Mikkel Jensen drops a place with Norman Nato's pass. He remains in the top six. Dirt on the tires, but Nato sends it on the inside between Ferradura and Curva do Laranjinha. He still had junk on his tires but went for the move nonetheless! He passes Jose Maria Lopez in the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus and we see Valentino Rossi right behind in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3. The #2 Cadillac V Series.R is also playing through this GT3 fight. Wow! Alex Lynn is wrestling with the #2 Cadillac! The curbs here are not high. There is a sausage curb in turn six. Rossi doing all he knows to pass Lopez. Valentino Rossi has fresh tires and Jose Maria Lopez, well, "Pechito" will be at the end of a double stint very soon, so his Goodyear's are going to be thrupenny bits before long.
World Champions' galore in this battle we are watching now. Behind these two is the white class leading Porsche that leads the GT3 category, the #92 Manthey Pure Racing car of Klaus Bachler. This battle for fifth place with Rossi and Lopez, both of them are in danger of going a lap down to their class leader. Rossi, "The Doctor" making his move and Rossi has the preferred line, tucks it into the apex and makes his move. Klaus Bachler is going to pass both of these folks no matter what. It has been a stunning 2024 season for Manthey Pure Racing thus far.
Klaus Bachler looking to put the #87 Lexus a lap down. Now we see the resumption in Hypercar of the Lamborghini vs. Alpine story. This one is continuing to be written even though we've looked away from it for a wee while. The Alpine has a head of steam to the inside. Truth be told, this isn't for position. So, the #36 Alpine is farther ahead of the Lamborghini on the road. In the meantime, Toyota #8 leads the motor race over the #5 Porsche by 42 and a half seconds. 158 laps completed, 423 miles. Just one full-season Lamborghini for the full season and of course there were two at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and both got to the finish.
Lamborghini ran their first ever Le Mans in the prototype class this year and to have both cars finish such a tough race as Le Mans is, that is a feather in their hat. Ryo Hirakawa at the wheel of the outright and Hypercar leading #8 Toyota. Again, Klaus Bachler leads the GT3 class with two hours to go and four hours completed. Inside the final two hours and we see scheduled pit stops for the Hypercars. Toyota, Ferrari, Cadillac, including Ryo Hirakawa in Toyota #8. They are still on medium compound Michelin tires. Toyota have not swapped over to the hard compound at all yet. That's fascinating strategy. They come out ahead of the #50 Ferrari that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month.
Ferrari #50 remains a lap down. There was a driver change for the #8 Toyota with Ryo Hirakawa finishing his stint and handing over to the Swiss superstar, Sebastien Buemi. It was a four-tire change for the Ferrari. It is 4:00 P.M. local time here in Brazil. We remain in the depths of winter here in the southern hemisphere. So, the days are still short. Side by side action into the Senna S, turn one on the course, as the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963 goes by the #35 Alpine A424B. Kevin Estre passes Charles Milesi for eighth spot.
We also have one of the Jota Porsche's passing a Ferrari. It appears that is #38 going by #51. I only surmise it is #51 because #50 just came out of the pits. So, Oliver Rasmussen does indeed pass James Calado and Nyck de Vries goes by the #50 Ferrari. Now we also are looking at a battle for 11th place in Hypercar and in the overall with Neel Jani in the #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 being harried by Alex Lynn in the #2 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V Series.R. Again, this is a battle for 11th spot as Alex Lynn is on the medium compound Michelin tires and so is Neel Jani. Oh. OK. Alex Lynn on new hard compound Michelin's on the right side and medium Michelin's on the left side.
Lots of hard tires still in the locker and the track is really rubbering in. Ferrari in the pit lane and back out with #51. OK. I see. Lynn putting Neel Jani under pressure looking to move into the top ten/. GT3 traffic ahead. The Proton Competition Porsche is third in the FIA World Endurance Cup for the privateer Hypercars behind the two Hertz Team Jota cars. Game over indeed for Isotta Fraschini. The Tipo 6 Competizione is in the garage with a dejected Jean Karl Vernay in his civies and his team jacket. No work going on, on the car.
