24 Hours of Le Mans: Hour 17

United Autosport has an oil leak.  The stresses on these cars, are caused by those curbs and hitting them so hard, the sausage curbs, and the bollards, rattling the automobiles to pieces.  That is why this race is called the Grand Prix of Endurance.  It is an oil leak at United Autosport from a weld that split apart.  Try and seal that leak and make sure there isn't one somewhere else.  It's a broken seal on the engine.  The oil was coming from the sister United Autosport car.  244 laps run for the LMP2 leader, 2,067 miles.  Dry brake systems have dry quick releases.  They have them for the motorcycles as well.  A quick release to remove the caliper and keeping the discs on the bike, but in the car world, you change the whole disc.  Everything else is fly by wire.  The battle still rages away in LMP2.

Some of the retired drivers from this race include Toni Vilander and Juan Pablo Montoya and their respective teams.  We have 11 retirements, from the marker of doom.  48 cars out of 59 starters are left.  The #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing car, remember, was disqualified for outside assistance.  The rain just has not come.  We will have dry conditions for the whole remainder of this race, seven hours and 48 minutes.  The cars are very resilient with contact.  They'd have a sizable crash and then still not be so damaged.  Audi used to have the whol;e rear end assembly, changing the rear axle and gearbox in five or six minutes.  Daniel Serra is being monstered and passed by Harry Tincknell.  The Ferrari vs. Aston Martin clash rolls on.

Tincknell is eking out a few car lengths.  The Aston Martin is softly sprung, and so it is compliant over the bumps.  The Ferrari will come alive in the high speed switchbacks such as the Porsche Curves or Tertre Rouge on the lead into the Mulsanne straight.  One of the United Autosport cars is still in the garage.  Kazuki Nakajima still leads in Toyota #8.  They are seven minutes ahead of Norman Nato and Rebellion.  One Toyota and two Rebellion's in podium contention.  Toyota has just one bullet as they go for the hat trick. 

It's been a great battle in GTE Pro.  It is too bad Porsche's reliability has been a bear for this whole race.  They will go back to the drawing board.  They've had very limited running, had we not been interrupted by the Cornavirus pandemic.  Marco Sorensen backed out of the throttle and decisively, cleanly letting in an LMP2 car but not losing much time, running cleanly into the braking zone for the chicane on the Mulsanne straight.  This is zombie land now, truly, as the crews are working on their 40 winks.  Now, troiuble for the #3 Rebellion of Louis Deletraz?  They got the car going.  It wouldn't fire, but it finally did.

It is the heat soak on pit stops, which is murder for starter motors.  It causes mayhem even though the rule says the car must restart on it's own power.  Push starts at Le Mans are verboten.  Beitske Visser is in the #50 Richard Mille LMP2 car.  Tantiana Calderon has raced Formula 2, and Beitske Visser was in the old, now defunct, Formula Renault 3.5 series.  It is midnight, the witching hour, and Sunday morning back in the states.  Nakajima, Nato, Berthon, Conway, the top four in LMP1.  Sebastien Buemi is taking over Toyota #8 from Kazuki Nakajima.  Harry Tincknell and Daniel Serra continue their scrum in GTE Pro.  That's been hot and heavy since the Tricolore yesterday.  #32 in pit lane for a driver change.

We say good morning to Damien Faulkner in the booth.  Adrien De Leener is off the road and this has been a common occurence for this automobile the whole race through the Ford Chicane, or check that, through the first turn.  United Autosport #32 is back in the race.  Good morning, again, even though it's still dark.  It's dark here in the states, and in France as well.  Again, we see the #32 in the garage after taking advantage of happyu hour.  As the darkness continues, we wonder when "zombie land" is going to end. The pit crews are right in it on top of the job though.

We also say good morning to Louise Beckett.  The #22 and #32 cars are being run differently.  Anthony Davidson pits from second in LMP2 for routine service.  Anthony Davidson has never won Le Mans.  He was with Peugeot and Toyota, two huge factory teams, and hasn't won.  Bruno Senna will take over the #1 Rebellion from Norman Nato.  This is Rebellion's swansong as well.  An end of an era, as Toyota and Rebellion are both retiring their cars.  The Rebellion's will come back as Alpine's.  They will be in a "grandfathered" LMP1 class next year.

There's a penalty in a slow zone for Paul Dalla Lana, Ross Gunn, and Augusto Farfus.  Are they in the garage?  Nope.  They are still running.  Paul Dalla Lana is another man who wants a win here and can't believe he has not been able to do it.  You don't want to lose teams that can't build a new car for new regulations.  Existing cars are grandfathered in.  Then the old cars have their performance adjusted, to match the new cars being built.  Charlie Eastwood has brake pad knockoff, pumping the brake pedal on the straights, heading over those sauasge curbs.  He does not want a long brake pedal at the next braking zone.

Use your left foot to tap the pedal.  Many drivers are left foot braking but a lot of the GT cars still have clutches.  Panis Racing vs. G-Drive in LMP2.  Scary things if you have to rebooit the car.  Reboot the ECU if the car stalls.  Marco Sorensen has been down on pace with his Aston Martin.  Just keep going.  Aston is playing it safe, going rot ehw rold championship as we get towards the end of another racing hour.  A gorgeous orange sunrise is coming towards us.  The dawn is breaking here at Le Mans and we have just over seven hours left.  Mikkel Jensen is battle Matthieu Vaxiviere ion the LMP2 class.  Jensen is setting himself up on the first chicane on the Mulsanne. 

They go offline into the grit and clag on the side of the road.  That is how you pick up punctures on the hard shoulder of the public road.  You will Fred Flintstone your tires our puncture them entirely.  These two cars are evenly matched, but this is Mikkel Jensen's first Le Mans 24 hour race.  Matthieu Vaxiviere is right in the pocket.  The greats are as cool as a cucumber on the radio, and they don't get flustered.  Tom Kristensen, Jacky Ickx, Derek Bell, Henri Pescarolo.  Jensen is bish bash boshing it throught the Dunlop curves. 

Drive through penalty for someone, not sure who.  Just noticed the Race Control notice.  James Allen is back in the SO24 by Graf LMP2 car sharing with Charles Milesi and Vincent Capillaire, the Australian and the two Frenchman. The timing screens should be lighting up with Happy Hour specials, but no.  The morning dew is settling on the circuit, taking the frosting off the top of the cake as it were.  We are three hours away from the business end of this motor race where the engines are turned up to the mega level and the elbows come out. 

The sun is beginning to rise.  Dawn and dusk at Le Mans are amazing with the flames out the exhuasts, the headlights, and the glowing brake discs.

