Hour 4: Toyota Nearly a Lap Ahead at Two Thirds Distance
The nr7 Toyota Racing TS030-Hybrid continued to dominate the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo as the race reached two thirds distance. With 160 laps completed Nicolas Lapierre could see the nr1 Audi R18 of Andre Lotterer ahead of him on the track as the Toyota was nearly a lap ahead of the second placed car. On the road the TS030 was 1m20s ahead of the R18 e-tron quattro and over a lap ahead of the third placed Audi R18 of Lucas di Grassi.
The leading LMP1 Privateer entry continued to be the nr12 Rebellion Racing Lola –Toyota with Neel Jani a lap ahead of Danny Watts in the nr21 Strakka Racing HPD-Honda.
The LMP2 lead changed during the fourth hour with Ryan Dalziel in the nr44 Starworks Motorsports HPD-Honda also holding a lap advantage over the nr35 Oak Racing Morgan-Nissan of Dominik Kraihamer after the fourth scheduled pitstops. The ADR-Delta Oreca of Tor Graves had to serve a Stop –Go penalty for a pit entry line infringement, dropping the British team down to 6th in class.
The nr51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 of Giancarlo Fisichella had opened up a 15 second advantage over the nr97 Aston Martin Vantage of Darren Turner , with Richard Lietz in the nr77 Felbermayr Porsche a lap behind in 3rd.
The nr50 Larbre Competition Corvette of Patrick Bornhauser had extended the GTE Am class lead to three laps in the fourth hour, with the nr88 Felbermayr Porsche of Gianluca Roda 16 seconds ahead of the nr70 Larbre Competition Corvette of Christophe Bourret in 2nd and 3rd respectively. The nr61 AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari was in the wars once again when a blown left rear destroyed part of the bodywork, with Alexandre Negrao limping back to the pits for repairs and new rubber.
Jeff Carter
Track Data
Air t° :20.8°C
Track t° :29.4°C
Wind :SE at 9.7 kph
Humidity :85%
Michelin Green X Challenge leaders at the end of Hour 4
21- 2-1
RACE FACTS – HOUR 4
20:06:01 : Dalziel in #44 Starworks HPD passes Brundle in #35 Morgan-Nissan for LMP2 lead
20:08:23 : Tom Kristensen in #2 Audi is putting in fast laps and is now half a minute behind team-mate Fassler in #1.
20:14:22 : Toyota #7 now probably has sufficient gap for a late fuel stop if required
20:20:36 : Andrea Belicchi in Rebellion #13 being challenged hard by Danny Watts in Strakka #21 for 5th place
20:23:41 : #61 AF-Corse Waltrip Ferrari spins at turn 10 (puncture?) from 4th place in LM GTE Am. Damage to rear
20:24:52 : Leader into pitlane - #7 Toyota - Wurz hands over to Lapierre
20:27:45 : Audi #1 takes lead by 4.5s after Toyota #7 pit stop
20:31:48 : Lapierre in #7 Toyota lightly touches #50 Corvette (Bornhauser)
20:32:41 : Fassler enters pitlane in #1 Audi - Lotterer takes over
20:39:01 : Kristensen pits in #2 Audi and hands over to Lucas Di Grassi who will take the car to the finish.
20:41:31 : Lucas Di Grassi in #2 Audi rejoins only 16s behind team-mate Lotterer in #1 Audi
20:42:49 : #25 ADR-Delta, Tor Graves gets stop and go for crossing white line at pit entry
20:45:49 : In GTE Pro AF Corse Ferrari #51 still ahead of Aston Martin #97 and #77 Porsche.
20:46:04 : In GTE Am, still #50 Corvette leads followed by #88 Porsche and Corvette #70
20:58:13 : Black and orange flag for Porsche #88 (cockpit temperature too high). Currently 2nd in GTE Am - will have to pit for repairs
Photo: INTERLAGOS (SAO PAULO, BRAZIL), AUTODROMO JOSE CARLOS PACE, 6 HOURS OF SAO PAULO, SATURDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER 2012, RACE.