Toyota are setting up for a pit stop with the calisthenics. Poor old Antonio Serravalle will not even get a chance to drive the Isotta Fraschini here at Interlagos this afternoon. Michael Christensen leads the motor race by just over 18 and a half seconds to the #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 of Oliver Rasmussen I believe. Let's hear from Daniel Mancinelli at The Heart of Racing Aston Martin team. He tells Bruce Jouanny that he had a very good stint, and they suffered a bit more in the second stint. Now, this compared to the Iron Dames Lamborghini before they retired. Mancinelli says he was monitoring his tire temperatures and his engine temperatures that were skyrocketing on the dashboard.
The final ten laps of his stint were more difficult, but they hold on in the top three after Ian James picked up some places in his stint. They hope for good luck this weekend. Alex Lynn has disposed of Neel Jani, and... boing... is immediately on the tail of the of the Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963, hopping up on place like a kangaroo in the outback. A moment of unintentional rallycross for the #94 Peugeot, but both of them are in the points. Oliver Rasmussen brings the #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 into the pit lane completing his drive time for the race. He will hand over to Jenson Button, at one of his favorite tracks of all-time.
Button scored his first ever Formula 1 points here at Interlagos. He won his first ever Formula 1 World Championship here with Braun Grand Prix which is now the Mercedes team. He also scored his last ever Formula 1 victory here at Interlagos, too. Button is set to take this car to a potential podium finish. They are doing three tires because the left front stays on and they are eking out their tire allocation by ignoring the pain of the left front. An hour and 45 minutes of racing now left on the board. Michael Christensen leads in the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963.
A tough day for Corvette and TF Sport. Charlie Eastwood is looking to improve, and he has passed Valentino Rossi in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3. He is now targeting both of the United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3's. Nyck de Vries brings the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid to pit lane from fourth place. Michael Christensen and the #5 Porsche team have been told that damage must be repaired to the right rear corner. They have been given the black and orange flag, "the meatball" and told to repair the right rear cheese wedge. Cheese? Meatballs? Anyone hungry? Well, of course, these are figures of speech as they describe one of the many flags used on the course and the cheese wedge is the piece of bodywork under the rear of the car on each side.
It is a wedge-shaped bit of bodywork and they will change the entire tail. In comes Christensen and the team fuels the car, and there is also a driver change. Michael Christensen is out and Aussie Matt Campbell gets into the car. Christensen was clipped. All homologated bits on the car must be on it. Someone has taken a bite out of the cheese wedge and he was likely hit from behind by a GT3 cars. The wing is being replaced and on the side of the road we see the bit of bodywork that came off. The spare tail goes on the car and he is down and away.
They will not be able to do damage limitation, though, when it comes to this battle they are in with Toyota. They are in the danger zone of losing places, they spent 1:34 in the pit lane. Toyota #8 has been short stopping. The second place #93 Peugeot and third place #15 BMW have not pitted yet. Paul Loup Chatin is being interviewed by Bruce Jouanny. Chatin says that the car is in sixth and they have been gaining places with an hour and 40 minutes to go looking for a top ten finish. Charles Milesi has the #35 Alpine, the sister car, in fifth place right now. Toyota #7 has cycled back down to 14th place. However, they are moving up and are in 12th now.
Will other cars have dramas? Will there be another Full Course Yellow? Don't count anyone out of this race. It is far from over. There is a lot that can and will happen in the next hour and 40 minutes before we see the checkered flag here this evening. Cadillac #2 pits and Alex Lynn will stay in the car for a double stint. Stoffel Vandoorne, the Belgian ex-Formula 1 driver is now at the wheel of the #94 Peugeot 9X8. Alpine remain in the top six with Charles Milesi in fifth place. With pit stops, I don't think all the Hypercars are on the lead lap. Pit stop time for the #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 and I think the sister #93 Peugeot is also in for service.
