Before returning to news updates from around the world of sports car racing, here is another race report, from Sportscar365's John Dagys, on the 6 Hours of the Nurburgring, yesterday.
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/porsche-dominates-6h-nurburgring/
Monday, August 31, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
6 Hours of The Nurburgring: Hour 6 (the finish)
Benoit Treluyer is still trying to hold off Neel Jani. Use the lapped Gibson chassis, as a pick, and it works. Lucas di Grassi is running faster than either Treluyer or Jani. The CLM is now ahead of the Porsche, and here comes di Grassi as they fly through the Schumacher esses. Oh wow! Benoit Treluyer is pushing hard. Treluyer is fighting for his life right now. Lucas di Grassi is still looking for a way by. The Audi's in race trim, are close to the Porsche's. Here's the second Audi. Neel Jani takes a great line through the Veedol chicane. Down the inside, he tries to pass, and goes too deep. Treluyer is hanging on, and here comes di Grassi! This is a three way fight.
Knock, knock. Look behind you. di Grassi makes a pass on the Porsche. Audi has better tires it seems. Audi has to battle between themselves. One hour to go now. The Audi's seem to be ganging up on the Porsche's and beginning to pass them. It's going to be stunning! We had a brief slow zone, and it's been removed. Moments ago, Lucas di Grassi went by Benoit Treluyer. Treluyer is higher in the championship. No fight. Lucas di Grassi has better pace. Richard Bradley leads Julien Canal in LMP2.
Brendon Hartley is a lap up on the rest of the blokes battling for position. Benoit Treluyer makes a late decision to pit! This will be super close! Fuel, tires, and a driver change, for the Audi. Andre Lotterer will take car #7 to the finish of this race. The Rebellion chassis picks up some gravel. This is a battle between Stuttgart and Ingolstadt. The main objective for Audi, is to not let the Porsche pass. Porsche wants to go for two in a row, after winning Le Mans. After this race, the European section of the season, will be over, and the flyaway races will begin.
Porsche, Porsche, Audi, Audi, Toyota, Toyota. Marc Lieb is 2.3 seconds ahead of both Audi's. There are some lap times, that seem to indicate there are some concerns that the sister Porsche's and Audi's may fall back from the leaders. Uh oh. The #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage stalls, just out of the pits. Matthias Lauda at the controls. Rui Aguas wants to take the spot away. Viktor Shaitar is up the road. In the Audi camp, right this minute, the quicker driver, has to take the lead, to try and nab the Porsche.
Marc Lieb runs a 1:39.1. Andre Lotterer is close, and Lucas di Grassi is right behind. Nick Tandy has the lead in LMP2, still, for KCMG. 45 minutes to go now. The countdown continues to the end of this motor race. Aha. The Audi move, is planned, and #8 has passed #7. Lucas di Grassi got on the phone and said, "can I make my move?" The team says, "go for it!" Just over a half an hour to go. Mark Webber continues lapping in the 1:39 range. Marc Lieb is the same way, even though he is two laps down.
Mark Webber lowers the fast lap to 1:38.5. If things stand as they are, Porsche will earn their first overall 1-2 in a six hour race in FIA WEC competition. They won, in Brazil, at Interlagos, last fall. Now, there's a touch, between the second place Porsche, and one of the LMP2 cars. Marc Lieb, taps Nelson Panciatici. What will that little "love tap" do to the handling of the Porsche? We'll see. It's been quite the race.
It's been a tough day, and a long season, for Toyota. Mark Webber runs fastest in the final sector. The gap is closing between Lucas di Grassi and Marc Lieb, with less than a half an hour remaining. This race is coming alive in it's last stages. Patrick Pilet will get a drive through penalty! It's not a stop and hold for the #92 Porsche. They are 38 seconds behind. It's been a long while since Fred Makowiecki and Davide Rigon had their little fracas.
We've got 20 minutes to go. Ten seconds cover second, third, and fourth spots. SMP Racing is running well as we come to the finish, and we cannot forget the #47 KCMG car. Richard Lietz and Michael Christensen lead the LM GTE Pro class in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR. Traffic involved, as the #8 Audi is trying to catch the sister #18 Porsche. Lucas di Grassi is trying his best. It's game on again. #17 is dominating. #18 has clawed it's way back. Audi is still going for it. Fifteen minutes remain in the Nurburgring 6 Hours.
Mark Webber is flying, at over 115 miles an hour average speed. The checkered flag beckons in Deutschland. We have eleven minutes now remaining. There's no grip, and Mark Webber had to save the car from spinning! He was almost off the road! There could have been contact with the #8 Audi and the Alpine #36. Marco Seefried is also booking it over Rui Aguas in LM GTE Am. Porsche, Porsche, Audi, for the overall win.
Audi will not be happy, with fourth spot. Only six minutes to go. Porsche is going stand atop the mountain, here at the Nurburgring. Could Andre Lotterer catch Lucas di Grassi? The engineer at Porsche tells Mark Webber there is a vibration on the left front tire. That's odd, because, usually, the driver tells the engineer. Audi seems to have ceded first and second, to Porsche. It's manufacturer's prize first, but the drivers have to get credit. Two laps to go now.
By the look of things, it will be a factory Porsche 1-2 in two classes. LMP1, and LM GTE Pro. Porsche factory drivers lead three of four classes. Nick Tandy is being a brilliant driver, but, for KCMG. KCMG could bring a second car into LMP2. That would be interesting. Anyhow, it's the final lap for Porsche and Mark Webber. Porsche will now win two in a row. Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley, and Timo Bernhard, win the 6 Hours of the Nurburgring!
Overall/LMP1: #17 Webber/Hartley/Bernhard Porsche 919 Hybrid
LMP2: #47 Tandy/Howson/Bradley Oreca 05 - Nissan
LM GTE Pro: #91 Lietz/Christensen Porsche 911 RSR
LM GTE Am: #72 Shaitar/Bertolini/Basov Ferrari 458 Italia
Next up for the FIA World Endurance Championship is in the United States, at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in about three weeks.
Knock, knock. Look behind you. di Grassi makes a pass on the Porsche. Audi has better tires it seems. Audi has to battle between themselves. One hour to go now. The Audi's seem to be ganging up on the Porsche's and beginning to pass them. It's going to be stunning! We had a brief slow zone, and it's been removed. Moments ago, Lucas di Grassi went by Benoit Treluyer. Treluyer is higher in the championship. No fight. Lucas di Grassi has better pace. Richard Bradley leads Julien Canal in LMP2.
Brendon Hartley is a lap up on the rest of the blokes battling for position. Benoit Treluyer makes a late decision to pit! This will be super close! Fuel, tires, and a driver change, for the Audi. Andre Lotterer will take car #7 to the finish of this race. The Rebellion chassis picks up some gravel. This is a battle between Stuttgart and Ingolstadt. The main objective for Audi, is to not let the Porsche pass. Porsche wants to go for two in a row, after winning Le Mans. After this race, the European section of the season, will be over, and the flyaway races will begin.
Porsche, Porsche, Audi, Audi, Toyota, Toyota. Marc Lieb is 2.3 seconds ahead of both Audi's. There are some lap times, that seem to indicate there are some concerns that the sister Porsche's and Audi's may fall back from the leaders. Uh oh. The #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage stalls, just out of the pits. Matthias Lauda at the controls. Rui Aguas wants to take the spot away. Viktor Shaitar is up the road. In the Audi camp, right this minute, the quicker driver, has to take the lead, to try and nab the Porsche.
