costa is in the pit lane now. Kvyat has a tight squeeze there along with Ben Hanley and an Aston Martin! Yikes! Prema #9 and WRT #31 out of the lane. Robin Frijns vs. Antonio Felix Da Costa while Fabio Scherer is the bloke scrapping with Da Costa and here comes the #22 United Autosports car too, look. #63 in the lane. Ben Hanley has yet to pit.
#23 to the lane ceding the lead to #22. A driver change, late call, as Giedo van der Garde had to get out and he yells to the crew, "I had no radio!" No wonder he had no idea he was done with his stint. Sister United car in the lane as Da Costa is pinged for a penalty for weaving and my guess is that he had to warm his tires up. #22 is the United car that has just pitted. Poor old Hanley is going to be way down behind Daniil Kvyat. Sheesh! Well, well, well. Giedo van der Garde is serious he had no radio, the radio battery died and all he was getting in his ear was the dead battery chime. He said he was quick during his stint. He is like, "what do you want me to do?!"
Oliver Jarvis was not ready! Man, oh man! van der Garde was not prepared either and of course the co-driver should have been running to the door even though he was already suited and booted. Pier Guidi, Ferrari #51 passes Loic Duval in Peugeot #94. Antonio Felix Da Costa passes Louis Deletraz in LMP2 and he is down in sixth in class currently. Alessio Rovera is all over Nicky Catsburg for the GTE Am lead with just ovoer an hour to go. Michelle Gatting has fallen off by 17 seconds in the Iron Dames Porsche. The #4 Vanwall has crunched the barrier in turn 10 losing the brakes, spinning way off the road and... ker-runch! I think that was a brake disc exploding. Yup. The disc went bang.
Safety car scramble. Cadillac were in the pound seats but now they are going to be stymied and the brakes on the Vanwall are on FiYah! That is the first failure we have seen for Vanwall. Villeneuve says "I am OK, but the brakes are gone. I am in the tires, stuck in the gravel."
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