It is like a cup of coffee and you don't want to drink too much to get too jittery. The sweetener and the cream make things better. Hello, again to Ben Constanduros and thanks to Lena Gade for her insight. Hartley has energy and the override system. He has an push to pass button. He can collect the magic mushrooms on Mario Kart or the wumpa fruits on Crash Bandicoot. Jean Eric Vergne has the lead Peugeot in fifth place. The two Ganassi Racing Cadillac's are the meat in this sandwich, the #2 and the #3. Brendon Hartley is doing everything he can. This is for the lead of the motor race with less than four hours remaining. Fabio Scherer leads LMP2 over Louis Deletraz and Neel Jani. Sara Bovy, Michael Dinan, and Nico Varrone hold the top three places in GTE Am.
Rob Leupen at Toyota says that they tried to keep the pressure on as much as possible and they'll get it. You can tell he has given everything. He's spent. He doesn't have a voice left. Hartley piling the pressure on Calado. Fans all over, not necessarily in the grandstand because you had to pay a bucketload, but anywhere else, it is jam packed here at Circuit de la Sarthe. Antonello Coletta looking on at the Ferrari brain trust in their garage. The gap has now ballooned to 1.5 seconds but shrunk again to 1.3 seconds. Can Toyota turn the tables on the Ferrari boys?
The gap continues to shrink. Calado tells his team, "I'm hanging in there. I'm hanging in there." Ut is hot but no humidity. Someone has gone off the road at Indianapolis in a cloud of dust. It is game on. It is the Kessel Ferrari, the yellow CarGuy racer. Oh dear. Game over for Scott Huffaker, Daniel Serra, and Takeshi Kimura. The #38 Jota Porsche 963 is getting back into the fight. We have had nine different leaders in this 24 Hours of Le Mans. Hertz Team Jota were right at the tail end of the grid in 60th place! Never give up. That is how you handle endurance sports car racing.
There will be a slow zone for the CarGuy Ferrari to try and recover it. Daniel Serra, the Brazilian, staying with the car. He can still continue if he so desires. Brendon Hartley tells the Toyota team he is pushing hard. He sure is. Through Mulsanne corner and then into the slow zone at 80 kilometers an hour. Molina has massive pace and he can chase the Toyota and start to give him fits. Ferrari have the second bullet in the gun while Toyota has just one car and no backup. Four Porsche's, three Cadillac's, two Peugeot's, two Ferrari's, two Peugeot's, two Glickenhaus', and so forth. Green flag. Punch it. The gap will increase. All of the cars are pretty much on half the circuit. Last year we had two GT classes and this year the GTE cars have only 1/3rd of the field.
Molina is right with Hsrtley. Here comes Molina, trying to get inside Hartley's head and distract him and Molina goes sideways into the forest esses! Holy cow! Toyota want to know if they can triple stint their tires. Ferrari are going to risk it. I think they will throw caution to the wind. In LMP2 it is Fabio Scheerer in the class leader. Molina all over Hartley. Hartley blocks him. They clear the LMP2 cars. Don't get too aggressive. Don't crunch into the Toyota. The second car can sometimes play defense. Molina is not using as much road as Hartley is widening the radius. The slow zone is removed as Daniel Serra's car is cleared up.
Brendon Hartley is the cork in the bottle in the LMP2 traffic. Michael Dinan goes to the GTE Am lead over Nico Varrone and Sara Bovy I believe. Iron Dames made an extra pit stop. Just over three and a half hours of racing still remains. Can James Calado hold on and win the big one in Ferrari's return? John Surtees was a close friend and confided in James that he was going to be a great sports car racer and did not get into the Formula 1 program. Hartley trying to use the front anti roll bar but wonders f that will work. Hartley uses more road on corner exit.
The Toyota understeers on the soft Michelin tire but not on the soft or not as much on the soft. Toyota have maxed out their development in the third year of their program while Ferrari have still been learning and Hartley blows the chicane! Wow! So, he got a get out of jail free card on that deal and he was going to get stymied behind the T Rex Porsche of Gunnar Jeanette. Molina closing up on Brendon Hartley and Race Control wants to have eyes on this one. Pietro Fittipaldi warned for continuous abuse of track limits. It is per driver, not per car.
Miguel Molina continues the hassle campaign on Brendon Hartley. He is distracting Hartley. The #25 ORT by TF Aston Martin pits and so Nico Varrone cycles to the top in the #33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. James Calado is reducing the gap. But, you've guessed it. Brendon Hartley answers the bell. These two are five and a half seconds apart. So long for now, Leigh Diffey, and we have Alex Brundle coming back into the commentary box with Ben Constanduros and Calvin Fish. Antonio Felix Da Costa has just had a fraught race this weekend in the #38 Jota Sport Porsche 963.
He crashed and says that crashing in endurance racing is inexcusable. Ferrari #50 to the pit lane for service. No penalties for Hartley goig across the track. He has been adjusting the suspension system. Drive through penalty for Fabio Scherer for pitting under the safety car. We still don't have the answer for a pit stop infringement. That was close the gap now between Fabio Scherer and pit stop time for the LMP2's and we are going to see Nico Varrone doing one last stint aboard the Corvette C8.R. iIn pit lane you have to fill it with petrol but maybe next acceptable fuel. Ferrari and Toyota both pitting again. No tires for Calado but a lot of checking on the brakes and other things.
Ferrari match Toyota on pit time but use a different strategy. Hartley will be in for new tires and maybe the Ferrari will take tires or maybe not. I don't kthink I have seen sychronized leader strategies. The gap s ten seconds. The slow zone allows for a reset once again. Alex Lynn and Renger van der Zande in the Ganassi Cadillac's. The Cadillac is within touching distance. The Hyper Cars are all within a tenth with four manufacturers in the top five spots. The #24 Garage 56 NASCAR Camaro has had to change the Xtrac paddle shift gearbox. They wanted to get the best finish for Garage 56 and need to be 38th to do it.
They are 40th now. Ferrari and Toyota separated by just a few seconds. The gaps in all three classes are fairly close. Fabio Scherer was run over by a Corvette and his foot may be injured but he seems to be OK. Corvette #33 after a shock change plummeted and is now back in the fight again. Andre Lotteerer in the #6 Porsche 963 exploring the banana curbs. We have the Ferrari and the Toyota still battling. The LMDh and Hyper Car machines are heavier but not as planted. You are tired but the track is rubbering in.
Buemi is being told to manage his brake pressure to deliver the speed of the Ferrari. Jean Eric Vergne in the Peugeot #93 is in trouble. I think Toyota are trying to back time this race to the very end. Maybe the finishing driver will do a triple stint and change two sets of tires.
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