At The Chequered Flag ..

That was a good day’s racing for us endurance racing fans with a brilliant finale. During the last session McNish took over the #2 Audi had a brief spin and therefore needed a rapid pit stop for fresh tyres. He then set off in style after Treluyer in the #1 Audi. McNish got his head down with these fresh tyres and set about chipping ( hacking?) away at Treluyer’s 35 second lead. There were only around 30 mins to go and McNish set about the task with relish. The Team had told us that there were no team orders ( how refreshing !) and the McNish car was closing on the apparently slowing Treluyer car. Are Audi looking at a ‘Grandstand Finish’? With eight minutes to go McNish banged in the fastest lap of the race .. this was amazing.

Another great scrap shaped up in LM GTE Am between Rees in the #50 Chevrolet and the #81 Ferrari ! We had wondered why the ‘Vette seemed to off the pace but it may well have been straightforward tactics and things were unwinding rather well for them! But with five mins to go the #50 Corvette touched the #81 Ferrari and dented the back end and the tyre let go. Game over!

Back at the front McNish took the lead with 4:34 mins to go. The battle really came down to a very determined McNish with fresh tyres and Treluyer, no doubt just as determined, but suffering from ‘worn’ tyres.

So after 197 laps the provisional results are

1. #2 Audi Sport Team Joest
2. #1 Audi Sport Team Joest
3. #8 Toyota Racing
4. #7 Toyota Racing
5. #12 Rebellion Lola
6. #13 Rebellion Lola

LMP2

1. #24 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan
2. #25 Delta ADR Oreca
3. #41 Greaves M/sport Zytek Nissan
4. #49 Pecom Racing Oreca
5. #35 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan
6. #47 KCMG Morgan-Nissan
7. #26 G-Drive Oreca
8. #45 OAK Racing Morgan Nissan
9. #32 Lotus

LMGTE Pro

1. #97 Aston Martin Racing
2. #71 AF Corse Ferrari
3. #99 Aston Martin Racing
4. #92 Porsche Team Manthey
5. #51 AF Corse Ferrari
6. #91 Porsche Team Manthey

LMGT Am

1. #95 Aston Martin Racing
2. #50 Larbre Competition Corvette
3. #81 8 Star Ferrari
4. #96 Aston Martin Racing
5. #88 Proton Competition Porsche
6. #57 Krohn Racing Porsche
7. #76 IMSA Porsche
8. #61 AF Corse Ferrari

So to sum it all up.. There was fascinating racing all the way through but the lst 30 minutes were quite special! Audi did precisely what Audi do so well.. winning endurance races! In some ways Toyota may be a bit disappointed because they were using last year’s car up against Audi’s 2013 Model. While there is no chance of a car like the Rebellion Lola winning outright for the time being they put on a hugely professional show.

LMP2 As always gave the purists some excellent racing. While the LMP1 cars always steal the limelight on TV and commentary, but the LMP2 Class is now a serious force to be reckoned with.

LMGTPro… there was a time, not long ago, that it was a bit tricky taking the Aston Martin Racing efforts too seriously.. but how things have changed. This was a superb performance from the team in both Pro and Am. Ferrari must be concerned, not just because Astons are flying but because Porsche are back, albeit with last year’s engine but the two factory cars will have been pleased with their first serious outing in GT racing this year.

Roll on Spa .. we will hopefully be there so watch this space ..

Silverstone Six Hours Snippets !

Regarding ‘Full Course Yellow’ flags!

We have just spoken with one of senior UK based International Clerks of The Course about the ‘Full Course Yellow’ situation. We don’t see this in National UK Racing but it is common in the US and elsewhere. It is a quick and effective way of sorting out a minor problem, like on this occasion debris on the track, that in the Clerk’s point of view doesn't warrant deploying the safety car but achieving much the same result of slowing down the cars and protecting the marshals. The race leader controls the speed of the following pack. It is quicker to sort out than a safety car period. Clearly more complex or serious situations would involve the safety car.

Regarding the new and innovative (?) qualifying procedure.

It seems that the FIAWEC will be sticking with the idea for the next round at Spa.. but this time they will be easing the pressure by making the session 30 minutes instead of 20 minutes. There is also time between this and the next round to ‘fine tune’ the timing software.