At the halfway stage of a fascinating 6 Hours of Sao Paulo the #14 Porsche being driven by Marc Lieb led at Interlagos. The German was in his second stint aboard the Porsche 919 Hybrid and he enjoyed an eleven second lead over the #8 Toyota Racing TS 040 Hybrid.
The hot and humid conditions were testing the drivers to the maximum as the race wore on, with many teams opting for single stinting their drivers. Sebastien Buemi and Neel Jani were tested to the maximum as they both felt unwell after their stints.
The chasing #8 Toyota had earlier lost valuable time when Sebastien Buemi’s Toyota TS 040 Hybrid was in contact with Matthieu Vaxivière’s Prospeed Porsche 911 RSR at Turn 11. The LMP1 car spun and was later shown a black and white warning flag for the incident.
Buemi then charged back in to contention and briefly took the lead from Hartley’s Porsche 919 Hybrid, before immediately pitting to hand over to Anthony Davidson. The British racer placed second after 180mins despite a grassy excursion while lapping Paul Dalla Lana’s Aston Martin.
In third place was the #20 Porsche which led for the vast majority of the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo. Young Kiwi charger, Brendon Hartley, handed over to Timo Bernhard after 2hrs 50mins and the German re-joined nine seconds behind the #8 Toyota with which it had battled hard for the final stages of the second hour.
Audi Sport Team Joest placed fourth and sixth with the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro still well placed just 13-seconds behind the third placed #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid. Lucas di Grassi was enjoying his second stint at the wheel in front of his adoring home fans. The #2 Audi, with Andre Lotterer in the cockpit was running out of sequence after a full course yellow pit stop.
In LMP1-L the #13 Rebellion R-One Toyota was in a commanding lead over the #12 Rebellion entered car which was repaired after early race problems.
The LMP2 class was being controlled by the KCMG Oreca-Nissan but an incident halfway through the second hour meant a long pit stop for repairs. Matt Howson suffered contact with the barrier and three laps were lost, handing the lead to the #37 SMP Racing Oreca-Nissan, which was driven by Viktor Shaitar as the halfway point of the race arrived.
The #27 SMP car was third in class but six laps behind due to a long stop when the team elected to change the camber settings on the car. The precautionary stop was completed to ensure the car does not suffer any additional loading to their tyres as they aim to finish the race and collect both LMP2 titles.
Race Facts:
15:00:49 At halfway #14 Porsche leads by 14 seconds from #8 Toyota and #20 Porsche in 3rd
15:56:45 Porsche #75 takes 2nd in GTE Am
15:54:58 Ferrari #81 and Oreca #27 reported for speeding under full course yellows
15:53:42 Aston #95 2nd in GTE Am stops
15:51:44 Audi #1 takes 4th from #7 Toyota
15:50:54 Porsche #75 has drive through for incident with #90 Ferrari
15:49:27 Leader #20 Porsche into pits - Bernhard back in car
15:48:39 Mediani now in Oreca #27
15:48:04 Stop for #97 Aston from 2nd in GTE Pro - Mucke now in
15:46:19 Oreca #27 stops from 3rd in P2
15:44:36 Lotterer now in Audi #2
15:43:53 Toyota #7 and Audi #2 both stop
15:42:52 But Toyota #8 stops - Davidson takes over
15:41:45 Toyota #8 takes lead from #20 Porsche
15:39:57 Oreca #37 now leads P2 after #47 Oreca front end damage repair
15:38:30 Spin for #95 Aston but continues
15:36:47 Audi #1 stops - Di Grassi gets back in
15:35:38 Porsche #14 stopped early due to puncture
15:34:36 Ferrari #61 in pit garage
15:32:46 Oreca #47 hits barriers but continues and then pits
15:30:47 Aston #95 passes #81 Ferrari for 2nd place in GTE Am
15:29:21 Porsche #14 into pits - Lieb gets in
15:27:29 Ferrari #61 into pitlane
15:26:55 Buemi in #8 Toyota takes 3rd from #1 Audi
15:25:05 Ferrari #61 of Fittipaldi stops on circuit then rejoins
15:21:59 Porsche #14 takes 2nd from #1 Audi
15:19:54 Warning black and white driving standards flag for #8 Toyota
15:14:38 Emerson Fittipaldi now in #61 Ferrari
15:13:29 Makowiecki now in #92 Porsche
15:12:12 GTE Am leader #98 into pits
15:08:46 Rebellion #12 rejoins - now 33 laps down on leader
15:07:15 Porsche #75 has incident with #8 Toyota - both continue
15:06:19 Ferrari #90 takes drive through penalty
15:05:48 After 2 hours in GTE Am #98 Aston leads by 33 seconds from #81 Ferrari and #61 Ferrari
15:04:27 After 2 hours in GTE Pro #71 Ferrari leads by 8 seconds from #99 Aston and #92 Porsche
15:03:23 After 2 hours in P2 #47 Oreca leads by a lap from #37 Oreca and #27 Oreca
15:01:55 After 2 hours #20 Porsche leads from #1 Audi by 8 secs with #8 Toyota in 3rd
14:59:38 Track temp now over 32C
14:59:09 Audi #2 stops
14:58:32 CLM #9 into pitlane and #27 Oreca rejoins
14:57:25 Audi #2 now in 2nd after early 2nd stop under full course yellows
14:56:36 CLM #9 stopped on circuit
14:55:12 SMP Oreca #27 into pit box from 3rd in P2
14:54:31 Stop for #97 Aston
14:53:40 Sarrazin now in Toyota #7
14:53:06 Leader #20 Porsche pits Hartley in
14:52:19 Dumas now in #14 Porsche and Buemi in #8 Toyota after stops
14:51:21 Aston #98 takes lead in GTE Am from #81 Ferrari
14:49:56 Ferrari #71 takes lead in GTE Pro from #99 Aston
14:49:06 Porsche #14 into pits
14:48:33 Audi #1 into pits
14:46:48 Fastest GTE Pro lap for #97 Aston with 1:30.714
14:46:02 Drive through penalty for #95 Aston after Thiim abused track limits at Turn 2
14:43:20 1:18.474 fastest lap for Jani in #14 Porsche
14:38:41 Rebellion #12 back into pits
14:36:42 1:31.021 fastest lap in GTE Am for #98 Aston
14:34:46 1:30.863 fastest GTE Pro lap for #97 Aston
