Moving into the second hour of the race this afternoon. So, we are close to 1/3rd of the way home. Christian Ried in the #88 Mustang will effectively be the LMGT3 race leader as the sister #77 Mustang comes in. Scratch that. It will be the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini in the lead of the motor race in the LMGT3 category. Toyota continue running 1-2 in the overall, #7 leading #8 by 11 and a half seconds. 40 laps completed by the leader, 107 miles. Mike Conway running ahead of Brendon Hartley. Now, we are watching a battle for ninth place between the yellow #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P in the hands of ex F1 driver Robert Kubica, ahead of another ex F1 driver, Mick Schumacher in the French Blue Alpine Hypercar, the A424B, the second car on their team.
Fred Makowiecki is the first of the factory Penske Motorsports Porsche 963's in third place aboard the #5 entry. He is ahead of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P with Antonio Giovinazzi at the wheel of it. Next up in the serial in fifth and sixth are the #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 of Will Stevens and the #2 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V Series.R with the New Zealander, Earl Bamber at the controls. Phil Hanson is seventh in the sister #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963. Then the #50 and #83 Ferrari 499P's driven by Nicklas Nielsen of Denmark and Robert Kubica of Poland. Kubica, yet another former Formula 1 driver who has also done rallying and has found a home in sports cars in recent years.
Oh, my goodness. Folks, we are hearing now that Will Stevens and the #12 Jota Porsche 963 will cop a 30 second penalty in fifth place, incident responsibility in turn four with Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 factory Penske Porsche 963. If you are referring to corner names instead of numbers, turn four is Descida Do Lago, the "lake descent" corner that falls away through a rhythm section of the course I believe in the first sector. Hypercar pit stops will soon come to fruition, and we are told Cadillac are going for a two-tire change, right sides only.
Mick Schumacher is lurking, probing in the mirrors of Robert Kubica. Edoardo Freitas confirms the stop and go penalty for the #12 Porsche for causing a collision with the #6 car. In this replay, Laurens Vanthoor and Will Stevens did make contact but the decision from the stewards is Will Stevens closed the gap and closed the gap too far. Most of the cars now have anywhere from 1% to 5% fuel left in the tank which only gives them a lap before they need to pit to refuel and speaking of that, Mike Conway brings the #7 Toyota in from the lead of the motor race as we speak.
Brendon Hartley follows suit in the sister #8 Toyota, and so does the #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963. Neel Jani, I think went a lap longer. Mike Conway returning to race Toyota #7 after injuring himself on his bike and being forced to miss the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He built and maintained a lead of 10-12 seconds. In laps and out laps just as critical in endurance racing as it is in Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR, whatever. Baby the tires, but keep the lap times consistent. More Hypercars in the lane, a fair chunk of the queue.
Mike Conway doing a double stint, so this means he keeps the same set of Michelin tires. Brendon Hartley goes one lap longer and of course two car teams avoid stacking the cars. Likewise at Hertz Team Jota with the #12 Porsche 963 coming into the pits. Now, we can see the team changing the rear wing assembly. Maybe this was planned. Hopefully that clip lines up where the old one was. Rear clip, rear wing assembly. Well, it attaches to the back of the car, nonetheless. Oh dear! The Peugeot budges ahead of one of the factory Ferrari's and that will surely be deemed an unsafe release by the marshals.
That is the second Peugeot 9X8, #94 of Loic Duval as the #93 sister car is still racing and the #94 is rejoining from the pits. You cannot expect the other car to have to adjust its line or brake to avoid you. Monsieur Duval should have used better judgment in that case. OK. Both of the red factory Ferrari's are in the lane now. Antonio Giovinazzi ahead of Nicklas Nielsen. These cars are the previous two winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. #51 won the centenary race in 2023 and of course #50 won this year's rain-soaked edition just last month. OK. One sole Hypercar owes a pit stop, Paul-Loup Chatin in his recovery drive aboard the #35 Alpine. Currently, he is a mere 1.7 seconds behind the race leading Toyota! Can you believe it?! Wow!
He is indeed, so is he on the lead lap? I think he is. Ferrari exit the pit lane. The field is going to begin stretching out soon it appears. #35 will be in and completing the pit stop cycle for the Hypercars, 19 of them in the field, on the return to South America and to Brazil for the FIA WEC for the first time in a decade. This is a fabulous era to restart that relationship. The #12 Porsche is serving its penalty, the mechanic with their iPhone stopwatch counting it down. As the late, great F1 commentator Murray Walker used to say, "I'll stop my startwatch", and in reality, it is "start my stopwatch." Tee hee. You can tell which Hypercars, have new boots on all four corners because the GT3 cars are crawling all over them like ants on a picnic basket.