Ah. Mikkel Jensen has done a full stint. Julien Andlauer will take over the #99 Porsche 963 from co-driver Neel Jani who has finished his stint. Tires going on the Peugeot. On the original 9X8 they had equal sized tires all around the car which was a definite Achilles heel. Now they have fatter rear tires and narrower front tires like everyone else so the car will drive completely differently. Five second penalty added for a penalty at the next pit stop for the #12 Jota Sport Porsche 963. Norman Nato copped the penalty but now co-driver Callum Ilott will have to serve it.
Klaus Bachler continues to lead in GT3 aboard the #92 Manthey Pure Racing Porsche. He is merely 18 seconds ahead of the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin in the hands of Spaniard Alex Riberas. The two United Autosport McLaren's are in third and fourth. Alex Riberas is nibbling away by tenths of a second from the advantage that Klaus Bachler currently has. Charlie Eastwood is harrying Nico Costa for fourth place. So, the #59 McLaren is falling into the clutches of the #81 Corvette. The gap is 6.9 seconds. Meanwhile, Valentino Rossi in the #46 Team WRT BMW has dropped away from Eastwood in the Corvette by four seconds and in turn, is being caught by Alessio Rovera, at the wheel of the #55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.
Trouble in paradise though for Rovera because the Italian has a penalty in his future. Valentino Rossi is a Gold-rated driver, a Silver-rated driver compared to Rovera being platinum rated. We have a housekeeping note. That is, the #63 Lamborghini SC63 has dropped down the Hypercar field and overall, having taken a single pit stop for a single tire after a puncture. It was a 35 second pit stop. He has had one tire changed. We have to pull out the marker of doom and count the Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 as an official retirement, plus, the #82 Corvette of Dani Juncadella, the sister car to Charlie Eastwood who we are watching, has been towed behind the wall and could imminently retire from the race.
Eastwood, the Irishman, he is six and a half seconds behind the Brazilian Nico Costa in the #59 McLaren but is lapping 8/10ths of a second quicker than Costa is. Klaus Bachler is not too far ahead of Eastwood. Valentino Rossi aboard the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 is in sixth place in class. As we look at the GT3 standings, at the top f the shop, Bachler leads by 17 seconds over Alex Riberas and has now completed 155 laps, 415 miles. With just over an hour and a half left on the board, that is two driving stints. Maybe Valentino Rossi will do a double stint to the end or, he and Maxime Martin might each do a single stint.
After things have come out in the wash with the Hypercar pit stop cycle, Sebastien Buemi is 50 seconds to the good over the rest of the field. That is as big a lead as we have seen comparing the #8 Toyota to the #6 Porsche. So, Buemi will be chased in pursuit by the Frenchman, Kevin Estre. Charles Milesi is third but will pit. Ah! Maxime Martin is chilling out in the garage and what is he doing? He's checking out the Wimbledon tennis match on his phone. Cool. A good way to get your mind off the race for a wee while. It seems like the men's final has now gone on for five sets. Tennis is another one of those sports like cricket or endurance sports car racing which takes a while for the match to take it's course.
Charles Milesi holds down third overall and in Hypercar aboard the #35 Alpine but has the #51 Ferrari 499P right on his tail. This is for the final podium place as things currently stand. Matt Campbell is also in the fight aboard the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 factory car. Three seconds behind and playing catch up is Jenson Button at the wheel of the #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 as the #81 TF Sport Corvette is in the pit lane for routine service. At Lamborghini, the #63 car had a puncture. That is the official word. Toyota, Porsche, Alpine, Ferrari, three more Porsche's, the second factory Ferrari, the second factory Toyota, the first Peugeot, the lead Alpine, the privateer Ferrari, both of the Team WRT factory BMW's, the second Peugot, the Lamborghini, and the Proton Competition Porsche.
