At the half way point of the 6 Hours of Shanghai Toyota continued with a 1-2 for the two TS030 hybrids and a one lap advantage over the two Audis. However a slow puncture for the nr8 Toyota of Stephane Sarrazin forced the Frenchman to pit, allowing the nr7 car of Alex Wurz to regain the lead. Sarrazin rejoined the track 55 seconds behind his teammate and one minute ahead of the nr2 Audi R18 of Loic Duval.
In LMP2 the nr26 G-Drive Racing Oreca Nissan continued to lead the class as it had from the start of the race, but Mike Conway was coming under pressure from the nr24 Oak Racing Morgan of Alex Brundle, who had closed the gap to around 7 seconds at the top of the hour. The nr35 Oak Morgan of Martin Plowman was nearly a minute adrift of the battle duo but well ahead of Craig Dolby in the nr25 Delta-ADR Oreca and Mark Shulzhitcskiy in the nr41 Greaves Zytek.
LMGTE Pro and Am report
At the mid-race point, Aston Martin Racing is still dominant in both the LMGTE Pro and Am categories although there have been some great on-track battles which have kept the spectators at Shanghai International Circuit.
The No.97 Vantage V8 of Darren Turner has retained the lead pulled out by his team mate Stefan Mücke, apart from during the scheduled round of pit stops which temporarily shake up the leaderboard.
The British car is being pushed by the No.99 Aston Martin of Bruno Senna-Richie Stanaway-Pedro Lamy and the No.71 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Kamui Kobayashi. The Japanese and Brazilian former F1 drivers had everyone on the edge of their seats with a fantastic on-track battle which went on corner after corner. The two traded places more than once, before the Brazilian finally forced the Ferrari into a small error and was able to draw ahead. The No.51 is currently 4th in class ahead of the two Porsche AG Team Manthey 911 RSRs.
In LMGTE Am, Aston Martin is also currently positioned 1-2 in the class, the Danish drivers in the No.95 Vantage V8 putting in a terrific performance to maintain the advantage shown in the first 90 minutes. Behind them is the No.96 Aston of Hall, Adam and Campbell-Walter which has overcome delays due to contact avoidance at the start and a brush with another LMGTE Am competitor and has now made its way to the front of the class. In 3rd place is Davide Rigon in the No.81 8Star Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia.
Full results can be found HERE
13:58:25 No.1 Audi into pit lane - Treluyer stays in
13:56:11 No.8 Toyota now leads by 21 seconds from No.7
13:52:06 Frontal damage to No.88 Porsche - maybe contact with No.26
13:44:37 No further action on incidents between Aston No.96 and No.88 Porsche or Krohn Ferrari No.57 and No.32 Lotus
13:43:30 No.99 Aston takes second in GTE Pro from No.71 Ferrari
13:36:43 Alex Brundle in No.24 now leads LM P2
13:36:04 LM P2 leader into pits- attention to rear bodywork
13:34:16 No.95 Aston still leads GTE Am by 24 seconds from No.81 Ferrari
13:33:09 No.26 Oreca still leads LM P2 by almost a lap from No.24
13:31:51 Leading No.8 Toyota laps No.2 Audi on track
13:31:15 No.97 Aston still leads GTE Pro by 32 seconds
13:26:24 No.7 into pitlane - Wurz stays in
13:24:27 Leader No.8 Toyota into pitlane - Buemi stays in
13:22:29 No.2 into pitlane - Duval stays in
13:16:24 1:49.111 fastest lap of race for Treluyer in No.1
13:14:01 GTE Am leader Aston No.95 makes scheduled stop
13:10:43 No.1 into pitlane again - Treluyer into car
13:05:32 Leading No.8 Toyota has rear brake temperature issue.
13:03:41 No.71 was last of the GTE Pro cars to make 2nd stop
13:01:55 Nico Prost took over No.12 Rebellion
12:58:07 Rebellion No.12 makes scheduled stop
12:54:43 No.97 Aston GTE Pro leader into pits - Turner takes over
12:52:25 No.88 was touched by No.96 Aston
12:51:08 Spin for No.88 Porsche
12:47:28 Lotterer in No.1 did not change tyres and stayed in car at pit stop
12:45:53 No.8 Toyota has 4 second lead at quarter distance
12:41:59 McNish says the track grip is improving as rubber goes down
12:40:45 Davidson reporting understeer but otherwise OK after his stint
12:38:35 No.8 Toyota leads by 3 seconds after pit stop
12:36:42 No.7 Toyota into pits - Wurz takes over
12:35:41 No.8 Toyota into pits - Buemi takes over
12:34:30 No.2 into pitlane - Duval takes over
12:33:52 No.49 Pecom has serious electrical problem
12:30:40 Another spin for No.61 at turn 1