Definite argy bargy between the two Porsche's but I don't see what happened as to what the stewards said. Paul-Loup Chatin has pitted the Alpine in recovery mode. Mike Conway 11 seconds to the good over Brendon Hartley, with 44 laps in the bag, 118 miles. Fred Makowiecki in the first of the factory Porsche 963's is only a second behind the lead Ferrari 499P. To tell you how long it has been since we have been at Sao Paulo, a decade ago it was Audi and Toyota on the podium in the halcyon days of LMP1. We don't have Audi anymore. They were meant to build an LMDh Hypercar but that never happened, and it was their Volkswagen AG stablemates Porsche who did.
Of course, the Audi's back in those days were running diesel power with massive torque and they had several different car designs and different engines of varying displacements all running as diesels. They started with a 5.5-liter V12 which was developed into a 5.5-liter V10 and then in later years their diesel shrank considerably, and it was a 3.7-liter V6. All of them were turbocharged of course and being diesels were absolute torque monsters. If you go back through the archives to when I started this blog ten years ago, you will see race reports about Audi battling with Toyota and Porsche in the waning LMP1 factory battles in FIA WEC.
Loic Duval in the Peugeot makes a clean pass sneaking in front of Jean Karl Vernay in the #11 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6C Competizione. Giovinazzi is told that he must keep the Porsche behind. He has pulled the Ferrari up to third with the two Toyota's dominating so far. The Porsche doesn't have new tires. It has skins on the car that are 45 laps old. Medium compounds all around. Giovinazzi on hard compound Michelin's on the right side. This is a counterclockwise circuit to the left with some right-hand turns. The right-hand side of the car does most of the work gettung the traction.
That is why there are split tire strategies for many of the cars. In theory, cars that have harder right-side tires surviving better than those on the medium compound right tires. In terms of tire longevity right now we are looking at the comparison between Ferrari #51 and Porsche #5. You know each team is going to be watching each other's lap times like a hawk. Don't forget. If this is sports car racing, we will have two classes, prototypes and GT cars, and the two classes toss up many variables that can affect strategy on several levels. I keep saying it and I know some people are tired of hearing it. But strategy in this form of racing with endurance sports cars is critical.
We see Toyota #8 make a pass on the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 as we go onboard and hear the roaring tones of the 5.4-liter Coyote V8. That car is in a battle with one of the two Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3's, another front engine V8 GT3 car but with a 5-liter motor. That was the #87 of Esteban Masson passing the #77 Ford Mustang GT3. Masson the French Canadian from Quebec, 19 years old. The sister car crashed out of competition in Free Practice 2 with a massive shunt going through Curva do Sol, turn three, at the top of the hill.
He turned hard right and punched a hole in the barriers. The frame and bodywork were damaged and the V8 engine was also damaged. I imagine some part of the motor might have had a hole punched through it, the block or the cylinder heads or something. No injuries to the driver. Toyota Racing Development, stateside, might be able to help Akkodis ASP before the next race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, because of their efforts with the same car, the Lexus RC F GT3, with Vasser Sullivan in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship.
IMSA are racing north of the border in Canada this weekend for a sprint event including LMP2 and GT3 cars. So, you will hear and/or read about that event soon, when I have time to cover it. Earl Bamber in the #2 Cadillac is chasing down the BMW #20 of Rene Rast. Before the pit stop the Cadillac was sixth and after it, they are ninth and on a recovery drive. 4-liter twin turbo V8 in the BMW. 5.5 liter naturally aspirated V8 in the Cadillac. Both cars have chassis' that are built by Dallara in Italy. Hard tires on the right and medium tires on the left for the BMW.
They started with those compounds when the race began, but they were used tires. They had gone through a heat cycle in either Free Practice or qualifying. On full fuel loads, on lap two, Mike Conway uncorked the fastest lap of the race thus far. 1:24.8 for the #7 Toyota. Now he is at 1:29.0. 1:29 dead, four seconds a lap slower. Laurens Vanthoor and Julien Andlauer cutting 1:28s but everyone is losing pace as the tires wear out. Another Ferrari 499P vs. Porsche 963 battle for fifth place between the privateer cars, the #83 yellow AF Corse car of Robert Kubica and the #38 Hertz Team Jota car of Phil Hanson.
Earl Bamber is now scooting away from Rene Rast inch by inch. Nicklas Nielsen on his most recent pit stop has changed from medium compound Michelin's on the left side to hard compound Michelin's on all four corners. This is a game of chess on the tires. So, maybe imagine the chess pieces being hockey pucks to represent the hard compound tires. #51 did not change and the #50 took only two hard tires on the right and Robert Kubica took fuel only. Hanson trying to motor past Kubica. Fresh young talent comes in and experienced open wheel and sports car racers come in or they have been here.
