After a lengthy period of fairly routine running, the fifteenth hour started with considerable drama – the leading Toyota, #7, stopped out on track near Arnage and losing what seemed an insurmountable lead to Tréluyer in the #2 – the first time in 2014 that an Audi has led this race.
The clock ticked on, and with each passing minute the stricken #7 continued to slip further behind. Not only did the Audi pull further and further away, but the margin over Brendon Hartley in the #20 whittled away. The young tousle-haired Kiwi duly swept by into second.
Elsewhere, Jann Mardenborough continued to enjoy a massive and extending lead in LMP2, posting a new fastest lap of 3:38.144 – not only his car’s fastest lap, but also that of the class as well. Second-up Oliver Webb in the #36 Signatech Alpine had 40 seconds in hand over Tristan Gommendy, fourth in the #46 Thiriet by TDS Ligier, and was matching the Frenchman lap for lap.
Ten past the hour, and Nakajima dropped to fourth, with di Grassi easing the #1 Audi through to third. Marc Lieb would be next.
While the leading positions appeared fairly secure in both GT classes, some of the lesser positions were up for grabs. Ben Collins, making a guest appearance in the Krohn Racing Ferrari, had been setting a succession of fastest laps for the #57 car and moved through to 4th in class. His lap at five-fifteen was a 3:59.290 and by far the quickest time of anyone in the GTE-Am category, by a significant margin.
Another driver pushing hard was Gianmaria Bruni, also setting fastest laps for the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, and starting to eat into the sizeable lead enjoyed by Darren Turner, fronting GTE-Pro from 17th overall. A 3:55.581 was only one second quicker than the comparable lap from Turner, but it hinted at no lack of determination.
Five twenty-three and a pitstop for the leading #2 Audi; Tréluyer completing a faultless pitstop and rejoining just ahead of the sister #1, driven by di Grassi, who promptly unlapped himself on the leader. Seconds later, confirmation came from the Toyota camp that the #7 TS040 Hybrid had been retired from the race.
Toyota’s race was not over, of course, and despite a troubled start, the #8 was still in contention, albeit from several laps in arrears. Working through to the lead seemed an impossible task, but a podium might be within the scope of possibilities.
So Tréluyer led by two and a half laps over Brendon Hartley in the #20 Porsche, with di Grassi third in the #1 Audi. Turner’s lead in GTE-Pro was 90 seconds over Bruni, but the third-placed #92 Porsche was hitting issues. Reports suggested the Porsche was running slowly and returning to the pitlane, but the visit was very brief – just taking on fuel, and suggesting that the car had simply ‘run out of gas’.
If the problem for the #92 was as simple as an empty fuel tank, matters for Mirko Venturi in the #61 Ferrari appeared to be a little more serious – the car reported as having struck the wall in the Porsche Curves, and strewn debris across the track. He limped the car back to the pitlane, where it was drawn straight into the garage for repairs. Meanwhile, a new “slow zone” was introduced along the section through the Porsche Curves where the marshals were clearing away the debris.
Only six LMP1s remained as the race moved on towards the end of the fourteenth hour, and the top five, cycling through Audi, Porsche, Audi and Porsche before the singleton Toyota came through, were significantly ahead of the sole surviving Rebellion, #12, tenth overall.
The slow-zone was released at four-to-six, and with the eastern sky brightening minute by minute full-course racing resumed. Oliver Gavin returned to the track at about the same time in the #74 Corvette after a lengthy stop for repairs that involved removing some sizeable components from the boot.
As the race moved into the fifteenth hour, there was further concern for one of the leading teams, as the #14 Porsche coasted to a halt at Indianapolis, all drive lost. Helped by the marshals to regain the tarmac, Marc Lieb had the #14 off and running again after just a couple of minutes’ delay. He pitted and handed over to Roman Dumas.
A mere nine hours to go . . .
. . . and anything could happen yet!
