Jordan Taylor, driver coach for Garage 56, tells us the drive line was not working the way the team wanted. They buttoned up the drive line (no pun intended) and the car is still out there. Hendrick Motorsports loves it and the fans really love it, the American spirit, the floor jack for the pit stop, and the car looks great and sounds fabulous! Jenson Button agrees. Driving the Cup car in the middle of the night in traffic, wow, it is tricky to drive in traffic. You think you are driving it quick and you are. It is aggressive and mechanical, and easy to drive. It does get smoked by the Hyper Cars. It is heavier, not as heavy as a real Cup car. The braking is good. Mechanical grip, it needs more. The lap times were similar.
But they also had longer pit stops and a five-minute brake change. Great to see the car. Ferrari in good shape. Toyota #8 in the pit lane. Ryo Hirakawa is stepping into the car, replacing Brendon Hartley and Hartley has been driving the wheels off the GR010 lately. Close the door. Add the fuel. Down and away. Do you keep Brendon in the car? If he can manage it, it could make sense. We are just under two hours from the finish. If a driver is tired it is not worth it and the last driver having only an hour to make things work, that isn't worth it either. We have a puncture for the #48 IDEC Sport Oreca!
Oh no! He is dropping like a stone and the pole sitting LMP2 car with Lorents Horr, he is in a world of pain with that delaminating tire. Ferrari diving for the lane. This is the overcut, the response to Toyota for fuel. Ferrari inspecting the tires and cleaning the windscreen. They are sticking to the plan. No sense to break out the rattle guns and change tires. Double stint these tires. Ryo Hirakawa will have to push like no tomorrow. One hour and 50 minutes to go. Toyota crosses the line. This might be a squeaker at the end. We'll just have to see. IDEC Sport, the tire literally unravels.
16 seconds is the gap between Ferrari and Toyota. Hirakawa has new skins on the car and has to catch up to the back of the Ferrari. They have to focus on tire strategy. That is all they can do. They might go to the end. Ferrari might have to put new boots on before the end. Justin Taylor, Ferrari team manager is happy with how things are going. Shades of 2011 when Audi won I believe, one of their many wins. Richard Westbrook still has the #2 blue Ganassi Cadillac out there. Westbrook told to box for service. A race with a precedent, a tight fight with two hours remaining. That was the Audi victory over Peugeot with Benoit Treluyer, Andre Lotterer, and Marcel Fassler.
Ganassi Cadillac #2 to pit lane. An hour and 45 minutes left on the board. Westbrook has driven for Glickenhaus and now Cadillac. The #3 sister Ganassi Cadillac was slow briefly. Did Sebastien Bourdais spin? What happened there? The Ganassi cars had a strong race. Action Express was having a good race but had things happen that were well, beyond our control I suppose. Oh boy! The #8 Toyota has spun on maximum attack in Arnage! Hirakawa spins it! Toyota's run might unravel! Ferrari might be able to cruise to a triumph. Never count your chickens.
That was a lockup into Arnage! Man oh man! Can you believe it?! Hirakawa has to be sensible. Box, box, box. He tried to push and he lost it. Try to do these repairs on the pit lane but it is too much! They have to box the car. They are taking the front end off. I wonder about the tail. Cadillac Racing might move up a wee bit but sadly it will be Ganassi. Action Express and my pals will be down the order. Has this been the defining moment of the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans anniversary?
The Toyota is back into the fight. They knew they were going to get snookered if they went into the garage. Antonio Giovinazzi leads by almost three and a half minutes/ An hour and a half to go or thereabouts watching Sebastien Bourdais in the #3 Cadillac and the #5 Porsche 963. Corvette #33 in the pit lane for scheduled service. So, the pivotal moment just happened with Toyota hitting the wall. We have Scuderia Ferrari out front in search of their first win at Le Mans since 1965.
