6H Spa after 270 Minutes: Toyota Maintains Status Quo at Spa
The third quarter of the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps saw the no8 Toyota. and no26 G-Drive Racing Morgan maintain their lead in the LMP1 and LMP2 classes. There was trouble for the no14 Porsche of Romain Dumas when an electrical issue caused the car to slow dramatically after running over some kerbs. The Frenchman spent two laps attempting to reset the car from the cockpit and eventually he was successful.
The no20 sister car was also having more problems and spent a long time in the garage before Mark Webber took to the track.
The no26 G-Drive Racing Morgan-Nissan of Olivier Pla still held a comfortable lead over the no38 JOTA Sport of Marc Gene despite a trip into the pits to repair a broken headlight. The no47 KCMG Oreca of Matthew Howson was holding the final LMP2 podium position with just 90 minutes of the race remaining.
RACE FACTS – 270 MINUTES
18:59:26 Fastest lap of race for Davidson in Toyota #8 with 2:01.327 on lap 119
18:56:04 Audi #2 into pit for 7th stop of race
18:54:53 Porsche #20 back out - Webber at wheel for first time today
18:51:20 Porsche #20 back into garage again
18:50:19 Ferrari #61 takes lead in GTE Am from #98 Aston
18:48:57 Slow right rear wheel change for Porsche #14
18:48:00 Porsche #14 into pits - Jani into car
18:45:21 Audi #3 into pits
18:43:44 Leader in LMP2 #26 has to repair headlight at next pit stop - has a minute lead at present
18:41:41 Toyota #7 into gravel but continues
18:39:29 Toyota #8 into pits and out to retain lead after 1min 19 secs stop
18:37:32 46,000 spectators reported here for the 2 days
18:35:31 Aston #95 takes lead in GTE Am from #61 Ferrari
18:33:54 Di Grassi into pits in #1 Audi - 54 second stop still in 2nd place
18:31:05 All 6 GTE Pro cars on same lap after 99 laps of race
18:26:55 Porsche #14 had electrical issues - Dumas solved them via instructions from team
18:23:44 Toyota #7 into pits - #1 Audi back into 2nd
18:18:19 Toyota #7 takes Audi #1 for 2nd place
18:10:50 Porsche #20 back out again after 25 minute stop
18:09:29 Porsche #14 now appears to be running cleanly again - but a lap behind in 4th
18:06:42 Audi #2 into pits18:01:40Porsche #14 going slowly
17:57:14 Toyota #8 leads by 50 seconds from #14 Porsche
17:56:06 Toyota #7 loses 3rd place to Audi #1
17:54:54 Porsche #14 into pits - Dumas in
17:53:50 Davidson sets fastest lap of race 2:01.739 on lap 96
17:48:58 Porsche #20 pushed back into garage
17:47:51 Leader into pits Davidson into #8 - Porsche #14 retakes lead
17:46:23 Much delayed Porsche #20 back into pits
17:44:03 Di Grassi now in #1 Audi
17:43:38 Toyota #7 into pits - Wurz into car
17:41:09 Audi #1 into pits from 3rd place
17:39:12 G-Drive Morgan #26 now leads KCMG Oreca #47 by only 33 seconds after slow pit stop
17:30:50 Half Distance in the FIA WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps