270 Minutes: Toyota Out in Front as G-Drive Holds Overall Podium Place
The clock has counted down to the final 90-minutes and Toyota still lead the race from Audi. Anthony Davidson in the no8 Toyota TS030 continued to circulate the Bahrain International Circuit and at the end of the third quarter held a comfortable 1-lap lead over the no1 Audi R18 of Andre Lotterer, who had been penalised with a drive through penalty for overtaking under yellow flags earlier in the race.
With the demise of three LMP1 contenders the no26 G-Drive Racing Oreca-Nissan of Roman Rusinov was lying in 3rd overall at the end of the first 270 minutes and was leading LMP2 by 21 seconds ahead of the no49 Pecom Racing Oreca of Pierre Kaffer. The no41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan of Wolfgang Reip had to make an unscheduled stop to clear some debris from the airbox and this dropped the Belgian driver down the order and promoted the no24 Oak Racing Morgan into 3rd place.
Ferrari Hold Upper Hand in LMGTE Pro
As the clock turned over for the fourth hour of the 6 Hours of Bahrain the drama transferred from the LMP class to the LMGTE Pro category. The No.71 AF Corse Ferrari of Kamui Kobayashi and Giancarlo Fisichella – which had been holding second place behind its sister No.51 car – came into the pits for a regular pit stop but was delayed by a problem with the right front wheel hub which dropped it back to 5th in class. In the meantime, the Bruni-Vilander car has continued to circulate faultlessly and holds a lead of 44 seconds over the No.91 Porsche AG Team Manthey of Patrick Pilet and Joerg Bergmeister.
Now up to third in class is the No.99 Aston Martin Vantage of Senna-Lamy-Stanaway, and a strong finish for that car would go some way to make up for the immense disappointment suffered by the LMGTE Pro points leaders Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke. The No.97 Aston reported engine problems at the 3h46 mark into the race while the German was behind the wheel and, after further investigation in the pits, the car was retired.
Also suffering from huge disappointment, but still running in the race, is the No.76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche of Vernay-Narac-Palttala. The LMGTE Am Drivers title contenders had to pit just as the fifth hour of the race started for a suspension problem and lost 20-minutes. They are back on track but 11 laps in arrears to their competitors.
Leading the GTE Am class is long-time leader, the No.95 Aston Martin Vantage, ahead of the Ferrari duo of 8Star Motorsport’s No.81 and the AF Corse’s No.61. The No.88 Proton Competition Porsche of Christian Ried, Paulo Ruberti and Gianluca Roda has retired from the final round of the 2013 FIA WEC with a rear axle issue.
19:29:57 No.26 LMP2 leader into pits, also 2nd place No.49
19:22:33 No.76 back out of garage
19:21:58 No.71 into pits from 3rd in GTE Pro
19:20:17 No.95 Aston has one lap lead in GTE Am from No.81 Ferrari
19:19:12 No.51 has 46 second lead in GTE Pro from No.91 Porsche
19:16:39 No.26 leads LMP2 by 15 secs from No.49
19:15:31 Spin for No.35 and continues
19:14:56 No.8 leads by 1min 14 secs after 139 laps from No.1 Audi
19:11:57 No.96 moves up to 5th in GTE Am - if positions stay the same they will win the 2013 GTE Am championship
19:09:34 Lotterer has small excursion at T1
19:06:59 No.49 takes 2nd in LMP2 from No.41
19:06:19 No.97 Aston retired
19:05:17 No.51 GTE Pro leader into pits - Bruni takes over
19:01:53 No.76 wheeled into garage
19:00:33 2 hours to the finish
19:00:13 No.99 into pitlane from 3rd in class - Senna out, Lamy in
18:58:40 No.8 Toyota has small touch with No.99 Aston
18:56:04 Toyota No.8 rejoins - full service no driver change, Davidson stays in
18:54:30 No.8 into pit lane
18:53:20 No.26 retakes lead in LMP2 as No.24 pits
18:49:41 No.24 Oak takes lead in LMP2 from No.26
18:48:04 No.97 into pit garage
18:47:04 No.97 going very slowly
18:46:25 No.1 Audi in to pit - Lotterer takes over
18:45:43 No.49 second in LMP2 into pits - Kaffer in
18:43:17 No.1 Audi lapping 3 secs slower than No.8 after not changing tyres at last stop
18:40:58 No.8 now leads by over a minute and 20 secs after drive through for No.1 Audi
18:33:59 Drive through penalty for No.1 Audi for overtaking under yellow flags
18:28:24 Greaves No.41 into pit lane from 2nd in class - Lancaster out, Reip in
18:26:50 2nd place in GTE Pro Aston No.97 into pit lane - doing shorter stints than other Pro cars
18:24:17 1:44.323 fastest lap of race for Davidson in No.8
18:22:32 Wheel/hub problem confirmed on No.71
18:21:59 If No.2 does not move again, it will not be classified
18:20:43 No.88 set to go out again after rear suspension trouble
18:18:45 Team manager of No.1 Audi summoned to race control
18:17:01 No.71 Ferrari into pit - long stop with right front wheel problem
18:13:17 No.41 takes 2nd in LMP2 from No.49
18:11:06 No.1 investigated for passing under yellow flag
18:05:02 Leading No.8 Toyota into pits - Davidson in
18:02:23 At half way No.8 Toyota leads No.1 Audi by 29 secs
18:01:00 No.57 Ferrari going very slowly
18:00:09 Duval gets out of No.2 Audi
Photo: BAHRAIN INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT (SAKHIR, BAHRAIN), 6 HOURS OF BAHRAIN, SATURDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2013, RACE. The No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA 03 Nissan of Rusinov-Conway-Martin holds the lead in LMP2.