Mikkel Jensen is pressurizing Matthieu Vaxiviere.  That was naughty.  Moving as you brake is just not on.  Into the chicane, Jensen tries going on the outside and almost gets chopped!  What was less than a car length, extends to two and maybe three.  Vaxivieres gets balked again by a GT car.  The video game of lights that is the night at Le Mans is done and dusted now.  This battle is fascinating for the LMP2 class.  Jensen's rear wing is flatter than the car of Vaxiviere.  Jensen has lost momentum.  He could drop back a couple of car lengths, charging the apex off the slow corners.  He peels into the lane saying, "that's it.  I surrender."

His tires are knackered.  No further Ferrari shock failures.  We have seen pit work from Toyota #8 and several LMP2 cars.  Think of tire allocation.  The rain has never come.  The rain just disappeared.  The treat of an entire night of heavy rain, and there was lightin in the distance that never made it's way to the circuit.  United Autosport #22 in the lane as well, Phil Hanson going out for another stint.  Jota Sport also in the lane.  Of course, again, the pit crews can only change tires with two rattle guns.  Lay the tires on the ground, and you can't leave them upright so they roll away.  You will be risking a penalty if you do.  

Those wheels are very heavy.  40 kilograms at least.  We have seen pit stops, and Frits van Eerd aboard the #29 Racing Team Nederland Dallara LMP2, spinning into the gravel trap.  This has put us in a Slow Zone situation.  We have to start thinking about driver times as we head into daylight.  We'll see more mishaps in the daylight after the fairly consistent portion of the night.  You can only drive a maximum of four hours in every six hour stretch and well, we have six and a half hours to go.  We are pressing on towards 8AM on Sunday, French time.  The headlights help light up the apex of the corner when the car is at the right trajectory.

Those are the daytime running lights.  Can the #51 Ferrari claw back ten seconds?  It's possible.  The Ferrari has pace and they might just be able to keep up.  We ought to keep studying that gap.  Richard Westbrook is next, a lap down, for Aston Martin while the sister Aston leads.  Westbrook and Harry Tincknell come from Ford and the Ford GT program.  The GT was as close to a prototype car as you can imagine, for a GT car.  What a gorgeous race car.  Richard Westbrook said that the downforce level of the Aston Martin was "scary".  

The Aston Martin rear diffuser is king size and so the mechanics cannopt stand pushing the car around the paddock.  The Aston Martin is so, so different from the Porsche and Ferrari in terms of length and/or size.  Emmanuel Collard has run Le Mans 23 times.  He has won this race for Porsche and he is chasing Christian Ried.  Experience in sports cars counts as much as raw pace.  Experienced drivers can help with things like how the cockpit is laid out and what are the fundamental designs and the default settings on the car.  In a three driver team, a different driver qualifies the car compared to the bloke who starts the car.  One chap is very quick for qualifying, and another is experienced at the team boss will say "you start the race."  Le Mans is so important to not get sucked into the adrenaline and hype.  The same is true for a race like the Rolex 24 at Daytona.  You have to get through the race's opening stint, and then you can dive into the event and go for it.

Le Mans is such a massive event with things like the parade through the town and scrutineering at Place de Jacobins and other things.  Richard Mille Racing Teamand Algarve Pro Racing are battling for tenth in LMP2.  The LMP2 cars get balked behind the Mentos Porsche.  Tatiana Calderon has lost track position.  She actually got blocked ba Ferrari and then by the Porsche from Karting through the Porsche Curves and the Ford Chicane.  Tatiana Calderon checks her mirror before turning.  Her spatial awareness wouldn't have kicked in, and the two cars would have sailed off into the weeds.  Alex Lynn in suited and booted, ready to take over the #97 Aston Martin.  He has taken to sports car racing like a duck to water.

In about 20 minutes, we will have the length of time of a regular FIA WEC race.  Harry Tincknell will hand the #97 Aston Martin to one of his team mates.  The Ferrari just does not have the same straight line speed.  But the handling of the Ferrari is going for it.  Shiny, sticker tires onto the Aston Martin.  Brand new Michelin tires.  James Calado has run 253 laps (2,143 miles).  Salih Yoluc is in the pit with the TF Sport Aston Martin, car #90, taking measurements of the brake disc.  They've changed brakes on that Aston Martin.  The Cetilar #47 Dallara LMP2 is in the pit lane.  Dallara has not had the edge in LMP2.  Ligier and Oreca, the French chassis' are working out well.  Toyota #8 is in the lane.

They are allowed nine tear offs on the windscreen.  Sebastien Buemi is in the car.  Bruno Senna at the wheel of the #1 Rebellion.  Lifting and coasting is the best way to make fuel saving work whether it is a hybrid or petrol motor in the car.  Save fuel bit by bit every lap.  Dragonspeed, Intereuorpol, and United Autosport are all in the lane as the sister Rebellion is still making hay while the sun shines, Nathaniel Berthon at the wheel of it.  Arrive in the braking zone a couple kilometers slowe than you otherwise would have.

Be careful of short shifting.  You are trying to preserve the motor, but rougher shifting can rattle your drive train and make the gearbox go bang.  That's where ECU engine maps come into play.  Mikkel Jensen is catching Julien Canal, the second driver in the #31 Panis Racing LMP2 car.  Sports cars run heavier on full fuel tanks and harder tires than a single seat car like a Formula 1 car.  Durability comes at the expense of eweight incrase.  There is a brake change going on for the #51 AF Corse Ferrari leading GTE Pro.  Those discs are scalding hot.  400 degrees Centigrade and up.  Ouch!  Patrick Pilet, "Super Sub", and he was a steward for the Porsche Carrera Cup support race, and now he is driving an LMP2 car.  

The #31 car is on new tires.  Lots of understeer on the exit of the corner.  Jensen has more pace than Canal does and Canal runs wide not hooking into the apex at Mulsanne corner.  Pit stop tikme for Rebellion $1 as we continue watching the third place LMP2 class battle.  Canal is ahead of Jensden., and Jensen is the shark.  Jensen is the shark chasing Canal, the minnow.  But we're not going to see the battles.  Cripes.  That's not good.  We are the end of Happy Hour and the end of "zombie land" as the sun is rising.

24 Hours of Le Mans: Hour 16

We look at the privateer Am costs and how expensive and prohibitive they are.  That's going to be something to work on, and the car sales have been hit hard due to the pandemic.  It is a shame to not see Silverstone on the calendar.  James Allen has spun and had tire damage.  Meantime, we go onboard the #91 Porsche.  The guardrails around the track have had to be rebuilt as well.  The boys from Red River Sport have been through the ringer.  238 laps done and dusted for Toyota #8 at half past 5AM.  We've seen more LMP2 pit stops.  Kazuki Nakajima has been told to regenrate the energy to leave on hybird power exiting the pit lane.  The car is still smoking, but that is something the engineers will remind the drivers about.

