Two Toyotas battle for lead in middle portion of race

Toyota continued to lead the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in the mid-section of the race this afternoon but it was the #8 TS 050 Hybrid which snatched the lead from the early leading #7 car.

A brief Full Course Yellow allowed Kazuki Nakajima to take the lead but an exceptional stint from Mike Conway in the #7 car saw a close battle for the lead.

In LMGTE Pro it was still a Ferrari 1-2 as #71 and #51 continued to run almost nose to tail in their private battle at the front. Alessandro Pier Guidi had the slight upper-hand over Sam Bird, in their second stint at the wheel after they both earlier engaged in an entertaining battle which saw them touch several times.

At the 2017 edition of the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, 61,000 people enjoyed the action and atmosphere from the WEC plus the three support series over the three days of the event.  The huge crowds on race day (Saturday 6 May) profited from bright sunshine, incredible track battles and great entertainment on and off track.

The Headlines after 3 Hours

• #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS 050 continues to lead at Spa as Kamui Kobayashi holds 25-second lead over #8 car of Anthony Davidson
• Neel Jani takes over #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid as tyre strategies begin to get critical
• #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid sits fourth with Timo Bernhard in car after tyre problem curtails Earl Bamber stint. Cooler temperatures seeming to favour Porsche LMP cars
• Yuji Kunimoto completes triple stint in #9 Toyota and places P5 in low-drag configured LMP1 car
• G-Drive Racing ORECA-Gibson of Alex Lynn opens up advantage over #13 Vaillante Rebellion of Julien Canal but G-Drive Racing face investigation for a pit stop infringement
• Pierre Thiriet takes over from Lynn and has to hold off #31 Vaillante Rebellion of Nicolas Prost just three seconds behind
• LMGTE Pro battle comes down to inter-Ferrari battle as Davide Rigon and James Calado battle in #71 and #51 AF Corse respectively
• Billy Johnson consolidates third place in #66 Ford GT and survives contact with Julien Canal
• Porsche fourth and fifth but almost a minute adrift of the leading Ferraris
• Mathias Lauda takes over leading #98 Aston Martin Racing LMGTE Am entry and leads class but gap is reduced considerably as Matteo Cairoli chips away gap at halfway mark
• Matt Griffin places solid third in Clearwater Ferrari with Spirit of Race 488 GTE fourth in hands of Matteo Cairoli

The Headlines after 4 Hours

• Lead swaps as #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing falls behind sister #8 car after brief Full Course Yellow at start of fourth hour
• Kazuki Nakajima takes over and gains advantage to take lead.
• But Japanese sees gap reduced to flying Mike Conway who takes over in his second stint at wheel
• British driver sets two outright fastest laps as he hunts down Japanese stablemate. Gap is just 3.9s between the two after four hours of racing
• Porsche lose out at Full Course Yellow and close up together with Neel Jani holding off Timo Bernhard’s #2 919 Hybrid but only by 2.3s
• First Full Course Yellow shown for stopped #86 Gulf Porsche on pit straight
• Vaillante Rebellion take lead in LMP2 as Nico Prost puts brave move on Pierre Thiriet’s G-Drive racing car at La Source
• But Prost has to serve 10-second penalty for previous contact of Julien Canal with a Ford GT
• Thomas Laurent catching both first and second in Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA-Gibson but is just under a minute behind. Laurent gives way to Cheng just before four hour mark.
• AF Corse Ferrari pair of Davide Rigon and Alessandro Pier Guidi still tied together gap at just 2.5s
• Billy Johnson completes triple stint and still resides in third position in #66 Ford Chip Ganassi Ford GT
• #67 Ford GT driven by Pipo Derani splits Porsche GT cars as it fights back after fuel issue in first hour
• Paul Dalla Lana returns to the cockpit in #98 Aston Martin and has 20-second gap over Christian Ried in Dempsey-Proton
• Clearwater Racing Ferrari now a lap down in third

Cover image courtesy of Aston Martin Racing (@AMR_Official)