Marc Lieb runs a 1:39.1. Andre Lotterer is close, and Lucas di Grassi is right behind. Nick Tandy has the lead in LMP2, still, for KCMG. 45 minutes to go now. The countdown continues to the end of this motor race. Aha. The Audi move, is planned, and #8 has passed #7. Lucas di Grassi got on the phone and said, "can I make my move?" The team says, "go for it!" Just over a half an hour to go. Mark Webber continues lapping in the 1:39 range. Marc Lieb is the same way, even though he is two laps down.
Mark Webber lowers the fast lap to 1:38.5. If things stand as they are, Porsche will earn their first overall 1-2 in a six hour race in FIA WEC competition. They won, in Brazil, at Interlagos, last fall. Now, there's a touch, between the second place Porsche, and one of the LMP2 cars. Marc Lieb, taps Nelson Panciatici. What will that little "love tap" do to the handling of the Porsche? We'll see. It's been quite the race.
It's been a tough day, and a long season, for Toyota. Mark Webber runs fastest in the final sector. The gap is closing between Lucas di Grassi and Marc Lieb, with less than a half an hour remaining. This race is coming alive in it's last stages. Patrick Pilet will get a drive through penalty! It's not a stop and hold for the #92 Porsche. They are 38 seconds behind. It's been a long while since Fred Makowiecki and Davide Rigon had their little fracas.
We've got 20 minutes to go. Ten seconds cover second, third, and fourth spots. SMP Racing is running well as we come to the finish, and we cannot forget the #47 KCMG car. Richard Lietz and Michael Christensen lead the LM GTE Pro class in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR. Traffic involved, as the #8 Audi is trying to catch the sister #18 Porsche. Lucas di Grassi is trying his best. It's game on again. #17 is dominating. #18 has clawed it's way back. Audi is still going for it. Fifteen minutes remain in the Nurburgring 6 Hours.
Mark Webber is flying, at over 115 miles an hour average speed. The checkered flag beckons in Deutschland. We have eleven minutes now remaining. There's no grip, and Mark Webber had to save the car from spinning! He was almost off the road! There could have been contact with the #8 Audi and the Alpine #36. Marco Seefried is also booking it over Rui Aguas in LM GTE Am. Porsche, Porsche, Audi, for the overall win.
Audi will not be happy, with fourth spot. Only six minutes to go. Porsche is going stand atop the mountain, here at the Nurburgring. Could Andre Lotterer catch Lucas di Grassi? The engineer at Porsche tells Mark Webber there is a vibration on the left front tire. That's odd, because, usually, the driver tells the engineer. Audi seems to have ceded first and second, to Porsche. It's manufacturer's prize first, but the drivers have to get credit. Two laps to go now.
By the look of things, it will be a factory Porsche 1-2 in two classes. LMP1, and LM GTE Pro. Porsche factory drivers lead three of four classes. Nick Tandy is being a brilliant driver, but, for KCMG. KCMG could bring a second car into LMP2. That would be interesting. Anyhow, it's the final lap for Porsche and Mark Webber. Porsche will now win two in a row. Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley, and Timo Bernhard, win the 6 Hours of the Nurburgring!
Overall/LMP1: #17 Webber/Hartley/Bernhard Porsche 919 Hybrid
LMP2: #47 Tandy/Howson/Bradley Oreca 05 - Nissan
LM GTE Pro: #91 Lietz/Christensen Porsche 911 RSR
LM GTE Am: #72 Shaitar/Bertolini/Basov Ferrari 458 Italia
Next up for the FIA World Endurance Championship is in the United States, at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in about three weeks.
6 Hours of The Nurburgring: Hour 5
Moments ago, Julien Canal passed his team mate, when #28 driven by Ricardo Gonzalez, almost got tangled up with the Larbre Competition Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R- in the hands of Kristian Poulsen. Patrick Dempsey is back at the wheel of car #77 as Nick Leventis serves a penalty. David Heinemeier-Hanson is seventh in LMP2, 13th overall. Neel Jani is still running well, as he is taking time out of Oliver Jarvis. The gap is at 4.3 seconds. Both are catching Benoit Treluyer. Could Porsche get a 1-2? Could they win a second race in a row? We'll see. 62,000 people have been here today, for the race, at the Nurburgring.
Oliver Jarvis almost runs off the road. Hans Joachim Stuck, is the Grand Marshal for the 6 Hours of the Nurburgring... a true legend in German motorsport. The Signatech LMP2 car pits. We have a safety car, for all the debris on the road. There are not even two lanes for cars to race on, as you are racing on marbles. Audi is proffering a driver change at the moment. The sweeper is out on track, and Mark Webber makes a pit stop. We now have one hour and 43 minutes left to run. Will these blokes need a splash and dash at the end of the race. This is a full course yellow. We also see the #77 LM GTE Pro Dempsey Racing Porsche getting the door replaced.
Porsche is now in the lane. Driver change for Audi, too. This is our fifth rotation of pit stops for LMP1 cars. Two more will be necessary, even though, we are into the fourth hour. We have four hours and twenty minutes, elapsed, so far. Strakka Racing is in the garage, to replace bodywork in the garage, under yellow. That's a smart move on their part. We now have an hour and 37 minutes left in this race. We are back to green flag racing. Nick Leventis goes through the gravel on the green flag.
Jon Fogarty has the controls of the #31 ESM Ligier Honda. Oof. Another speeding penalty for the Strakka Racing Gibson. The difference in times for penalties, correlates to how far a driver has gone over the speed limit in the pit lane. Brendon Hartley runs a 1:33.3, and Oliver Jarvis runs a 1:33.7. Neel Jani seems to be the main star driver for Porsche in this race. Jani was a very quick prospect. The Larbre Corvette pits and is back on course.
Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni, have had a bad day today, and are in danger of losing their championship lead. They are 30th in the overall, and eight laps down to the class leader. They came in, leading both LM GTE Pro, and LM GTE Am. Lucas di Grassi is taking chunks out of Brendon Hartley's lead, for Porsche, with an hour and a half remaining. SARD Morand's team boss is summoned to race control for some reason. The major issue for Ferrari, is the manufacturer points and the manufacturer's cup.
There's an interesting dice between Porsche and Aston Martin. Lucas di Grassi is beginning to catch Neel Jani. There's a Ferrari vs. Aston Martin battle for 21st and 22nd overall. Paul Dalla Lana vs. Andrea Bertolini. Brendon Hartley is laying down laps in the 1:40 range, with a lap lead over Benoit Treluyer in the #7 Audi. Hartley is driving on a similar pace to how Mark Webber was going for it earlier on. Ryan Dalziel puts his fastest lap of the race. Richard Bradley is finishing the race for KCMG in their #47 machine.
The gaps between the top four are very, very close. The top four are all running in the 1:40 range. The second Audi is moving up on the KCMG car. Neel Jani is chasing Benoit Treluyer. Lucas di Grassi is coming. Lessthan 70 minutes to go. Get ready, for the final hour, and the last blog post, of this race, as we are going to make the run, to the finish.
Oliver Jarvis almost runs off the road. Hans Joachim Stuck, is the Grand Marshal for the 6 Hours of the Nurburgring... a true legend in German motorsport. The Signatech LMP2 car pits. We have a safety car, for all the debris on the road. There are not even two lanes for cars to race on, as you are racing on marbles. Audi is proffering a driver change at the moment. The sweeper is out on track, and Mark Webber makes a pit stop. We now have one hour and 43 minutes left to run. Will these blokes need a splash and dash at the end of the race. This is a full course yellow. We also see the #77 LM GTE Pro Dempsey Racing Porsche getting the door replaced.
Porsche is now in the lane. Driver change for Audi, too. This is our fifth rotation of pit stops for LMP1 cars. Two more will be necessary, even though, we are into the fourth hour. We have four hours and twenty minutes, elapsed, so far. Strakka Racing is in the garage, to replace bodywork in the garage, under yellow. That's a smart move on their part. We now have an hour and 37 minutes left in this race. We are back to green flag racing. Nick Leventis goes through the gravel on the green flag.