Kazuki Nakajima stays in the car.  What is your favorite Le Mans?  It is hard to say.  They're all so different.  The #47 Cetilar LMP2 is in the lead.  The air is cold and dense, and the cars work well in the cold, crisp, dense air.  The #26 Aurus is in the lane.  We are not at a beach in Sardinia.  Head to Jota Sport and see about the Goodyear vs. Michelin tire battle.  It is hard to be a mechanic now and try to get a nap during "zombie land" because a car will come in.  Filipe Albuquerque is concerned about something.  Are they doing one lap or one stint? 

Job van Uitert is only 45 seconds or so behind him.  Racing drivers are funny when they get news they don't want to hear.  Whoa!  That was a close, close shave with the #22 machine.  Filipe Albuquerque's stint is over and it will be Phil Hanson.  Jota is headed for the lane and so is Nielsen Racing in car #24.  United are back on track.  It appears Anthony Davidson is in the Jota car now after his pit stop.  Anthony Davidson, we know he will try to chisel away at the gap.  There was an issue with the door at United Autosport on the sister #32 of Job Van Uitert, splitting the strategy.  What does Antonio Felix Da Costa have to say about his stint?

It's a battle between the two tire makes, and Da Costa says its' been a rollercoaster the whole time and they had a pit stop that was flawed.  Da Costa says the grip on the road comes and goes.  The tires get dirty and they need to be cleaned up afterwards.  If you get marbles on the tires, like bits of chewing gum, the contact patch isn't there.  Thomas Laurent is running in the Signatech Alpine down in ninth in class.  As soon as a driver gets back into the car, they run on adrenaline, but the moment between waking up and getting in the car is brutal.

Toyota #8 leads the motor race overall, ahead of Norman Nato two laps down, with Louis Deletraz third, and then the #7 Toyota, six laps down in fourth spot after a turbo failure.  Then comes the #22 United Autosport LMP2 car ahead of his team mate Job van Uitert.  Anthony Davidson took over the #38 Jota car.  In LM GTE Pro, the Aston Martin and Ferrari scrap still goes on.  The #91 Porsche is up to fourth in LM GTE Pro as Sam Bird has had issues. Right on his back door is the lead GTE Am Aston Martin for TF Sport, the #90, Charlie Eastwood at the keyboard.  Then comes the #98 Aston Martin with Ross Gunn and the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche of Matt Campbell.  We shall hear again from Chris Parsons, in the A.M. light hours.  A toute a l'heure.  

We have Sam Hancock and Tom Gaymore in the booth for the next hour.  In LMP1, we have Toyota and Rebellion going for it, but it is one Toyota vs. two Rebellion's, but the #8 are not out of the woods yet.  We are going to begin to see the personal best sector times improved.  The light won't be too impactful on lap times.  The track is getting grippier and we have had a dry night.  Until the morning dew settles, happy hour is OK.  But when dew comes, then happy hour is over.  Phil Hanson is pushing and there's nothing more demoralizing when you have nothing left in the locker to give and you hear your rival is faster!

There's a fire in the Iron Lynx Ferrari garage in the #75 Ferrari, the Iron Lynx car that has had a fraught race and the air jack isn't working.  Job van Uitert is chipping the margin away to Phil Hanson.  Don't stress the components and don't risk it.  With the #91 Salzburg liveried Porsche, it has been in the garage 6-7 minutes, getting taped up with a de-laminated floor.  They've been replacing electrical cables as well.  Job van Uitert is in the garage as well.  He's got somwthing going on as Maxime Martin is in the Aston Martin in the pit lane.

In replay, that Iron Lynx Ferrari was smoking like a geyser.  A nose change going on on the #32 United Autosport car.  Toyota #8 makes a pit stop and we have the #98 in the lane, too.  It is in the garage.  A brake pad change for Aston Martin.  New discs and new calipers.  Ross Gunn stays in the car.  We wonder what is happening over at United Autosport as well, with team manager Trevor Foster.  The mechanical issues are out towards the upright for the Aston Martin than they would be towards the bell housing and the transmission.

The cars are up on the jack stands looking at the chassis.  Disaster for Aston Martin.  So, the #90 TF Sport Aston Martin will try their darnedest to fight the Porsche's.  Charlie Eastwood is clear out in the lead, in the middle of driving bliss.  He is driving very, vewry well, using very deliberate downshifts and minimizing engine braking.  Porsche have news on the #91 and it's an electrical issue on the car.  It's been a tale of woe is me for the Porsche, or woe are us.  They will be scratching their heads after a lack of pace and reliability, but this is a new car for them.

Eight hours left.  #98 is diagnosed with suspension failure. 

24 Hours of Le Mans: Hour 15

 Porsche #92 back to the pit lane.  They have had a tough old time of it, and they had their woes with power steering earlier on.  There was a penalty for Fred Makowiecki in the #91 Porsche.  United Autosport #32 is in the lane for service.  The same has been true for the #22, in the lane for service.  The highs and lows of this race are amazing.  It is an emotional rollercoaster.  Dominique Bastien, the oldest driver ever to start at 74 years old born in Dunkirk in 1945.  Mark Patterson, the 68 year old American, born in 1952, in the #33 High Class Racing LMP2 car.  Jota #38 is in the pit box.  Another slow zone.  Henri Pescarolo is a legend, and a humble, caring person.  He ran Le Mans 33 times and won four of them.  

He is not here, of course, due to the Coronavirus, but a lovely man.  Red Fiver Sport in the lane as we have an ionterview with Richard Dean from United Autosport.  Pit stop time in GTE Am for one of the Ferrari's.  That is a replay of the #62 car.  Richard Dean is from Yorkshire, England, and they've won five of the last six races they've entered for the European Le Mans Series and for the World Endurance Championship.  They've acquired Strakka Racing as well, based at the Silverstone circuit near Yorkshire.  There's lots of damage to Red River Sport's Ferrari with a bent up door that won't open before they can fix it and they need the illuminated number panel.  

We've gone green as the door is off of the Red River Ferrari.  Again, more than a dozen manufacturers are interested in the new LMDh IMSA formula that is supposed to be affordable.  We hope this is true.  They are based around chassis' for Dallara, Multimatic, Oreca, and Ligier, with a Williams hybrid system, a spec hybrid motor on the rear wheels from Bosch, and a spec XTrac gearbox, keeping the undertray the same but developing their own bodies just as IMSA has now in DPi with Cadillac, Acura, and Honda.  The LMDh cars can come to Le Mans and the Hypercars will be allowed to come to Daytona.  12 manufacturers.  That's amazing!  

