The first quarter of the 6 Hours of Shanghai has finished with Toyota holding a 1-2 almost a lap ahead of the nr2 Audi R18, with the nr1 Audi further behind after an unscheduled stop to replace a punctured tyre.
The start saw Nicolas Lapierre in the nr7 Toyota TS030 lead the 28 car grid into the first corner with the nr1 Audi of Andre Lotterer tucking in behind but having to defend from the nr8 Toyota of Anthony Davidson. While Lapierre opened up a comfortable lead Davidson challenged Lotterer for several laps before eventually getting the break he needed to move ahead of the Audi. At the pitstops the Toyotas changed positions with the nr8 TS030 just ahead of the nr7 car.
Lotterer’s Audi picked up a puncture running over some debris left on the track at T14 by an incident involving the nr32 Lotus of Thomas Holzer and the nr57 Krohn Ferrari of Niclas Jonsson, which forced the German to head back to the pits, dropping him behind the nr2 Audi of Allan McNish.
The nr12 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota finished the first 90 minutes two laps behind the leading manufacture entered car.
The nr26 G-Drive Racing Oreca Nissan of John Martin finished the first quarter where he started, at the front of the LMP2 field, 15 seconds ahead of the nr24 Oak Racing Morgan of Olivier Pla and the nr35 Oak Morgan of Bertrand Baguette.
The nr32 Lotus-Praga T128 ended the first quarter of the race still in the garage after the earlier incident with the nr57 Ferrari which saw body damage to the left rear of the car. The other early casualty was the nr49 Pecom Racing Oreca which made two early stops with an electrical problem, which has left the car stranded in the garage as the mechanics work to try and find the problem.
LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am Report
In warm sunshine and in front of thousands of interested Chinese fans, the Aston Martins, Ferraris, Porsches and Corvette of the LMGTE Pro and Am classes have put on a great display of hard and close-fought racing in the first 90 minutes of the 6 Hours of Shanghai.
The No.97 Aston Martin Vantage V8 of Stefan Mucke has led from its LMGTE Pro class winning pole position since the start of the race – apart from the period of pit stops. The German now holds a 17s lead over the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari of Gianmaria Bruni who charged from 6th on the class grid to 2nd in the first two laps of the race.
However, the Italian was forced to make an early stop for new Michelin tyres after a severe drop off in performance. With a different compound of rubber on the Italian car, Bruni is now back up to 2nd place in class ahead of his No.71 AF Corse team mate, Toni Vilander. The Finn has replaced Kamui Kobayashi at the wheel of the F458 Italia following another strong performance from the Japanese driver in his first stint.
In LMGTE Am, it is also an Aston Martin at the head of the classification – the all Danish No.95 Vantage V8 of Nicki Thiiim, Christoffer Nygaard and Kristian Poulsen some 10 seconds ahead of the No.81 8Star Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia of Aguas-Rigon-Potolicchio. The No.88 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Ried-Roda-Ruberti made a great start and was running 2nd second in class until the pit stop window and is lapping very competitively. It is now 3rd in class ahead of the No.76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche. The No.61 AF Corse Ferrari – which was on the front row of the Am grid at the start – has had a slightly troubled start to its race with a couple of spins off track but hopes to move further back up the order in the hours to come.
Full results can be found HERE
12:29:51 No.26 Oreca leads LM P2 by 15 seconds from No.24 Morgan
12:26:47 No.95 Aston leads GTE Am by 10 seconds from No.81 Ferrari
12:25:23 No.97 Aston still leads GTE Pro by 17 seconds from No.51 Ferrari
12:16:53 Spin for No.61 Ferrari
12:13:48 Long stop for No.49 Pecom - in pits for 10 minutes
12:10:41 Off circuit moment for No.1 passing Krohn Ferrari
12:05:19 All GTE Pro cars now stopped
12:03:13 McNish takes 3rd after unscheduled stop for sister car No.1
12:01:03 After first hour No.8 Toyota leads by 2 seconds
11:58:47 No.1 Audi back into pits with left front puncture
11:58:03 Debris at turn 14
11:55:58 No.32 Lotus pushed into pit garage
11:55:21 No.32 Lotus into pits with rear damage
11:54:24 No.26 Oreca leads LM P2 after pit stop from No.41 Zytek
11:52:07 Flurry of LMP2 stops several cars in pitlane at same time
11:50:39 Rebellion last LM P1 to pit.
11:48:30 No.8 leads after pit stops
11:47:05 No.7 Toyota into pits on lap 25
11:46:14 No.2 Audi also into pits
11:45:46 No.1 Audi into pits
11:45:18 No.7 Toyota leads No.8 by only 3 seconds but No.8 pits
11:43:22 Toyota pit crew in pit lane, ready for first stop?
11:38:26 Big lock-up for No.7 into turn 14
11:36:51 No.51 Ferrari into pits
11:34:03 Bruni drops behind Lamy in GTE Pro 3rd place battle
11:32:52 No.95 Aston leads GTE Am by 5 seconds from No.88 Porsche
11:31:40 No.97 Aston leads GTE Pro by 8 seconds from No.71 Ferrari
11:30:36 No.8 Toyota is catching sister car No.7, now 8.4s gap
11:29:43 No.26 Oreca still leads LM P2 by 7 seconds from No.41 Zytek
11:27:42 Lead down to 7 seconds due to traffic for No.7 Toyota after 14 laps
11:25:40 Leader has slight touch with No.24 Morgan
11:23:42 Lapierre now has 13 second lead after 12 laps
11:22:19 Lotterer managed to hold off Davidson for 9 laps but finally passed - Audi's struggling for traction?
11:19:21 Toyota No.8 goes into 2nd place after slight touch with No.1 Audi
11:18:08 Davidson still on the tail of No.1 Audi as the leaders carve through traffic at the tail of the GTE field
11:14:34 One of the Astons No.96 running slowly at the tail of the field
11:12:47 1:49.588 for Lapierre in No.7 Toyota - now has 9 second lead
11:10:56 Fastest lap of 1:49.724 for No.7 Toyota
11:08:28 6 second lead for No.7 Toyota after 4 laps
11:06:34 No.97 Aston leads GTE Pro and No.95 Aston leads GTE Am
11:04:35 No.26 Oreca leads LM P2
11:03:30 Davidson challenges Lotterer but has to give back the place
11:02:42 3 second lead for No.7 Toyota
11:01:23 All cars safely through first couple of corners
10:59:48 Green Flag
10:56:47 1 Minute to start of formation lap
10:54:11 McNish/Kristensen and Duval need to finish 4th or better to win the 2013 FIA WEC
10:46:06 15 minutes to the green flag
