Isotta Fraschini just wants to finish. Julien Andlauer needs to capitalize with fresher tires than the Alpine has, than the tires on Matthieu Vaxiviere's car. Turbulence behind another car is not good. Andre Lotterer gets al crossed up through turn 12 over the curbs! The GT3 cars take the curbs better but the Hypercars are much more fragile. Frantic work at Isotta Fraschini with the tech staff from Michelotto. They also have a drive through penalty for not respecting Full Course Yellow procedures. A small team, with a single car, not fully resourced like a customer Porsche 963. They are in the foothills of developing their own car with their own design, aero package, engine, and hybrid system.
The #94 Peugeot 9X8 is plummeting down the order. They are in the garage now, looking at the rear axle, the engine, and the electronics. It could be a sensor, or part of the running gear. They got hit in the right rear corner right at the beginning of the race. 165 laps remaining. Porsche Penske Motorsports are looking for a 1-2. Could we see a Porsche podium sweep? Fred Makowiecki chasing Jean Eric Vergne. Porsche vs. Peugeot. I have no idea where to start. We've all been looking at the new cars but also teams like Toyota and Ferrari. Peugeot qualified sixth and tenth. They did this on one lap, outright pace, as the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, Valentino Rossi finishes his stint, handing over to Maxime Martin.
Rossi has won in Road to Le Mans an in SRO GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, as well as being successful in MotoGP. His old rival Jorge Lorenzo has tried car racing, but it has not worked. Peugeot, Porsche, Porsche, second, third, and fourth. A battle for eighth between the #2 Cadillac and the #50 Ferrari plus, we also have the second-place battle on the screen, Peugeot #93, Porsche #5, and Porsche #12. Jean Eric Vergne vs. Fred Makowiecki, and Callum Ilott, the least experienced driver, who has the pace, does the Brit. One of the Peugeot's #93, looking strong, while the sister #94 is in the garage being repaired.
Note the mechanic with the red gloves and the hook, even if the car is green, if there is an electrical problem, you have to pull someone to safety, so you don't get zapped. The hybrid systems are extremely high voltage. Heart of Racing leads Pure Racing and Vista AF Corse Ferrari in GT3. Andre Lotterer for Porsche Penske Motorsports leads Jean Eric Vergne, Fred Makowiecki, and Callum Ilott. We are halfway in terms of the time limit and more than halfway through in terms of the distance limit here in Qatar. Earl Bamber and Antonio Fuoco battling for eighth, Cadillac and Ferrari. Alpine passed by Proton Competition Porsche as well.
Valentino Rossi feels good about his FIA WEC debut. He has been going through a lot of traffic and the track conditions are evolving. Could the right rear corner of the Cadillac be smoking? Or is the car just running through sand or dust? Bamber is told he is catching the cars ahead but has the Ferrari behind him. He is catching the guys ahead and still holding off the Ferrari. Motorcycle racers, even more than car racers, need to feel the grip. Earl Bamber has fresher tires on the right side than the left and fresher tires than Antonio Fuoco.
The #91 Manthey EMA Porsche is back on track, and they were having throttle troubles. The #11 Isotta Fraschini and the #94 Peugeot are still in the pit lane. 18 of the 19 Hypercars might still be in it. The Peugeot is still going through a driver change. Ferrari complaining Earl Bamber is moving under braking. The leading #6 Porsche is off the road. These are motorcycle curbs, so they are wide, but they drop off the edge. No defense from the Cadillac as Antonio Fuoco passes Earl Bamber. Alessandro Pier Guidi taking over the #51 Ferrari 499P on a scheduled pit stop. Robert Shwartzmann is fifth and being pursued by the second Jota Porsche 963 in the hands of Oliver Rasmussen.
Porsche #5 is in the lane for full service and a driver change. Fred Makowiecki into the car. Half the points scoring cars in Hypercar are Porsche's. The Isotta Fraschini remains in the garage, dropping like a stone down the race order. James Calado and the #51 Ferrari has had to have a second rear tail, a second rear wing put onto the car. They have had to change the rear bodywork, again. Peugeot #94 is still in the garage. Robert Shwartzman matching Oliver Rasmussen's pace, or vice versa. The #50 Ferrari 499P is in the pit lane. Ferrari's first endurance racing season in 50 years was very successful including a win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for the first time in 58 years, and their tenth Le Mans victory.
