WEC finale, Macau GP, NASCAR decider
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GARY WATKINS: The loss of five laps for the #17 Porsche means it is on course to finish sixth as the last of the manufacturer P1s. Should Lotterer and co win the race for Audi, that wouldn't be enough to give Bernhard, Webber and Hartley the title.
They need to be fourth ahead of both Toyotas - and then they'd win on countback. It should be pointed out that anything less than a win for Lotterer, Fassler and Treluyer ain't much use to them.
They need to be fourth ahead of both Toyotas - and then they'd win on countback. It should be pointed out that anything less than a win for Lotterer, Fassler and Treluyer ain't much use to them.
Bernhard has now passed all the GTE cars in his #17 Porsche. But he's still four laps down...
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The Corvette of Roda continues to lead in GTE Am. He has a seven second gap to the #83 AF Corse Ferrari of Cressoni. Third is the #77 Porsche with Ried behind the wheel.
In GTE Pro, the Porsche of Makowiecki leads Bruni's AF Corse Ferrari by 13s with the other Ferrari of Rigon a further five seconds back.
GARY WATKINS: Lotterer jumped Dumas in the pitstop cycle courtesy of spending five seconds fewer in the pitlane and some quick laps from the Audi - including fastest lap of the race - on his fresh rubber before the Porsche stopped.
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In LMP2, the #47 KCMG ORECA of Howson leads Rusinov's #27 G-Drive Ligier by two seconds. Dillmann is third in the Signatech Alpine 12s adrift of the leader.
So with almost an hour on the clock, it's an Audi 1-2 at the front. Di Grassi leads title contender Lotterer by eight seconds, with Dumas third in the #18 Porsche a further six seconds back. Bernhard is now up to 26th.
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On his return to sportscars, Wurz won Le Mans again, with Peugeot in 2009 alongside Marc Gene and David Brabham.
Wurz's final F1 podium came in Canada in 2007 with Williams, during his last season.
KCMG had lost seven seconds in the stops, but Howson has quickly turned things around.
In LMP2, Howson has just taken the lead from Rusinov into Turn 1.
Leading #18 Porsche of Dumas now visits the pits. All the LMP1 cars have stopped.
Meanwhile, both Toyotas pit. Buemi hands over to Davison in #1, Wurz is replaced by Sarrazin.
Bernhard is still 31st at the moment. There's a long way to go but the #17 Porsche crew have got a lot of work to do if they want to take the title.
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GARY WATKINS: That was an early stop for di Grassi. It doesn't require too much imagination to come up with the conclusion that the Audi driver started on a light fuel load in order to try to mix it with the Porsches and put them under pressure.
Meanwhile, the #8 Audi - still driven by di Grassi - has just set a new fastest lap.
#7 Audi is in the pits now. Fassler is handing over to Lotterer.
The G-Drive car is now in the hands of Roman Rusinov, with Tandy handing over to Matt Howson.
Over in LMP2, points leader Bird has grabbed the class lead during the stops, the G-Drive driver passing KCMG's Tandy.
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But he overshoots his marks by a long way and has to be pushed back.
We have the first scheduled pitstop as di Grassi pits from the lead.
GARY WATKINS Porsche is still on course for a WEC drivers' title today, don't forget. Christensen is setting a conservative pace in GTE Pro and is running sixth, which would be more than enough to give co-driver Lietz the World Endurance Cup for GT drivers.
Of course, this is not the first time that #17 has had reliability problems. It didn't finish the opening race at Silverstone after a drivetrain issue.
With the #17 Porsche's problems, the Toyotas are up to fourth and fifth. Wurz, in the second TS 040 didn't always enjoy smooth sailing in F1. Remember Canada 1998?
Bernhard is about to go back out. He's four laps down and 31st overall. Now we'll see how quick the Porsche 919 Hybrid really is.
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Bernhard is already three laps down and is still in the garage. He's currently 22nd, but is continually plummeting down the order.
GARY WATKINS: The key thing to remember when you get your calculators out to work out the championship permutations is that LMP2 drivers can deprive Bernhard, Webber and Hartley of points. If they are outside the top 10 prototype finishers, then they get half a point.
Yellow flag
Minassian and Calado just collide, but both get back going after spinning.
Bernhard seemed to suddenly lose power and is now wheeled into the garage.
#8 Audi of di Grassi now leads from the other Porsche of Dumas, with the title-fighting #7 Audi third.
Is that the championship over? Bernhard is heading to the pits.
Slow middle sector from leader Bernhard! Could this be a problem?
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By: Matt Beer
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