There is a Hypercar World Cup for the four Le Mans Hypercars that are run by privateer teams and not completely affiliated with the factories. The four cars in the Hypercar World Cup are the yellow #83 AF Corse Ferrari, the two Hertz Team Jota Porsche's, and the Proton Competition Porsche. The '80s version of the FIA WEC had a similar championship for non-factory cars but at that time, admittedly, most of the cars in what was called the C1 class back in the day, were Porsche 956's. With issues for the #12 car this championship could be turned on it's ear.
Ten seconds will be added to the next pit stop for the #94 Peugeot due to their unsafe release from earlier on. Porsche and Ferrari swap places as Fred Makowiecki passes Antonio Giovinazzi. Oh! Massive, king size understeer at the top of the hill through turn eight! It's not a handbrake turn because race cars don't have handbrakes. But it is close. Turn eight is right between Curva do Laranjinha and Pinheirinho. It corkscrews down from turns eight and nine into ten and thundering down the hill. Mick Schumacher in the #36 Alpine is beginning to find pace. He is pouring on the steam. A lot of people have critiqued Alpine for being underpowered and having reliability woes.
Well, in this race, that isn't happening. Admittedly, they had a horrible time at the 24 Hours of Le Mans when both of their cars retired within mere minutes of each other as each of their 3.4-liter Mecachrome turbo V6 motors went bang. But it seems that these motors normally found in the back of a Formula 2 open wheel racer, are running fine for the time being. Robert Kubica is being told where his rival will have a grip advantage on the track.
We are seeing many of these cars come on strong as the championship unfolds. Now we see a battle for French honor. This is Alpine vs. Peugeot. Both brands have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans before. Peugeot in 1992, '93, and 2009, and Alpine, just one time, back in 1978. On the outside, the Peugeot has the better of the Alpine. Paul Loup Chatin handed the Alpine over to co-driver Ferdinand Habsburg on their most recent pit stop for the #35 machine.
Habsburg got some personal history about the yellow on the Brazilian flag. Of course, Habsburg knew that the green is for grass/land and the blue is for water and guessed yellow was for beaches. The fan said, "no. Yellow is from the flag of the Austrian empire and the Habsburg dynasty who once controlled Brazil. The yellow and black of the Habsburg's influenced the yellow of the Brazilian flag." Wow! That's wild. Earl Bamber in the #2 Cadillac has now latched himself onto the back of the three-car battle between Robert Kubica, Phil Hanson, and Mick Schumacher. So, we have four different cars. Ferrari, Porsche, Alpine, Cadillac.
Four cars, four different engine types, two V6's and two V8's, three cars with turbocharging and one without in the case of the Cadillac where there is no replacement for displacement. Nicklas Nielsen in the red #50 Ferrari is also coming in a massive hurry. The hard tires are starting to work. Both of the Toyota drivers are getting on the radio, bluing about rear tire grip. They started on mediums on all four corners. The medium Michelin was a good way to leapfrog the opposition and not get held up behind "slower cars". So, those two blokes will have to take the pain and live with that decision for the next hour of racing.
Phil Hanson continues to run after Robert Kubica. He'll be told "Phil, get on with it because everyone is coming after you." They are all catching a nose to tail scrap in GT3 as Sarah Bovy has been caught by Alex Malykhin and then just ahead of them it is this Hypercar scrap. This is getting spicy. Extra spciy in fact. The margin is half a second or so. Bovy is motoring right now. 48 laps now completed by Sarah Bovy in the Iron Dames Lamborghini, 128 miles. Oh boy! Oh boy! Look at this! The Alpine, the Cadillac, and the Ferrari are doing the old Oklahoma land rush job on the GT3 traffic! Nicklas Nielsen and Antonio Giovinazzi both trying to get past and dispense with Earl Bamber but neither of the Ferrari pilots can get by.
We saw Sarah Bovy use traffic to her advantage in the European Le Mans Series race to get back into a leading position for that event in Imola, Italy. Now, as for the ELMS, I hope to cover that in highlight form, maybe over the winter. So, stay tuned. But that is to say, Bovy really used her driving skill to make moves for the win in that event in the GT3 class. Bovy remains under duress from Alex Malykhin, the Russian racer licensed under the Belarusian flag. Francois Heriau is third in the #55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3. Ian James is fourth ahead of Josh Caygill and Maxime Martin.
So, fourth, fifth, and sixth are the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, the #95 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3, and the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3. Hanson has now motored away from Kubica and the others. Porsche, Ferrari, Alpine, Cadillac, Porsche. Earl Bamber making his presence known. He goes deep into the turn more defending than attacking through the final corner at Arcquibancadas. On the other hand, Bamber is making his presence known and is right on Mick Schumacher's six.