In the 1980s, during Group C, there were seven manufacturers at the time.  A dozen would be amazing.  Let's hope it works.  John Doonan will be a busy boy.  The future of sports car racing is really, really bright.  Red River Sport arew back oin track with damage.  There are some holes to be filled in with LMDh and Hypercar.  The specification has been announced.  The manufacturers can firm up plans.  The battle for the lead in LM GTE Am is between Paul Dalla Lana and Jonny Adam.  This is Am vs. Pro and Jonny Adam might just prevail into Indianapolis.  He does it.  He makes it stick.  

These two lead the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche in the hands of Ricardo Pera.  Maxime Martin is closing in on Alessandro Pier Guidi.  Aston Martin #98 is in the lane for service and will be exiting back on track soon.  No wheel spinning allowed.  No Ari Vatanen rallying antics.  Drivers are deliberately cutting the first chicane at Dunlop.  Cool Racing are enjoying their first Le Mans.  Antonin Borga is battling Ben Hanley.  It is the #27 DragonSpeed car vs. the Cool Racing car, the #42.  Ben Hanley raced at the Indianapolis 500 last month.  Toyota #8, Kazuki Nakajima, leading Norman Nato and Louis Deletraz in Rebellion's #1 and #3.  Jose Maria Lopez is fourth, six laps down to the leaders after the turbo replacement.

LMP2 are climbing the leaderboard.  Could we see an LMP2 car on the podium?  United Autosport is running in lockstep.  Then comes the Jota #38 Oreca of Antonio Felix Da Costa.  In GTE Pro it's Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari, 3.3 seconds ahead of Maxime Martin in the #97 Aston Martin, with Nikki Thiim next in Aston Martin #95.  Richard Lietz has moved the #91 Porsche to fourth in class ahead of the Risi Competizione #82 Ferrari, with Sebastien Bourdais driving.  The leading GTE Am car is next up.  That's Jonny Adam in the #90 TF Sport Aston Martin.

Egidio Perfetti is next, the candy maker owns it, and drives with Larry ten Voorde and Matteo Cairoli.  Then comes the #83 AF Corse Ferrari driven by Francois Perrodo at the moment.  A number of good LMP2 cars have retired from this race.  Correction.  The Jackie Chan car was disqualified.  It was not retired, but it was disqualified.  The driver accepted a part when he broke down, from a mechanic and the team manager got a tongue lashing from the stewards.  Juan Pablo Montoya, going for the triple crown, he won't get it.  He's won Indianapolis twice at the 500.  He will have to come back another time and race.

There is a car possibly back in the garage, the #21 DragonSpeed car, which could be out of the race.  Juan Pablo Montoya and company could be out, with Timothe Buret and Memo Rojas.  Battle for the GTE Pro lead as Aston Martin #97 ekes an advantage out on the #51 AF Corse Ferrari.  Aston Martin have their turbo boost back after they got pinged from last year.  Poor old Pier Guidi is really wide at Karting.  Porsche are being really stymied by the air restrictors.  Le Mans is so, so different to anything else.  Spa Francorchamps is close but it is not the same.  Shanghai has a long straight but there's nothing like Le Mans.  G-Drive is in the lane.  So is one of the other Porsche's.  

Porsche just haven't been able to step up where Aston Martin and Ferrari, as it was for Aston Martin last year.  Every team is sandbagging.  Rebellion #1 pits.  This race is worth double points in the championship.  Toyota #7 in the lane.  Mazda was the first Japanese company to win Le Mans in 1991, and in the next week after they won, they sold $2 billion worth of cars.  So many battles to follow.  This has been a whale of a race to write about. Filipe Albuquerque has the wheel of the #22 United Autosport car.  United Autosport #32 is in the lane.  So is the #22 car.  United Autosport is stacking their pit stops.  

Antonio Felix Da Costa brings the Jota Sport car in for a pit stop.  The winning cars in the museum usually aren't cleaned.  You realize that the filth on them means they've been through the ringer.  We go back onboard with the #22 of Filipe Albuquerque.  Filipe Albuquerque leads his team mate, Job van Uitert.  Job van Uitert moves inside in the first chicane.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.  The #31 Panis car is in the pit lane and back out again.  Job van Uitert needs to put some daylight (OK, darkness) between himself and Albuquerque.  Ferrari #83 is in the lane.  The #50 Richard Mille Racing Team just pitted their Oreca LMP2 car.

Pit workgoing on, too for Rebellion #3.  Filipe Albuquerque has oil on the windscreen of the #22.  Everyone was expecting this would be a wet race, but it hasn't been so far.  The temperature in pit lane has dropped.  The pit crews are still at it.  We haven't seen "zombie land" just yet.  Another spot of bother for Red River Sport and Charlie Hollings.  It is the right rear tire.  Aston Martin pits again.  We still need to talk about the proper provisonal WEC calendar that is truncated due to the virus.    We have to see what happens.  Right now there's a test at Sebring for March 13th and 14th, and the 1,000 Miles of Sebring, March 19th, and the 12 Hours of Sebring.  A real sports car weekend.  

We shall see.  Then there's a gap until we go to Spa in Belgium for the 6 Hours, following that, will be Le Mans on June 12th and 13, followed by a new race, at Monza in Italy on July 18th.  We have not seen a race at Monza for a long, long time.  Then comes Fuji in Japan for the 6 Hours and the conclusion, November 20th at Bahrain.

24 Hours of Le Mans: Hour 14

Pit stop time, for the #26 G-Drive Aurus.  Formula 1 wants to use synthetic fuel of some kind instead of carbon based fuel.  In 1995, Fabian Giroix ran a McLaren F1 on Elf developed ethanol fuel.  Promoted by Elf and the ACO.  Anthony Davidson is setting purple sectors, fastest of all in LMP2.  Trying to pick my favorite Le Mans car is so tough.  Every era produces gorgeous cars.  The Jaguar's were lovely, the Bentley's were lovely, the D-Type, and the C-Type, paving the way for E-Type.  The Ferrari GTO, oh man.  The McLaren, the Porsche 917, the Porsche 956/962, wow.  What is our one favorite?  Very difficult question to answer.  The Silk Cut Jaguar.  Wow.  Check out my Group C blog that I plugged earlier.  All those cars are mentioned there.

United Autosport leads LMP2, still.  Tom Walkinshaw once said that when he wanted to use the Jaguar V12 motor, he found there was a 5,000th tolerance between the front and the back of the crankshaft.  I will not accept that tolerance.  He was an engineer.  Someone at Jaguar had to re-engineer that motor.  That engine went through to win Le Mans.  Racing improves the breed.  Ferrari #51 is in the pit lane for service.  Alessandro Pier Guidi is the leader in GTE Pro.  James Calado was actually in the car, or so I think.  

