Race update after 6 Hours: Toyota No.8 extends advantage as Ford still lead LMGTE Pro
As the WEC drivers enter the final throes of the 1000 Miles of Sebring, it’s the Toyota Gazoo Racing No.8 that continues to lead the field by over one lap.
The No. 67 Ford paves the way in the LMGTE Pro battle for top spot but is being closely followed by both BMW and Porsche. Read the main headlines from the past two 120 minutes of racing below:
• No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS 050 HYBRID takes control of 1000 Miles Sebring as Fernando Alonso enjoys one lap advantage after six hours of racing
• Earlier, Buemi survived grassy excursion after getting caught out when trying to clear ailing DragonSpeed LMP1 car
• Drama befell the No.7 Toyota driven by Jose-Maria Lopez when he came in to contact with Jonny Adam in TF Sport Aston Martin
• Resulting damage lost Lopez four minutes in the pits as team affected repairs to left side of the Toyota TS 050 HYBRID
• Kamui Kobayashi continues in second albeit a lap down on sister car
• No.3 Rebellion third with Gustavo Menezes at wheel while second delayed Rebellion R13-Gibson suffered two incidents as Mathias Beche inflicted rear-end damage
• No.11 SMP Racing entry places fourth despite Vitaly Petrov losing time with high-speed spin in sixth hour
• DragonSpeed LMP1 car is taken back to paddock after suspected transmission problems stop it early in sixth hour while in fifth position
• No.67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT did hold a slender advantage over No.81 BMW Team MTEK car as close LMGTE Pro battle continued to thrill
• Stints by Andy Priaulx and then Jonathan Bomarito keep the Ford GT in the lead but Martin Tomczyk made move for lead on Bomarito at final corner
• The BMW then immediately pits and Tomczyk hands over to Alexander Sims
• No.67 Ford GT had earlier served a fifth hour five-second penalty at pit stop for earlier infraction when the car did not give priority to oncoming car in the pit-lane
• Second in LMGTE Pro is the No.91 Porsche 911 RSR driven by Gianmaria Bruni who moves to within 0.8s of leader Bomarito
• The No.95 Aston Martin driven by Darren Turner spins from second to fifth at beginning of fifth hour after contact from Kevin Estre’s Porsche
• Championship leading Porsche is penalised with a stop/go penalty and slips to fifth as a result
• No.37 Jackie Chan DC Racing still dominates LMP2 as Will Stevens stretches lead to over a minute on Signatech Alpine Matmut car
• Third in LMP2 is DragonSpeed as Anthony Davidson helps bring American team back in to contention after early incident that befell Pastor Maldonado
• More drama in LMGTE Am as leading No.98 Aston Martin loses time in pits with a suspected puncture
• Mathias Lauda’s stoppage shuffles car back down to seventh in class after over three minutes is lost
• Out of sequence Team Project 1 Porsche inherits lead but Dempsey Proton Porsche driven by Matt Campbell closes and looks to be best placed car for victory charge
• Spirit of Race placed third with Giancarlo Fisichella back in Ferrari 488 for second stint at the wheel
Keep up to date with the latest race action from Sebring via the official WEC app or for live timings click HERE.