The torture of not being in the car is the toughest part of being a co-driver. The Iron Dames have had a lot of drama in both the FIA WEC and the European Le Mans Series. Kubica and Bamber running liner stern but now Mick Schumacher has both the Ferrari, and the Porsche glued to his gearbox! Alpine, Ferrari, Porsche. France, Italy, Germany. Schumacher vs. Nicklas Nielsen vs. Laurens Vanthoor. A German, a Dane, and a Belgian. Three wide, and the Ferrari and the Porsche split the Alpine! Nielsen tries to take a lunge at Vanthoor but it ends up with the Ferrari racer off the road in the runoff pavement right up next to all of the Rolex signage!
He outbrakes himself and cannot get the Ferrari slowed down, opening the door for Laurens Vanthoor to make his way through. Blimey! That was a close shave! Will Stevens is now back up to eighth place from 19th on the grid! Just amazing! We are close to 1/4 of the race being completed, soon to put an hour and a half of racing on the board. Laurens Vanthoor is making an inside move on Earl Bamber. Porsche vs. Cadillac, no different from what we see in IMSA, stateside in the GTP class. They are basically the same cars as the Hypercars are here in the United States with maybe some subtle tweaks and Balance of Performance modifications.
Hard left, down the hill and Bamber, the Kiwi, keeps his nose in front of the Belgian racer. Kubica giving the others the tow. Hanson is 3.8 seconds ahead of Kubica as we come back onto the frontstretch. Laurens Vanthoor in hunter killer mode behind in the Porsche. He runs wide and now, Bamber pops out to the inside of Kubica! Kubica wants to pass but Bamber says "not now, sunshine" and slams the door in his face. Kubica knew he would run wide, but he didn't make as much of a mess about it. I think the lap before he was closer to making a pig's breakfast out of it.
Mick Schumacher in the Alpine continues having Nick Nielsen right up his you know what. Kevin Estre watching pensively from the garage as Andre Lotterer is telling jokes in the background. Some drivers are very serious, and others are more lighthearted at this stage. At the head of GT3 it remains Bovy in the Lamborghini and Malykhin in the Porsche seesawing with each other. They are half a second apart and almost 30 seconds ahead of Francois Heriau. Poor old Robert Kubica's hard compound Michelins have already almost done a double stint. That is what they are designed for but they might be ratty when they come off the car.
Sometimes you just have to take the pain as Laurens Vanthoor tries whistling down the inside of Robert Kubica! Porsche vs. Ferrari, indeed. But, you have to know Vanthoor is aware discretion could be the better part of valor with that move. Mick Schumacher is having a brilliant double stint but is defending against Nicklas Nielsen. You can barely see the yellow Ferrari if you are Vanthoor as the Hypercar battle screams past the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3. Vanthoor moves past Kubica for seventh place and takes the spot away. At the same time, the Ferrari of Nielsen gets the run on Mick Schumacher in the Alpine.
They are up to ninth. We are almost an hour and a half into the race. Sarah Bovy in GT3 eking out a few tenths over Alex Malykhin. All appears calm at Toyota, but nothing is calm on the timing screen. Hang on a moment. Let me see. We have drive through penalties cropping up on the screen. OK. We have several cars being issued drive through penalties for Full Course Yellow infringement. Cars #31, #51, #55, #82, and #88. So, we can break that down.
LMGT3: #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3
Hypercar: #51 Ferrari - AF Corse Ferrari 499P
LMGT3: #55 Vista - AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3
LMGT3: #82 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R
LMGT3: #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3
Well, well, well. There is also drama for the #7 Toyota. We are about to hear from our mate in the pit lane, Bruce Jouanny about what is going on in the Toyota camp. Ah. We've not got Bruce on the microphone here. Let's see. There is drama as we see the mechanics preparing parts. The #7 has to be brought in to have something fixed. Are they dealing with suspension trouble? What is the exact problem? We don't know quite yet.
In GT3 it remains the Sarah Bovy and Alex Malykhin show. Two Bronze drivers are going to be slicing and dicing with each other until the next pit stop sequence. Right in front of them is Christian Ried aboard the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 in 15th spot in GT3. Ried, the team boss at Proton Competition is a last-minute sub for Giorgio Roda in the #88 Mustang for this race. Toyota #8 scoots past this GT3 battle and has to use the entirety of the road and a little bit of curb to survive! Holy smokes! Meanwhile, Ferrari #51 is serving a drive through penalty. This will promote Phil Hanson in the #38 Jota Sport Porsche 963 and Francois Heriau, speaking of Ferrari's, is also serving his penalty that was mentioned in the above list.
This promotes Heart of Racing and the #27 Aston Martin up to third spot. Augusto Farfus has taken over the #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 from Darren Leung as well. We did not see that pit stop but it indeed happened. Malykhin makes his move to the outside of Sarah Bovy! She is defending her line, the preferred line on the inside. Malykhin is pushing, absolutely giving it the stick in that #92 Manthey Pure Racing Porsche 911 GT3R! It is an official lead change in LMGT3 as the Porsche goes to the front! That was the run, the head of steam Malykhin had from turn ten into 11, so through both Bico de Pato and Mergulho.