He did get out and Alesandro Pier Guidi got back in the car.  Toyota #8 still leads overall.  The sister Toyota is fourth.  We have had diesel power here at Le Mans.  The emissions were much lower, from Audi and Peugeot.  What Audi did for diesel, making them cleaner and more efficient was incredible, but diesel today is completely different, but the damage was done with the Volkswagen scandal.  Another off course excursion for a car, in replay.  That's the #34 Polish LMP2 car.  Nikki Thiim did the same thing 'round the roundabout.  Don't forget the Sauber C9 Mercedes from 1989.  Some smoke out of a Toyota.  What is that?  

Le Mans and Daytona are different races, but oh so amazingly enjoyable.  Yours truly has been to Daytona.  What happened to the rain?  It's not come yet.  Don't forget the Porsche 935.  They won a couple times.  Going back to the rain, the weather forecast now says we won't have rain 'til 6AM in the morning, so, about 11PM tonight, Central Time.  Toyota now, they don't seem to be frazzled about smoke.  IMSA proposes LMDh of course, running alongside the Hypercar class.  It is more reasonable for costs, hopefully, but with a control chassis.  There is something coming out of that car.  

Pit stop time next time 'round for Toyota #7.  The leading Toyota could be trailing some fluid, and now, Kamui Kobayashi will hand the car over to Jose Maria Lopez.  Three of the five LMP1 cars are in the pits and ByKolles have had another wretched Le Mans race.  They closed the garage door a long time ago.  Gustavo Menezes is told "go easy on the brakes."  Speaking "go easy on the brakes", tell that to the #82 Risi Competizione Ferrari of Sebastien Bourdais.  Seb went in a little too hot.  What is the future of LMP2 and GTE, could they be replaced by LMP3 and GT3?  Wow.  Both the Jumbo Dallara and the WeatherTech Ferrari went off at Tertre Rouge.  Wow.  They tangoed into the gravel.  That's a double whammy.

They've tangoed, look, into the kitty litter.  Poor old Nyck De Vries is trying to pull away.  They locked together and the Ferrari had no clue, and didn't even see him.  Will Toyota bring in #8 to look at the smoke?  Time for a slow zone.  Watch out so you don't spreak the gravel on the road.  Anthony Davidson is told their strategy for the next pit stop, and the two United Autosports cars double stacking on stops with two pit crews.  Matthieu Vaxiviere is in the lane for Panis Racing as well.  The WeatherTech Ferrari is here from the United States, and a skeleton crew from Kessel Racing, who also ran the Hockenheim 16 Hours for the Creventic Series.

We are under yellow for the aforementioned collission.  Nyck de Vries is in the garage for repairs.  He's a really quick driver.  He's been pushing hard.  They are flat out booking it like a lizard drinking.  We say goodnight, to Mark Cole, and so, Tom Gaymore and Chris Parsons are here.  We need an order for sausage, bacon, and eggs.  A bacon sandwich.  Yum.  So, the blokes from Racing Team Nederland are working on the whole front suspension or so it seems.  But if they damaged the steering rack, that's even more troublesome.  One of the other LMP2 cars pitted.  Could not tell who it was.  Romain Dumas says that Rebellion has to see what they are going to do in the morning, but that everything is going to plan for them.

Now, the Racing Team Nederland boys are changing something at the rear, maybe the alternator.  The EWeatherTecfh car is eating it's right rear tire.  Toni Vilander is going way too fast.  Toyota #8 has maybe been leaking fluid.  What could be going on?  Pierre Ragues has the wheel of the #36 car.  The Singatech Alpine is still going well.  The accident they had at Spa was vicious.  They surely needed a new tub after that.  IDEC Sport are some whooped pups.  Absolutely shattered.  After all the debriefs, they hit the sack at 2AM and woke up again at 6AM to get back to the track.  They've had only four hours of sleep.  IDEC Sport also has had a long, long, long week.  The compressed timetable has been brutal.  

Racing Team Holland are replacing the rear suspension.  Watch out for the sensors that pick up data and whatnot.  There's tons of sensors and those can get knocked about and really mess with the engine's brain, the computer.  The WeatherTech Ferrari has damage to the right front corner and the right rear is usted up as well. They will try using zip ties.  That's classic.  You can't be a mechanic without zip ties.  You need a hammer, too, especially if the alternator is busted.  The Judd powered V10 cars were amazingly great sounding and the Mazda rotary was incredible, and loud.  So was the V12 Matra and the V12 Jaguar.  The Matra absolutely screamed down the Mulsanne straight.  They've raced in historic events too.

The V12 Matra was amazing.  A three-time winner at Le Mans in 1972, '73, and '74.  Toni Vilander says Tertre Rouge is really tough for GT cars.  You cannot push the disappear button.  Patience is the big deal and apparently, the LMP2 driver did not have enough patience.  The car has too much damage.  It is game over for WeatherTech Racing.  We discussed the ideas about hydrogen, and of course, with IMSA, we will see some major things happening.  President of IMSA, John Doonan, had a lot to say.  They've shown us their LMDh concept, the American prototype for 2022-2023.  Everyone believes due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we will see it in '23.  It is based on any of the four LMP2 cars, but with their own bodywork from a bespoke automaker like Mazda, Cadillac, or Honda.

It will have a spec gearbox, a spec electric motor, and a spec hybrid system.  Meantime, the #62 Red River Sport Ferrari of Charlie Hollings has spun.  He drives with Bonamy Grimes and Johnny Mowlem.  He tests cars for a living and drives race cars.  Bonamy Grimes is an entrepreneur.  Tire carcass at Indianapolis, presumably from the Ferrari.  A yellow flag is shown.  Racing Team Nederland has run one lap and is now back in the garage.  Pit stop time for the #97 Aston Martin.  Anthony Wells driving slowly in the Nielsen Motorsport car has a right front tire flat.  Tire trouble into Mulsanne.  It is flatspotted, trundling to the lane. 

24 Hours of Le Mans: Hour 13

We continue to watch this stirring LMP2 battle.  Not long ago, the top seven LMP2 machines were all on the same lap.  Not anymore, though.  AF Corse's #71 Ferrari is in the lane for service, and it is indeed routine.  Still leading, Kamui Kobayashi, in the #7 Toyota.  They might have to stop.  There's something going on in the engine compartment.  They are two laps up on the sister car, #8.  The #8 has been in to fix the brakes or the front four wheel drive hybrid motor.  The gasoline engine sounds fine.  They changed the brake ducting and futzed with the front wheel drive motor.  There is a one minute penalty for the #27 DragonSpeed car for speeding in a slow zone.  Renger van der Zande is driving, along with Henrik Hedman and Ben Hanley.

