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16th
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After eight hours of racing, three Audis are leading the race, while the Toyota TS030s, which were a threat for the German prototypes during the first hours, encountered problems, the n°8 car crashing hard with Anthony Davidson at the wheel.
The Audi e-tron n°1 driven by Lotterer, Treluyer and Fassler started from pole position, and retained its lead in the first hours of the race.
The Audi R18 of Romain Dumas went off the road, while the other R18 and the second e-tron hybrid lost several minutes in the pits due to technical problems.
After five hours of racing, the race took another twist as the No. 1 Audi e-tron hybrid was closely followed by the two hybrid Toyota TS030s. Treluyer (Audi) and Lapierre (Toyota) were engaged in a great duel for the lead.
But behind this battle, a terrible accident occurred when Anthony Davidson, who was running third, collided with the AF Corse Ferrari F458 GTE Am driven by Perazzini. The Toyota entered a series of loopings, felt hard on its wheels, before hitting the tire barriers violently, while the Ferrari ended up on its roof. Both drivers were unhurt, but the Brit complained of a sore back.
After a long safety car period, the race resumed, but there was another incident involving Toyota when the n°7 driven by Nakajima had a contact when lapping the DeltaWing driven by Motoyama, who ended up in the wall. The Toyota had to stop to change its rear wing, but then was back into the pits one lap later due to technical problems which stopped the Japanese prototype for about an hour.
That left Audi with a 1-2-3 lead after eight hours of racing, with both R18 e-trons leading the R18 diesel ultra ahead of the first petrol powered cars : the two Lola Rebellions. The first LMP2 car was the Murphy Prototype's ORECA-Nissan ahead of OAK Racing's Morgan-Judd.
In GTE Pro, there was a great fight between the Corvette C6 ZR1 and the Ferrari F458, with the Corvette n°74 leading the Ferrari n°51. Finally, the GTE Am was also dominated by a Corvette, the C6 ZR1 ran by Larbre Competition, ahead of IMSA Performance's Porsche 997 GT3.
After repairs, that lasted for more than an hour, the DeltaWing was back in action.
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| (Photo: WRI2) |
The Audi e-tron n°1 driven by Lotterer, Treluyer and Fassler started from pole position, and retained its lead in the first hours of the race.
The Audi R18 of Romain Dumas went off the road, while the other R18 and the second e-tron hybrid lost several minutes in the pits due to technical problems.
After five hours of racing, the race took another twist as the No. 1 Audi e-tron hybrid was closely followed by the two hybrid Toyota TS030s. Treluyer (Audi) and Lapierre (Toyota) were engaged in a great duel for the lead.
But behind this battle, a terrible accident occurred when Anthony Davidson, who was running third, collided with the AF Corse Ferrari F458 GTE Am driven by Perazzini. The Toyota entered a series of loopings, felt hard on its wheels, before hitting the tire barriers violently, while the Ferrari ended up on its roof. Both drivers were unhurt, but the Brit complained of a sore back.
After a long safety car period, the race resumed, but there was another incident involving Toyota when the n°7 driven by Nakajima had a contact when lapping the DeltaWing driven by Motoyama, who ended up in the wall. The Toyota had to stop to change its rear wing, but then was back into the pits one lap later due to technical problems which stopped the Japanese prototype for about an hour.
That left Audi with a 1-2-3 lead after eight hours of racing, with both R18 e-trons leading the R18 diesel ultra ahead of the first petrol powered cars : the two Lola Rebellions. The first LMP2 car was the Murphy Prototype's ORECA-Nissan ahead of OAK Racing's Morgan-Judd.
In GTE Pro, there was a great fight between the Corvette C6 ZR1 and the Ferrari F458, with the Corvette n°74 leading the Ferrari n°51. Finally, the GTE Am was also dominated by a Corvette, the C6 ZR1 ran by Larbre Competition, ahead of IMSA Performance's Porsche 997 GT3.
After repairs, that lasted for more than an hour, the DeltaWing was back in action.