A short fuel stop for the nr1 Audi of Benoit Treluyer has set up a great showdown between the two R18 e-tron quattros in the last hour of the race. The nr2 Audi of Allan McNish stopped at the top of the hour for fuel and tyres from the head of the field, which gave the lead to Treluyer who pitted a lap later. However the French driver completed a short 51 second stop to get back out on track in front of his Scottish teammate. However both cars will have to stop again before the chequered flag.
The two Toyota TS030 were a lap behind with the nr8 TS030 of Anthony Davidson still holding the upper hand over the nr7 Toyota of Alex Wurz. The nr12 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota of Nick Heidfeld is still in a dominant position in the privateer class.
In LMP2 the nr25 Delta-ADR Oreca was still at the front of the field, 43 seconds infront of the nr24 Oak Racing Morgan of Olivier Pla. The nr35 Oak Morgan of Alex Brundle pitted from 3rd place but a faulty starter motor left the British driver stranded in the pitlane and dropping down the order and the mechanics worked hard to fix the fault.
Aston Martin maintain the pace
As the sixth and final hour of the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship began, Aston Martin had maintained the status quo in both the LMGTE Pro and Am categories. Darren Turner has completed a second stint in the No.97 Vantage at the head of the factory-led Pro entries, with Finnish driver Toni Vilander in second place in the No.71 AF Corse car, one lap in arrears. Ferrari’s Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi is due to take the wheel of that car to the end of the race.
Jumping ahead of the Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche No.92 was the sister Aston Martin of Fred Makowiecki although he was coming under pressure from Marc Lieb for position. Strategy and fuel consumption will all come into play in the final hour.
Kristian Poulsen is now behind the wheel of the class leading LMGTE Am Aston Martin Vantage V8, one lap ahead of the No.81 8Star Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia. Rui Aguas is pressing hard in the Italian car to pass the Aston Martin to get a lap back. Despite two penalties for pit lane speeding, the Larbre No.50 Corvette retains third place in the category.
Full results and classifications can be found http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com
HOUR 5 RACE FACTS
• 16:59:56New fastest lap by McNish of 1.42.926 on lap 163
• 16:59:18In GTE Pro #97 Aston leads by a lap and in LMP Am #95 Aston still leads by over a lap
• 16:57:56In LMP1 McNish now leads Treluyer by 8 secs, in LMP2 #25 leads by 47 secs
• 16:56:48New fastest lap by Allan McNish of 1.43.381 on lap 160
• 16:55:5230 secs stop and go for #45 Oak Morgan for infringement at pit stop - car not remaining on wheels when refuelled
• 16:54:17#32 Lotus has stop and go for having too many people working on tyre change
• 16:52:48#25 Oreca retakes lead of LMP2 on it's 147th lap, Pizzonia driving
• 16:50:34#35 Morgan had starter motor trouble - now 5th in LMP2
• 16:49:02#24 Oak Morgan takes lead of LMP2 on it's 146th lap
• 16:41:35McNish retakes lead from Treluyer on lap 152
• 16:40:47New fastest lap for McNish in #2 Audi on lap 146 of 1.43.486
• 16:39:17Marc Lieb closing on Fred Makowiecki for 3rd in GTE Pro
• 16:37:10Working in pits on rear of #35 Oak Racing Morgan, still in 3rd place in LMP2
• 16:34:3790 minutes to go and Audi #1 still leads by just 2 seconds
• 16:33:33Reported that Qualifying sessions at Spa will be 10 minutes longer after yesterday's problems
• 16:32:32Rain forecast for about 5pm?
• 16:29:51Manager of #45 Oak Morgan to report to race control
• 16:23:4745 second stop and go for #50 Larbre Corvette for overtaking under yellow flags
• 16:20:01Leading Audi's stopping on lap 141/2 - McNish into #2, Treluyer into #1
• 16:16:04Manager of #32 Lotus to report to race control
• 16:15:14Rebellion Lola's running 5th and 6th but 5 laps of the lead
• 16:10:48#95 Aston GTE Am leader pits and Kristian Paulsen takes over
• 16:02:49#88 Porsche stop and go penalty for speeding in pit lane
