FIA WEC/ALMS, 12 Hours of Sebring - Hour Five

Four hours completed - eight hours left to go here at the Sebring International Raceway. It may not be a classic race - but there has been plenty of action so far.

Audi #1 suddenly slows on the Ullmann Straight - Benoit Treluyer returns to the pit. Quick fix and it's on its way again.

And now we have the #88 Porsche and #57 Ferrari spinning at turn 4. Team Felbermayr-Proton stuck behind the #55 JWA-Avila and then spun, Krohn Racing Ferrari took evasive action and spun as well.

Legality panel problems for #6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03a and the #28 Gulf Racing Middle East Lola B12/80. Will have to repair them during their next pit stops.

Audi #1 is in again - this time for a penalty for a pit lane infringement.

And we have a PC car off the track at Turn 5 - the #06.

Crash - the #025 Dempsey Racing into the barriers at Turn 4. Not what Duncan Ende wanted.

FULL COURSE CAUTION - 14:40 - the fourth of the race.

Corvette made a pit stop just before the yellow flags came out - Dyson Racing Team #016 pitted for 5 seconds of fuel only, emergency pit stop which is allowed under the regulations.

#23 Signatech Nissan is now officially retired from the race - not a surprise there.

Very slow safety car - cars almost coming to a stop on the finish straight.

The #025 car is back in the pit - being towed - so that means clear track. Pit open next time by.

As the pit opens several cars come in - including the #6 and #28 that will have to be repaired before being allowed back out on the track.

Muscle Milk HPD already on its way back out - the safety car means the team will not lose too much time.

Pits open for GT cars.

We're green flag racing again but almost immediately there's trouble for Dominik Kraihamer in the 5th placed #15 OAK, he has a minor off track moment but then loses the car on the exit of the next turn and clangs the barrier, damage to the left rear. Legality panel issue coming up there?

Couple of Lola's rolling down pit lane - #13 Rebellion touched the sister car #12 earlier. #016 Dyson car was the other in the pit - it came in to serve a penalty.

130 laps completed by Tom Kristensen. The gap to Loic Duval is now just over seven seconds.

Another close call on the finish straight - one of the Lotus-liveried cars trying to pass a GT and an LMP car in one move - nearly into the back of the Gulf car.

Bouchut has passed Ayari - Level 5 Motorsports leads P2 again.

Sarrazin has now also passed Ayari and is into second position in the P2 category - Ayari's lap was 2 seconds slower than the times of Bouchut and Sarrazin. Sarrazin now going after Bouchut.

Audi Sport Team Joest refueling .... their pit wall generators. No diesel there!

Tom Kristensen pits from the lead - Loic Duval moves ahead.

Capello has climbed onboard the #2 Audi and is back on track - Audi team now waiting for the #3 Audi of Treluyer - who will hand over to Timo Bernhard.

Problems for Krohn Racing! The car stopped at the run-off of Turn 7.

Standings after 5 hours of racing

LMP1 - Audi #2, Audi #3, Audi #1

LMP2 - Level 5 Motorsports #055, Starworks Motorsport #44, PeCom #49

PC - CORE Autosports #06 - RSR Racing #9 - Merchant Services Racing #7

GT - Corvette #03 - Felbermayr-Proton #77 - Corvette #4

GTE Am - Larbre Competition #50 - Krohn Racing #57 - Felbermayr-Proton #88

GTC - NGT Motorsports #30 - Alex Job Racing #023 - JDX Racing #11.

Hour 5 Summary - Great Grand Touring

Apart from overall, which remains intra-Audi, we have developing class battles up and down the field. Even at the top there was drama as the No. 1 R18 had to have an ECU re-flash.

If LM P1 is a European / WEC contest, then LM P2 is broadly American / ALMS. It involves the healthy Level Five Honda (No. 055) and the Starworks version (No. 44). There is an European (via South America) interloper in the form of the No. 49 Oreca, which spent most of the period bouncing between second and third in class.

The real highlight of this beginning of the middle portion of the race has been the developing battle in GT. It was for a while an intra-Corvette squabble. That was settled when crafty Oliver Gavin displaced young gun Jordan Taylor. The No. 03 Corvette’s second place spot was taken the No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari. For the latter half of the fifth hour and into the sixth, Andrea Bertolini and Tommy Milner had a dice where they were rarely separated by more than a few seconds. The class tussle was made richer by the proximity of positions three through seven. These included the No. 77 Felbermayr Porsche (mostly Marc Lieb), the other Corvette, both BMWs and the Aston.   The No. 51 Ferrari fell off the running with electrical issues.

The other classes were beginning to hit problems. Patrick Bornhauser took the GTE-Am lead (Larbre Corvette) when the Krohn Ferrari crashed. The yellow that followed that incident stymied the No. 55 GTC class Porsche when Markus Palttala passed the pace car and spent four minutes in the sin bin.

JW