They have to take that penalty.  Come on, Mr. Director, give us an onboard shot.  The hump on the Mulsanne straight was cut down a ways, but it is slower.  The 1999 flip of the Mercedes CLR caused that to be trimmed down.  The two United Autosports cars are pushing each other.  Will Owen vs. Paul Di Resta.  Will Owen is under king size pressure.  Di Resta is applying the blowtorch.  Owen leads.  Will he give it up?  I don't think so.  This is the move.  Paul Di Resta has moved by Will Owen, or has he?  Slow car through the cicanes.  Who is there?  Who?  The course is totally green all 'round.  Toyota #7 is headed to the garage and they will make repairs.  Let's seen how long this is going to be.  It is time for a driver change as well.  Will it be Jose Maria Lopez or Mike Conway?  

There are lots of leaves on the circuit.  It is autumn after all.  The front nose cone comes off.  They are working on both sides of the car.  Everything checked with a fine tooth comb.  We cannot see what is happening at the back.  This is the end of hybrid era after Audi brought the diesel and we had Peugeot with a diesel, but then, just Audi, and Porsche, and Toyota, and now, only Toyota.  There's cooling ducts on the right rear corner.  Is there something wrong with the suspension.  Kamui Kobayashi is not happy.  He is distraught that he may not win.  It's been in for three, maybe four mkinutes.  The front nose cone is going back on the car.

Car #8 had a brake and wheel motor issue.  This is an engine issue with the twin turbo 2.4 liter V6 with 450 horsepower, and joined by 500-600 horsepower from the hybrid system for a total of 1,000 horsepower with four wheel drive.  So, this brings Rebellion back into the picture and Toyota #7 has been in the garage for almost six minutes.  We have never seen a race with wildlife at Le Mans.  But Stefan Johansson hit a deer at the Osterreichring in Austria, and there have been hares running across the road at Silverstone in England.  But, no wildlife troubles at Le Mans.  The #8 Toyota has the same right rear issue.  Rebellion are now going to be in striking distance.  

The exhaust headers are about to be replaced on the #7 Toyota.  The Dempsey Proton #88 Porsche is in the gravel again.  Adrien De Leener is off the road at La Chapelle.  De Leener, sharing with Thomas Preining and Dominique Bastien.  The #21 DragonSpeed Lmp2 car is in the pit lane.  Juan Montoya at the controls.  Rebellion #3 is closing up on the stationary Toyota #7.  The IDEC LMP2 car is i the lane for service.  Le Mans is half an hour north of the Loire Valley and the plantaginates came from England over here in the medieval times.  17 minutes and counting on the #7 repaires.  Adrien de Leener is back on the road.  

This is the last time we see the hybrid LMP1 cars atLe Mans.  Hydrogen, we see will be a fuel of the future.  In the scheme of things, hydrogen road cars are moving on, but the hydrogen race cars are really moving ahead.  A new car was unveiled at the press conference yesterday.  It's 150 kilograms lighter.  They will see performance equivalent of an LMP3 car.  Hydrogran is coming forward for power, and there will be a class at Le Mans for hydrogen cars, in four more years, in 2024.  Five automakers are interested in presenting hydrogen cars.  A Hyrase league has been announced in Germany, with the league expected to race in Germany in 2023 before going international in 2024.

There is a new series of Extreme E, an offshoot of Formula E, with electric off road cars, with battery power.  The Extreme E series will race in Nepal, Greenland, places where there's no electricity.  The batteries will be recharged using hydrogen generated onsite from solar panels and water.  How will this work?  A container of water and solar panels that will generate the hydrogen to generate the electricity to power the car.  Very interesting ideas.  BMW mentioned they are looking at fuel cell technology and they could come back to prototype racing with a hydrogen powered car.

Honda have a car, and so do Hyundai, and Toyota, having hydrogen cars ready to roll in the state of California.  The petrol companies are not affected, because they can sell hydrogen fuel at their filling stations if they can store it safely.  After a half hour in the garage, the #7 Toyota is back on track.  We will see where hydrogen and electric cars come from and how it all goes.  Gordon Murray, great car designer, and the ACO, are both keen on it.  Le Mans has a history of bringing on revolutionary motorsport technologies.  Disc brakes, engine management systems, fuel injection in Group C in the 1980s, starting with mechanical fuel injection, and the cars were going faster and faster with 5% less fuel every year.

Mechanical injection gave way to electronic injection.  The ACO has a history of developing road cars.  Disc brakes were brought in with Jaguar.  Every car on the road since the 1960s or '70s has disc brakes.  Le Mans was the first paved road course, but Indianapolis and Brooklands are also paved.  James Calado is into the pit lane, as we get close to completing another racing hour.  He didn't stop.  It is a different Ferrari.  I saw the Corvette C8.R at Daytona, and hope it makes to Le Mans, next year, with it's new flat plane crankshaft V8.  Toyota, ByKolles, and others have Hypercars, and so does Glickenhaus.  There are three that will be here next year.  Peugeot is going to Hyprcar and not LMDh.  Alpine could have a car next year of course.  Alpine Renault might do a Hypercar.  

A hydrogen powered car, will be silent.  It's an electric car, basically.  It's hydrogen electric as opposed to a battery electric car. 

24 Hours of Le Mans: Hour 12

It is the witching hour at Le Mans with Toyota #7 and Kamui Kobayashi leading.  Toyota are quicker than the LMP2's especially at Mulsanne corner.  Use all the power, the 1,000 brake horsepower.  500 horses from the V6 turbo gas engine, and 125 apiece per wheel on electric motors.  Sam Bird is still in the Ferrari.  They've changed brakes, taken rubber out of the front splitter, and changed the broken shock.  But, they are losing time moment by moment.  Thanks for the update, Mr. Toby Moody at Eurosport.  It's midnight, but it's 70 degrees outside.  Toyota #7 gets balked by traffic, completely.  The GT car did not pull to the right and they are very reluctant to hit the hard shoulder because of the clag on the outside of the circuit, the tire shrapnel all over the shop. This is a setback for teams that have had mechanical woes.  You write up a strategy, and then tear the paper up and toss it in the trash, or out the window, take your pick.

Poor old Laurens Vanthoor is last in LM GTE Pro after they had their issues with the power steering pump and the whole power steering system.  Davide Rigon in the sister AF Corse Ferrari is back on track, sixth in class after Sam Bird's stint.  Still half this race on the board.  Why wouldn't a garage put a full brake with calipers on the car?  Your road car doesn't run a dry brake system, your road car needs pads instead of discs, and it is very expensive.  Porsche #92 in the lane, these chaps are fighting an uphill battle.  He might have been taking apnealty there, being held by the crew.  He's despondent thinking, "why on earth do I even bother?"  Well, Laurens, this is Le Mans.  You have to keep going, sunshine.  Keep your chin up, mate.  There's a long, long way to go yet.