That is your full order in the Hypercar class with 17 of the 18 starters still in the race. OK. The battle rages between Alpine and Ferrari for third place. The BMW's not in the fight but Matt Campbell in the Porsche is. Third place, Alpine of Charles Milesi, ahead of the Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi, and the Porsche of Matt Campbell with an hour and a half to go. It is officially Alessandro Pier Guidi finishing this race in the #51 Ferrari. The Alpine has hard compound Michelin's that have done a double stint. Ferrari #51 has used medium compound Michelin's on one side and new medium Michelin tires on the other side. The heat will dissipate quicker as the sun heads towards the horizon without cloud cover like we saw yesterday.
Jenson Button is reeling in the battle for third, fourth, and fifth, fast. He will be glued to Milesi, Pier Guidi, and Campbell, very soon, and we could see a four-way fight for position before long. Charles Milesi is really showing form. But Jenson Button is coming in a big hurry. Charlie Eastwood has fallen away from the United Autosport McLaren in that simmering battle they had in GT3 earlier simply because the Irishman is running to a different strategy.
Valentino Rossi is 10.7 seconds down to Nico Costa in the McLaren but lapping at the same pace. In the last few years that we have seen Valentino Rossi change to car racing and let alone GT3 racing, he has picked up relentless pace at the wheel that you need to perform at a top level. Charles Milesi is now under massive pressure from Alessandro Pier Guidi. Alpine vs. Ferrari. That said, Milesi will need to pit and be forced to give it up. He has one more lap before he needs to hit the pit lane. Pier Guidi is being told to keep going for it as Milesi using up his tires completely because he is slowing down the Ferrari and everyone else.
He is making the most of his in lap and wants to mess with Pier Guidi's in lap as well. An hour and a half to go. Milesi has an escape road he can go down with his pit stop, but that just means that the battle will resume as Ferrari vs. Porsche and folks, don't go anywhere because we could see a humdinger out of this one. Milesi told by his crew chief at Alpine that he will box this lap and there will be a driver change. Alpine ducks to pit lane and now, Matt Campbell will make life relentlessly difficult for Alessandro Pier Guidi. This should be incredibly entertaining to watch. Porsche vs. Ferrari. A classic sports car racing battle that has played itself out constantly for six decades, continues.
With these two blokes wrestling each other, this will open the door for Jenson Button to gain on them in the Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963, car #38. They've cleared most of the traffic. Campbell and Button are now only separated by one of the BMW M Hybrid V8's that is laps down. It should be the #15 car even though on the side of the screen with the running order listing it says the #15 is ahead of the #20 car. That should be accurate, and they are running liner stern in 13th and 14th in the Hypercar class and in the overall order too I believe.
Alpine #35 in the pits as we have just been seeing a mega race today. It's been fabulous to watch. Charles Milesi has fended off challenges from Ferrari and Porsche, both, thus far. Alpine and Peugeot have both been taking large steps forward. Milesi came in from third place, I believe. I know they have been going back and forth between the soft and the hard compound Michelin's. This is incredibly encouraging for Alpine. Peugeot are beginning to come back into the fight but not as much as we first thought, I don't think. Maybe Peugeot are still going long on their hard compound tires. Both Alpine's are now running in the top ten.
We can see that Robert Shwartzman is chasing after Nico Lapierre. We are onboard, the Ferrari #83 with Shwartzman now. AF Corse are third in the privateer points in the Endurance World Cup behind Team Jota, both of them, and the Proton Competition Porsche which has really faded recently. It appears as though they are out of contention here in Brazil with just under an hour and a half of racing remaining. Here is Peugeot and Jean Eric Vergne's tire situation for car #93. He has new hard compound tires on the left, and used medium compound tires on the right side of that car.
The sister car #94 is on the opposite page because they have used mediums on the left side and new hard tires on the right. So, they are running this odd, contrasting strategy at Peugeot. Meanwhile, Sebastien Buemi, with under an hour and a half of racing left, is 48 seconds ahead, in the #8 Toyota over the #6 Porsche in second. There are so many battles on the road and that is why we have not focused in at all on the leader. We are watching Matt Campbell in Porsche #5 trying everything he knows to reel in Alessandro Pier Guidi in Ferrari #51. Pier Guidi makes the pass demoting Campbell to fourth and off the podium for the time being.