Porsche leading Lamborghini. Bovy is not taking this sitting down and she is coming back at Alex Malykhin saying, "I will take the lead back, thank you." There is no tire disparity as all of the GT3 cars are on the same Goodyear tires with a sole compound available. The wear will be the only difference. Meanwhile, in Hypercar, Laurens Vanthoor in the Porsche makes the pass on Earl Bamber in the Cadillac. They are catching up to Phil Hanson and Phil Hanson is sticking like glue to the #51 Ferrari of Antonio Giovinazzi who just served that penalty we told you about.
Bamber does not want to be drawn into a game of chicken through the Senna S because he doesn't want to ruin his tires. Meanwhile, for 11th in Hypercar through turn four, Descida do Lago, Rene Rast in the #20 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 gets past Julien Andlauer in the #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963. Of course, the Proton 963 is now in the colors of the Joest Racing Porsche 962 when two of those cars raced at the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans predominantly finished in white with lime green trim on the rear wing, the top of the stabilizing fin (the shark fin), and on the front fenders. Julien Andlauer at the wheel of it.
These are the same two cars but with different drivers. Mike Conway is now 18 seconds to the good so the dramas he was worried about are of no consequence. 18 seconds to the good over Brendon Hartley, his teammate in the #8 Toyota. Fred Makowiecki is quicker than both Toyota's but is eight seconds down on the Toyota's. Proton and Ganassi Cadillac both running two-driver lineups. Laurens Vanthoor has taken the #6 Penske Porsche 963 back up to fifth spot. He runs just ahead of Phil Hanson currently as we see a Toyota 1-2 with the race an hour and 34 minutes old, 19 seconds between the two of them. Mike Conway is flying, the quickest man on the circuit.
The best battle on the circuit has to be this scrap between the BMW of Rene Rast and the white and green Proton Porsche 963 of Julien Andlauer. Laurens Vanthoor is out of sequence from making extra pit stops. But now, this is big! The race leader, car #7, drive through penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement! Oh, my heavens! This is going to put a spanner in the works for their race! Mike Conway will have to take the pain! "Information to the pit lane. Car 7 has a drive through penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement." You cannot serve it until it is announced officially. The stewards decide, then Edoardo Freitas as the Race Director, gets on the radio and makes the announcement.
So, this means Brendon Hartley in the sister Toyota is going to take the race lead. Conway and Hartley are going to be close. Mr. Director, please give us the camera angle of where the Toyota's are. We can't watch the battle between the #20 BMW and the #99 Porsche until we see what is happening at Toyota. Alright. Thanks, Mr. Director. We can see that #8 has gone ahead of #7. The long pit exit brings you out of turn three towards turn four.
So, you go through Curva do Sol, fly down the backstretch called Reta Oposta, and enter turn four, Descida do Lago. Fred Makowiecki in the #5 Porsche, the first of the Penske factory cars, in third place, is gaining in a big hurry. Brendon Hartley is indeed the new leader. 63 laps, 169 miles in the book. Julien Andlauer, in this replay, dives up the inside of the BMW M Hybrid V8. Now we move to a battle for tenth place in class in GT3. Ryan Hardwick in the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang has it and Augusto Farfus in the #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, wants it.
The top three covered now by just five seconds. Despite all of his experience in the World Touring Car Championship and in sports cars, Augusto Farfus has barely driven any races or competitive laps around Interlagos. His touring car career was spent at the Curitiba circuit which is farther to the north in Brazil. Now, Laurens Vanthoor in the Porsche is right on Antonio Giovinazzi's six, in the Ferrari. Porsche #6 vs. Ferrari #51. PPM third and fifth. Porsche are looking stronger and stronger on these long runs. Vanthoor deep into his stint is going to be stopping much earlier than the cars around him will be.
Vanthoor brought the car in to have the tires, and the front nose changed after clattering into one of the Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963's earlier in the race. Looking forward to the next race after this one when the WEC comes to the United States and will be racing the Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Be at the track or watch the race with us. You will enjoy it. Excited to tell the story about that one when it happens. It is bright and sunny but cool here and when we get to Circuit of the Americas, it is the end of summer in the U.S. and it will be hotter than hades. So, if you are coming, wear sunblock, and stay hydrated. Believe me.
In the GT3 class the battle for third is getting spicy. Ian James in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 is being chased down by Maxime Martin in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, the car he shares with MotoGP motorcycle racing legend, "The Doctor", Valentino Rossi. Ahmad Al Harthy of course is the third driver. Maxime Martin took over from Ahmad Al Harthy and has four fresh tires on the car. Goodyear who supplies the tires for the GT3 cars only gives teams a sole compound to work with. Now we see a change for position towards the front between the Porsche and the Ferrari.