The #95 Aston Martin has been promoted to third in LM GTE Pro, with Richard Westbrook at the controls.  In the last four Le Mans races, four GTE Pro makes have won.  Ford, Porsche, Aston Martin, and Ferrari.  Toyota #8 in the lane.  United Autosport are in the pit lane for another stop.  This time it looks like tires and fuel but no driver change for the blue and red LMP2 car.  It's a routine stop.  Bish bash bosh, and they'll be on their way.  #38, Jota Sport is doing likewise.  So, some of the GTE cars are running equal lap times.  You never really have the perfect car, even with the best setup you can find.  There are so many variables.  

IDEC Sport has made their pit stop, and the #24 LMP2 car stalled after it's pit stop.  He went to hit the headlights and killed the engine.  This is Nielsen Racing, the #24 of Garrett Grist, Alex Kapadia, and Anthony Wells, all three drivers are British.  Next year we will have a single season, and we've gone back to the old way of doing pit stops fueling first and then changing tires.  Toyota #7 is in the lane for their pit stop, and actually they have just completed it.  Now, a replay for the #70 Ferrari which has a collapsed suspension.  These blokes have had a litany of woe.  It's bottoming out, scraping on the deck.  Kei Cozzolino, Takeshi Kimura, and Vincent Abril.  Two Japanese drivers, and a Frenchman.  

This is the third Ferrari failure.  They've gotten a bad batch of shocks, or the way they are fitted into the cars is flawed.  One of the Rebellion's has pitted.  Someone ijn a prototype has locked their brakes, big style.  The headlights are really flaring the cameras.  Right.  A broken shock for the Ferrari, #70, and this is the first one on the left corner of one of those automobiles.  Is it bad shocks or is it something else.  It's a shock, and it's a shocker!  Whoa!  Now that was REALLY bad, and it's only 7PM!  Egad!  Egidio Perfetti, the world's third biggest candy maker, making among other things, Mentos mints.  

They are changing both ends of the left side of the car at the Ferrari camp for the #70 at CarGuy.  The factory Ferrari team at AF Corse are down there investigating what the heck is going on because of Sam Bird's woes earlier.  If it were designed to be changed quickly it'd be out by now.  Those right hand kinks in Indianapolis, are hard to commit to.  A Fwerrari goes straight on at the Mulsanne chicanes on the straight, not Mulsanne corner.  Jules Gounon is fourth in LM GTE Pro in a class of eight cars, as we watch another LMP2 car stall at Mulsanne, just after Mulsanne.

At any rate, the car is back going again.  Ooh.  Grab a hamburgette if you're hungry.  It's a hamburger on a baguette.  Chris Parsons is back in the house with Mark Cole.  We'll see Damien in the A.M.  We are on the midnight shift, the 1AM shift here in France.  We will carry on the tradition of the late, great Neville Hay, and a lot of talk about nothing, unless it's motorsport history.  The pit garages are standard size.  They are not too small.  Has car #37 been disqualified?  We don't know yet.  Hang on here.  We will find out.  26 minutes to halfway at Le Mans.  M,eantime, Augusto Farfus is pressing on but being harried by Charlie Eastwood.

In the garage, #33.  That's the High Class Racing Oreca.  #75 is off the road, again, stopping ar marshal post 32 in the Porsche Curves.  That's an odd spot to go off, but he's buried in the gravel trap.  W edo not have full camera covrage during the wee small night hours.  He lost the rear in the Porsche curves, riught in front of where thr Ferris wheel would be.  No Ferris wheel this year.  Rino Mastronardi has been spinning like a top.  He looped it across the road and the marshaling has gone over very, very well. 

Years ago, Mastronardi would have hit something solid, but thankfully, it's not that risky anymore.  We are operating under Slow Zones now.  Pit stop time for one of the LMP2 cars and a driver change.  That's the #31 Panis Racing car with Goodyear and McDonald's sponsorship.  Meantime, Kamui Kobayashi is still leading the race.  He has to be made aware of lots of gravel in the Porsche Curves.  Nico Jamin, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Julien Canal are driving the Panis LMP2 machine.  #54 for AF Corse is in the lane, and out again.  Giancarlo Fisichella, former Formula 1 driver, is back on track.  We can see in replay, the mishap for the #75 Ferrari.

Toby Moody is giving us a tour of a Le Mans garage.  This is at Aston Martin.  The pit garags are fairly large.  They just look smaller.  Gabriel Aubry stopped earlier and maybe he had outside assistance!  He did!  One of the mechanics passed the driver a part, and the driver fitted it.  The car was disqualified.  That is the the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing car, Ho Pin Tung, Gabriel Aubry, and Will Stevens, game over.  Costas Los, our Greek pal from Group C, his Cosmik March Porsche stopped at Mulsanne with a dead battery.  He went for a walk into the woods, finding a battery, fitting into the car, and rejoining the race.  But the ACO and Alain Bertheau didn't approve and Costas Los was disqualified.  He refers to it as going "mushroom picking".

Until not that recently, cars had to carry a spare tire.  Lola T70s, Ferrari's and more.  In the old days, you had to run cars with the tops up, and then they'd have to take the top down.  Riding mechanics used to ride with the driver.  He has a tool kit.  The troyuble now is how everything is digital and electric, and its Control, Alt, Delete, just like a computer.  The days of working on a car yourself are a distant memory.  After all their woes in practice, IDEC Sport are 14th and 19th in LMP2.  Paul Loup Chatin is in #28 and Kyle Tilley is in the #17.  Anthony Davidson will take the Jota Sport #38 car back on track.  Ant Davidson takes over from Roberto Gonzalez and so is Antonio Felix Da Costa, blitzing the Formula E championship.  David Clark and Sam Hignett at Jota trust him.

Paul di Resta gets out of shape and fortunately gets back on the road.  Will Owen ahead in the sister car.  United Autosport is 1-2 in LMP2.  Hyper Pole was a great success.  Very miuch loike final F1 qualifying.  Now, the #42 car is in the pit lane.  The mechanics are feeling the pressure of the compressed schedule here at Le Mans.  Paul Loup Chatin is still running well, and flying past the famous poplar trees.  In 1914, the Wright Brothers made the first flight in Europe at Le Mans, on a gold course alongside the Mulsanne straight, and there's a hippodrome there for equestrian activities.  The #62 Red River Sport Ferrari is in the lane, the car that Bon Grimes crashed in practice.  Bonamy Grimes, Johnny Mowlem, and Charles Hollings on the driver's strength.