Jenson Button might be closing in on this pair having passed by the BMW he was trapped behind. So, that is the #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 we are speaking of/. Callum Ilott though in the sister #12 Jota Porsche, is coming in a hurry and within the top six alone, we have four Porsche 963's in second, fourth, fifth, and sixth. Both Jota Porsche's and both Penske's Porsche's are bang on the money. Toyota though are really on the money as we see that the #6 on their pit strategy is really out of sync with everyone else. They are 49 seconds behind the Toyota which has now run 179 laps, 479 miles.
After their earlier troubles, Toyota #7 is clawing up the order now in a battle for seventh with Antonio Fuoco aboard the #50 Ferrari, the Le Mans winning Ferrari. Robert Shwartzman in the meantime, look, is glued to the back of Nico Lapierre. This is very encouraging stuff for Lapierre who is holding off the Ferrari. Robert Shwartzman says he will do his best. He might have energy to play with and not save it. He doesn't have to lift and coast I don't think. Lift and coast too maintain state of charge but if push comes to shove, take the pain now, don't regenerate energy, make the pass, and regain the SOC, the State of Charge. Sports car racing is far more fun than seeing Formula E, I must say.
Shwartzman has been given some latitude here and will likely have a shot in the Senna esses. Trust the drivers implicitly. Trust the judgment of the driver if you are the team manager. OK. Now we move way back down the Hypercar order to look at a battle simmering nicely for 16th and 17th spot. Mirko Bortolotti has 16th place in the #63 Lamborghini while Julien Andlauer in the #99 Porsche wants it. Yes, this is a traditional Grand Prix circuit, but it is nothing like a Spa Francorchamps for example. Proton Competition incurred a penalty earlier on. We know the Lamborghini also went through with a puncture.
Work to do for the Lamborghini and the Proton Porsche. The Proton Porsche has the speed. The Lamborghini was said to have reliability. But that is questionable. Lamborghini are still finding their feet. Julien Andlauer has right hand medium compound Michelin's and old, old hard compound Michelin's on the other side of the car. Shwartzman is closing in on Lapierre hand over fist right now. The Hypercars are long and narrow like a Formula 1 car. These two chaps now have a GT3 car to deal with, Franck Perera, the Frenchman, at the wheel of the #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.
Lapierre is being given information by his crew chief. He is being told he is fighting the Ferrari on old tires, he is on old tires, and the car they really need to keep an eye out for will be the highest placed BMW because that car has fresh Michelin's all around. Now, to the pit lane from 19th overall and in the GT3 class lead, this is Klaus Bachler at the wheel of the #92 Manthey Pure Racing Porsche 911 GT3R. They seem to have more fuel than their rivals chasing them, the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3. The Aston Martin is pitting as well. Lapierre puts the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 between himself and Shwartzman, as a pick.
I am thinking that the Porsche will need to pit one more time. The Porsche and the Aston in GT3 will both need to stop again. United Autosports remains in third place in the GT3 class with the #95 McLaren 720S GT3 with Marino Sato of Japan at the wheel. Ben Barker has brought the sister #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 up to fourth in class but on a different fuel strategy altogether. There is a three-car battle at the tail end of the Hypercar field with the last three cars that are running still, in the category. This is for 16th place in the overall. Cadillac are way, way down, which is bamboozling. The #2 car qualified in fourth place.
They are barely in the top 20 and Proton Competition Porsche is the same way. Matt Campbell in the meantime, is harrying Alessandro Pier Guidi, who has 16 laps left in his stint before he is told to come in and the team at Ferrari - AF Corse will change three tires. They will leave the left front on the car and change the others. Alessandro Pier Guidi will be in a world of pain for the next 45 minutes or so. Jenson Button is catching up to Matt Campbell and to Alessandro Pier Guidi. Callum Ilott is seven seconds further back. So, we have a cracking battle here between the Ferrari and the Porsche. Campbell being told to consider his tires and a double stint.