Jon Fogarty has the controls of the #31 ESM Ligier Honda. Oof. Another speeding penalty for the Strakka Racing Gibson. The difference in times for penalties, correlates to how far a driver has gone over the speed limit in the pit lane. Brendon Hartley runs a 1:33.3, and Oliver Jarvis runs a 1:33.7. Neel Jani seems to be the main star driver for Porsche in this race. Jani was a very quick prospect. The Larbre Corvette pits and is back on course.
Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni, have had a bad day today, and are in danger of losing their championship lead. They are 30th in the overall, and eight laps down to the class leader. They came in, leading both LM GTE Pro, and LM GTE Am. Lucas di Grassi is taking chunks out of Brendon Hartley's lead, for Porsche, with an hour and a half remaining. SARD Morand's team boss is summoned to race control for some reason. The major issue for Ferrari, is the manufacturer points and the manufacturer's cup.
There's an interesting dice between Porsche and Aston Martin. Lucas di Grassi is beginning to catch Neel Jani. There's a Ferrari vs. Aston Martin battle for 21st and 22nd overall. Paul Dalla Lana vs. Andrea Bertolini. Brendon Hartley is laying down laps in the 1:40 range, with a lap lead over Benoit Treluyer in the #7 Audi. Hartley is driving on a similar pace to how Mark Webber was going for it earlier on. Ryan Dalziel puts his fastest lap of the race. Richard Bradley is finishing the race for KCMG in their #47 machine.
The gaps between the top four are very, very close. The top four are all running in the 1:40 range. The second Audi is moving up on the KCMG car. Neel Jani is chasing Benoit Treluyer. Lucas di Grassi is coming. Lessthan 70 minutes to go. Get ready, for the final hour, and the last blog post, of this race, as we are going to make the run, to the finish.
6 Hours of the Nurburgring: Hour 4
Rigon forces the Porsche into a defensive move, and then, the Porsche goes wide, and Rigon gets put out on the curb, and Davide Rigon could have closed the door. That was like a short track stock car race! The two G-Drive LMP2 cars are battling. In GTE Pro, four different drivers, are dealing with argy bargy at the moment. Timo Bernhard leads Andre Lotterer by 54 seconds. Car #71 is back in pit lane, with the team repairing the wheel rub on the left rear. Davide Rigon is coming under attack from the #99 Aston Martin V8 Vantage with Fernando Rees at the controls.
Also, there's a scrum in LMP2. It's Alpine Nissan, vs. Gibson. Paul Loup Chatin vs. Danny Watts. Gianluca Roda drops a wheel in the Larbre Competition Corvette C-7-R- but continues to race. That car, was busy, during the FIA WEC break, doing two Tudor Championship races. It was a stand-in for one of the factory cars, that had to be repaired, after crashing in practice for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
This is a big race because Porsche and Audi are both German makes. Toyota also has a base in Germany. Uh oh. What is happening to the #18 Porsche? It seems OK. Aston Martin is in the lane with cars #95 and #98. Pedro Lamy takes over from Matthias Lauda in car #98. Matt Howson is trying to fend off the challenge from the #26. KCMG vs. G-Drive. These boys are the championship leaders in LMP2, but, in opposite positions in the points table, vs. the racetrack.
There's not much difference between LMP1 and LMP2 cars in terms of lap time. If you have the opportunity, the next race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, is something you should see in person, or on TV. Matt Howson gives up the lead to Gustavo Yacaman, as he pits. Richard Bradley will do his stint, and then, Nick Tandy will take a single stop, to finish the race off. Richard Bradley is now in the seat. New Dunlop tires have been fitted to the car. LMP2 cars run on Dunlop tires, and Michelin's are for the rest of the field in the other classes.
When a full course yellow is called, a "virtual safety car" comes out. No green flag to restart. They restart the race wherever the cars are on the road. One of the ESM Ligier Honda's went off and back on. David Heinemeier-Hanson has a nearly identical off, to Ed Brown, in the sister car. Car #77 is in need of a new door. Gustavo Yacaman pits and hands the car to Romain Rusinov. It is not an issue with the door at Dempsey. It's the window. There has to be some strategy adjustments. Signatech Alpine pits. Paul Loup Chatin is taking over the car.
Archie Hamilton is running for the first time with the SARD-Morand Morgan entry in LMP2. Danny Watts takes over the LMP2 lead in the Gibson chassis with Nissan power. Pit stop time for the #17 Porsche. The car will continue to lead this motor race. The #7 car is pitting now, too. #8 does likewise. #18 goes to second in the overall, for the moment. There are a minimum of two pit stops remaining in this race. Nick Leventis in the Strakka machine, has been caught for speeding in the pit lane and the gendarmes will give him a drive through penalty.
Sebastien Buemi is trying to pass Matthias Beche. It's factory Toyota #8 vs. Rebellion #12. Porsche 1-2, Audi 3-4, Toyota 5-6. Privateer LMP1 cars could come soon. That's because, the FIA WEC might outlaw the LMP2 division, in the not too distant future. There's a problem for the #96 Aston Martin V8 Vantage in LM GTE Am, piloted by Francesco Castellaci. Toyota, Porsche, and Audi, have re-upped for the next few years. Audi for one more year. Two more for Toyota. Three more, for Porsche.
The #1 Toyota, and both Porsche's have pitted. We watch another LMP2 battle with Nick Leventis and Vincent Capillaire. Ooh. There was a touch, as someone touched the back of the Gibson chassis, passing the #97 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, in the hands of Stefan Mucke. The #12 Rebellion has gotten around both of the aforementioned LMP2 cars. With CLM and one of the Rebellion's out, the main Rebellion might lead the gasoline powered LMP1 racer's contingent, (i.e., the cars, that are not the hybrid spaceship lightning bolts).
These factory cars, are beyond the level of a privateer squad.
Also, there's a scrum in LMP2. It's Alpine Nissan, vs. Gibson. Paul Loup Chatin vs. Danny Watts. Gianluca Roda drops a wheel in the Larbre Competition Corvette C-7-R- but continues to race. That car, was busy, during the FIA WEC break, doing two Tudor Championship races. It was a stand-in for one of the factory cars, that had to be repaired, after crashing in practice for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
This is a big race because Porsche and Audi are both German makes. Toyota also has a base in Germany. Uh oh. What is happening to the #18 Porsche? It seems OK. Aston Martin is in the lane with cars #95 and #98. Pedro Lamy takes over from Matthias Lauda in car #98. Matt Howson is trying to fend off the challenge from the #26. KCMG vs. G-Drive. These boys are the championship leaders in LMP2, but, in opposite positions in the points table, vs. the racetrack.
There's not much difference between LMP1 and LMP2 cars in terms of lap time. If you have the opportunity, the next race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, is something you should see in person, or on TV. Matt Howson gives up the lead to Gustavo Yacaman, as he pits. Richard Bradley will do his stint, and then, Nick Tandy will take a single stop, to finish the race off. Richard Bradley is now in the seat. New Dunlop tires have been fitted to the car. LMP2 cars run on Dunlop tires, and Michelin's are for the rest of the field in the other classes.
When a full course yellow is called, a "virtual safety car" comes out. No green flag to restart. They restart the race wherever the cars are on the road. One of the ESM Ligier Honda's went off and back on. David Heinemeier-Hanson has a nearly identical off, to Ed Brown, in the sister car. Car #77 is in need of a new door. Gustavo Yacaman pits and hands the car to Romain Rusinov. It is not an issue with the door at Dempsey. It's the window. There has to be some strategy adjustments. Signatech Alpine pits. Paul Loup Chatin is taking over the car.
