SUMMARY: Still all to play for between Marc VDS BMW and WRT Audi as we head into the final third of the race, with the Falken Porsche continuing its metronomic run in third.
Maxime Martin set the fastest lap of the race almost bang on 7am, clocking an 8:23.080 on the car’s 95th tour of the circuit. The #25 Marc VDS continued to hold the lead for approximately half of each stint, ceding to the #28 WRT Audi (below) at the stops.
The #85 Bentley continued running strongly well down the field after its earlier crash and repairs. It was a case of ‘what could have been’ for the Crewe boys, with Guy Smith reporting: “Right now it’s a bit frustrating, because the car’s running great but there are yellow zones and oil at various points. But to drive here at night is something very special and a great challenge. It’s unlike any other race track.”
Elsewhere, there were technical problems for both the #9 Glickenhaus SCG (burning bodywork) and the #5 Black Falcon Mercedes (a sticking door-lock mechanism), dropping the latter to fifth behind the #26 Marc VDS BMW once again.
After a stint in the third-place Falken Porsche, Peter Dumbreck reported: “During the night there were a few critical moments, as some people were braking hard going into the double-yellow zones. There were a few almost-rear-end collisions. This morning the track is very fast.”
By 7:30am, the leading duo were right together on track – the #28 WRT Audi just 1.4 seconds ahead of the #25 Marc VDS BMW. They continued circulating nose-to-tail until the Audi pitted for Christopher Mies to hand over to Laurens Vanthoor approaching 8am, just after the leader recorded their 100th lap of the race.
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The #28’s pitstop seemed to be slightly more involved than usual, with mechanics inspecting both the left-rear wheel well and under the front clip, but the car lost no time as it remained within the mandatory minimum stop duration.
At this point, the highest-running non-SP9/GT3 car was an SP7-class runner: the #61 Black Falcon Porsche 911 Cup. The Lexus LF-A was still running inside the overall Top 20 in 17th – as was the Subaru WRX STI in 20th after a very consistent, reliable and impressive run. Back in SP9, a gearbox problem hit the #6 Aston Martin, dropping it to 19th just ahead of the Subaru by 8:15am.
Around 8:30am, the lead swapped again as a routine stop saw Lucas Luhr got aboard the #25 Marc VDS BMW, taking over from Martin. Around the same time, Aston Martin confirmed the #006 Vantage’s gearbox issue was terminal.
Approaching 9am, the top 10 was #28 Audi, #25 BMW, #44 Porsche, #5 Mercedes, #26 BMW, #23 Mercedes and #17 BMW (running nose-to-tail), the #11 Bentley, the #29 Audi (on a rapid recovery drive) and the #33 Mercedes.