I could not understand Campbell's reply to his engineer. Manthey Pure Racing leads The Heart of Racing in GT3. You haven't missed anything in the production car category. Alessandro Pier Guidi is third on lap 186. He is really being closed up on by Matt Campbell and Jenson Button. He works his way past the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 with Valentino Rossi at the controls. Jenson Button is decent at playing the long game and especially with tire management as Robert Shwartzman continues chasing down Nico Lapierre. Shwartzman lifting and coasting adds to the state of charge for the battery. If push comes to shove, don't regenerate, pass, take the pain, and then, regain the charge. Shwartzman is going to need a change of scenery tonight when he goes to bed. The headlights of that French blue Alpine will be seared into his conscience.
Dries Vanthoor is gaining and could leapfrog the Ferrari driver very soon. Ben Barker in the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 is inching towards the battle for ninth in GT3 which is currently being fought by Sean Gelael of Indonesia in the #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, the sister car to the #46 of Valentino Rossi, and the #777 D'station Aston Martin with the Danish racer Marco Sorensen behind the wheel. All afternoon, the Mustangs have gone longer on their fuel, on their energy, than the rest of the GT3 cars here at Interlagos. Takeshi Kimura runs nearly 40 seconds down on Marco Sorensen, in the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3.
Button continues to close in on Matt Campbell who is in fact losing ground to Alessandro Pier Guidi. Pier Guidi can book it. He has clear road before his pit stop in another seven laps. Sebastien Buemi leads the motor race, in the #8 Toyota. Toyota are doing what they do best. They are keeping their noses clean and being relentless. They have had a horrid season in the opening half, but they are in the fight for the world championship. They are trying to cover the #6 Porsche on strategy pitting in eight laps. Buemi has a 52 second lead over the aforementioned Porsche as we speak. Then comes Alessandro Pier Guidi. He begins lap 186 in third place. 186 laps, 498 miles in the book. Next time by, we will have completed 500 miles in this race, for some of the cars anyhow.
Jenson Button held up behind Valentino Rossi in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 and the two cars are eighth and ninth in GT3 as Jenson Button is still working on catching the factory Porsche. He is decent at playing the long game and knows well how to manage his tires as Robert Shwartzman continues chasing Nico Lapierre. Honestly, I think I said this already. But Shwartzman, when he goes to sleep tonight, he is going to see the headlights of the Alpine on the inside of his eyes, searing into his retinas. Dries Vanthoor in the #15 BMW Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 though, is on Shwartzman's six.
Meanwhile, Ben Barker has caught Sean Gelael and Marco Sorensen. The Mustangs have gone longer on fuel/energy in GT3 than everyone else, all their other competition. Sean Gelael ahead of Marco Sorensen and Takeshi Kimura who is 40 seconds down the road. Campbell falling back behind Pier Guidi but at the same time, he is falling into the clutches of Jenson Button in this Hypercar battle between factory cars from Ferrari and Porsche with a privateer Porsche added to the picture. Campbell is defending more than attacking and Pier Guidi can punch it and get the hammer down.
Sebastien Buemi leads for Toyota, being relentless, keeping their noses clean. Toyota have had a horrible season but are still right there. 52 seconds is the gap to the #6 Porsche. Pit in eight laps to cover the Porsche. 189 laps completed by the leader, 506 miles. Now, the #8 is way down in eighth place in the world championship standings as far as the Hypercar class. They have 44 points. The leader is the #6 Porsche with 99 points. The lead is 11 points more than what the #8 team has scored all year. OK. We have four drive through penalties coming up. All of them, signifcantly, are being handed to GT3 cars by the stewards.
#81 TF Sport Corvette
#88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang
#777 D'station Racing Aston Martin
Kevin Estre is informed by his crew chief for the Porsche #6 team, Porsche Penske and specifically his car, has eight more laps remaining on their current fuel load before they must pit. They can leapfrog to P2 by doing fuel and tires. Eight laps take him into the final hour. 12 more minutes leads us to the 57 minutes remaining mark in the race, at the very start of hour six. The four drive through penalties in GT3 are for violating Full Course Yellow procedures. Nico Costa is driving the #59 McLaren and Charlie Eastwood is in the #81 Corvette. Therefore, the Brazilian and the Irishman respectively, will be taking the pain.