Archie Hamilton is running for the first time with the SARD-Morand Morgan entry in LMP2. Danny Watts takes over the LMP2 lead in the Gibson chassis with Nissan power. Pit stop time for the #17 Porsche. The car will continue to lead this motor race. The #7 car is pitting now, too. #8 does likewise. #18 goes to second in the overall, for the moment. There are a minimum of two pit stops remaining in this race. Nick Leventis in the Strakka machine, has been caught for speeding in the pit lane and the gendarmes will give him a drive through penalty.
Sebastien Buemi is trying to pass Matthias Beche. It's factory Toyota #8 vs. Rebellion #12. Porsche 1-2, Audi 3-4, Toyota 5-6. Privateer LMP1 cars could come soon. That's because, the FIA WEC might outlaw the LMP2 division, in the not too distant future. There's a problem for the #96 Aston Martin V8 Vantage in LM GTE Am, piloted by Francesco Castellaci. Toyota, Porsche, and Audi, have re-upped for the next few years. Audi for one more year. Two more for Toyota. Three more, for Porsche.
The #1 Toyota, and both Porsche's have pitted. We watch another LMP2 battle with Nick Leventis and Vincent Capillaire. Ooh. There was a touch, as someone touched the back of the Gibson chassis, passing the #97 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, in the hands of Stefan Mucke. The #12 Rebellion has gotten around both of the aforementioned LMP2 cars. With CLM and one of the Rebellion's out, the main Rebellion might lead the gasoline powered LMP1 racer's contingent, (i.e., the cars, that are not the hybrid spaceship lightning bolts).
These factory cars, are beyond the level of a privateer squad.
6 Hours of the Nurburgring: Hour 3
The order at the front, has not really changed. Right now, G-Drive is leading LMP2. We are now under our second full course yellow, and we've had one slow zone. The corners are being swept, for debris, which is mostly gravel, and grass. Pit stop time for the GT class machines. Scott Sharp pits, and so does most of the LM GTE Pro field. We are now back to racing, three hours, and eight minutes, elapsed in this race, so far.
Lucas di Grassi has not pitted yet. He missed the opportunity to make a pit stop. The gap between the two leading Porsche's is 6.7 seconds. As mentioned, Toyota, is developing a new race car, with a new engine. More details will be divulged on that, next week, in the sports car racing news update. For now, we have a race to keep enjoying, fans. We now have three hours and 46 minutes to go. The top six cars are all LMP1 hybrid racers from Porsche, Audi, and Toyota. Romain Rusinov leading LMP2 is seventh. Michael Christensen leads LM GTE Pro in 16th overall for Porsche. In LM GTE Am, it's the #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage of Matthias Lauda.
Porsche is having an issue with the electronics for their calculation on fuel. Second time for Porsche being penalized. It's a 30 second stop/go penalty for the #18 Porsche due to excessive fuel consumption. Rui Aguas was stopped briefly in LM GTE Am in a Ferrari. He went off, then, rejoined, and stopped again. We watch a battle in LM GTE Am, between Christian Ried, and Andrea Bertolini. Brendon Hartley leads Romain Dumas, at the moment. Ooh. One of the ESM cars has spun.
Stop and go penalty for the #18 Porsche, again, for excessive energy consumption. Too much energy goes through the car, between the petrol motor, and the ERS (Energy Recovery System). There are many battles in the GT classes. It looks like Frederic Makowiecki is catching James Calado. They drop downhill, through a kink, and to the Dunlop hairpin. Romain Dumas tried twice to get into th wrong pit! Porsche is having real issues. The wheels might be falling off the wagon here.
He has to serve a penalty. Where is the Toyota? Toyota is coming out of the final corner. Anthony Davidson is at the wheel of the #1 Toyota. James Calado and Frederic Makowiecki continue their scrap. ESM pits their LMP2 Ligier Honda. Matt Howson is in the #47 and Romain Rusinov is in the #26. This scrap is still taking place. The #4 ByKolles CLM AER is still on the road, in the hands of Brit Simon Trummer. We are two hours, 31 minutes, into this race now.
The #7 and #8 Audi's were trying to weave their way through GT traffic. Andre Lotterer is feverishly trying to catch up to Brendon Hartley in the Porsche. Keep in mind that Lotterer, Marcel Fassler, and, Benoit Treluyer, won't lose points, because their rival drivers, are racing in other classes, in this race. Romain Rusinov pits one of the G-Drive cars. Brendon Hartley pits from the race lead. Hartley out. Timo Bernhard, in. One of the Audi's pits. Now, with respect to fuel, we don't know what parameter the Porsche #18 was in breach of.
KCMG and Matt Howson make a pit stop. They are quicker than their rivals. Lucas di Grassi has taken the race lead. #18 and #8 are side-by-side. But, these cars, are not on the same lap. Lucas di Grassi pits, giving the lead back to the #17 Porsche of Timo Bernhard. James Calado continues wheeling Ferrari #71. Timo Bernhard is really pushing. James Calado continues to defend from Frederic Makowiecki. We have a full course yellow. The #88 Porsche 911 RSR has spun in the Schumacher esses.
Khaled al-Qubaisi, Christian Ried, and Earl Bamber, share that car. Pierre Kaffer has stopped his CLM, and Christian Ried, ran into him! That wreck could have been a lot worse! The whole wing is on the track. We will go under full-course yellow. Amazing. Trouble for the #71 Ferrari. He was hit up the back by another car. At the yellow, the Ferrari was hit by the Porsche GT car! The rear bumper, has been hit. Things are getting a little sloppy here at the Nurburgring, as we are approaching the end of the third hour of racing. So, we are almost halfway home, fans.
Pit lane action is happening, including the #18 Porsche and the Dempsey Proton car with Marco Seefried at the wheel. Patrick Long, who started the car, will take over. We remember, the late, great racing driver, Eric Thompson, who ran at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1951. Rest In Peace, Eric Thompson. We are about set to go racing again, and start the second half of this event. We are ten seconds away. Green! The track, is back to green.
The Porsche has position on the smoking Ferrari through the Veedol chicane. Davide Rigon tries to pass the Porsche. Rigon is behind now. Porsche is making a massive move, and here comes Rigon! There's a touch! Wow. Flash the lights. Rigon is in no mood to give up the spot.
Lucas di Grassi has not pitted yet. He missed the opportunity to make a pit stop. The gap between the two leading Porsche's is 6.7 seconds. As mentioned, Toyota, is developing a new race car, with a new engine. More details will be divulged on that, next week, in the sports car racing news update. For now, we have a race to keep enjoying, fans. We now have three hours and 46 minutes to go. The top six cars are all LMP1 hybrid racers from Porsche, Audi, and Toyota. Romain Rusinov leading LMP2 is seventh. Michael Christensen leads LM GTE Pro in 16th overall for Porsche. In LM GTE Am, it's the #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage of Matthias Lauda.
Porsche is having an issue with the electronics for their calculation on fuel. Second time for Porsche being penalized. It's a 30 second stop/go penalty for the #18 Porsche due to excessive fuel consumption. Rui Aguas was stopped briefly in LM GTE Am in a Ferrari. He went off, then, rejoined, and stopped again. We watch a battle in LM GTE Am, between Christian Ried, and Andrea Bertolini. Brendon Hartley leads Romain Dumas, at the moment. Ooh. One of the ESM cars has spun.
Stop and go penalty for the #18 Porsche, again, for excessive energy consumption. Too much energy goes through the car, between the petrol motor, and the ERS (Energy Recovery System). There are many battles in the GT classes. It looks like Frederic Makowiecki is catching James Calado. They drop downhill, through a kink, and to the Dunlop hairpin. Romain Dumas tried twice to get into th wrong pit! Porsche is having real issues. The wheels might be falling off the wagon here.