Peugeot #94 are back on track and had to change the battery on the car. These massive lithium ion batteries the Hypercars use are not meant to be changed during the race. It is buried. Batteries don't like noise, harshness, and vibration. That is what you get in a race car. One of the Lexus RC F GT3's was off the road and almost got clobbered! That was the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F T3 going straight off on the gravel trying to take evasive action. That is the car of Takeshi Kimura. The visual field the driver has through the windscreen on one of these cars is very limited. Akoine are scoring in the points, and BMW is not. BMW have had a quiet race today. Five and a half hours into the race, though, they seem to be going well.
Kamui Kobayashi is right with Oliver Rasmussen. Sheldon van der Linde, the South African, at the wheel of the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 at WRT. Callum Ilott in the pit lane in the #12 Jota Porsche 963 and Will Stevens takes over the car. The Manthey EMA Porsche goes off the road and onto the gravel trap! Yikes! Oliver Rasmussen cleverly uses the Lexus RC F GT3 as a blocker to Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 Toyota. 91 laps on this set of tires for Oliver Rssmussen! Yikes! We see the left-hand corner damage to the Aston Martin, the #27 Heart of Racing entry of Alex Riberas, the Spaniard. Klaus Bachler leads LMGT3 in the #92 Manthey Pure Racing Porsche.
The Team WRT BMW M4 GT3's are fifth and sixth, Maxime Martin and Augusto Farfus. The #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P has pitted, for a wing adjustment. In Hypercar, you are allowed to change one element and one element only, and the rear wing is usually that parameter, unlike the ability to adjust anythng and everything in the LMP1 days. The #95 United Autosport McLaren is being pushed into the garage, well, the #59, too, has had a fraught race. Trouble on the right front at BMW, for the #15 car taking right side tires only, double stinting left side tires.
Driver change and left side tires at Peugeot #93. Nico Muller is now back into the #93 Peugeot. Mikkel Jensen, Nico Muller, and Jean Eric Vergne. McLaren #95 pits and there is troubke with the adjustable pedal box in the #87 Lexus RC F GT3, of Arnold Robin, Takeshi Kimura, and Jose Maria Lopez. One of the drivers will be summoned to the Race Dirctor. Driver change for the #7 Toyota as Kmaui Kobayashi finishes his stint, and Mike Conway will be back into the car, and the #6 Porsche 963 should be in the lane sas well.
It is Mike Conway who started the r ace at Toyota is back into the race now. The leader is in the pit lane and they have a minute and 46 seconds to get back on track to beat Jean Eric Vergne in the Peugeot to the first corner. Laurens Vanthoor is back in the car. Left side tires changed. The Porsche comes out the pits on cold tires and the Peugeot has a full head of steam but Nico Muller is scything through traffic.
Both McLaren's are back in the race now. The two Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3's are still somewhat in contention. It is now or never for the Peugeot. The Porsche last only ten seconds, not 25 seconds. The #50 Ferrari 499P dives past both of the Ueno Clinic. The two McLaren's are down the order slightly in GT3. Klaus Bachler brings the #92 Manthey Pure Racing Porsche. Jean Eric Vergne and Peugeot are happy about their performance. Thomas Flohr back at the wheel in the #54 AF Corse Ferrari and Alex Riberas in the Heart of Racing is in the pit lane.
Thomas Flohr takes his normal line and then defends into turn two. Thomas Flohr slings it to the inside as Klaus Bachler is catching up to make a challenge, too. Sad news, but inevitable. Isotta Fraschini have retired the #11 car and they will be back for their home race at Imola in April. Timur Boguslavskiy in the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 is running well ahead of the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3. Ben Barker is in his second stint in the #77 and the sister #88 car is being driven I believe by Norwegian Dennis Olsen.
Maxime Martin exits the pit lane from fifth in LMGT3. Earl Bamber hands the #2 Ganassi Racing Cadillac to Alex Lynn. Ferdinand Habsburg is now in the #35 Alpine A424B. Tire clag was pulled out of the brake ducting on the Cadillac. Lynn crawling out of the pit lane on stone cold tires. No tire warmers in ay categories in GT3 or Hypercar. Driving on cold tires is like walking on ice. It is petrifying! Laurens Vanthoor leads Nico Muller by only nine seconds. Vanthoor could be looking after his tires and that is why he is driving slower as Thomas Flohr is third just behind Klaus Bachler.
Ferdinand Habsburg still struggling with cold tires in the #36 Alpine. The gap now in Hypercar between first and second is ten seconds. With tires wearing out, the tread depth gets shallower and shallower, and there isn't enough room to keep heat in the tires. Richard Lietz pits the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3R.
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