Anthony Davidson is also back there, behind Paul Di Resta, and those two work together on Formula 1 broadcasts.  We're two minutes away from half distance.  Wow.  Where's the time gone?  Where's the time gone?  Richard Bradley has been flying, absolutely flying, and he's in the top ten with the #28 IDEC Sport car.  Richard Bradley drove a 1935 Aston Martin Ulster, a classic Le Mans racer, in the Classic 24 Hours.  Will Owen and Paul Di Resta are monstering each other for position onto the Mulsanne straight.  

  

24 Hours of Le Mans: Hour 11

We've been seeing a lot of coverage of both LMP2 and the GTE classes where the Aston's and Ferrari's have been on top of darn near everything.   Almost the witching hour.  We've continued to see the battling go on in LM GTE Pro as Ferrari and Aston Martin continue battling and the LMP2 scrap is as hot as ever.  Antonin Borga loocks up in his battle with Andre Negrao.  Nyck De Vries is up there, but he's 17th in class in LMP2, however he has been showing a good turn of speed.  Pit stop time for Aston Martin.  This Aston Martin and Ferrari battle has been simmering.  However, this is Ross Gunn in the Am class car.  He leads GTE Am.  Andre Negrao has just passed Antonin Borga.  Racing Team Nederland are flying right now even though they are next to last in LMP2 as far as the order we can see.

These LMP2 cars are what the Daytona Prototype International cars in IMSA are based on for chassis' but not for engines.  Negrao is really pushing hard right now.  He might get sway with that at the stewards discretion.  He opens the steering and keeps the car pinned.  Harry Tincknell has the Aston Martin in second place right now.  He is really pressing the Ferrari and makes the pass on the #51 entry.  Again, we are into the zombie land stage where the pit crews are tryung their hardest to get some sleep.  We have a smooth, high grip line on some parts of this track even though it is a public road with a crown in the middle of it.

#34 is in the lane, the Inter Europol LMP2 car from Poland, their Ligier is in the lane.  Interpol is a Polish baker that distributes food for hospitality.  The engines scream into the kink in Indianapolis.  We can still savor the sound of these great cars that have internal combustion engines before we go eventually, to all electric formulas.  We are at 1:00 A.M. French time, 6:00 P.M. Central U.S. time.  Mike Conway is a lap up on Sebastien Buemi.  Bruno Senna is third, a lap behind Buemi.  The LMP1 cars are strung out.  The United Autosports LMP2 cars are fifth and sixth overall.  Job van Uitert and Phil Hanson.

Now, we have a Porsche off the road, the #89 Team Project 1 Porsche with Greek driver Andreas Laskaratos.  Augusto Farfus is leading Emmanuelle Collard, and Charlie Eastwood.  The Project 1 #89 of Laskaratos is buried in the gravel, and we are at thw witching hour and as Marvin Gaye famously sang, we are headed for the night shift.  Derek Bell has emailed the boys at Eurosport and he is digging it.  He ran the last time in 1996.  He almost got a sixth win in 1995 in the Harrod's McLaren.  Derek, Misty, and Justin, good to hear from you all.

Mark Cole and Damien Faulkner are in the house, before we hear again from Chris Parsons.  We have lots of catching up to do.  We've got a slow zone on track.  #89 is still in strife, but it has just been cleared.  Julien Piguet and Stephen Brooks share with Andreas Lasakaratos.  Juan Pablo Montoya aboard the DragonSpeed entry right now is a greatly exciting driver to watch whether he is racing here at Le Mans or in IMSA back home with the Acura team.  The expected rain has not arrived yet.  We had thunderstorms in the south.  So, we will have to see what the radar is going to look like.,

We saw thunderstorms earlier on that seemed quite close.  #34 pits again.  Toyota, Toyota, Rebellion, Rebellion, United.  That's the top five, with one LMP2 car.  Pit stop time as well for the #1 Rebellion with Bruno Senna behind the wheel at present.  Although its a 24 hour race, drivers are flogging it.  Transport the vehicle and do your job, taking care of the car for the first 20 hours, and then throw caution to the wind for the last four or so hours.  Get your elbows out, turn the engine up a notch, and go for it, mate.  But now, open the steering, and don't wreck your tires.  The Jumbo team are waiting for their Oreca to pit.  They had water pressure troubles in their radiator earlier in the race.

Signatech are currently down in ninth in LMP2 and we've seen a lot of LMP2 action as of late.  Sleep is all important for the drivers.  The mechanics don't get much rest.  Meantime, the #89 Porsche is in the garage with troubles.  At least it came back after being caught out on the circuit a bit earlier on.  The pro drivers will be doing more at night.  This is Andreas Laskaratos, the Am Team Project 1 car compared to their two Pro entries. tHE ACO official is trying to inspect the ifting hooks that attach to the roll cage.  They need to be inspected.  That fitting should just slide right in so the marshals and safety workers can lift the car.

The #54 AF Corse Ferrari has pitted.  That's Swiss driver Thomas Flohr and his two co-drivers, Italians Giancarlo Fisichella and Francesco Castellaci.  Watch your track limits if you have an onboard camera in the car as we watch the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche running wide through Mulsanne with Matt Campbell at the controls, fifth in LM GTE Am.  It's not like the Aussie to make a mistake like that, but he could be on knackered tires or the brakes are a tad spongy, perhaps.  Rebellion #3 pits from fourth spot.  Nathaniel Berthon out and it's either Romain Dumas or Louis Deletraz.  That's a sporty and yet blue chip livery.  The Cetillar car has a great livery and so does the ByKolles.  I guess we are picking losers here.  The red TF Sport Aston has a good plain livery.  So, we have smoke coming out the back of a Ferrari through Indianapolis.

Ah.  It's Sam Bird in the #71 AF Corse Ferrari third in GTE Pro!  He has the car going again, but hes's got a tire down.  You can hear the tire swishing and the car is listing to the right.  Duncan Cameron had double rear punctures on each side of course.  We have the #75 Iron Lynx Ferrari back in the lane, Rino Mastronardi in the car.  Olivier Pla is giving the #82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE a nice ride with Sebastien Bourdais and Jules Gounon.  The WeatherTech car, the other American Ferrari had a shock failure earlier in the race.  Laurens Vanthoor is told that the Ferrari is having a puncture issue, and the other drivers are saying, "allons-y!", "hurry up!"  

Emmanuelle Collard follows him in.  There is a driver change for Sam Bird.  Is it Davide Rigon or Miguel Molina?  Now, the right side rear tire has not shredded, but they are putting the car on the dollies, and they might be doing a brake change.  Nope.  Nope.  Nope.  There's a shock or something in the suspension.  They are changing the right front brake or checking the hub and the upright.  They might have a shock failure and they do.  It needs a new shock absorber.  This is a legacy of smashing the curbs.  It's a component failure.