He has to serve a penalty. Where is the Toyota? Toyota is coming out of the final corner. Anthony Davidson is at the wheel of the #1 Toyota. James Calado and Frederic Makowiecki continue their scrap. ESM pits their LMP2 Ligier Honda. Matt Howson is in the #47 and Romain Rusinov is in the #26. This scrap is still taking place. The #4 ByKolles CLM AER is still on the road, in the hands of Brit Simon Trummer. We are two hours, 31 minutes, into this race now.
The #7 and #8 Audi's were trying to weave their way through GT traffic. Andre Lotterer is feverishly trying to catch up to Brendon Hartley in the Porsche. Keep in mind that Lotterer, Marcel Fassler, and, Benoit Treluyer, won't lose points, because their rival drivers, are racing in other classes, in this race. Romain Rusinov pits one of the G-Drive cars. Brendon Hartley pits from the race lead. Hartley out. Timo Bernhard, in. One of the Audi's pits. Now, with respect to fuel, we don't know what parameter the Porsche #18 was in breach of.
KCMG and Matt Howson make a pit stop. They are quicker than their rivals. Lucas di Grassi has taken the race lead. #18 and #8 are side-by-side. But, these cars, are not on the same lap. Lucas di Grassi pits, giving the lead back to the #17 Porsche of Timo Bernhard. James Calado continues wheeling Ferrari #71. Timo Bernhard is really pushing. James Calado continues to defend from Frederic Makowiecki. We have a full course yellow. The #88 Porsche 911 RSR has spun in the Schumacher esses.
Khaled al-Qubaisi, Christian Ried, and Earl Bamber, share that car. Pierre Kaffer has stopped his CLM, and Christian Ried, ran into him! That wreck could have been a lot worse! The whole wing is on the track. We will go under full-course yellow. Amazing. Trouble for the #71 Ferrari. He was hit up the back by another car. At the yellow, the Ferrari was hit by the Porsche GT car! The rear bumper, has been hit. Things are getting a little sloppy here at the Nurburgring, as we are approaching the end of the third hour of racing. So, we are almost halfway home, fans.
Pit lane action is happening, including the #18 Porsche and the Dempsey Proton car with Marco Seefried at the wheel. Patrick Long, who started the car, will take over. We remember, the late, great racing driver, Eric Thompson, who ran at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1951. Rest In Peace, Eric Thompson. We are about set to go racing again, and start the second half of this event. We are ten seconds away. Green! The track, is back to green.
The Porsche has position on the smoking Ferrari through the Veedol chicane. Davide Rigon tries to pass the Porsche. Rigon is behind now. Porsche is making a massive move, and here comes Rigon! There's a touch! Wow. Flash the lights. Rigon is in no mood to give up the spot.
6 Hours of the Nurburgring: Hour 2
The Rebellion will be recovered, in a slow zone, in zone number one. We are prepping for GT pit stops. The #91 and #92 LM GTE Pro Porsche 911 RSR's pit, and now, Aston Martin, takes over the class lead. Viktor Shaitar pits, and we look for James Calado to do likewise. Andrea Bertolini and Alexsey Basov, share the #72 SMP Ferrari 458 Italia, with Shaitar. Ooh. Jonny Kane slides off into the gravel trap on th final corner. He's behind Nelson Panciatici, Ryan Dalziel, and Oliver Webb. We're an hour and six minutes into this race, with Marc Lieb leading Marcel Fassler and Loic Duval. Porsche, Audi, Audi.
Anthony Davidson goes off the road and will get a warning for that. The battle heats up between Porsche and Audi. The Porsche tries to follow, and is using an LMP2 car as a pick. Audi's have the legs through the twisty bits, and Porsche has the oomph on the straights. More traffic ahead. Mark Webber follows Loic Duval. Webber has enough in hand over one of the Audi's. The #77 Proton Dempsey Porsche pits. Patrick Long hands over to team owner, Patrick Dempsey.
Pedro Lamy pits the Aston Martin, too. Both Rebellion LMP1 cars, are out. Game over for that team. We missed the start of this race. But, Neel Jani, took off, hitting the afterburner button, and he was into the lead. Audi was trying to keep themselves honest. But, Porsche has had the upper hand, thus far. Problems early on for the #97 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, too. Earl Bamber in one of the LM GTE Pro Porsche's also got spun by an Aston Martin. We saw the AF Corse Ferrari have problems, too.
Dempsey Proton and Patrick Long, led LM GTE Am. We go back to live pictures if you are watching on Fox Sports. Marc Lieb still leads this race. Lieb is in traffic. Mark Webber is running faster. Porsche factory drivers lead every class right now, including Nick Tandy. Patrick Dempsey is third in class right now. Marc Lieb has taken over car #18 from Neel Jani. Audi has been having temperature trouble/cooling issues. Audi's have been trying to pull out of line, because of the general cooling issues on their big diesel V6 engines.
It's a scorcher at the Nurburgring. Earl Bamber leads LM GTE Am. He is racing for Abu Dhabi Proton. Bamber will race in the VLN here at the Nurburgring, with a Porsche Cayman GT4, too. Whoops. Nick Tandy has spun in the #47 KCMG LMP2 car. But, he is back on track. Earl Bamber is slated to pit the Porsche 911 RSR soon. But, the Rebellion team is continuing to have a dreadful race, despite the cars having new livery.
Mark Webber is leading Francois Perrodo in one of the Ferrari's. We are nearly an hour and a half into this race. Audi 1-2. Porsche 3-4. Toyota 5-6. Marc Lieb and Mark Webber lead, running 1-2. Audi's drivers lead the championship. The points are really shuffled, and it looks like Audi will have the driver championship leader after this race. A complicated day, to be sure. Richard Lietz leads Davide Rigon, and Patrick Pilet, in LM GTE Pro. Porsche, Ferrari, Porsche.
Roald Goethe in the #96 Aston Martin gets the black and white flag, for exceeding track limits. This could result in a penalty. These guys are involved in battles for real spots, but, the lead cars also have to thread their way through. Loic Duval and Marcel Fassler, in the Audi's are racing nose to tail. We've had one full course yellow, and a brief slow zone. Some of these blokes are fast enough on track, they could race each other with supermarket trolleys and it would be fun. What's a supermarket trolley? A shopping cart.
Marcel Fassler passes Alex Wurz in one of the Toyota's. Toyota has had a learning year this year. It's not been one to forget. But, they just aren't in the same league as Porsche or Audi. Drama for the leader. A tech infringement for the #18 Porsche, an hour and a half into this race. There had to be a pit stop issue, or, something at the start of the race. Too many people over the pit lane line? Maybe. Yours truly, is scratching an itch, for more than one reason. What have the Porsche team been penalized for?
There's action for Porsche, and in the Audi pits. Francois Perrodo was squeezed by the #30 ESM Ligier Honda of Scott Sharp. Brendon Hartley will take over the #17 Porsche, when Mark Webber comes in. Marc Lieb gets a five second stop and go penalty. The penalty is for excessive fuel consumption, according to race director, Edoardo Freitas. That's the first time yours truly can remember such a penalty being applied. He's in the pits, now. This has to be done separately. Mark Webber is going to take over the race lead.
It will be close! Webber is going to take it. No? No. They will fight for position. They touch! Lieb hip checks Webber off the road! Ouch! If you touch, according to the Porsche bosses, you are in big, big trouble. They run through the Mercedes Arena section, and Marc Lieb may not have seen Webber. He's not there. He's not there. Oops. He's there. Ke-thunk. The leader has two pit stops, if you are following the timing and scoring.