Both Proton Mustangs are going to lose their current places. Pier Guidi is giving Campbell fits. Two factory cars and the privateer young gun factory Ferrari drivers in the #83 Ferrari. In a factory team it is all about getting results. That is for dead sure. Alessandro Pier Guidi will be reminding his teammates of his value at Ferrari and they want to beat their teammates. Nil points after Qatar. Six points after Imola. At Spa, 18 points up to ninth, and they are now, after Le Mans, up to sixth place. After two races with nothing, they have moved into the top six and are ahead on points of the #6 Penske Porsche that they are chasing on the road.
That's going to motivate them, for sure as Sebastien Buemi leads Hypercar for Toyota. Klaus Bachler leads LMGT3 for the #92 Porsche team of Manthey Pure Racing. 192 laps completed in Hypercar, 514 miles. 173 laps completed in GT3. 463 miles. The gap is far closer in GT3. 8.6 seconds between the Porsche and the second place #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, while the gap at the front between Toyota #8 and Porsche #6 has barely moved and is still 51 seconds. The GT3 cars will need a splash and a dash while the Hypercars will be good to go if they extend the fuel mileage for another 15 minutes.
The true battle will be Porsche vs. Ferrari in Hypercar but it won't be Pier Guidi and Estre. It will be Pier Guidi and Campbell in the #5 Porsche as opposed to the #6 vs. the #51 Ferrari. This is what our pals in the booth, Martin and Graham, are discussing, and I believe that's the deal. What they are saying is indeed true. This is a two-horse race, pardon the pun, in Hypercar. Whoops! Some argy bargy into the turn there, look, between the #83 Ferrari and the #15 BMW! The BMW takes the place, Dries Vanthoor being ambitious. Robert Shwartzman wants this.
Remember the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans at night. These two blokes and very same cars came to blows that evening and ruined both of their races. Vanthoor is a second quicker before passing the Ferrari. His tires are half a stint old. The #59 McLaren and #81 Cotvette in GT3 wisely decide to take their medicine now and serve their respective drive through penalties. In this replay, Shwartzman makes Vanthoor take the long way and Shwartzman seems like he couldn't hold the line before the Belgian went by. Thierry Tassin, at WRT, ace touring car racer is very excited. Yifei Ye smiling as well.
We saw at the centenary of the 24 Hours of Spa for SRO GT World Challenge Europe, Thierry Tassin was leading the parade of cars in a classic BMW 635 CSI touring car and he was flooring it! The man can still drive even though he is now in a team ownership role. Tassin was just there to have fun, on vacation. So, Pier Guidi is creeping away from Campbell in this Ferrari and Porsche scrum. But Callum Ilott is catching Jenson Button and others. The competition is hot. Campbell chasing Pier Guidi as the sun sets in Brazil. In the tow, Pier Guidi has Campbell right on his tail.
Campbell has to follow Pier Guidi as they pass the #95 McLaren in GT3, the third-place car in the class, the sister United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo in the hands of Marino Sato of Japan. Ben Barker jumps a backmarker into turn four. Pier Guidi motoring away from Gampbell, Button, and Ilott. Then comes a growing GT3 lead battle between Klaus Bachler and Alex Riberas. Some of the Hypercars are going to be cutting it very close on their energy percentages. Porsche #5 hs 33%, BMW #15 with 44%, Alpine #35 with 59%. These drivers are aware they all need to pit soon.
These will be very short stops. The cars with higher remaining energy percentages might be able to move up. Ah. For third, make that second, this is still the battle between the #51 Ferrari and the #6 Porsche. Pier Guidi vs. Campbell. Estre in the sister Porsche #6 is ahead of these two. Pier Guidi must maintain track position. Pier Guidi cannot allow the Porsche's to motor past him. Jenson Button in the #38 Hertz Team Jota car is close company.
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