This is for fourth spot. Laurens Vanthoor makes the pass on Antonio Giovinazzi. Vanthoor's car is lightening up as the fuel burns off. Many drivers and teams are being penalized for starting procedures and will have to pay cash to the FIA. Manthey Pure Racing and the #92 Porsche 911 GT3R (992) of Alex Malykhin lead in GT3. Malykhin is three full seconds ahead of the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini in the hands of Sarah Bovy. Ian James and Maxime Martin continue to race each other. Maxime Martin has driven with Aston Martin before. I think the story goes, he was with BMW, left them to drive for Aston Martin, did not have the experience he wanted with the Gaydon, Warwickshire, England brand, and then came back to Munich and the Rondel of BMW.
Malykhin has completed 59 laps, 158 miles. Now, while we have been eyeing GT3 there is an overall lead change. The Toyota's swap places. Mike Conway has overhauled Brendon Hartley. Hartley is not pitting so this is an on-track pass for the lead. Hartley on a slow lap. Goodness. Was that team orders? Hartley ran a 1:31 while Conway is running in the 1:29 range, and the gap has opened up. Hartley was complaining earlier that he didn't have enough power or enough acceleration out of the corner. Maybe there was a setting on the engine that needed to be changed or Hartley's tires were grimy and needed to be cleaned off.
The team tells him they are thinking of shortening the stint. Hartley replies he has no tire life left. His race engineer tells him, "We need nine more good laps, mate and we'll be fine." Because Mike Conway missed Le Mans, he didn't score points, and his teammates did. So, his job now is to assist both Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez with winning the championship in 2024. Makowiecki in the factory Porsche has caught Brendon Hartley. Maxime Martin goes up the inside of Ian James. Platinum-rated factory driver vs. Bronze veteran driver. Ian James and The Heart of Racing will bring the new Aston Martin Valkyrie into the Hypercar class next year and into the GTP class in IMSA in the United States.
Maxime Martin switched back and forth between BMW, Aston Martin, and then BMW.
He would love to drive in the Hypercar class or in GTP stateside. Nico Muller and Julien Andlauer, the Swiss and the Frenchman, closing on Robert Kubica, the Polish racer. Ferrari, Peugeot, Porsche. Customer Ferrari, factory Peugeot, customer Porsche. Mick Schumacher is behind this trio aboard the #36 Alpine. This is ninth through 12th. Poor old Robert Kubica is tumbling down the order like a stone rolling downhill. Kubica, Muller, Andlauer, Schumacher. #83 was as high up as fourth or fifth spot. Let's see. We've got a replay of this pass, Andlauer on Schumacher.
Aye yaye yaye. That's a three-way battle as Andlauer muscles his way past the Alpine while the Peugeot went to the inside of both of them and locks the brakes on corner entry. This is the second time Schumacher has found himself in a three-car scrap into the Senna S. This is a good battle for ninth and you could throw a handkerchief over them. The Ferrari and the Peugeot are in the points paying spots while the Porsche and the Alpine are not. They scythe past the GT3 battle between Ryan Hardwick in the #77 Ford Mustang GT3 and Augusto Farfus in the #31 BMW M4 GT3.
Peugeot catching Kubica in the Ferrari. Robert Kubica is going through the same thing we saw with Earl Bamber in the #2 Cadillac a wee while ago. It is getting to the end of the stint, and Kubica's tires are ratty, so he is losing performance to his rivals, hand over fist. We are about to hear team radio from the #83 pit and what the strategy or ideas could be. Just as I thought. Kubica says "my tires are not working so well and I am sliding around." "Copy. Copy", replies his engineer. So, the team knows they need to change tires sooner rather than later.
Kubica is cool under pressure, but he is wrestling that race car. He is not just sitting in an armchair chilling out on a sunny afternoon in the garden. Believe me. The car behind is only faster if he can pass and exploit the speed. Kubica must fight tooth and nail to hold off his rivals. His rivals will be taking the same pain. Brendon Hartley must do the same thing. It is irritating for a driver to do this but that is in the job description. When you sign up to race for a team, you are in it for their interests, for your team, your manufacturer, to beat the others. It is your job to stay ahead of your rivals even if your tires are turning to jelly and the car is squirming around all over the place.
So, the Peugeot passes the Ferrari and now Kubica is going to fight for all he's worth to keep Julien Andlauer behind in the #99 Porsche with the Joest lookalike white and lime green paint job on it. Kubica's pace is starting to drop off a cliff, so he is working extra hard to stay ahead. Lose as little time as possible. Don't open the door. Make your rival go the long way 'round. Kubica is giving Andlauer a tough run for his money. Do not open the door even if your rival wants to drive right through you, which he can't do. It is just like in a combat situation. You don't let an enemy soldier tear the door down.
