#7 Toyota leads after two frantic hours at Spa

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Kamui Kobayashi held a 25-second gap to the #1 Porsche driven by Nick Tandy after two hours at Spa.

A frantic LMGTE Pro battle in the first two hours saw Ferrari emerge in front after contact between stablemates Sam Bird and Alessandro Pier Guidi. The two AF Corse cars run 1-2.

The Story of the race after one hour...

• Race starts in spectacular fashion as Nicolas Lapierre’s attempt to take lead at La Source ends in locked brakes and trip down escape road
• Pole sitter Andre Lotterer leads first 20-minutes but is hunted down by Mike Conway in #7 Toyota and overtaken in entertaining lead battle
• Sebastien Buemi follows through in to second place in #8 Toyota TS 050 HYBRID
• Brendon Hartley leads briefly at first stops as he stays out one lap later than Toyota’s but sits in third place after first hour. Kiwi catches Buemi as hour ticks to 60-minutes
• Sister Porsche 919 Hybrid started by Lotterer now in hands of Nick Tandy and places fifth after stopping for tyres in change of strategy
• Lapierre recovers from first corner lock-up to place fourth
• Epic LMP2 battle sees Roman Rusinov lead commandingly until first stop in G-Drive ORECA-Gibson
• G-Drive lose time in pit stop and Bruno Senna in #31 Vaillante Rebellion closes on Russian and overtakes at Bus Stop chicane just before first hour
• LMGTE Pro sees Davide Rigon lead throughout first hour in AF Corse Ferrari 488GTE
• He is closely pressured by both Ford GT’s with Harry Tincknell second
• Fierce battle rages between two Ford’s and James Calado’s Ferrari sees frantic action at Les Combes as Calado makes move on both Ford’s
• Tincknell re-passes and closes on Rigon in dice for lead as hour ticks by and first pit stops start in class
• LMGTE Am dominated by Pedro Lamy in early stages as he pulls out a 30-second lead over Francesco Castellacci in Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE
• Dempsey-Proton Porsche 911 RSR third with Christian Ried at wheel

Hour 2 Headlines

• #7 Toyota TS 050 Hybrid continues to lead the race with Kamui Kobayashi at front with 25-second gap over #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid
• Nick Tandy makes progress in #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid after making use of fresh tyres after first stop. British racer passes teammate Brendon Hartley for P2
• #8 Toyota swaps drivers with Buemi out and Davidson in. Car temporarily slips back to third position
• #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Earl Bamber runs fourth ahead of third Toyota with WEC rookie Yuji Kunimoto at wheel
• LMP2 remains close as #31 Vaillante Rebellion driven by Julien Canal leads but is under pressure from #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing car driven by Alex Brundle
• Alex Lynn charging and catches Alex Brundle to take second place just before end of second hour as Brundle pits
• Lynn closes on leader Canal as race enters third hour but pits on stroke of third hour beginning
• TDS place third with WEC debutant Ben Hanley wheel as team fights back after early drive-through penalty
• Incredible race in LMGTE Pro as both AF Corse Ferraris - #51 Alessandro Pier Guidi and #71 Sam Bird collide briefly after fraught fight
• Bird comes out of battle in lead but pair split by Olivier Pla who briefly lead in second hour
• Pier Guidi re-takes Pla to make it Ferrari 1-2 and then hunts down Bird to re-claim lead
• #67 Ford GT of Tincknell drops back after fuel issue at start of second hour
• Porsche GT Team place fourth and fifth with #91 leading #92
• #98 Aston Martin car still in lead of LMGTE Am as Paul Dalla Lana holds off Dempsey-Proton Porsche driven by Marvin Dienst
• Clearwater Racing up to third with Keita Sawa in cockpit