After a torrential rain shower swept across the Circuit of the Americas slightly after the 90 minute mark, the race was red flagged and suspended for 55 minutes, after many cars aquaplaned off the circuit.
One of those cars losing time was the then leader – Nicolas Lapierre, in his Toyota TS 040 Hybrid, which ensured that the #2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro led from the re-start.
After several laps under safety car and with dusk falling, the drivers faced full wet conditions but with the rain having stopped, track conditions steadily improved.
Benoît Tréluyer led team mate Tom Kristensen in the #2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro and held the position until just before the halfway point of the race when he pitted for intermediate tyres.
This left Kristensen in the lead as the clock ticked to three hours, but Neel Jani in the #14 Porsche 919 Hybrid soon swept through to take the lead of the race and instantly start to pull out a gap.
This meant that the Porsche became the fifth car to lead the dramatic race since the green flag was flown by endurance racing legend Gérard Larousse.
The recovering Toyotas were positioned in fourth and fifth positions with the #7 Toyota TS 040 Hybrid leading the #8.
LMP1-L
Rebellion Racing continued to run 1-2 in the LMP1-L class with the #12 R-One Toyota driven by Nick Heidfeld leading the #13 car.
The Lotus entered CLM P1/01-AER was in third position but five laps behind the Rebellions.
LMP2
After the top three (KCMG, ESM and G-Drive) in LMP2 were all delayed during the rain storm and subsequent red flag period, the SMP Racing team enjoyed an elevated 1-2 position on track. It was an all-Russian affair in the cockpit too as Viktor Shaitar in the #37 ORECA-Nissan led Sergey Zlobin the #27 SMP Racing entered LMP car.
LMGTE PRO
Darren Turner led the way in the LMGTE Pro class with the #97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 after three hours. The British racer had a three second lead over the Patrick Pilet driven Porsche 911 RSR.
In third place was the #91 Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR which was driven by Jörg Bergmeister. He was within striking distance of his team mate in what was shaping up to be a close, multi marque battle for supremacy.
LMGTE AM
Benefitting most from the second hour drama was the Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR which was driven by Khaled Al Qubaisi.
Aston Martin Racing was placed second and third with David Heinemeier-Hansson in the #95 Vantage V8 ahead of the #98 car driven by Canadian, Paul Dalla Lana. Both however were a lap adrift of the class leading Proton Porsche.
Sam Smith
Photo: CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS (AUSTIN, TEXAS, USA), 6 HOURS OF CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS, SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2014. The No.37 SMP Racing ORECA 03R-Nissan just before the red flag came out, and Aston Martin Racing's Darren Turner walking back to his pit garage during the race suspension.