The Peugeot leapfrogs the AF Corse GT3 Ferrari's as we look now at Sarah Bovy trying to hang onto the lead lap just ahead of this Hypercar squabble. Now, Fred Makowiecki goes by Brendon Hartley. Porsche #5 up one, and Toyota #8 down one. Will Stevens aboard the #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 is trying to unlap himself from Brendon Hartley. The Porsche vs. Toyota battle rages on. We know the tires they have now, but we don't know the quantity of what remains in terms of medium and hard compounds. Laurens Vanthoor has made his pit stop. OK. That is out of the way. We knew he had to but were not sure when he would come in.
Makowiecki sweeps past the Toyota for second in this replay. Makowiecki wrestling that Porsche through the turn! The Toyota rides the curb and Makowiecki says, "merci beaucoup" and passes. Now we come back to that four-car battle in the Hypercar midfield we were just talking about. 70 laps now on the board, 187 miles. Julien Andlauer is burnig up his rear tires. We are also seeing the second Peugeot 9X8, #94, inching closer and one of the two Lamborghini's is working it's way into the picture, too. Loic Duval is coming in a hurry. My apologies as I am not sure who is driving either of the Lamborghini SC63's currently.
After making his move on Julien Andlauer a lap ago through Curva do Sol, Kubica is getting away. Andlauer is not yet finding the solution to Kubica's riddle. The insistence of Andlauer to be hounding Kubica is wearing out his tires allowing Mick Schumacher to inch closer to the Porsche. We are not even 1/3rd of the way into the race yet. Now we see the #2 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac on the charge in fifth place ahead of the #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963. Of course, next year, with Ganassi going away from endurance racing on both sides of the Atlantic, the idea is that Hertz Team Jota are moving to Cadillac and taking over their European operation for FIA WEC in Hypercar.
This scrum is Earl Bamber vs. Phil Hanson. Hanson went offline in his pursuit to pass the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3R. So, that was a close shave! Okie dokie. Iron Dames Lamborghini in the pit lane for fuel, tires, and a driver change, or maybe just fuel and a driver change as Sarah Bovy hands off the pink #85 Lambo to Rahel Frey. Bovy has completed her stint. New tires are going on the car. I see. Almost everyone in, in the GT3 class. Alex Malykhin in the #92 Manthey Pure Racing Porsche stays out. Maxime Martin in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 stays out.
Josh Caygill stays out in the United Autosports McLaren #95, and there's a spin for Kubica in the #83 Ferrari! He loses the car on the inside curb and nearly gets clobbered by two more passing Hypercars! Oh, my heart! Yikes! I think Kubica gave all the journalists and commentators covering this race, a near heart attack! That was incredibly close! So, double waved local yellows at Curva do Laranjinha, turn seven. Let's see in the replay exactly what happened. He didn't just hit the curb. Andlauer in the Porsche clattered into the back of the Ferrari and sent Kubica spinning! No question the stewards will look at that one.
Andlauer could have a time penalty or a drive through penalty in his future. No question. Mick Schumacher was close to getting totally wiped out! He took evasive action. Thank God! That could have been ugly! The Lamborghini tries passing the Peugeot but to no avail. That's the battle between Loic Duval in Peugeot #94 and Daniil Kvyat in Lamborghini #63. Robert Kubica is asked by his race engineer if everything is OK, and he says he is not sure and is worried about the condition of the right rear Michelin tire on car #83. Kubica is unflappable. Does he have blood running in his veins or is that ice water? Poor old Kubica is 14th but let me tell you, he will not give up without a fight. Race car drivers are not chicken. They will fight to the bitter end.
Mick Schumacher in Alpine #36 is now in tenth place. Kvyat is chasing Duval and Schumacher. Lamborghini vs. Peugeot vs. Alpine. They are all wriggling through GT3 traffic. Three cars, three different mechanical combinations in Hypercar for this battle. Kvyat in the Lamborghini with the 3.8-liter turbo V8. Duval in the 2.6-liter turbo V6 Peugeot, and Schumacher in the Alpine with it's Mecachrome 3.4-liter turbo V6. Of course, the Alpine powerplant is the same engine that is used as a spec motor in FIA Formula 2 open wheel cars.
In the GT3 class there is an equally spicy battle going on. Yasser Shahin, the Australian, in the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3R (992), vs. Matteo Cressoni in the #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan. Alex Malykhin, a lap later than the Iron Dames Lamborghini, brings the GT3 class leading #92 Manthey Pure Racing Porsche into the pits. Joel Sturm will take over for his driving stint. Klaus Bachler is the third driver on the team. Manthey Pure Racing have dominated the LMGT3 portion of the season to this point. But they lost a victory at Spa on the final lap after the Manthey EMA #91 Porche went on a charge. Le Mans was a horrid race for them, too, and they came away from the 24 hours with just three points.
