#51 Ferrari is next in the sight line for Will Stevens as Mike Conway sweeps by the Hypercars that have just pitted. It is Miguel Molina in the #50 Ferrari 499P that is leading, and we see loose bodywork on the #36 Alpine Oreca with big damage. Now, P.J. Hyett passes Mike Wainwright. "Rexy" the dinosaur passing the GR Racing car, both Porsche 911 RSR-19's. Doriane Pin and Tom Blomqvist scrapping in LMP2 and Loic Duval in the #94 Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar as well. Great work from Hertz Team Jota in the lane. They were faster than both Ferrari and Toyota. Iron Dames now in and out of the lane, Sarah Bovy in the #85 Porsche 911 RSR-19. It is busy out there. Believe me. No letup yet. Ian James now leads GTE Am in the #98 Heart of Racing AMR Aston Martin. Oof! That's a massive hit as the Peugeot gets clattered by a GTE-Am car!
Holy smokes! Buemi in the lead. Both Toyota and Ferrari put brand new left side Michelin's on the cars. Mike Conway reeling Alessandro Pier Guidi in hand over fist. Ian James now in the lane from the GTE Am lead. Christian Ried leads the class in the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche 911 RSR-19 and the lead will change hands in GTE Am but I have to check and see to whom. A lot of information to process as this race continues. Strategy everywhere. Mike Conway continuing to harry Alessandro Pier Guidi with understeer creeping into the Hypercars even on new tires.
"Rexy" in the lane. Conway half a second quicker than the Ferrari. The #4 Vanwall is in the lane with Tristan Vautier staying in the car. This is the final routine stop, for "Rexy" in this particular pit cycle. The Porsche had been in to serve a penalty earlier. Weigh the opportunity to try and get through traffic and look for the strengths and the weaknesses of your competitors. Catching a slower GTE car in turns 11 and 12 is a good example of that. Luis Perez Companc's incident will be looked at, but again, it is a racing deal, totally. Jean Eric Vergne could only do so much. When you are the GTE car though you cannot have your eyes everywhere with the prototypes being so low to the ground too of course.
The points battle in Hypercar is really between both of the Toyota's. Gabriel Aubry is the quickest LMP2 driver, 40 seconds clear of the field in class as Tom Blomqvist is coming in a hurry with the new rear clip on the back of the car. Pier Guidi kept the right front and changed three other tires while Conway in Toyota #7 changed just two tires. From first to third, the gap is now 28 seconds. The overcut is working with having to warm up the tires, as we don't have tire blankets any longer and that is the same rule as in the IMSA championship. The undercut does not work effectively anymore. It is the overcut that does the business.
Albert Costa has taken over the #34 Inter Europol LMP2 car, the Spaniard. They are second in points one point above third place in the championship. They are swapping their strategy. These guys are the Le Mans winners in LMP2. The minimum drive time for Silver or Bronze drivers is an hour and 40 minutes for an eight-hour race. Conway looks like he wants to pass Pier Guidi. He decides discretion is the better part of valor, running in third after carving his way through the field a couple times already. He has a head of steam into turn eight but has the separation of the turbulence between the Ferrari and the Toyota. In a straight line, the slipstream works but it is the enemy in the corners.
They can follow closer than an F1 car because the Hypercars have the wings and the other aero devices and do not need the Drag Reduction System. Conway sussing out where his car is faster but he has boatloads of turbulent air to deal with. Jani under pressure from Laurens Vanthoor, letting the #34 Inter Europol car know he is there, Albert Costa at the controls. Mike Conway told to protect the rear tires and there's a touch with Laurens Vanthoor snagging the back of Neel Jani! Yikes! Jani boxes him in using the GTE car as a pick. Neel Jani not to be trifled with. Traffic ahead out of turn four and into six and seven. Pier Guidi is stymied behind the GTE car but he covers the inside from Mike Conway in the Ferrari and Toyota scrum.
Ben Keating has been passed by Michael Dinan and now, Keating is clearly saving fuel as Liam Talbot remains third in GTE Am. Good run so far for the D'station Aston Martin team. Toyota telling Mike Conway to let the tire degradation for the car come to them. Toyota believes their tires will be better than Ferrari. Ferrari team boss Antonello Coletta looking on. Ferrari and Porsche as well as Peugeot and Cadillac still in a learning phase compared to Toyota. Laurens Vanthoor and Neel Jani continue their battle. Two Porsche 963's from two different teams. Drive through penalty assessed to Luis Perez Companc. He just served it.
Also a penalty for Phil Hanson, a one-minute stop and go for the #22 United Autosport car for contact with the #4 Vanwall. The stewards took a long time to make up their minds. Juan Manuel Correa on a tear in the #9 Prema entry in LMP2 compared to Inter Europol Competition. Jani still defending from Vanthoor. The factory Porsche has the advantage again compared to the customer cars. Mike Conway seems now to be falling away from Alessandro Pier Guidi. I think the Toyota's right side tires are knackered and falling off a cliff. Trouble for Inter Europol stopping on the backstretch. Control, Alt Delete as we watch Juan Manuel Correa and Ferdinand Habsburg. Albert Costa is back rolling again and he is up on the cam again. Phew! That's a relief.
