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Spa WEC and Alonso's debut
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Alonso flirts with the grass on the right-hand side of the Kemmel Straight as he clears a clump of GTE cars, but now he has clear track ahead.
Green flag
We're green! Alonso leads on his WEC debut.
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We're 90 minutes in, here are the positions in LMP1 and the leaders in class:
1) Toyota - Alonso
2) Rebellion - Senna
3) Rebellion - Menezes
4) Sarrazin - SMP
5) Petrov - SMP
LMP2: Tan - Jackie Chan DC Racing
GTE Pro: Mucke - Ford
GTE Am: Dalla Lana - Aston Martin
1) Toyota - Alonso
2) Rebellion - Senna
3) Rebellion - Menezes
4) Sarrazin - SMP
5) Petrov - SMP
LMP2: Tan - Jackie Chan DC Racing
GTE Pro: Mucke - Ford
GTE Am: Dalla Lana - Aston Martin
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Lotterer takes us through his opening double stint in the #1 Rebellion:
Very good, everything ran smooth. It’s really hot in the car, and it’s not easy to drive, so we’re fighting to find a good balance. We are quite clear from the rest, so a good job. It’s a bit of a knife-edge to drive, so we need to control the suspension a bit better.”
Very good, everything ran smooth. It’s really hot in the car, and it’s not easy to drive, so we’re fighting to find a good balance. We are quite clear from the rest, so a good job. It’s a bit of a knife-edge to drive, so we need to control the suspension a bit better.”
We have an explanation for the #81 BMW's slow stop - a "kerfuffle", as a team representative describes it, regarding which way round the tyres should be going on.
The #3 Rebellion pits from the lead, with Menezes taking over the wheel. Bruno Senna did likewise in the #1 machine, taking over from Lotterer. SMP didn't change drivers.
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Van der Garde on the #29 car's problem:
“It was going really, really well after a year without racing. It was just amazing, but under the safety car we had a problem with the alternator, the battery. We hope we can solve it to get back out there.”
“It was going really, really well after a year without racing. It was just amazing, but under the safety car we had a problem with the alternator, the battery. We hope we can solve it to get back out there.”
Both Toyotas take chance to change drivers. Kamui Kobayashi climbs aboard the #7 car, while a certain Fernando Alonso does likewise in the #8...
Most of the LMP1 field stops on Lap 34, with the exception of the #3 Rebellion that now leads.
While the rest of the LMP2s pit in, we note that the #29 car is still stuck in the garage...
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Kanaan in full on teammate Tincknell's accident:
“It’s hard to tell what happened but definitely there was some sort of a failure. We had put new tyres on the left side, and the pressures were up – we looked at everything, so we don’t know what happened but it definitely wasn’t Harry’s fault.
"Glad that he’s OK, glad that Ford made a strong car for us. Pietro Fittipaldi had a nasty accident yesterday in the same place and broke both his legs. Harry walked away, so that tells you how safe these cars are. Shame for us, we had a strong car, and could have been 1-2 today.”
“It’s hard to tell what happened but definitely there was some sort of a failure. We had put new tyres on the left side, and the pressures were up – we looked at everything, so we don’t know what happened but it definitely wasn’t Harry’s fault.
"Glad that he’s OK, glad that Ford made a strong car for us. Pietro Fittipaldi had a nasty accident yesterday in the same place and broke both his legs. Harry walked away, so that tells you how safe these cars are. Shame for us, we had a strong car, and could have been 1-2 today.”
Couple more LMP2 stoppers as this safety car period continues, including van der Garde in the class-leading #29 Dallara. That hands Maldonado the LMP2 lead ahead of Tung and Rusinov.
One thing worth noting is that the #81 BMW had a four-minute stop, and has dropped to ninth in the GTE Pro class as a result, behind the leading Am class runners.
Serious tyre barrier repair work going on at Eau Rouge, going to be a few more laps before we get back under green flag running.
Replays show the Porsche of Lietz ran over a large chunk of debris from the Tincknell incident.
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"Thank God he's fine" - that's Tony Kanaan's verdict on Tincknell's crash. Sadly, we won't see the Brazilian IndyCar star in action today.
The remaining GTE Pro cars have all taken the chance to stop, but Mucke's sole surviving Ford continues to lead the two Porsches of Lietz and Christensen.
Could be a lengthy suspension this one. 4h55m left on the clock, 30 laps complete.
Crash
Huge crash for Harry Tincknell in the Ford at Eau Rouge, but thankfully he's out of the car and apparently unhurt. Safety car is out, but the #67 car is destroyed and will be taking no further part.
