CoTA 2 Hour Report: BMW Leads Ferrari; Heart of Racing Leads LMGT3

HYPERCAR: LEADER – NO.20 BMW M TEAM WRT

• Rene Rast leads after 2hrs at Lone Star Le Mans, although Robert Kubica is net leader in No.83 AF Corse Ferrari
• Antonio Giovinazzi in the No.51 Ferrari 499P led from pole of the Lone Star Le Mans, round six of the 2024 FIA WEC
• Giovinazzi headed a Ferrari 1-2-3 in first stint as Robert Kubica tails the No.51 499P, and the No.50 car driven by Miguel Molina leaps through from fifth on grid to run third
• But after 35-minutes Kubica was allowed through in to the lead by Giovinazzi, with the move coming just after it was notified by stewards that the No.83 Ferrari was under investigation for a suspected tyre pressure infraction. This is resolved via a reprimand.
• Giovinazzi has contact with the No.78 Akkodis ASP and receives a 5-second addition to second pit stop and drops further back from leader Kubica who starts remarkable triple stint in searingly hot conditions at COTA
• Disaster strikes for Giovinazzi at 1hr45mins when he spins out of second place at T12 while trying to lap the No.94 Peugeot of Stoffel Vandoorne. He struggles back to pits but car is pushed back in to garage and retires
• That elevates Molina in to second, who earlier led the No.15 (Wittmann) and the No.20 (Rast), The pair run close together for most of first two hours, although Wittmann suffers spin after 1hr40mins losing two positions
• But the German also spins and loses several positions before handing over to Raffaele Marciello.
• Molina too has contact just before the two hour mark with the No.82 TF Sport Corvette driven by Sebastien Baud, which allows Rast through in to the lead
• Cadillac Racing has tough start of multiple contacts on opening lap, including being hit by the No.35 Alpine, but first Earl Bamber and then Alex Lynn haul U.S entered car back in to contention as the No.2 splits the BMW’s and runs briefly in the lead, although after 2hrs the net leader is Robert Kubica in the No.83 AF Corse Ferrari
• Ferdinand Habsburg in No.35 Alpine receives drive-through penalty for contact at Turn 12 with the Cadillac
• No.5 Porsche Penske delayed after pitting on lap two to look at pitot tube on the 963 Hypercar. Frederic Makowiecki returns to the action and remains on lead lap
• Title leading No.6 Porsche Penske places lowly 13th after challenging first two hours of the race
• Stoffel Vandoorne also forced to pit at end of first lap to replace punctured tyre after contact in fraught Hypercar field

LM GT3: LEADER – No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin

• Ian James in the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage builds solid gap at the front of the 18 car LMGT3 field
• James leads the Iron Dames Lamborghini in first stint but Sarah Bovy is able to stay within three-seconds
• At the first pit stops James and Bovy pit simultaneously allowing Ben Keating to briefly lead in the No.88 Proton Ford Mustang
• The pit stops shakeout though benefits Bovy who gets on to James’ tail in the second stint and the pair engage in a close battle
• But chasing both of them is the No.46 Team WRT BMW M4 with Maxime Martin who overtakes Bovy and goes after leader James as second pit stops occur
• James hands over to Daniel Mancinelli who has a 10-second advantage over Ahmed Al Harthy who takes over from Martin in the WRT BMW as two hours elapses
• Iron Dames place third with Rahel Frey now at the wheel of the pink Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3
• The rest of the top six is filled out by No.81 TF Sport Corvette, No.55 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari and the No.92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche
• The No.54 VISTA AF Corse fails to start the race after suffering a clutch issue on the formation lap to the dummy grid. Thomas Flohr start race after 40-minutes

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