The electronics go on the fritz, and you lose oodles of time. Robert Kubica in the sister #41 WRT car has just pitted, the LMP2 points leading car. Matthias Kaiser, the Lichtenstein based driver is now at the controls of the #10 Vector Sport Oreca. Molina reeling in Stevens now for fourth place. New tires for the Ferrari and the Jota Porsche has 46 laps on their tires already. Jeepers creepers! Everyone save for Toyota and Peugeot have raced here. The first two races of the 2023 season they were racing the LMP2 cars. There are new cars here still, getting the bugs worked out of them. An hour and a half of racing now on the board.
Claudio Schiavoni was not feeling well before the race began. If he is ill and cannot drive they cannot complete the race because you need a Bronze-rated driver in your lineup in GTE Am. If one driver does not race, you are disqualified. Stay well, Claudio Schiavoni. Toyota looking to increase their fuel target. Francesco Castellaci now chasing Ben Keating. Ferrari vs. Corvette. Castellaci into his driving stint while Ben Keating is in a double stint. Two hours and 20 minutes required for Bronze drivers. Nico Varrone and Nicky Catsburg will be in the #33 Corvette later in the race and meanwhile. there's a swap of position at Penske Porsche. Castellaci passes Keating.
This race has not settled down into a rhythm yet. Corvette Racing's program will continue in IMSA and in WEC with their new GT3 cars. GM going the customer racing route. Eight Corvette's will be in customer hands in several championships next year. A brake lockup for one of the LMP2 cars there. GT3 will change the playing field and we'll have a dozen brands out there probably. The GT3 platform is opening up like the petals on a flower and blossoming. It is absolutely incredible. In GTE we used to see six or seven brands and now it will be back when we get GT3. We have seen that in the IMSA WeatherTech competition and in the SRO.
You can identify and connect with the cars in sports car racing. The Corvette Z06 GT3.R is brand new compared to the C8.R. They have been inspired by the C8.R. It is a clean sheet of paper, a car that must be customer friendly compared to a factory car. It must be user friendly so the teams can understand it and race it all over the world as we have a Full Course Yellow for debris in 20 seconds. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. An important thing about Corvette in WEC, they have had their eyes opened for the GT3 platform with customer cars and different driver levels.
The marshal picks up the debris quickly. The big difference with the drivers is between the Bronze and Silver rated drivers. Ben Keating and Nico Varrone have done fabulously. Remove Full Course Yello in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Thanks everyone. A slew of Hypercars look to be getting ready for pit stops here. It has been great to see a Cadillac in WEC. Next year, Cadillac will have some consistency. They have achieved a ton in WEC and IMSA, both. They are getting situated here and next year, they will step up and the cars will be evaluated race by race. It has to be a learning experience, as the Corvette is in the lane.
The door does not open. He is used to hot weather being from Texas. He is doing a double stint. Ben Keating, we are going to miss him in this championship next year. He is a great driver and a good person. He has the drive, the passion, the willingness to go for it and it was reciprocal between he and his team. The #4 Vanwall runs wide in a scrap with LMP2 cars. We thank Laura Wontrop Klauser for being here. Ryan Briscoe now in the Vanwall. The Vanwall is much more compressed than the Glickenhaus and he cannot right foot brake. The car does have a stable platform. In the meantime, the #23 United Autosport car vs. the #28 Jota Sport car. Josh Pierson vs. Oliver Rasmussen. Ben Keating straight inside and Sarah Bovy and P.J. Hyett both go wide off the road.
"Rexy" got waylaid by the pink Iron Dames Porsche. Watch out for the marbles, the clag, on the outside of the circuit offline. The #63 Prema LMP2 of Daniil Kvyat driving, battling with Robert Kubica I believe. Yes indeed. Of course WRT will step up to Hypercar next year with the BMW M Hybrid V8 as Matthias Kaiser is pulling ahead of Juan Manuel Correa. The Goodyear customer LMP2 tires are narrower than the Michelin's and don't have the longevity either. LMP2 and GTE Am traffic blended together in an assorted candy dish.
Gabriel Aubry had a wonderful stint and he feels great right now, happy with the team and the car. Conditions might just be starting to ease up a bit. He is driving to whatever the car is giving him which is a simple but effective driving philosophy. Drive to the tire. Don't do things the car cannot do. At Bahrain you cannot hustle the car too much. Formula 1 just like endurance racing, have to baby their tires now as well. Everything kind of filters down from Formula 1 and a pro driver is teaching the Pro-Am driver how to race effectively and quickly. Kaiser definitely has a feather in his hat but now, Kaiser will have to serve a minute and a half penalty for a technical infringement! Stupid commentator's curse!
What on earth has happened there? They will fly Plummet Airways to the tail of the LMP2 field after a massive lead had been built up. The #34 Inter Europol car is being investigated by the stewards. James Calado is set to take over the #51 Ferrari 499P in a handful of laps. They are still in third place. We are five minutes away from coming to the end of the first quarter of this event. Neel Jani pitting and now Oliver Jarvis is into the #23 United Autosports car and we have had more pit stops as well and here comes Toyota #7 of Mike Conway. He has not outlasted the sister car nor the #51 Ferrari. No overcut this time around. He will hand over to his co-driver and the same at Ferrari.
Kamui Kobayashi into the #7. Harry Tincknell now in the #99 Proton Competition Porsche as the #41 of Robert Kubica passes Daniil Kvyat. This was all on the run to turn four. Job done, cleanly, even with the attempt at the switcheroo. Ferrari #50 back in the race. Radio with Sarah Bovy with the sun blazing in the drivers' eyes and a swap between Michael Dinan and Liam Talbot in GTE Am.
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