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LMP1 running order after one hour:
1) Buemi - Toyota
2) Lotterer - Rebellion +38s
3) Laurent - Rebellion +49s
4) Sarrazin - SMP +1m45s
5) Conway - Toyota +1 lap
1) Buemi - Toyota
2) Lotterer - Rebellion +38s
3) Laurent - Rebellion +49s
4) Sarrazin - SMP +1m45s
5) Conway - Toyota +1 lap
Now the two Porsches follow suit - but while Mucke and Tincknell stayed on board, both Porsche crews swapped drivers. Lietz takes over car 91 from Bruni, Christensen car 92 from Estre.
The two Fords pit from first and third in GTE Pro, 24 laps into the race.
Here's one thing that needs pointing out. The top two cars in LMP2 are in Michelin tyres in front of the runners on the previously-dominant Dunlops.
Dillmann has been lapped by Buemi, so after Conway's first stop we're down to four cars (one Toyota, two Rebellions and an SMP) on the lead lap.
Petrov pitted the #11 SMP car (the car that Jenson Button will drive at Le Mans) for a second time on lap 21, precisely 17 laps after his first trip to the pits. That's the maximum the privateers can go under green flag running, while the Toyotas can do 19 laps between stops.
Brief GTE Pro update: Mucke is 2.6s to the good in the lead Ford, while Porsche man Bruni continues to frustrate Tincknell in the second GT.
Estre's Porsche is seven seconds down in fourth, while rest - led by Pier Guidi in the Ferrari - are 24s off the class lead.
Estre's Porsche is seven seconds down in fourth, while rest - led by Pier Guidi in the Ferrari - are 24s off the class lead.
Looks like there's been a fracas down at the Bus Stop. Ishikawa just lost it and spun in the #70 Ferrari, but luckily the cars following (including a Toyota) manage to avoid him.
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So, this is now the state of play in LMP1:
1) Buemi - Toyota
2) Lotterer - Rebellion +29s
3) Laurent - Rebellion +34s
4) Petrov - SMP +1m22s
5) Sarrazin - SMP +1m25s
6) Dillmann - ByKolles +1m47s
1) Buemi - Toyota
2) Lotterer - Rebellion +29s
3) Laurent - Rebellion +34s
4) Petrov - SMP +1m22s
5) Sarrazin - SMP +1m25s
6) Dillmann - ByKolles +1m47s
Conway pits the #7 Toyota for the first time with 20 laps done. He was back on the lead lap and in among the LMP1s, which have now all stopped once.
Van der Garde emerged from the first round of LMP2 stops with an enhanced lead of 12 seconds over Maldonado. Ho-Pin Tung runs third in the best of the Jota Sport ORECAs.
Sarrazin pits the #17 SMP car from second, so the Rebellions are back up to second and third - 24 and 32 seconds behind Buemi respectively.
The leaders in LMP2 are also in for their first stops. Worrying lick of flame from the rear of the ByKolles as it left pit road there...
Dillmann pits the ByKolles from fourth. Buemi has resumed in the lead, ahead of Sarrazin, who hasn't stopped.
Buemi pits from the lead, along with both Rebellion cars. Fuel-only for the #8, Buemi is told.
Crash
And another drive-through penalty - it's for the #50 Larbre car for stopping in the pits while the Safety Car was out.
Crash
The #36 Signatech Alpine - running sixth in the LMP2 class - has picked up a drive-through penalty for "not respecting official instruction at Turn 1."
The Dillmann-Sarrazin battle for fourth is taking place a minute down on the lead Toyota now, but credit to Rebellion - both cars are still within 15s of the lead.
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Positions after 30 minutes:
1) Buemi - Toyota
2) Lotterer - Rebellion +9.9s
3) Laurent - Rebellion +14s
4) Dillmann - ByKolles +55s
5) Sarrazin - SMP +56s
Class leaders:
LMP2: van der Garde - Team Nederland
GTE Pro: Mucke - Ford
GTE Am: Lauda - Aston Martin
1) Buemi - Toyota
2) Lotterer - Rebellion +9.9s
3) Laurent - Rebellion +14s
4) Dillmann - ByKolles +55s
5) Sarrazin - SMP +56s
Class leaders:
LMP2: van der Garde - Team Nederland
GTE Pro: Mucke - Ford
GTE Am: Lauda - Aston Martin
Pastor Maldonado is up to second in LMP2 in the DragonSpeed car, having earlier passed Rusinov. Van der Garde is eight seconds up the road in the RTN Dallara, though.
By: Matt Beer
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