Miguel Molina had to know Mike Conway was there and actively defended. Meanwhile, the LMP2 battle is still going on. Sebastien Buemi has had a tough afternoon today but as an athlete and a racing driver, you never stop learning. That is part of the point. However, it is very difficult indeed. Right now, at the top of the shop it is Porsche vs. Ferrari in Hypercar. Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche 963 leading Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari 499P. The overhang of these Hypercars is very long, the rear tail. Long tails are definitely back. Well, not necessarily long tails, but long wheelbases. We have just passed the two hour mark and are into the third hour. At the end of this one, we'll be halfway home.
But halfway cannot come soon enough for Peugeot. They have had a fraught race thus far with the gearshift issues. Peugeot are ready for a pit stop and they have the dollies ready. Jean Eric Vergne was asking for the option to upshift and downshift on one set of paddles as Kevin Estre shoots between two GTE cars! He is pressing hard in the lead. Porsche have not taken the 963 to victory lane in Europe yet. They have won with it in North America in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship at least once already. But they have not scored a win on a European circuit yet.
They have not scored a WEC podium yet either, as the Peugeot comes into the pits, and we just saw the graphic for the battle for fifth spot in LMP2. Andre Negrao in the #35 Alpine Elf Team car runs ahead of Robert Kubica in the #31 Team WRT entry, and Phil Hanson in the #23 United Autosports car. Meanwhile, the #94 Peugeot 9X8 goes into the garage to get more people working on the car and on the problem. Such a shame for Peugeot who have brought great speed here which they also show in spades at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is a day that could have been for Peugeot.
You have to know that if they get the reliability sorted, they will be fighting for victories. The team had to tell Jean Eric Vergne how to rework the paddle shifters on the steering wheel since he could not use the right paddle for upshifting. He will have to pull left to go down and push left to go up. The same idea could be used for the #93. Jota lead LMP2 with Oliver Rasmussen over Oliver Jarvis, Ferdinand Habsburg, Fabio Scherer and Andre Negrao.
The Peugeot mechanics are plugging the trusty laptop computer into the car because this is clearly an electronics issue, a software issue for the gearbox. The rear bonnet is off the car. You can't downshift and the only option is too sail off into the grass with no retardation under braking. Jose Maria Lopez dives past Michael Christensen in the #5 Porsche 963. His tires are ratty. He is losing pace hand over fist, rocketing backwards. Nicklas Nielsen too, just sweeps right by in the #51 Ferrari 499P.
A driver might be able to do a triple stint, but can the tires handle it? We have now run 69 lap, 248 miles. The #10 Vector Sport Oreca LMP2 car has gone off the road and left a huge dust cloud in it's wake as it has clobbered the Armco barriers somewhere on the road. That is at the second Lesmo. Gabriel Aubry at the wheel of it, dipped his wheel and spun. There was contact. He was tagged by the Prema car and Aubry and his co-drivers are out. Game over. He just got tipped clipping the curb and was sent into a violent spin before, boom! He hits the barrier hard!
Charles Milesi chopped right across his bow and Ben Viscaal clipped the inside curb, the #9 Prema Oreca. Pit stop time for Jota and the #38 Porsche 963. The stop was a little clumsy with a recalcitrant Porsche. Bent Viscaal loses control of the Prema Oreca, sideswipes the Vector Sport car and sends Aubry sailing off the road. The #38 Jota Porsche went right into the lane before the safety car. There will be a one minute stop and hold penalty for Bent Viscaal for sure. Full Course Yellow. Incident under investigation, cars #9 and #10.
Oh criminy! The #38 Jota Porsche is stopped on the road. We'll follow up on this in a moment. Speaking of Porsche's, we have to hear what Gianmaria Bruni has to say, the newest Hypercar driver (or one of them), at then wheel of the #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963. Bruni is happy to be back in the WEC and the two stints he did went well even though they lost time on their first pit stop. They ran a good lap time and Gianmaria Bruni is satisfied with things. They first saw the car Wednesday afternoon when they did a seat fitting.
