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WEC Silverstone 6 Hours
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Oh dear. There's half a dozen cars now under investigation for various infringements.
Cars under investigation
[LMP1] #10 DragonSpeed
[LMP2] #36 Signatech, #31 DragonSpeed, #50 Larbre
[GTE Pro] #66 Ford GT
[GTE Am] #56 Project 1, #90 TF Sport
We suspect the #66 Ford had one too many mechanics in pit lane during that door change.
Cars under investigation
[LMP1] #10 DragonSpeed
[LMP2] #36 Signatech, #31 DragonSpeed, #50 Larbre
[GTE Pro] #66 Ford GT
[GTE Am] #56 Project 1, #90 TF Sport
We suspect the #66 Ford had one too many mechanics in pit lane during that door change.
Driver Change
Bruni's finished his second stint aboard the #91 Porsche. Richard Lietz relieves him. They pitted from second place in GTE Pro.
GTE AM
GTE Am is still delivering some great racing. Porsche veteran Jorg Bergmeister nips past the #61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari at Vale, with Matt Griffin unable to resist.
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Fernando Alonso has just finished getting changed into civvies after his stint.
"It was fine, the car was good. In the first stint the car was oversteering but we had very good balance in the second stint," he says of his spell in the #8 Toyota.
"It's a very close fight. It's unbelievable, two cars separated by one second after three hours. We're enjoying ourselves.
"We're not out to fight too hard because the team has to finish 1-2 if possible. It's a fair fight but we can still play a little bit."
"It was fine, the car was good. In the first stint the car was oversteering but we had very good balance in the second stint," he says of his spell in the #8 Toyota.
"It's a very close fight. It's unbelievable, two cars separated by one second after three hours. We're enjoying ourselves.
"We're not out to fight too hard because the team has to finish 1-2 if possible. It's a fair fight but we can still play a little bit."
LMP1
Lopez is pushing on to close the gap to Nakajima ahead. A single second now seperates the #8 and #7 Toyotas.
GTE AM
Pedro Lamy is setting personal best after personal best laps, yet still can't hang on to Matt Campbell. The #98 Aston Martin is now 5.3s off the lead #77 Porsche.
It's brought into the garage and the mechanics get to work on the front left suspension. Their podium don't look good now.
LMP2
The #28 TDS Racing has a rather wonky looking front-left wheel. Loic Duval has to pit from second place.
LMP1
That was a really great in-lap, pitstop and out-lap combination by Alonso and Nakajima. Their gap over Lopez in the #7 Toyota is up to 3.8s after their recent stop.
GTE AM
Matt Campbell sets the fastest GTE Am lap of the race so far. He's leaving Pedro Lamy behind, upping his lead to 4.5s.
LMP1
Nakajima emerges ahead of the sister #7 Toyota. His gap has visually increased over Lopez. We'll let you know the new gap when it pops up.
Driver Change
Here comes Alonso for #8's next stop. He hops out, and in climbs Kazuki Nakajima.
GTE AM
By the way, we missed a GTE Am lead change moments ago, as the Project 1 Porsche and TF Sport Aston pitted together behind the safety car. Matt Campbell now leads in the #77 Proton Porsche.
LMP1
The #7 Toyota of Conway pits from second place. Jose Maria Lopez clambers aboard for his first stint of the afternoon.
LMP1
Jani is back at the wheel of the #1 Rebellion after that stop. Remember, with Senna out of action, he and Lotterer are contesting this race as a pair.
GTE PRO
Trouble for the #66 Ford, which looks like it's having its left-side door replaced.
GTE PRO
That means the #51 Ferrari is now leading GTE Pro ahead of the #92 Porsche as we pass the halfway mark.
LMP1
A few more cars dive into the pits, including the #1 Rebellion and both GTE Pro Fords.
Green flag
And we are back to racing! Just over three hours left.
LMP2
Our LMP2 leader Richelmi has taken the opportunity to stop behind the safety car, dropping to third behind Duval in the TDS machine and the sister Jackie Chan car of Jaafar.
And it's also a good chance to watch the highlights of that chaotic opening hour.
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This seems like a great opportunity to round up the order as things stand:
1) Alonso - Toyota
2) Conway - Toyota +0.8s
3) Lotterer - Rebellion +2 laps
4) Menezes - Rebellion +3 laps
5) Orudzhev - SMP +3 laps
Class leaders:
LMP2: Richelmi - Jackie Chan DC Racing
GTE Pro: Tincknell - Ford
GTE Am: Perfetti - Project 1 Porsche
1) Alonso - Toyota
2) Conway - Toyota +0.8s
3) Lotterer - Rebellion +2 laps
4) Menezes - Rebellion +3 laps
5) Orudzhev - SMP +3 laps
Class leaders:
LMP2: Richelmi - Jackie Chan DC Racing
GTE Pro: Tincknell - Ford
GTE Am: Perfetti - Project 1 Porsche
LMP1
That's essentially eliminated Alonso's five-second advantage over Conway.
Safety car
The safety car is out to clear up the debris arising from the #71 Ferrari's puncture.
GTE PRO
Oh dear, looks like there was contact between Rigon and the #17 SMP BR1 of Egor Orudzhev, which has duly come in for a stop now - dropping the Russian-entered car from third to fifth overall.
GTE PRO
Drama for the #71 Ferrari, which has a right-rear puncture! Davide Rigon crawling along the Hangar Straight after that.
LMP2
Maldonado has attracted the attention of the stewards, not for the first time in his career... black-and-white flag for track limits abuse. You've been warned, Pastor!
LMP2
TDS Racing was primed to move up to second in class, but Perrodo pitted the #28 Oreca to hand over to Loic Duval at almost the exact same time. Jaafar is back on track and on his way, so it's game on between those two now.
LMP2
It's a left-front puncture for Jaafar, who has made it back to the pits now.
LMP2
There looks to be an issue for the class-leading #37 Jota Sport Oreca! Jaafar slows and hands over the class lead to the sister #38 car of Richelmi.
LMP1
All of a sudden, Alonso has pulled out five seconds on Conway out front. Slow lap there by the #7 driver.
GTE PRO
The lead battle in GTE Pro rages on, with Tincknell's Ford still being made to work hard by Calado's Ferrari. Half a second between the pair, making it the closest lead battle right now of all the classes.
GTE AM
Drive-through penalty for the #61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari for pitlane speeding. Whoops.
That hare is back and it's toying with the drivers. It runs across the Hangar straight again, just missing the GTE Am-leading #56 Porsche. I think he's trying to imitate Alonso's approach to lapped traffic.
It's worth remembering that they're on similar but not identical strategies. In their stops prior to that full course yellow - in which both cars also stopped - the #8 pitted one lap earlier than the #7.
It's another team order delivered over the radio by Toyota. Alonso swings past Conway down the Wellington straight.
LMP1
And Alonso takes the lead!
LMP1
Those Toyotas are being creative. Approaching Village, both come across a GTE Ferrari. Conway ducks inside, Alonso ducks outside, both enveloping the Ferrari. It's still #7 ahead of #8 but Alonso is clearly having fun with this.
GTE PRO
This GTE Pro lead battle is still tight. Harry Tincknell still holds first in the #67 Ford GT he took over from Andy Priaulx, though James Calado is only 1.1s behind in the #51 AF Corse.
By: Matt Beer
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