#83 is delayed in the pit lane compared t the other Ferrari's. I don't think the #83 had tires ready and I also think they might just be being penalized as Alex Palou is holding track position over everyone else as the two Toyota's are creeping up. #83 is still in strife. I think it is game over for the #83. The brakes are cooked because the hybrid regeneration system is gone! Jump clear of the car because it is electrically live. It is a live wire, and the car is out! Mama Mia! Yifei Ye cannot believe it! Ther customer Ferrari out of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with four hours left! Top level Hypercars dropping like flies! Antonio Fuoco says the fight has been a great one and the #50 team is doing their best.
We still have rain in the forecast, and we don't yet know what to expect. It is Toyota vs. Toyota. Sebastien Buemi in #8 vs. Kamui Kobayashi in #7. Cadillac #2 for Ganassi Racing are still saving petrol. The #83, up in smoke with smoking brakes and the hybrid system going kaput. Kobayashi being told to catch Alex Palou. Buemi in attack mode trying to follow his teammate through. Be very cautious through the traffic. The private Ferrari is dropping like a stone. Last year's winner the #51 Ferrari is fourth with the sister #50 in fifth spot. Once again, it is Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there.
Ritomo Miyata now reeling in Nolan Siegel. Cool Racing and United Autosports in LMP2 for fourth place. It is all or nothing at this stage of the motor race. How many stops for a full tank of gas and how many for just a splash and a dash? Take your final stop before the end and this has all gotten incredibly spicy. Cadillac #2 is still off sequence compared to Toyota as the #92 Manthey Pure Racing Porsche 911 GT3R is in the pit lane for a scheduled stop. A safety car scramble or a Full Course Yellow will help save fuel for the #2 Ganassi Racing Cadillac. We are also looking at the two Toyota's and possibly the #51 Ferrari depending on fuel and safety cars.
Four laps to go before the #7 is supposed to be in the pit lane. Manthey Porsche #91 closing in on the #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3. Three and three-quarter hours to go. Sebastien Buemi tells his crew chief about the possibility of the next stop and if rain comes, they have old soft Michelin tires they are dealing with and need new ones like the sister car and one of the Ferrari's. Practice fuel saving. In LMP1 there was lots of lifting and coasting the same when Lena Gade worked in IMSA in the old Daytona Porotype International category. The balance of the car changes and the drivers find lap time. United Autosport #22 vs. Cool Racing #37 in LMP2 and no dice through the chicanes on the Mulsanne straight.
Alex Palou uncorks fastest lap of the race being pursued by Kamui Kobayashi. Morris Schuring holding off Augusto Farfus in GT3. 3:28.938, fastest lap of the motor race in Hypercar for Alex Palou. Purple first sector for Kobayashi chasing Palou. Calaod and Molina battling aboard the two remaining Ferrari 499P's in the Hypercar field. Molina thinks he is faster on new tires and wants to be let by the sister car as Palou is in the pit lane. This is from the race lead for Cadillac. Cadillac try to win the whole thing. Toyota though have made it their business to win Le Mans looking for their sixth win. Palou has started the 24 Hours of Daytona a few times in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship as Molina makes the move on Calado.
Strategy is open. James Calado part of last year's winning team with Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi. The tires are dead on the #51. So, now the order has changed. Toyota 1-2 and Ferrari 3-4. For Calado they will need to change the tire compound, towards the harder compound Michelin's. The track temperature is climbing. It stabilized at 18 degrees Celsius and has moved up to 22-24 degrees Celsius. We could still see some rain before the race is finished. Three and a ahlf hours to go as Kamui Kobayashi has pushed like crazy in Toyota #7 and Jose Maria Lopez will pick up the mantle.
A remarkable stint from Kobyashi but it couldn't have had any fuel management whatsoever. Lopez on the attack for the #7 while the sister Toyota is the leader. Action Express has pitted, and Jack Aitken is now into the car. We are still languishing down in 17th place. James Calado is having trouble keeping the tires underneath the #51 Ferrari 499P. The top five is Toyota, Ferrari, Ferrari, Porsche, Cadillac. Manthey Pure Racing handed a drive through penalty for ignoring blue flags. The #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus is still trying everything and now, Ritomo Miyata in LMP2 is leading LMP2 having passed the #22 United Autosport Oreca of Nolan Siegel. Tires being prepared at Ferrari.