The fuel is measured on a three lap basis, and the teams havee a new fuel measurement unit. The top three in LM GTE Am are covered only by 15 seconds. Brendon Hartley has taken over the #17 Porsche 919 from Mark Webber. Andre Lotterer has taken over the #7 Audi R18 eTron Quattro. The #47 and #36 LMP2 cars have pitted. KCMG still leads in LMP2. Jonny Kane pits the Strakka Racing LMP2 car. Danny Watts will take over the car. The #26 G Drive Ligier JS P2 takes over the lead, with Roman Rusinov at the controls. The #8 Audi also pits.
It's going to be a battle between Audi and Porsche. The early infringements of the race, are being meted out. It's the car that gets the penalty, and not necessarily, the driver in it. Brendon Hartley chases Marc Lieb. Alexander Wurz in the Toyota is being scored second. But that isn't true. ESM pits their Ligier Honda. Marc Lieb could lose second spot to Andre Lotterer. He won't lose second. But, the Audi will be close. We have over four hours left to race. Romain Rusinov leads LMP2, but is being caught by the #47 car, now in the hands of Matt Howson.
Gustavo Yacaman is also closing in the #28 Ligier. Lucas di Grassi is also trying to find a way past Marc Lieb. Lucas di Grassi is the fastest bloke in the top four spots. di Grassi is at the wheel of Audi #8. Ooh. All four wheels off for Marc Lieb! Romain Dumas takes over the car. But, Lib had a close call with the Larbre Competition Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R- driven by Gianluca Roda. Now, Brendon Hartley has taken over the race lead. Nico Prost is at the wheel of the #12 Rebellion. But the team has been having a really fraught race.
Danny Watts is trying to pass Scott Sharp for sixth in LMP2. There is an engine battle and a chassis battle here. Honda vs. Nissan, and Ligier vs. Gibson. Danny Watts is still chasing, Scott Sharp. When we get to the end of this lap, Watts will look to maintain the pressure.
Anthony Davidson goes off the road and will get a warning for that. The battle heats up between Porsche and Audi. The Porsche tries to follow, and is using an LMP2 car as a pick. Audi's have the legs through the twisty bits, and Porsche has the oomph on the straights. More traffic ahead. Mark Webber follows Loic Duval. Webber has enough in hand over one of the Audi's. The #77 Proton Dempsey Porsche pits. Patrick Long hands over to team owner, Patrick Dempsey.
Pedro Lamy pits the Aston Martin, too. Both Rebellion LMP1 cars, are out. Game over for that team. We missed the start of this race. But, Neel Jani, took off, hitting the afterburner button, and he was into the lead. Audi was trying to keep themselves honest. But, Porsche has had the upper hand, thus far. Problems early on for the #97 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, too. Earl Bamber in one of the LM GTE Pro Porsche's also got spun by an Aston Martin. We saw the AF Corse Ferrari have problems, too.
Dempsey Proton and Patrick Long, led LM GTE Am. We go back to live pictures if you are watching on Fox Sports. Marc Lieb still leads this race. Lieb is in traffic. Mark Webber is running faster. Porsche factory drivers lead every class right now, including Nick Tandy. Patrick Dempsey is third in class right now. Marc Lieb has taken over car #18 from Neel Jani. Audi has been having temperature trouble/cooling issues. Audi's have been trying to pull out of line, because of the general cooling issues on their big diesel V6 engines.
It's a scorcher at the Nurburgring. Earl Bamber leads LM GTE Am. He is racing for Abu Dhabi Proton. Bamber will race in the VLN here at the Nurburgring, with a Porsche Cayman GT4, too. Whoops. Nick Tandy has spun in the #47 KCMG LMP2 car. But, he is back on track. Earl Bamber is slated to pit the Porsche 911 RSR soon. But, the Rebellion team is continuing to have a dreadful race, despite the cars having new livery.
Mark Webber is leading Francois Perrodo in one of the Ferrari's. We are nearly an hour and a half into this race. Audi 1-2. Porsche 3-4. Toyota 5-6. Marc Lieb and Mark Webber lead, running 1-2. Audi's drivers lead the championship. The points are really shuffled, and it looks like Audi will have the driver championship leader after this race. A complicated day, to be sure. Richard Lietz leads Davide Rigon, and Patrick Pilet, in LM GTE Pro. Porsche, Ferrari, Porsche.
Roald Goethe in the #96 Aston Martin gets the black and white flag, for exceeding track limits. This could result in a penalty. These guys are involved in battles for real spots, but, the lead cars also have to thread their way through. Loic Duval and Marcel Fassler, in the Audi's are racing nose to tail. We've had one full course yellow, and a brief slow zone. Some of these blokes are fast enough on track, they could race each other with supermarket trolleys and it would be fun. What's a supermarket trolley? A shopping cart.
Marcel Fassler passes Alex Wurz in one of the Toyota's. Toyota has had a learning year this year. It's not been one to forget. But, they just aren't in the same league as Porsche or Audi. Drama for the leader. A tech infringement for the #18 Porsche, an hour and a half into this race. There had to be a pit stop issue, or, something at the start of the race. Too many people over the pit lane line? Maybe. Yours truly, is scratching an itch, for more than one reason. What have the Porsche team been penalized for?
There's action for Porsche, and in the Audi pits. Francois Perrodo was squeezed by the #30 ESM Ligier Honda of Scott Sharp. Brendon Hartley will take over the #17 Porsche, when Mark Webber comes in. Marc Lieb gets a five second stop and go penalty. The penalty is for excessive fuel consumption, according to race director, Edoardo Freitas. That's the first time yours truly can remember such a penalty being applied. He's in the pits, now. This has to be done separately. Mark Webber is going to take over the race lead.
It will be close! Webber is going to take it. No? No. They will fight for position. They touch! Lieb hip checks Webber off the road! Ouch! If you touch, according to the Porsche bosses, you are in big, big trouble. They run through the Mercedes Arena section, and Marc Lieb may not have seen Webber. He's not there. He's not there. Oops. He's there. Ke-thunk. The leader has two pit stops, if you are following the timing and scoring.
The fuel is measured on a three lap basis, and the teams havee a new fuel measurement unit. The top three in LM GTE Am are covered only by 15 seconds. Brendon Hartley has taken over the #17 Porsche 919 from Mark Webber. Andre Lotterer has taken over the #7 Audi R18 eTron Quattro. The #47 and #36 LMP2 cars have pitted. KCMG still leads in LMP2. Jonny Kane pits the Strakka Racing LMP2 car. Danny Watts will take over the car. The #26 G Drive Ligier JS P2 takes over the lead, with Roman Rusinov at the controls. The #8 Audi also pits.
It's going to be a battle between Audi and Porsche. The early infringements of the race, are being meted out. It's the car that gets the penalty, and not necessarily, the driver in it. Brendon Hartley chases Marc Lieb. Alexander Wurz in the Toyota is being scored second. But that isn't true. ESM pits their Ligier Honda. Marc Lieb could lose second spot to Andre Lotterer. He won't lose second. But, the Audi will be close. We have over four hours left to race. Romain Rusinov leads LMP2, but is being caught by the #47 car, now in the hands of Matt Howson.
Gustavo Yacaman is also closing in the #28 Ligier. Lucas di Grassi is also trying to find a way past Marc Lieb. Lucas di Grassi is the fastest bloke in the top four spots. di Grassi is at the wheel of Audi #8. Ooh. All four wheels off for Marc Lieb! Romain Dumas takes over the car. But, Lib had a close call with the Larbre Competition Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R- driven by Gianluca Roda. Now, Brendon Hartley has taken over the race lead. Nico Prost is at the wheel of the #12 Rebellion. But the team has been having a really fraught race.
