The nr2 Audi maintained the lead built up by Allan McNish in the first 60 minutes with Loic Duval ending the second hour of the 6 Hours of Silverstone 15 seconds ahead of Marcel Fassler in the nr1 R18 e-tron. The nr8 Toyota TS030 was still on the lead lap but Stephane Sarrazin was over 80 seconds behind the lead Audis and 20 seconds head of teammate Nicolas Lapierre in the nr7 TS030 which had suffered from tyre problems in the first 60-minutes of the race.
The LMP1 Privateer battle became a two horse race when Nick Leventis in the nr21 Strakka Racing HPD-Honda spun across the track at T3 and hit the nr61 Ferrari of Jack Gerber who was turning in for the next corner. The resulting damage forced Leventis to retire. The two Rebellion Racing Lola Toyota’s were having a private battle in 5th and 6th place with Neel Jani in the nr12 car 2 laps behind the Audis and 80 seconds ahead of Frankie Cheng in the nr13 car.
The LMP2 battle was being led by the Delta ADR run G Drive sponsored Oreca Nissan of John Martin, with the nr25 sister car of Tor Graves nearly a minute behind the Australian in 8th overall.
Aston Martin retains upper hand over Ferrari
At the end of the second hour of the 6 Hours of Silverstone, Aston Martin’s No.97 – with Darren Turner at the wheel – remains in control of the LMGTE Pro category, having pulled out a 20 second lead over the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari of Giancarlo Fisichella. Toni Vilander in the sister Ferrari of the Italian championship-winning team is in third place in class, just ahead of the No.92 Porsche AG Team Manthey 911 RSR of Romain Dumas.
The only event of note in the Pro category was a brief excursion off track by Kamui Kobayashi, spinning on some liquid on track, although he was able to continue until his scheduled pit stop.
In LMGTE Am, another AF Corse entry was the unfortunate recipient of damage by the spinning Strakka Racing LMP1, the contact breaking the left front radiator of the Ferrari and consigning him to the pits. Christian Nygaard in the No.95 Aston Martin Vantage is still in control of the head of the time sheets in this category, with the No.88 Proton Competition Porsche one lap back.
Full results and classifications can be found HERE.
HOUR 2 RACE FACTS
• 14:00:32Class leaders at 14.00 LMP1 #2 Audi, LMP2 #26 Oreca, GTE Pro #97 Aston and GTE Am led by #95 Aston
• 13:55:03#2 Audi of Loic Duval now leads #1 Audi by 16 secs
• 13:51:59#61 Ferrari has radiator damage
• 13:49:37Nick Leventis out of #21 Strakka HPD so looks like a retirement
• 13:48:08Oil or water flag showing after accident between #61 Ferrari and #21 Strakka
• 13:46:28#61 Ferrari of Jack Gerber limping back to pits
• 13:45:08#21 Strakka into gravel with front end damage after hitting #61 Ferrari
• 13:39:55#95 Aston has over a minute lead in GTE Am from #88 Proton Porsche
• 13:37:41#91 Manthey Porsche loses a lap checking suspension damage
• 13:36:56#97 Aston leads in GTE Pro from #51 Ferrari 12 seconds
• 13:35:06#35 Morgan of Martin Plowman now leads LMP2 from #26 Oreca of Tor Graves by 32 seconds
• 13:33:00#2 Audi of Duval leads #1 Audi of Fassler by 15 secs
• 13:23:08#1 Audi into pits now driven by Marcel Fassler
• 13:21:56Loic Duval into #2 Audi
• 13:20:33Leading #2 Audi into pits
• 13:11:11Toyota's now matching pace of leading Audi's albeit a minute behind
• 13:04:06#97 Aston leading GTE Pro into pits