Ferrari, Toyota, Cadillac, the top three in Hyper Car. Inter Europol leading LMP2. Corvette Racing leading Project 1 leading Iron Dames in GTE Am. Ferrari could be on the brink of something special. Toyota will have to accept what they receive but you know they didn't want it after winning this race for five straight years. Ferrari could win for the first time in 58 years. Stay sensible. Put things in perspective. Don't get too excited. Do your job and make no mistakes.
Charlie Eastwood chasing down Rahel Frey for a podium place in GTE Am. Antonio Giovinazzi leads the motor race. Thank you, Tom Kristensen for your insight on the commentary. He is heading for the podium ceremony when the race finishes. An hour and 26 minutes left in this race. Charlie Eastwood driving the wheels off the Aston Martin. Race Control investigating the LMP2 leader. Alpine and their LMP2 team are in the pit lane. Alpine move up to Hyper Car next year. #34, did they pit before serving the penalty? You have to serve the penalty first. Hello to Leigh Diffey.
This confirms the old adage, it's never over until it's over. For Toyota, they will be asking lots of questions. You always want to have two bullets or three bullets. This is something to address their decision when they get back to base. Spare a thought for Ryo Hirakawa. Meanwhile, Charlie Eastwood drafts past Rahel Frey on the Mulsanne straight and Eastwood sweeps into second in GTE Am. At ORT by TF Sport, we see Will Turner, a seven-time champion in IMSA and other sports car championships. He has had his mind blown seeing Le Mans for the first time.
Jimmie Johnson piloting the #24 NASCAR Cup Series Garage 56 car. The Chevrolet Camaro is 39th and could gain a place and get the best result ever for a Garage 56 car. Now, we also see the #311 Whelen Action Express Cadillac still in the race too. We will finish this race. I wonder what the future shall hold. The two Peugeot's are running ninth and tenth. Peugeot may have a positive way to look at their effort after winning this race on three different occasions in the past. There is more that can be done with the Peugeot 9X8 and they will have a finish they didn't want but will surely come back next year with an improved package.
Penske and Porsche as well, they are back, and they have decades of experience to understand that nothing happens overnight. Building process is what this is all about for Porsche for World Endurance and for the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. #34 to the pit lane for a driver change. Fabio Scherer with his busted foot. That's pure grit. The race is not done until you cross the finish line. This is not over. Quietly, confidently paranoid? Maybe. We don't know quite what is going to happen yet. Antonio Giovinazzi is still leading this race.
The gap between first and second is unchanged. The Ferrari is still behind the Toyota. Toyota's job now is to stay on the lead lap. Antonio Giovinazzi can see Ryo Hirakawa. He knows he is there. It is getting hot and humid here in France. It will get hotter and hotter and hotter even on the podium when everyone does get to celebrating. No celebration time yet. Sebastien Bourdais, we do not know what happened to him, but he is still fourth ahead of the fifth place Porsche. GR Racing, the Porsche of Ricardo Pera and company. Davide Rigon, Alex Riberas for Heart of Racing, these are some others we shall mention.
Antonio Giovinazzi is made aware that he will pit and there will be a driver change at Ferrari and AF Corse. An hour and eight minutes to go. Alessandro Pier Guidi will take over the car for the finish of the race. He has 67 minutes to deliver. The first win, if it comes, is the sweetest, should it come in just over an hour. Grand Marshal Lebron James was stunned by what he has seen here at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. New Michelin tires for Pier Guidi. Rene Binder and Robin Frijns are battling in LMP2 for podium places. Robin Frijns goes to third place. Rene Binder cannot find an answer to the WRT riddle. We will not see LMP2 in WEC next year but it may still be at Le Mans.
It is getting down to crunch time now. We're almost finished with the centenary running of Le Mans, well, the centenary and the 91st running. Great to hear from Antonio Giovinazzi as the Chip Ganassi #2 Cadillac is in the lane and Earl Bamber will take the car to the finish. Fuel only for Toyota #8 and Ryo Hirakawa will take it to the finish. We will welcome Calvin Fish, Leigh Diffey, and others. Glad to hear from Alex Jakes as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment