The fight at the front of the LMGTE Pro category continues to be tightly fought, with the differing pit stop strategies meaning that both the No.99 Aston Martin Vantage and the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari have had their turn at the head of the time sheets.
As the clock ticked over to the final 90 minutes of the 6 Hours of Fuji, it is a Ferrari 1-2 in the Pro class, the No.51 of Bruni leading the No.71 of Rigon as earlier in the race. Hong Kong’s Darryl O’Young had a solid stint in the Aston Martin and has now handed the wheel to his team mate Alex MacDowall who is being pressed hard by Porsche Team Manthey’s Joerg Bergmeister in the No.91 911 RSR.
In the LMGTE Am category, Aston’s control at the head of the class has not diminished – with a gap of just 14 seconds between the Kristian Poulsen’s No.95 Vantage V8 and the No.98 sister car of Paul Dalla Lana. Prospeed Competition’s No.75 911 RSR, with Matthieu Vaxivière at the wheel, had climbed up into third place but a recent scheduled pit stop just at the 4.5 hour mark means that Australian Stephen Wyatt in the No.81 AF Corse Ferrari has now taken his place.
15:29:11 GTE pro leader #99 Aston into pits #51 Ferrari retakes lead
15:27:20 Rebellion #12 back on track
15:22:07 Oak Morgan #35 takes 3rd in P2 after 90 second penalty for #27 Oreca
15:19:55 P2 2nd place car #47 Oreca also into pitlane
15:18:51 P2 leader #26 Ligier into pitlane
15:09:45 Fassler into #2 Audi
15:09:08 Audi #2 into pits
15:16:16 Porsche #20 into pits Hartley into car
15:06:50 Aston #99 takes lead in GTE Pro
15:05:53 GTE Am leader Aston #95 into pits but just retains lead from #98 Aston
15:04:02 Rebellion #12 into pit garage after cutting out problems on track
15:03:11 In GTE Am #95 Aston leads from #98 Aston and #81 Ferrari
15:02:17 In GTE Pro #51 Ferrari leads from #71 Ferrari and #99 Aston
15:00:41 In P2 #26 Ligier leads from #47 Oreca and #27 Oreca
14:59:29 90 second stop and go penalty for #27 Oreca for speeding in pit lane
14:58:25 With 2 hours left #8 Toyota leads #7 Toyota from #20 Porsche in LM P1
14:54:38 Aston #98 passes Aston #95 for GTE Am lead
14:50:33 Audi #1 back up to 4th
14:48:26 Porsche #14 into pits Dumas stays in
14:47:47 Oreca #27 reported for speeding in pit lane
14:47:08 No further action for yellow flag incidents for #7 #51 and #98
14:45:02 Toyota #7 also in Nakajima now in car
14:44:14 Toyota #8 into pits from the lead
14:36:04 Porsche #14 retakes 3rd place
14:35:28 Audi #1 into pitlane
14:30:03 Ferrari #51 takes lead in GTE Pro
14:24:35 37 second gap between #1 Audi in 3rd and #14 Porsche in 4th
14:22:00 Porsche #14 now back up to usual speed
14:19:07 Porsche #14 reports lack of power
14:14:20 Audi #2 into pitlane from 5th place
14:11:21 Audi #1 now up to 3rd
14:10:02 Porsche #20 into pitlane
14:04:57 In GTE Am #95 Aston leads from #98 Aston and #81 Ferrari
14:03:30 In GTE Pro #99 Aston leads from #71 Ferrari and #51 Ferrari
14:02:04 In P2 #26 Ligier leads from #47 Oreca and #27 Oreca
14:01:03 At halfway mark #8 Toyota leads by 8 seconds from #7 Toyota with #20 Porsche in 3rd
Full results can be found HERE
Fiona Miller
