The first 90 minutes of the 6 Hours of Shanghai saw the championship leading no8 Toyota TS040 of Sebastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson take charge despite having to return to the pits after the correct amount of fuel wasn’t dispensed in an early stop for the Toyota.
The two Porsche 919s led the way with the no14 919 of Romain Dumas making the most of his pole position. However before the first lap was completed the Safety Car was deployed when the no47 KCMG Oreca of Alexandre Imperatori suffered a fuel pump failure and was collected by the nr51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 of reigning World Champion Gianmaria Bruni. While the cars suffered heavy damage, the drivers were both OK.
While the Safety Car led the field round the two Toyota TS040s dived into the pitlane when the closed light was extinguished, dropping the pair down the field. Buemi had to bring the car back in a lap later to properly refuel the car and rejoined at the back of the train following the Safety Car.
On Lap 9 the race went green again and while the two Porsches battled for the lead, all eyes were on Buemi as he forced his way to the front of the field. On Lap 34 he did take the lead as the no20 car of Brendon Hartley came in for his stop. Hartley rejoined but was back a lap later as the left rear suffered a puncture and the New Zealander came slowly back to the pits.
In LMP2 the no26 G-Drive Racing Ligier of Olivier Pla dominated the class after the restart and pulled out a healthy lead of nearly 30 seconds over the no30 Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD of Ryan Dalziel. With the demise of the no47 KCMG Oreca, the nr27 SMP Racing Oreca of Nicolas Minassian had moved up to 3rd, with the second ESM HPD of David Brabham in 4th.
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Jeff Carter
RACE FACTS
12:27:11 Toyota #7 takes 3rd from Audi #2
12:26:20 Toyota #8 leads by 11 seconds from #14 Porsche after pit stop
12:24:33 1:49.470 fastest lap for #8 Toyota
12:21:09 Porsche #20 now in 8th after tyre blow out
12:19:13 Duval now in Audi #1
12:18:32 Leading Toyota #8 into pits Davidson in
12:16:19 Porsche #20 running slowly left rear tyre blown
12:14:17 Toyota's now 1st and 2nd #8 leads #7
12:10:49 Both Porsche's into pits - #8 Toyota takes lead
12:09:53 In GTE Am #98 Aston leads from #95 Aston and #90 Ferrari
12:08:46 In GTE Pro #92 Porsche leads #99 Aston and #97 Aston
12:06:59 Audi #2 and #1 into pits
12:06:25 In P2 #26 Ligier leads from #30 HPD and #27 Oreca
12:03:52 Toyota #8 now up to 3rd place
12:02:52 After 1 hour #20 Porsche leads #14 Porsche #2 Audi and #1 Audi
12:01:27 P2 leader #26 Ligier pits
11:59:06 Rebellion #13 into pits
11:57:16 Ferrari #71 and #12 Rebellion into pits
11:53:59 Toyota #8 now only under 9 seconds behind leader
11:50:42 Porsche #20 of Hartley takes lead from #14 Porsche
11:49:16 Toyota #8 now under 15 seconds behind the leading Porsche
11:45:15 1:49.625 fastest lap for Buemi in #8
11:44:08 The two Audi's #2 and #1 now only 3 seconds behind the leading Porsche's
11:41:56 Leading Toyota #8 is 20 seconds behind the leading #14 Porsche
11:37:29 The 2 Toyota's now in 5th and 6th
11:36:20 The 2 Porsche's lead the 2 Audi's by 5 seconds after 14 laps
11:33:22 Toyotas have now cleared the P2 class now in 7th and 8th
11:29:14 1:49.974 fastest lap for Toyota #8
11:27:28 Aston #98 of Lamy leads GTE Am
11:26:23 Ligier #26 leads P2 from #30 HPD
11:25:22 Aston #97 leads GTE Pro
11:23:24 Green Flag
11:22:13 Safety car in this lap
11:20:10 Toyota #8 back into pits for more fuel
11:19:25 Porsche's #14 and #20 in first and second
11:16:45 Ferrari #90 into pits
11:15:40 Toyota's #7 and #8 into pits
11:14:49 Pit entry now open
11:11:38 Still a lot of debris on the track
11:09:43 KCMG Oreca #47 appeared to have power problem
11:12:19 Porsche #14 leads behind safety car from #8 Toyota and #20 Porsche
11:03:29 Safety Car
11:03:05 Oreca #47 has lost a lot of bodywork in clash with #51 Ferrari
11:01:20 Porsche #14 leads into first corner
11:00:32 Green Flag
