Battle in LMP1 Heats Up Going Into The Final Hour
- Aug 30, 2015
- 2 min read
The battle for second, third and forth in the LMP1 class got to a boiling point at the end of the fifth hour. Neel Jani, currently driving the #18 Porsche, was told that, despite the 1 minutes and 35 second collective stop and go penalties the second spot on the podium was still up for grabs. He put in blinding lap after blinding lap, passing Audi number eight and chasing down Audi number seven. But, through using the slower moving traffic, Audi #7 managed to keep the Porsche behind and back him into his teammate. Luca De Grassi managed to demote Jani back off the podium as the hour drew to the close, but that only marked the beginning of this fight. Everyone has one pit stop left but Porsche has been quicker that Audi in pitting the cars. Brendan Hartley still leads the field by a lap in the Porsche #17.
Car #36 had a spin at the beginning of the hour, covering the track with more gravel and bringing out the full course yellows yet again for track clearing. Everybody took the opportunity to pit as the track was cleared. KCMG still lead the class with the two G-Drive squabbling for the second step behind him. The win looks to be comfortably in the hands of car #47 as we start the last hour. Car #42 got a one minute stop and go penalty for speeding in the pit lane, dropping them down to seventh in class.
With no word about a penalty for #92 for the contact with AF Corse #71, the assumption is that there is no further action, which will definitely be infuriating for the Italian squad. The Ferrari has dropped to forth in class whilst the Porsche remains P2. #91 still leads the Pro class comfortably. A stunning overtake from car #72 sees the SMP Racing car take the lead of the Am class. Using the slipstream off the faster moving car #26, #72 took a dive into the first corner to relieve #98 of its first place duties. Dempsey car #77 has fallen back to forth in class and seems to be out of the running for a podium finish.
With one hour left, a lot can still happen. The battle for second place in LMP2 is still up for grabs, but car #17 looks to be running smoothly a lap ahead in first. Will KCMG take the first in LMP2 or will G-Drive have anything to attack with as the end of the race? And how will the GT classes finish? All will be confirmed in an hour’s time when the chequered flag drops on the first six hours of the Nürburgring.
Race Order: 17, 7, 8, 18, 1, 2, 47, 26, 28, 43, 36, 30, 42, 91, 92, 31, 71, 95, 99, 97, 72, 98, 83, 77, 4, 50, 88, 12, 96, 51, 13
(image: www.fiawec.com)
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