The no8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi entered the final quarter of the race with a very comfortable lead of 79 seconds over the sister car of Kazuki Nakajima. While the two Japanese cars were far ahead, the battle for the final podium place was being fought with the no14 Porsche of Neel Jani being challenged by the no1 Audi of Tom Kristensen. The superior straight line speed of the Porsche 919 kept the Swiss driver ahead of the Dane, who closed up in the twisty bits of the Shanghai circuit. The no20 Porsche of Mark Webber was also closing on the pair as the third quarter of the race counted down.
The LMP1-L standings were the same as at the half way point, with Nicolas Prost 51 seconds ahead in the no12 Rebellion Racing R-One Toyota.
The no26 G-Drive Racing Ligier of Roman Rusinov extended its lead in LMP2 to over one lap to the nearest rival, the no37 SMP Racing Oreca-Nissan of Anton Ladygin and the second SMP LMP2 Oreca of Sergey Zlobin. The no35 Oak Racing Morgan of Ricardo Gonzalez tried to pass the no88 Proton Competition Porsche of Khalid Al Qubaisi at T1. The cars touched and the Porsche was tipped into a smokey spin. Both cars continued on their way.
The final 90-minutes of the race will conclude the 6 Hours of Shanghai at 17:00 (local).
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RACE FACTS – 270 Minutes
15:27:44 P2 fastest race lap 1:55.900 for #26 Ligier
15:17:41 Fastest lap so far for #7 Toyota 1:49.688
15:16:43 1:48.694 new fastest lap for #8 Toyota
15:15:33 Webber into #20 Porsche
15:14:05 Spin for #88 Porsche after coming together with #35 Morgan
15:12:47 Toyota #7 stops Nakajima in
15:12:06 Leader #8 Toyota into pits Buemi stays in
15:11:24 Makowiecki takes over 2nd place GTE Pro Porsche #92
15:0 7:3 43rd place Porsche #14 into pit lane Jani gets in
15:05:14 In GTE Am #98 Aston leads #95 Aston and #75 Porsche
15:04:21 In GTE Pro #97 Aston leads from #92 and #91 Porsches
15:03:22 In P2 #26 Ligier leads #27 and #37 SMP Oreca's after #30 HPD's pitstop
15:01:50 After 4 hours Toyota #8 leads Toyota #7 and Porsche #14
15:00:49 Audi #2 into pits Fassler takes over
15:00:08 Porsche #75 takes 3rd in GTE Am from #90 Ferrari
14:59:27 Wurz in #7 Toyota reports car "not running at 100%"
14:58:29 ESM HPD #30 takes 2nd in P2
14:54:15 Audi #1 into pits
14:47:36 ESM #30 HPD retakes 3rd in P2
14:43:01 Rusinov now in P2 leader #26 Ligier
14:42:13 Toyota #8 leads team mate #7 by a minute after 113 laps
14:40:58 P2 leader #26 Ligier into pits
14:37:27 KCMG #47 Oreca had fuel pressure problems on first lap leading to incident with #51 Ferrari
14:36:18 Audi #1 now only 2 seconds behind #14 Porsche in 3rd
14:31:43 Oreca #37 up to 3rd in P2
14:24:10 In GTE Am #98 Aston leads from #95 Aston and #90 Ferrari
14:23:03 100 laps completed by the leader
14:16:27 Toyota #8 retains the lead
14:15:06 Leader #8 Toyota into pits Buemi back in car
14:14:29 6th place Porsche #20 into pits Bernhard stays in
14:13:33 2nd place #7 Toyota into pits
14:12:13 Poulsen now in #95 Aston
14:09:18 Porsche #14 into pits Lieb stays in
14:07:33 In GTE Pro #97 Aston leads #92 Porsche and #91 Porsche
14:06:23 In P2 #26 Ligier leads from #27 Oreca and #30 ESM
14:05:18 After 3 Hours Toyota #8 leads by 43 seconds from Toyota #7 and Porsche #14
14:00:39 Audi #2 into pits
Jeff Carter