Three and a half hours left on the board. Rain is forecast to hit before the end of this race. Ferrari #83 and Cadillac #311 are still being repaired. That was a big hit for Pipo Derani. Action Express will do everything they can to get back out there. I know those boys and they don't quit. The #99 Proton Porsche 963 is also in the pit lane or the garage I believe. We need to see some pit strategy resets between Toyota #8, both Ferrari's, and Porsche #6. You cannot always bank on a safety car being a magic bullet. So long to Alex Brundle, and thanks for being here, mate. Oliver Webb will join us in a moment or two.
Three laps remaining on the stint. The leader is seven seconds ahead or so. Calado now up to third. Fuoco in second behind the #8 Toyota. Alex Palou still running off sequence and the #6 Porsche 963 IS still up there. The #311 Action Express Cadillac is finally back out on track. Our boys will do everything to finish the race! #50, #51, and #6 all running low on energy. Buemi says he has a vibration in the #8 Toyota which isn't something the engineer wants to hear. Lomko and Cullen batting for fifth in LMP2. Ferrari #51 in the lane for service. James Calado was saying he didn't enjoy the grip and now the #6 Porsche 963, the pole sitting car with Laurens Vanthoor handing over to Kevin Estre.
The rattle guns rev up to 25,000 RPM to get the wheel nuts off and on for the tire changes. Pretty amazing! The physicality, the heat, and so forth. A slow puncture for the #7 Toyota of Jose Maria Lopez and the tires can be changed. The scheduled pit stop for the #8 also happening. Sebastien Buemi finishes his stint and Brendon Hartley will get in the car. Hartley has three wins here at Le Mans and is going for four, going to try tying his teammate Sebastien Buemi, as well as Yannick Dalmas, Henri Pescarolo, and Olivier Gendebien.
Laurens Vanthoor at Porsche #6, had a strong night, but they do not have the same pace as Ferrari or Toyota. Four brands could still win this race. Rain expected at the end. Rain would help Porsche get back into the game to take the fight to Toyota and Ferrari as Miguel Molina is in the lane for a scheduled pit stop. Porsche is worried about their chances. Toyota and Ferrari seem to have the edge over Porsche and Cadillac currently. Speaking of Porsche, the #38 Jota Sport 963 will be in the lane soon as well. Raindrops reported at Porsche Curves and Karting corner.
Jose Maria Lopez in the #7 Toyota, a hole in the thread for the tire. The #51 Ferrari must be careful before Arnage. Buemi wants to be reassured everything is fine. No more vibrations to worry about but there are raindrops on the windscreens of the Hypercars as we speak. Oh boy. This is going to shake things up. The rain is hitting the windscreen but there is nothing on the pavement of the road yet as the D'station #777 Aston Martin bounces over the sausage curbs and picks up the tire clag on the inside line. Alex Palou is rapid in this Cadillac, the IndyCar driver.
Palou's career was kept afloat by the late, great Adrian Campos. Cadillac #2 will need something on fuel strategy to be able to make their plan work. Sebastien Buemi acknowledges the rain being off and on for the whole race. The rain might just come back here before we are finished. Just over three hours to go. Four brands are still in the fight in Hypercar for the overall. Cadillac, Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche. We have not seen heavy rain like we thought we would get. Is this psychological rain? It very well could be. Palou leads Molina by 7.2 seconds, but he will need a lot more fuel fill. Alex Lynn will get into the #2 Cadillac. The rain is coming down, but it is a light spritz. It is not tipping it down.
Palou is told to keep pushing. Ferrari #50 catching Cadillac #2. The teams are evenly matched, the driving stadards are lofty, and yet the rain and Mother Nature has played her hand. Ferrari #83 are out of this one as we said. Alessandro Pier Guidi applying the pressure to Kevin Estre who was 7/10ths of a second slower. This is the scrap for fourth place. The inside line. No dice there, look. Ferrari #51 playing the long game. We have been dry for a long time hereat Le Mans. Ferrari #51 crawling all over the back of the #6 Porsche. Estre has just made the move on Pier Guidi! Wow! Turn up the heat!
The Porsche goes deep and Pier Guidi is not quite there to get to Estre. This is a battle royale for fourth place. Pier Guidi and Estre duking it out but Pier Guidi gets the best of the Porsche driver. We have three hours of racing remaining and this is after 21 hours of racing including four hours of yellow and each car has an euqal number of laps to complete.
No comments:
Post a Comment