Danny Watts is trying to pass Scott Sharp for sixth in LMP2. There is an engine battle and a chassis battle here. Honda vs. Nissan, and Ligier vs. Gibson. Danny Watts is still chasing, Scott Sharp. When we get to the end of this lap, Watts will look to maintain the pressure.
6 Hours of the Nurburgring: Hour 1
After the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the summer break, the FIA World Endurance Championship, returns to action, today, at the legendary Nurburgring in the Eiffel mountains in Nurburg, Germany.
This is the first visit for the WEC to the Nurburgring. We are live for the 6 Hours of the Nurburgring, starting, now.
This is round four of the series. Porsche, takes pole. In LM GTE Am, Viktor Shaitar and Alexey Basov scored pole in LM GTE Am. Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni, have LM GTE Pro pole position. Nick Tandy and Matt Howson are on pole in LMP2. In LMP1, Porsche, sweeps the front row. Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb, have pole. We are setting up, for a great race. Yours truly, has not had the chance to blog the Spa 6 Hours from back in May, yet. That will happen, soon. Stay tuned.
It is a beautiful day at the Nurburgring. We missed the start of the race. Right now, the start is under investigation. Drive through penalty for the #92 Porsche 911 RSR. Neel Jani leads in the first sector in the #18 Porsche, over Timo Bernhard. The Porsche's are running at the top of the table, so far. Porsche leads over Audi and Toyota at this time. Patrick Long passes Stefan Mucke. The Aston Martin is having issues, and gets passed by the LM GTE Am Porsche of Patrick Long. We're working the sixth lap of this six hour race.
Oops. We have a spin. But, we are also watching Sam Bird and Nick Tandy in the LMP2 class, running in the 1:47 range. Timo Bernhard takes some time off of Loic Duval in the Audi R18 eTron Quattro. The spinning Porsche was for Proton Competition. Fred Makowiecki has had a drive through penalty, too. We watch Marcel Fassler trying to catch Loic Duval. Porsche, 1-2. Audi, 3-4. Toyota, 5-6. In LMP2, it's a four way battle between Nick Tandy, Sam Bird, Luis Felipe Derani, and Nelson Panciatici.
Neel Jani is ahead by four seconds over Timo Bernhard. Audi vs. Porsche. Oops. We have a slow Ferrari. This is one of the AF Corse entries. This is at marshal position 23, the Dunlop hairpin. Gianmaria Bruni has an issue with the #51 Ferrari 458 Italia. Drama early at the Nurburgring. We are now under full course yellow. We have a virtual safety car. We've run for 15 minutes. Dramatic moments early on. The leader in LMP1L, from Rebellion Racing, did not take the start. Nick Heidfeld, was supposed to be at the controls.
The #71 Ferrari in LM GTE Pro, pits. We are back to green flag racing. Neel Jani sails into the lead. The battle for second intensifies. One second between the #17 Porsche, #8 Audi, and #7 Audi. Is Porsche letting Neel Jani light the afterburners? It could be. It's cat and mouse for second, third, and fouth, at the moment. Stefan Mucke and Aston Martin are going to pit soon. Marco Sorensen in the sister #95 car, has also been off. The marshals are able to look at each car, and what each driver is doing, so they don't take advantage of getting a position.
James Calado in the #71 Ferrari, has pulled off the road. Is it game over for Calado and company? We'll see. AF Corse has had both LM GTE Pro machines have issues! The leaders are coming to turns three and four. Timo Bernhard leads. It's not Calado. #51 was towed away and it's game over. Wait. #51 is in trouble again. Yikes. Gianmaria Bruni is still driving that car. Meanwhile, it's a battle between Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas, and Marcel Fassler. We're nearly a half hour into this race. Porsche, Porsche, Audi, Audi, Toyota, Toyota. With the Rebellion's issues in the gasoline Prototype class, the CLM of Pierre Kaffer, is at the top of the table, at the moment.
Nick Tandy, Sam Bird, and Luis Felipe Derani, are top three in LMP2. Nick Tandy leads. He is racing in LMP2 for KCMG in this race, and not, for the Porsche factory squad. Patience will be key at this race, on the challenging 3 and 3/4 mile layout of the new Nurburgring, that has been around for at least 30 years. We are a half hour into this race, so far. This is the halfway mark of the race. Loic Duval and Timo Bernhard are still trying to pass the Porsche. The Porsche's were rocket quick, earlier in the season.
But, now, at the Nurburgring, the car is different. Same for the Audi R18 eTron Quattro. These cars, are different, from what they were at Spa or Le Mans. Again, Spa will be covered, even though it has already occurred. Meanwhile, Loic Duval is being challenged by Marcel Fassler. Porsche is concerned about brake temperatures. Are they having issues with the hybrid harvesting system? The Porsche still leads. It's a hot one at the Nurburgring today. It is in the 30s on the Celsius scale, meaning, the 90s on the Fahrenheit scale.
The issue for the Ferrari LM GTE car, was electronic. The #51 car is in damage limitation mode now. The #17 team has gone to plan B. They will do a different pit strategy. It is mandated that you have English radio translation that is not scrambled, so that the teams can communicate with the driver, and the fans at home, can hear it. Damaged splitter for the #18 Porsche in second in the overall. Pit stop time for the LMP1 hybrid cars, soon.
Neel Jani leads overall. Nick Tandy leads P2. Michael Christensen leads LM GTE Pro, and Patrick Long, leads LM GTE Am. The race goes on, and there was a power outage for a bit. Now, pit stop time. Porsche and Audi pit at the same time. Neel Jani, and Marcel Fassler. There's some crash damage on one of the cars. Now, they change tires. Will Porsche change the nose? Mark Webber will take over the car. The new nose is on. Mark Webber, is back in the motor race, ahead of Audi #7 of Loic Duval.
Toyota's (both of them) stayed on the track. Marcel Fassler continues driving the #7. There was no driver change. Did #17 have a dive plane failure on the front wing? The gap now is 37 seconds. 45 minutes have elapsed, of this six hour race. Neel Jani has lead since lights out for the start. Side-bu-side in LM GTE Am. Pedro Lamy vs. Viktor Shaitar. Lamy's Aston Martin V8 Vantage covered the inside over Viktor Shaitar's Ferrari 458 Italia.
In LMP2 we watch a battle for fourth between Nelson Panciaticci and Jonny Kane. Pedro Lamy is running in the 1:59 bracket. We watch the two G Drive P2 cars, pit together. Routine pit stops, for both, with no driver changes. The big story is still the issue with the #17 Porsche. The left front brake had been overheating. The #4 CLM is also in the lane. Pierre Kaffer is still at the wheel. Nelson Panciatici, Jonny Kane, and Oliver Webb, are all pitting. Loic Duval is told to stay out. Panciatici pits the Alpine Nissan. Now, it will be close in LMP2. There are a couple cars that beat Panciatici off pit lane.
Meanwhile, we see Loic Duval in the pits. This is a scheduled stop. Duval will stay in the car, and have a new drink put in the car. You have the bottle of fluid (electrolyte drink) in the reservoir in the car, and then, push a button, to take a drink. The #8 Audi is back on track. Mark Webber moves ahead of Loic Duval. P2 leader is in. Nick Tandy will stay in the car. He will keep the lead in LMP2 after a routine pit stop. The Toyota slices it's way through an awesome battle in LM GTE Pro. The #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid pits, as the #13 Rebellion continues to have a problem. Porsche pits car #18, with Marc Lieb now at the wheel.
