Le Mans Series, 6 Hours Of Le Castellet - Hours 4 & 5

Into the second half of the race and Watts goes by an out of sorts Chalandon for 4th overall - second in class - lets' not go believing this is about a massive jump in HPD pace though - It isn't!

The TV replay shows the Farnbacher team changing tyres with the fuel hoses still attached to the car.

3:15  Ralph Meichtry is closing in on Luis Perez Companc for 6th overall, 4th in LMP2 - 4 seconds the current gap.

The TDS Oreca has had a substantial contact with the armco at Turn 3 - the rear of the car looks a little 'not as the maker intended' and the barrier a little bent - Pierre Thiriet had been aboard we believe.

At the same time we have both the FLM and LMP2 leaders in trouble - Luca Moro cruising back to the pits in the Hope Racing #91 FLM and the Boutsen Energy Oreca into the box after its latest pitstop.

That puts Strakka up into the lead in LMP2 - Third overall.

3:23 SAFETY CAR - The dead stick TDS Oreca appears to be the cause.

3:31 - We're racing once again, the Oreca on the back of a flatbed and clearly out of the race.

The reshuffle with pit stops puts Rob Bell in the lead of the GTE race for JMW with Alex Mueller looking for a way by and briefly making it - The yellow 458 though gets back ahead and pulls away.

The earlier delay for the #71 AF Corse car was to replace a toe link at the rear of the car.

Boutsen Energy's issue is a dead battery, the car refusing to re fire after de Crem got out.

The issue for the Neil Garner FLM was leaking fuel from a broken O-Ring.

3:37 The leader now has Bouillon right behind him (Collard now aboard #16) with the Lola looking to unlap himself and get back onto the lead lap!  Bouillon is trying very hard indeed and goes wide over the rumble strips out of Signes but stays in touch.

Phil Keen: "The car was leaking fuel from a 10p o-ring that had failed, the marshalls spotted it.  John was driving well, we lost around 5 minutes when an accident in front of him put him off-line and he hit a chunk of rubber that broke the wheel louvres.  They pull you in for that now, so it wasn't the end of the world, but the o-ring has finished us off.  You never know though, there is still half the race to go and the car is quick enough for us to make some time back."

Dominik Farnbacher: "Last year we could still use 3 rattle guns on the tyre changes and we did that again, but only one at a time.  You can only use two now, and we didn't know that, so it was a mistake but 1 minute is a lot.  We could have done something today, its the first time we have had a real shot at a win and we have been at the same level of Michelin in a race.  I just hope Allan has time to catch up some time and give us another shot."

James Walker: "My first stint was really good, I really enjoyed it.  It wasn't easy because I had a coming together with a white and yellow car [Pegasus?] with slight contact.  It pushed the right mirror in so I had no idea what was behind on that side as we don't have a central mirror.  The car felt good though and the tyres held on. We were losing some front grip towards the end but not too bad and I think we are leading now as Bruni has stopped and we are going to stay out under the safety car and I will be in very soon.  I had a good fight with the Farnbacher car and defended down the back a couple of times but I wanted to complete my stint as quickly as possible so once he was past I let him go and tucked in behind me, rather than losing seconds a lap and destroying the tyres defending."

JMW's tactic was to stay out and stretch their fuel window during the Safety Car - That's put them out in the lead  with Bruni 50 seconds + behind - The JMW car pits at 3:46 into the race and Bruni will go by.

There's no way by it seems for Bouillon, Collard playing a fine defensive game to prevent the Rebellion man getting back onto the lead lap - It seems Pescarolo lost time when the team noticed that they had put their last set of tyres on the wrong sides of the car!

Bouillon though takes advantage of a slight fumble by Manu lapping the RLR Lola and finally gets ahead - - He'll now try to attack the lap's gap between the two.

The #91 Hope Racing FLM looks in big trouble, the team in the process of separating the rear end of the Oreca.

Watts pits from 3rd overall, he stays aboard the Strakka HPD and will rejoin without losing the class lead it seems.

JCB is flying, a good 4 seconds a lap faster at the moment than the Pesca - 1:48 to 1:52 - The Rebellion Team Manager though has been summoned to Race Control!