The Iron Dames Lamborghini is charging. Maxime Martin is the erstwhile GT3 leader. Matto Cressoni under investigation by the stewards in the #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini, the one with the yellow livery. Two different team banners. Iron Lynx and Iron Dames. The gap is closing between Pure Racing and the Iron Dames. But remember that the Porsche is on stone cold Goodyear tires. Rahel Frey, she will have warm tires. So, the iron and the tires are hot, and she knows she is on a mission to strike and try and catch Joel Sturm. Back to Hyper Car land for a wee while. This is the battle between France and Italy, blue and green, Alpine and Lamborghini.
Daniil Kvyat is chasing down Mick Schumacher, a couple of ex Formula 1 drivers. Two legendary sports car brands. Alpine of course is the nameplate, the division of Renault, that makes sports cars. Edoardo Mortara is expected to take over the Lambo on their next pit stop as both Team WRT BMW M4 GT3's are in the lane for service. #46 in the lead. Ahmad Al Harthy getting in to knock out his second stint before cycling Valentino Rossi and Maxime Martin. The two Proton Competition Mustangs are going longer on these stints. Ryan Hardwick takes over the GT3 class lead aboard the #77 car.
Hardwick is pitting. Now, speaking of BMW, one of the two Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8's is harassing the Lamborghini for position! This I believe is the #15 car. Marco Wittmann chasing after Edoardo Mortara by the look of it. Wow! Wittmann has leapfrogged the #94 Peugeot! I was not expecting that! Yikes! The plot thickens. #94 has Loic Duval at the wheel of it. Because of the different tire strategies this is a game of snakes and ladders. Depending on what you do with your tire strategy, you either look like a hero or an idiot. We see the same thing in GTP in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship all the time. The strategic planning of the teams mirrors each other in both championships.
The only idiot is the bloke, me, who is pecking away at his keyboard like a lethargic chicken and trying to put the puzzle pieces together for what is happening in this motor race. I am putting the words to the paper to describe what my eyes are seeing on the broadcast on my iPad and telling you all about it. Mike Conway leads the motor race ahead of Fred Makowiecki and Brendon Hartley. So, the Porsche is the meat in a Toyota sandwich and Conway's lead has ballooned to almost nine seconds. 75 laps now completed. Just over 200 miles of racing is in the bag. Brendon Hartley clinging on by his fingernails on a very tired set of Michelin tires. Antonio Giovinazzi holds fourth in Ferrari #51 ahead of the #2 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Earl Bamber.
More GT3 cars are making scheduled pit stops while Joel Sturm for Manthey Pure Racing Porsche continues to lead Rahel Frey in the Iron Dames Lamborghini. Daniel Mancinelli, the Italian, has taken over the wheel of the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. Ryan Hardwick is hitting the pit lane aboard the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3. Ferrari #83 and Toyota #8 are takers for service as the Hypercars are coming to the lane now. Brendon Hartley is unplugging his radio and undoing his belts. So, there will be a driver change in Toyota #8 to either Sebastien Buemi or Ryo Hirakawa.
Hello to the one and the only Timo Bernhard, representing Porsche here in Brazil this weekend as a brand ambassador. Bernhard is happy with PPM's progress, and they seem to both have a lot of pace. On the grid there was a big poker game about tires. They are looking at how their strategy and how the tires are going to evolve as the race continues. Track temperature should peak now and then drop again. It is an ebb and flow of tire strategy. We are now looking again at the battle for ninth spot. Mick Schumacher in the Alpine has it and Daniil Kvyat in the Lamborghini wants it. All different brands and their respective cars perform differently with their engine and mechanical combinations as well as how they treat their tires.
Robert Kubica looks mentally exhausted after taking the pain of a double stint on the tires he started the race on aboard the #83 Ferrari. That has to be mentally draining for a race car driver. You cannot have fresh tires for every stint. If you start the race knowing you have to do a double, then, you are full fuel tanks gaining with warm tires but tires that will wear out quicker. It is a horrible feeling trying to survive on old tires. You know how hard of a job it is going to be. Trouble here, look, as the #55 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 spins! I think that is still Francois Heriau of France at the controls. Heriau had the car as high up as third in class. Simon Mann is actually at the wheel of it, after taking over at the last pit stop.
Now, Simon has spun out. Heriau served a penalty and dropped down the order during his stint. Three deep down to Curva do Sol, corner three on the circuit. Mann is on the outside with the Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 and the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963 on the extreme left side of the road just behind the sister #5 car. Oh dear! Matteo Cressoni moved over and gave Simon Mann a nudge that he didn't need. Cressoni spun Mann off the road because he was distracted by the Hypercar, by the #6 Porsche 963. This is what multi-class sports car racing is all about. I can't stress that enough.
Remember that the GT3 drivers are going through a completely different scenario than the prototype drivers are. Prototypes must actively overtake the slower cars and yes, there is a slight speed differential between the Hypercars and the GT3s even though it is nowhere near what it used to be in decades gone by.
No comments:
Post a Comment