The Italian fans are incredible and especially after the Ferrari won Le Mans. Hertz Team Jota, the car died out of the first chicane. Antonio Felix Da Costa had to do a Control, Alt, Delete, and restart the car, but he has also been nabbed by the traffic cops for speeding in the pit lane. Oh dear. Da Costa is fuming mad at the team. He is pointing to the steering wheel, slamming on it, saying, "it's the steering wheel!" He is stuck in fifth gear. The display on the wheel says fifth gear and he cannot upshift or downshift. Attention, pit crew, get your driver a spare steering wheel, stat!
Proton Competition of course also have a customer Porsche 963 and that car will be racing for the rest of the season in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship before a very likely possibility of joining the World Endurance Championship next year in 2024. Swiss driver Neel Jani at the wheel right now. The #6 Penske Porsche and the #51 Ferrari have had to come in for emergency service and had to stay at the end of the lane. The Iron Dames Porsche as well. Another twist in the tale. So, the #38 Jota Porsche 963 has resumed after a power recycle and resumed in fifth place. So, Antonio Felix Da Costa's anger has been assuaged.
The Porsche and the Ferrari have been stymied in a massive way and the same is true with the Iron Dames, as the #10 Vector Sport Oreca is hauled away. They are out of the race. There will be a full service pit stop for Jota and do full service and a driver change where Yifei Ye will get into the car. Drivers on traditional strategy, everything has worked, and they have done the wave around as well and the #2 Cadillac leads the motor race, and the #8 Toyota might get waved through. The Glickenhaus has been waved through.
Buemi is still in the pack. The Race Director does not tell you that you are eligible for a wave around. If we are righ and Jota had to take emergency service, all they could do is take fuel, and they could not change the steering wheel despite Da Costa's frantic gesturing and yelling that the steering wheel was not working properly. The pit lane was closed when Da Costa came in, and if the pits were still open but closed while he was there, in theory he should be able to have done a full pit stop. The red light is on only when the safety car queue goes by.
We can now confirm that the #10 Vector Sport Oreca is out, having been hit twice byu each of the Prema cars of Doriane Pin, and Bent Viscaal. The trouble for them is that they were used as a bowling ball or the shooting domino or shooting marble in a game of skittles. Not the fruity candy, the game. There will be a penalty coming. Toyota #8 has Ryo Hirakawa at the controls. Only three Hypercar teams have not led this race, as funny as that sounds. The #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963, the #708 Glickenhaus, and the #4 Vanwall. Cadillac leads Toyota by 1.7 seconds. 72 laps, 259 miles on the board.
The #2 Cadillac is currently leading Hypercar but they are ready for a pit stop and a driver change over to Earl Bamber. Green flag. Toyota will take over. Corvette Racing were leading GTE Am on the restart, but into the Prima Variante, the #86 GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 is going to make a pass. Jose Maria Lopez at the wheel of the #7 Toyota, he is slicing and dicing his way through this GTE battle, look. The #86 GR Racing Porsche and the #77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche are looking to get back on the lead lap and move past the leading #33 Corvette C8.R. The two Porsche's are a lap down and want to get their laps back over the Corvette and the orange TF Sport Oman Racing Team Aston Martin, the #25 car.
Kevin Estre in the #6 Penske factory Porsche 963 is being monstered now by the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi. These two pitted earlier for a splash and dash under the safety car and are way out of sync along with Jota. With the #2 Cadillac, they also did a splash and dash. Earl Bamber has not gotten into the car yet. One of the Peugeot's had to pit as well, the #94 is actually back out on track because the #93 is already reacing. They came in under the safety car. Alright. Ferrari #51, Porsche #6, and Porsche #38 are in and Cadillac #2 was also forced to pit. The Cadillac followed the safety car down the pit lane.