With the delays and mayhem in GTE Pro the 'Am' leading CRS 430 is currently the fourth placed GTE car overall.

Into the 5th hour - The lead gap is 100 seconds - LMP2 is currently filling places 3 through 9 in the overall order - Watts leading Chalandon by 37 seconds, then Kaffer, Newton, Kraihamer, Garofall and Ebbesvik.

Bruni is 10th overall in the GTE leading #51 AF Corse Ferrari with Jani closing in rapidly in the recovering #12 Rebellion.

12th is the FLM leading Pegasus #95 with James Walker next up around 70 seconds behind class rival Bruni, the Italian though is pulling away.

Steve Keating has a brief spin in the Neil Garner FLM and we suddenly get a large FULL YELLOW warning on screen - Ah, not for long - we get another that says GREEN FLAG - more finger trouble in Race Control?

Mike Newton loses 6th to the recovering Boutsen Energy car and is then passed by the delayed Norma too.

The GTE leading Ferrari is in trouble - The car slow on the Mistral, Bruni seemingly in electrical trouble, the car restarts and he pits immediately - Walker will lead the class - Fisichella climbs aboard #51- Was #51 out of fuel? The 458 emerges in third position behind the Young Driver Aston.

Bouillon pits from second overall - Jani pits soon afterwards in the now 10th placed #12 sister car, Prost climbs aboard.

After Collard's stop the gap is back to around 100 seconds once again.

Just as an update the Aston Martin AMR One is in the box at present with the team investigating a misfire.

Kimber Smith is back aboard the #41 Zytek Nissan, Gary Chalandon having made little impression on Danny Watts - Pierre Kaffer passes TKS as he emerges from the pits.

Bouillon has a lurid spin in the #13 car - he rejoins but a lot of hard work was undone in that moment - He drops back off the lead lap as he recovers. 

Ben Collins is now aboard the RML HPD  The #36 car drops behind the RLR MG Lola as a result, Rob Garofall currently at the wheel.

The TDS Racing Oreca fell victim to a repeat of the steering issue that struck the car earlier in the race - Pierre Thiriet losing the car under braking as the problem hit.

Gimmi Bruni's reaction to a brief question about the issue for #51 spoke volumes - It seems clear the car was out of fuel!

Jota's problems lately are air con related, the car over the legal limit, the air compressor holed, another issue believed to have its roots in the startline shunt - The car is in the box with the floor needing to be removed to fix this problem.

Stefan Mucke, whilst confirming the current misfire issue, reports that the team have been dojung some mapping work during the race - The #009 car will rejoin this race though.

Kimber Smith is about to un-lap himself from Watts, he's been tearing time out of the HPD lately - TKS simply storms by both the HPDs on the Mistral - The difference in straight line speed is borderline criminal!

4:41 The unique and highly valued talents of Paul Truswell tell us that the pescarolo, still with the #13 Rebllion bottled up behind, can probably go to the finish on a single stop from here - The Rebellion may need a splash plus a full stop - With just over a lap to make up that means the #13 crew must rely on something more than their own pace to make a meaningful impact on the leader!

The GTE Am lead changes hands as Hummel takes over from Quaife - Christian Ried hits the class lead in the #88 Porsche.

Watts Pits, Leventis into the Strakka car and Kimber Smith is right on his tail immediately - He passes the HPD and pulls away quickly - Leventis now has Kaffer to worry about, the Pecom Lola closing in fast. Leventis is in the car to the finish, the regulatory 1 hour and 15 minutes for the non pro in LMP2.

Bouillon pitted during that little lot after only a 15 lap stint - we believe to remove the no doubt flat spotted tyres and to leave himself needing just one full stop.  

4:54 Kaffer is up to 4th overall and ahead of Leventis.

Nicolas Prost is making his way through the LMP2 pack - up to 9th overall.

4:57 - Walker pits from the GTE lead - Rob Bell back aboard for JMW - the car had a 50 second advantage before that stop with Bell now in to the finish and the #51 car requiring another stop - This could be very close!