Shake up at Silverstone after 4 Hours: Weather and accident for Lopez closes up gaps; Toyota still lead
* Kazuki Nakajima continues to lead for Toyota after dramatic fourth hour at Silverstone *Class battles close-up after Safety Car period *Signatech Alpine holds off bunched-up LMP2 class *#66 Ford GT still leads LMGTE Pro *All-change in LMGTE Am
The Story of Hours 3 and 4…..
Hour 3
- All change at Silverstone as heavier rain showers arrive in third hour
- Timo Bernhard takes lead for Porsche in #2 919 Hybrid after well timed stop for intermediate tyres
- Fierce battle for position between former leader Anthony Davidson in #8 Toyota TS 050 HYBRID and chasing Nick Tandy in #1 Porsche sees brief contact
- Davidson stays on slicks but loses ground until track begins to dry. Toyota driver places P2 but with Tandy catching him.
At halfway stage
- #7 Toyota loses further ground after suspected anti roll-bar issue causes rear change. Kobayashi loses further time with excursion at Vale and goes a lap down
- Just before end of third hour Porsches pit for change back to slick tyres and Anthony Davidson re-takes lead
- Earl Bamber takes over #2 Porsche and Andre Lotterer makes first WEC race appearance for Porsche LMP1 Team in #1 car
- Gustavo Menezes serene at front in LMP2 as Signatech Alpine enjoys large gap over #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA
- Matthieu Vaxiviere fastest driver on track for TDS Racing as he chases Thomas Laurent for second place
- LMGTE Pro class still controlled by Ford as #66 Ford GT driven by Billy Johnson leads #51 AF Corse Ferrari by 25-seconds
- Porsche make it three manufacturers in top three as new #91 Porsche 911 RSR driven by Richard Lietz closes on second position
- #98 Aston Martin of Mathias Lauda continues to lead LMGTE Am but comes under pressure from Dempsey Proton Porsche of Matteo Cairoli
- Spirit of Race Ferrari drops to third position but has made one more stop than Dempsey-Proton car
Hour 4
- Kazuki Nakajima takes over leading #8 Toyota TS 050 HYBRID from Davidson as car stays on slick tyres throughout light showers
- Porsche continue to put pressure on as #2 and #1 run second third
- Drama just after mid-race point as Jose-Maria Lopez crashes hard at Copse Corner
- Full Course Yellow and then Safety Corner deployed to recover badly damaged #7 Toyota TS 0505 Hybrid
- Lengthy Safety Car period sees leading gaps diminish
- #8 lead gap down to 3.2 seconds over Earl Bamber driven Porsche 919 Hybrid
- Signatech Alpine gap depleted by Safety Car but Matt Rao holds on from #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA of Thomas Laurent
- TDS Racing place third and join fight for the lead with Matthieu Vaxiviere at wheel
- LMGTE Pro category opens too after Safety Car as Billy Johnson fends off train of #51 AF Corse Ferrari (Calado), #91 Porsche (Makowiecki) and recovering and now back on sequence #67 Ford of Harry Tincknell
- #92 Porsche earlier caused first Full Course Yellow of the race after catching fire on track and retiring
- Gulf Racing Porsche inherits lead LMGTE Am but is out of pit sequence
- Dempsey-Proton Porsche takes second as #98 Aston Martin pits to change from Dalla Lana to Lauda