Audi is double stinting drivers and tires. Porsche is doing single driver stints, it looks like. Marc Lieb is back on track. Toyota pits. They've had a hard season, and are already at work on their car for the 2016 season. We see the #12 Rebellion has pulled off the road. Both Toyota's have pitted. Next year, Toyota may use a turbo four cylinder, or a V6, abandoning their current V8 motor. Anthony Davidson is now in Toyota #1, and Mike Conway in car #2.
This is the first visit for the WEC to the Nurburgring. We are live for the 6 Hours of the Nurburgring, starting, now.
This is round four of the series. Porsche, takes pole. In LM GTE Am, Viktor Shaitar and Alexey Basov scored pole in LM GTE Am. Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni, have LM GTE Pro pole position. Nick Tandy and Matt Howson are on pole in LMP2. In LMP1, Porsche, sweeps the front row. Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb, have pole. We are setting up, for a great race. Yours truly, has not had the chance to blog the Spa 6 Hours from back in May, yet. That will happen, soon. Stay tuned.
It is a beautiful day at the Nurburgring. We missed the start of the race. Right now, the start is under investigation. Drive through penalty for the #92 Porsche 911 RSR. Neel Jani leads in the first sector in the #18 Porsche, over Timo Bernhard. The Porsche's are running at the top of the table, so far. Porsche leads over Audi and Toyota at this time. Patrick Long passes Stefan Mucke. The Aston Martin is having issues, and gets passed by the LM GTE Am Porsche of Patrick Long. We're working the sixth lap of this six hour race.
Oops. We have a spin. But, we are also watching Sam Bird and Nick Tandy in the LMP2 class, running in the 1:47 range. Timo Bernhard takes some time off of Loic Duval in the Audi R18 eTron Quattro. The spinning Porsche was for Proton Competition. Fred Makowiecki has had a drive through penalty, too. We watch Marcel Fassler trying to catch Loic Duval. Porsche, 1-2. Audi, 3-4. Toyota, 5-6. In LMP2, it's a four way battle between Nick Tandy, Sam Bird, Luis Felipe Derani, and Nelson Panciatici.
Neel Jani is ahead by four seconds over Timo Bernhard. Audi vs. Porsche. Oops. We have a slow Ferrari. This is one of the AF Corse entries. This is at marshal position 23, the Dunlop hairpin. Gianmaria Bruni has an issue with the #51 Ferrari 458 Italia. Drama early at the Nurburgring. We are now under full course yellow. We have a virtual safety car. We've run for 15 minutes. Dramatic moments early on. The leader in LMP1L, from Rebellion Racing, did not take the start. Nick Heidfeld, was supposed to be at the controls.
The #71 Ferrari in LM GTE Pro, pits. We are back to green flag racing. Neel Jani sails into the lead. The battle for second intensifies. One second between the #17 Porsche, #8 Audi, and #7 Audi. Is Porsche letting Neel Jani light the afterburners? It could be. It's cat and mouse for second, third, and fouth, at the moment. Stefan Mucke and Aston Martin are going to pit soon. Marco Sorensen in the sister #95 car, has also been off. The marshals are able to look at each car, and what each driver is doing, so they don't take advantage of getting a position.
James Calado in the #71 Ferrari, has pulled off the road. Is it game over for Calado and company? We'll see. AF Corse has had both LM GTE Pro machines have issues! The leaders are coming to turns three and four. Timo Bernhard leads. It's not Calado. #51 was towed away and it's game over. Wait. #51 is in trouble again. Yikes. Gianmaria Bruni is still driving that car. Meanwhile, it's a battle between Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas, and Marcel Fassler. We're nearly a half hour into this race. Porsche, Porsche, Audi, Audi, Toyota, Toyota. With the Rebellion's issues in the gasoline Prototype class, the CLM of Pierre Kaffer, is at the top of the table, at the moment.
Nick Tandy, Sam Bird, and Luis Felipe Derani, are top three in LMP2. Nick Tandy leads. He is racing in LMP2 for KCMG in this race, and not, for the Porsche factory squad. Patience will be key at this race, on the challenging 3 and 3/4 mile layout of the new Nurburgring, that has been around for at least 30 years. We are a half hour into this race, so far. This is the halfway mark of the race. Loic Duval and Timo Bernhard are still trying to pass the Porsche. The Porsche's were rocket quick, earlier in the season.
But, now, at the Nurburgring, the car is different. Same for the Audi R18 eTron Quattro. These cars, are different, from what they were at Spa or Le Mans. Again, Spa will be covered, even though it has already occurred. Meanwhile, Loic Duval is being challenged by Marcel Fassler. Porsche is concerned about brake temperatures. Are they having issues with the hybrid harvesting system? The Porsche still leads. It's a hot one at the Nurburgring today. It is in the 30s on the Celsius scale, meaning, the 90s on the Fahrenheit scale.
The issue for the Ferrari LM GTE car, was electronic. The #51 car is in damage limitation mode now. The #17 team has gone to plan B. They will do a different pit strategy. It is mandated that you have English radio translation that is not scrambled, so that the teams can communicate with the driver, and the fans at home, can hear it. Damaged splitter for the #18 Porsche in second in the overall. Pit stop time for the LMP1 hybrid cars, soon.
Neel Jani leads overall. Nick Tandy leads P2. Michael Christensen leads LM GTE Pro, and Patrick Long, leads LM GTE Am. The race goes on, and there was a power outage for a bit. Now, pit stop time. Porsche and Audi pit at the same time. Neel Jani, and Marcel Fassler. There's some crash damage on one of the cars. Now, they change tires. Will Porsche change the nose? Mark Webber will take over the car. The new nose is on. Mark Webber, is back in the motor race, ahead of Audi #7 of Loic Duval.
Toyota's (both of them) stayed on the track. Marcel Fassler continues driving the #7. There was no driver change. Did #17 have a dive plane failure on the front wing? The gap now is 37 seconds. 45 minutes have elapsed, of this six hour race. Neel Jani has lead since lights out for the start. Side-bu-side in LM GTE Am. Pedro Lamy vs. Viktor Shaitar. Lamy's Aston Martin V8 Vantage covered the inside over Viktor Shaitar's Ferrari 458 Italia.
In LMP2 we watch a battle for fourth between Nelson Panciaticci and Jonny Kane. Pedro Lamy is running in the 1:59 bracket. We watch the two G Drive P2 cars, pit together. Routine pit stops, for both, with no driver changes. The big story is still the issue with the #17 Porsche. The left front brake had been overheating. The #4 CLM is also in the lane. Pierre Kaffer is still at the wheel. Nelson Panciatici, Jonny Kane, and Oliver Webb, are all pitting. Loic Duval is told to stay out. Panciatici pits the Alpine Nissan. Now, it will be close in LMP2. There are a couple cars that beat Panciatici off pit lane.
Meanwhile, we see Loic Duval in the pits. This is a scheduled stop. Duval will stay in the car, and have a new drink put in the car. You have the bottle of fluid (electrolyte drink) in the reservoir in the car, and then, push a button, to take a drink. The #8 Audi is back on track. Mark Webber moves ahead of Loic Duval. P2 leader is in. Nick Tandy will stay in the car. He will keep the lead in LMP2 after a routine pit stop. The Toyota slices it's way through an awesome battle in LM GTE Pro. The #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid pits, as the #13 Rebellion continues to have a problem. Porsche pits car #18, with Marc Lieb now at the wheel.
Audi is double stinting drivers and tires. Porsche is doing single driver stints, it looks like. Marc Lieb is back on track. Toyota pits. They've had a hard season, and are already at work on their car for the 2016 season. We see the #12 Rebellion has pulled off the road. Both Toyota's have pitted. Next year, Toyota may use a turbo four cylinder, or a V6, abandoning their current V8 motor. Anthony Davidson is now in Toyota #1, and Mike Conway in car #2.
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