LMP1
Oliver Rowland was back on track in the #6 Ginetta after a 30 minute spell in the garage, the repair to the sister #5 car’s right front corner still underway for a further several minutes, the car eventually rejoining, in the hands of Mike Simpson.
The major drama for the hour befell the 2nd placed #8 Toyota, a 60 second stop and go penalty for speeding in a slow zone – the penalty was taken midway through the hour and dropped the car, Buemi at the wheel, over 2 minutes back from the still leading #7 TS050 of Mike Conway.
Into the last 15 minutes of the hour and Oliver Rowland briefly stopped out on track at Tertre Rouge in the #6 Ginetta, the delay dropping the car behind the recovering #10 DragonSpeed BR1, Ben Hanley climbing back up through the GTE midfield runners.
Rowland though stopped again between the two Mulsanne chicanes.
LMP2
A quiet hour, if twenty x 600 bhp Gibson V8 crs can ever be truly quiet!! with no major changes.
Graham Goodwin
GTE-Pro
Midnight came, and with it the start of a new day. In the main, GTE had settled down to an established rhythm, with most positions firmly established. The glaring exception to this observation came in the form of a real ding-dong battle for second place, with Philipp Eng proving to be something of a revelation. Not only had he wrestled the #81 BMW onto the tail-pipes of Makowiecki’s Porsche, but was displaying every intent of depriving the Frenchman of the place .. until both pitted at just after the half-hour.
We had news from Nick Tandy regarding the difficulties he’d encountered with the #93. “Both the American cars are in the garage,” he told Radio Le Mans. “We had to stop. We’ve got a problem in the electrical system somewhere. The guys are changing bits and pieces, and will fire the car back up in a few minutes, but we’re out of the race now, so I’m really disappointed.”
Makowiecki, meanwhile, had handed over to Richard Lietz, but Eng’s forward progress was subsequently hamstrung when the BMW came back in again almost straight away, and was hauled into the garage, apparently with damage, according to Radio Le Mans, although other reports suggested a damper issue. The pitstop was also under investigation, although no reason had been given.
It was several minutes before the #81 BMW returned to the track, by which time the car had slipped to 12th in class. Taking over third, as a consequence of the BMW’s extended pitstop, was the #68 Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Ford GT, although 50-odd seconds down on second.
The #81’s problems weren’t yet over, however, and Catsburg, now aboard in place of Eng, was back through the pitlane again after a single lap. The mechanics made some further adjustments, and then he was on his way again.
GTE-Am
There had been no significant developments within the top four, the #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche a minute clear of the JMW Ferrari #84, and another 40-odd back to the second Dempsey-Proton #88 in third. That’s where it became interesting, because the gap between the black and grey 911 RSR and the chasing Keating Motorsports Ferrari, #85, was hovering around the one second mark.
One car making inroads was the #56 Project 1 Porsche, then in the hands of Jörg Bergmeister. The German was setting very quick sector times, until he topped those with a best of 3:54.217, the car’s fastest race lap.
Worthy of mention again was the progress achieved by Pat Long, who’d steered the #99 Proton Competition Porsche through to 8th during his evening stint. Since then he’d handed the car back, and the car’s forward progress has been slightly less positive, but Spencer Pumpelly was holding the position strongly, with a 42 seconds advantage over Eastwood in the #90 TF Sport Aston. Pumpelly was also averaging two seconds a lap quicker too.
The next sequence of scheduled pitstops, now far less defined than they had been, started about ten minutes before the hour with the TF Sport Aston, running 8th in class, and then the #88 Dempsey-Proton Porsche. That allowed Luca Stolz through into third for Keating Motorsports.
Martin Little & Marcus Potts
