6 Hours of Nurburgring is go!

The story of Hours 1 & 2 at Nürburgring

Drama before the start as No.8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID of Sébastien Buemi slows and pits with an engine issue which needs a fuel pump change
Kobayashi leads from start but pursued by both Porsche 919 Hybrid cars of Timo Bernhard and André Lotterer. Gap fluctuates through traffic
Gap never more than 2 seconds throughout the first stint in fascinating battle
After first stops Toyota keep the lead with José Maria Lopez taking over in cockpit
Porsche swap places as Neel Jani takes over and beats Brendon Hartley out of the pits
Vaillante Rebellion run 1-2 in early stages with Bruno Senna in #31 ORECA-Gibson leading Mathias Beche in #13 entry
Rebellion duo split after first round of pits stops by Oliver Jarvis in Jackie Chan DC Racing car
No.25 CEFC Manor TRS Racing sits fourth in class with Vitaly Petrov at the wheel
G-Drive Racing, No.24 CEFC Manor TRS Racing and No.35 Signatech Alpine all serve penalties in opening stages
Epic battle in LMGTE Pro as No.95 Aston Martin of Marco Sørensen holds off No.91 Porsche, No.66 Ford GT and No.92 Porsche in nail-biting battle
Frédéric Makowiecki takes lead from Sørensen and stretches a small lead of 6 seconds
No.71 AF Corse Ferrari driven by David Rigon loses 2 laps with gearbox issue while running in leading LMGTE Pro pack
Pedro Lamy opens large lead in LMGTE Am in No.98 Aston Martin
Portuguese veteran heads No.61 Clearwater Ferrari of Keita Sawa and No.54 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Francesco Castellacci

Hour 2

Porsche No.2 takes second position from sister 919 Hybrid of Neel Jani
Brendon Hartley then hunts down leader José Maria Lopez and takes lead at turn one after 77-minutes of racing
Lopez is further demoted by Neel Jani and Porsche run 1-2
After second scheduled stops Hartley maintains lead over Jani and Lopez. Just 2.7s cover top three after two hours of racing
Oliver Jarvis overtakes Bruno Senna to claim LMP2 lead in the No.38 Jackie Chan DC Racing car
Jarvis hands over to Ho-Pin Tung who holds lead from No.31 Vaillante Rebellion now in the hands of Julien Canal
Third in class is David Heinemeier Hansson in the second of the Rebellion ORECAS but the Dane is under constant pressure from Tristan Gommendy’s Jackie Chan DC Racing car
All change in LMGTE Pro as No.92 takes over lead after pit stops. Kevin Estre builds impressive lead over previous leading 911 RSR now driven by Richard Lietz
Lietz overtaken by charging Alessandro Pier Guidi in No.51 AF Corse Ferrari in the second hour as Italian splits the 911 RSRs
No.98 Aston Martin still leads in LMGTE Am as Paul Dalla Lana has 7-second lead over Dempsey Proton Porsche 911 RSR of Marvin Dienst

Sam SMITH