LMP
Eleven o’clock, the start of the ninth hour, and we were straight into the next series of pitstops. For the spectators, and for those trying to follow the race on timings screens, the regularity of pitstops upsets the rhythm of the race and makes it harder to appreciate the talents of the more skilful drivers. Time for larger tanks …
Those routine stops at the head of the hour saw Nicolas Lapierre finally get a break, emerging from his pit box narrowly ahead of the #1 Porsche and putting the #9 Toyota back on the lead lap.
Another driver keen to restore position, and some honour, was Bruno Senna. He was consistently setting fastest sector times for the #31 Rebellion, taking a second each lap out of Piquet Jr’s advantage in the sister #13, temporarily running fourth and fifth in the standings pending pitstops for their rivals. The gap was down to six seconds before Senna had to pit again, which then allowed Ollie Jarvis (#38 Jackie Chan Oreca) to loom large once more, while Trummer and Panciatici were following in his wake for Manor (#25) and Alpine (#35).
Eleven eighteen, and out at the pointy end, the lead for the #7 Toyota to Jani, second, was 39 seconds. The gap Jani to Lapierre was a full and generous 3 mins 20 (or almost a lap), while Buemi (#8) was relentlessly slipping down the order and going nowhere else but even further back. He was tenth, and the ongoing repairs had already cost 10 laps, with the leaders having covered 135.
Five minutes later and the prospects of a possible change for the lead loomed large, with notification of the leader having been reported to the stewards for overtaking under yellow. Should punitive action be imposed this could change completely the LMP1 situation, with Jani’s gap sitting at just 38 seconds. Developments are awaited!
Half-past the hour and, after a period of simmering stability, LMP2 took to the boil again. Aside from Bruno Senna delivering one of the drives of his career in the emerging Brazilian stand-off for the lead (Senna now just two seconds off the back of Piquet Jr), Nelson Panciatici was challenging Simon Trummer’s Manor Oreca for fourth. A decent challenge for sixth place was also being mounted by James Allen on the #32 United Autosports Ligier as the pit stops routinely interrupted progress once more.
The gap for the overall lead had extended to 48 seconds at this point, Conway setting times in the low 3:23s aboard the #7 Toyota, two seconds better than Jani’s in the #1 Porsche, had Porsche decided to sit tight and wait? In some respects, the race had moved almost imperceptibly towards favouring Stuttgart, with Bernhard making up ground strongly in the #2 Porsche, and on the point of overtaking the pit-bound #8 Toyota.
Where fortunes were evenly poised in P1, there were signs of team dominance emerging in LMP2, where the two Vaillante Rebellions were circulating nose-to-tail, and pulling clear of the chasing pack, before Senna took to the pits, aiming to make the jump through the next cycle.
Ten minutes before the hour and Neel Jani pitted the #1 Porsche for fuel before rejoining. Then it was time for #9 Toyota to demand special attention; Lapierre sitting in the pit box for an extended period while mechanics fitted a new right-side illuminated number unit. The time lost to what appeared to be a fiddly procedure put Lapierre a lap behind again.
The hour closed out with Bruno Senna comfortably leading LMP2. A well-executed stop by the #31’s pit crew was compounded by the need for the #13 Rebellion to change its rear-end to correct a failed tail light. The gap at the front grew to 73 seconds, Beche climbing aboard the #13 to rejoin the race. Thomas Laurent had moved through to third once again for Jackie Chan DC Racing, half a minute back ion the #38.
The conclusion of Hour 9 saw the leading five in each class as follows:
LMP1
1. #7 Toyota TS050 – 146 laps. Best of 3:18.694
2. #1 Porsche 919-Hybrid – 1:07 minutes
3. #9 Toyota TS050 – 1 lap
4. #2 Porsche 919-Hybrid – 17 laps
5. #8 Toyota TS050 – 3 laps
LMP2
1. #31 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca – 138 laps
2. #13 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca
3. #38 Jackie Chan Racing
4. #25 CEFC Manor TRS Racing
5. #35 Signatech Alpine
6. #40 Graff Racing
GTE
As the #64 Corvette rejoined the race following a seven-minute pit stop to repair the damage from Milner’s off at the Porsche Curves, Christensen in the #92 Porsche had closed right up to Tincknell in the #67 Ford, initiating a wheel-banging battle that lasted several corners until Christensen had to be peel off for a scheduled pit stop.
Serra was back aboard the leading #97 Aston and enjoying a 17-second or so lead or Tincknell, while fourth after Christensen’s stop was his fellow Dane Sorensen aboard the #95, recovering from its earlier puncture. As the hour drew to a close, the top 11 remained on the same lap, with the cars cycling through various positions as each set of scheduled stops played out.
Stevens held a comfortable lead of the GTE Am class in the #84 JMW Ferrari, ahead of Bell in the TF Aston and Cairoli in the highest-placed Proton Porsche. Further down the class, Tracy Krohn had a moment running wide at the exit of Mulsanne but managed to rejoin the track and keep going.
It was still Aston, Ford, Porsche, Aston, Ford at the top of Pro as the clock hit midnight, with Calado the highest-placed Ferrari in sixth and Magnussen best of the Corvettes in seventh.
GTE Pro
1 #97 Aston
2 #67 Ford
3 #92 Porsche
4 #95 Aston
5 #68 Ford
6 #51 Ferrari
GTE Am
1 #84 JMW Ferrari
2 #90 TF Sport Aston
3 #77 Proton Porsche
4 #62 WeatherTech Ferrari
5 #99 Beechdean Aston
6 #93 Proton Porsche