In American racing, when the leader crosses the start/finish line you are in good shape. You can punch it, and go for it. But in European racing, that isn't the case, at leas with ACO/FIA racing. In a matter of seconds, the pit lane light would have turned green. The Toyota is now on far fresher tires than those of the Ferrari. My goodness! 12 lap old tires for the Toyota vs. 74 lap old tires for the Ferrari! You've got to be joking! Those tires have been on that car for that long? They are going to really be worn down, perhaps to the cords! The gap is 4.8 seconds, almost five seconds. Toyota #7 can now put this motor race in their favor.
The #38 Jota Porsche 963 is down off the air jacks but is not leaving the pit box yet. Is it stalled again? Yifei Ye is having the same attitude Antonio Felix Da Costa did earlier, yelling and screaming at the car, banging on the wheel saying, "please start, you wretched bucket of bolts!" I have to wonder if the damn thing is stuck in gear again. It very well could be. The Cadillac #2 has come out of the lane after their second fuel load. Michelle Gatting, too, has taken over the #85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR-19 and AF Corse and Francesco Castellaci are the new GTE Am class leaders in the #54 Ferrari 488 GTE ahead of Ben Keating in the #33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
The battle for the lead is now well and truly afoot in LMP2 between Oliver Rasmussen, Oliver Jarvis, and Ferdinand Habsburg. So, it is the Ollie and Ollie show, with special guest, Ferdinand the flyer! Ben Keating brings the #33 Corvette to pit lane for fuel and to hand over to Nico Varrone for the first stint in the race for the Argentine driver. Pit stop time and a driver change at Inter Europol as well. We are now watching on track, the battle for third spot overall and in Hypercar with Jean Eric Vergne in the #93 Peugeot 9X8 hounding Michael Christensen in the #5 Penske Porsche 963. So, this story is still being told, and another chapter is being written.
21 seconds lost on the pit stop for Oliver Rasmussen after Oliver Jarvis was chasing Josh Pierson. Pierson out, Jarvis in. Michael Christensen is indeed triple stinting his tires. This scrap is for third spot in spite of the transmission woes we have seen for the #93 Peugeot. A one minute stop and go penalty for the #9 Prema Racing Oreca for causing a collision with the #10 Vector Sport Oreca. The Peugeot has amazing straight-line speed. The Peugeot is the only Hypercar that can overtake on the straightaway without help from slower traffic. That is absolutely amazing. How on earth? Well, remember, that car does not have a full rear wing. It only has a central spine sailfin on it.
Good news, bad news for the sister #94 Peugeot. The good news is they are back on track. But the bad news is that they are buried way down in 34th spot after spending 17 minutes in the garage. Gustavo Menezes now at the controls. Ollie on Ollie of course is the battle we are watching. The Brit behind the Dane. Ferdinand Habsburg is coming in a hurry. He has a real head of steam. Corvette Racing could still lock up the GTE Am title today. If you get held up by a safety car, it is not the end of the world. This is still an endurance race. Qualifying is totally forgotten, quickly, and that's good.
Porsche, Porsche, and Cadillac in a battle. Penske, Jota, and Ganassi. Hertz Team Jota Porsche and Cadillac Racing Cadillac, they lost time behind the safety car queue and now have to fight their way back. Yifei Ye ahead of Richard Westbrook. Endurance racing is so full of jeopardy because of so many competitive teams. Now, we have an LMP2 on Hypercar battle as the Alpine Oreca is trying to shove it's nose inside of the Jota Porsche! This is into Prima Variante. No dice. The ASston Martin runs wide, I think on purpose.
Ahmad Al Harthy says, "I've got to get away!" Richard Westbrook is told t push and put pressure on the Jota Porsche of Yifei Ye. Track limits at Ascar. The Jota #28 LMP2 car has pitted for tires and fuel. The battle in LMP2 we are watching is for second spot between Phil Hanson and Andre Negrao. Jose Maria Lopez uncorks fastest lap at 1:37.2. Nicklas Nielsen runs a 1:37.6 and the gap is four seconds now between Toyota and Ferrari so it is very, very close at the front. We still have over half this race left to run, folks. We are by no means done and dusted here at Monza.
So, once more, let's go through the order in Hypercar.
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