LMS, Estoril - Race - Hours 3 & 4

Walker has pulled out 11 seconds over Lieb so far on this stint.

Tor Graves takes over the Neil Garner FLM and is running quicker than Alex Kapadia did.  It was a lengthy handover though so even at the five seconds a lap he was taking out of Schultis it would be some time before he was back on terms.

3:42 to go, Pilet pits so falls behind Lemeret, Simonsen and Narac, plus Ayari and Dolan. 

Hirschi pits so falls behind Danny Watts in the Strakka HPD.

Watts pits with 3:35 to go.  Walker pits also from GTE Pro lead, having ran as high as eight overall. Bell jumps in.  Leventis in at Strakka.

Lemeret stops to hand over to Perrazini so Narac takes the lead of GT Am briefly, then hands over to Armindo to go and get it back.

Hancock off at turn 4.  He loses around 100 seconds.

Lietz is into #77, rejoining between Bell and and Pilet. 

Ojjeh pits with 3:28 to go.  The front wings are replaced according to our texting Mr Lord who is in the pitlane.

Stop and go for the second placed car, JC-B, who was only seven seconds behind the leader.  There goes the race, for now at least.  Passing under yellow is the reason.

Graves makes an unscheduled stop with 3:24 to go.

Lietz is into the 1:40s but is still 28 seconds away from Bell.

#16 gets a 1 second stop and go as well, so the race is back on!  John Brooks believes this was due to a pitstop infringement when they took the lead, as the chief ACO pit marshall was seen remonstrating after the stop.

#16 takes its stop go with 3:19 to go, Kraihamer stops from the lead of P2.  Ebbesvik takes over.

The P1 lead is back to 5.3 seconds, still advantage Collard.  Boullion then pits with 3:15 to go, fuel only.

Ebbesvik still leads P2 from Beche, now by a lap.  Hirschi is still only 11 seconds behind TDS.  Greaves, Strakka and the Norma follow.  

3:10 to go, Collard pits from the lead for fuel only.  He rejoins right in front of Boullion, 0.164 seconds in front! 

Graves is back in the pits again for Neil Garner and they have slumped now to the last of the runners but for the massively delayed Prost. 

Boullion takes the lead with 3:07 to go.

Vilander, now in #71 is catching Farnbacher for fourth, 25 seconds behind.  The Hankook car is in trouble, a 1:45 , then a long first sector, then a yellow flag at turn 3, it seems to be Farnbacher.

Armindo is ahead of Perrazini in GTE Am as expected and should now be able to build an unassailable lead.

Halfway through:

#13, #16

#45, #46, #40, #41, #42, #44

#95

#66, #77, #76, #71, #67, #61

Hour 4

This is a disaster for Hankook who were second in the championship and now look to be overrun by JMW and Felbermayr, dropped scores notwithstanding. The car is pulled back behind the barriers.

Neil Garner's stop is for a water pump and alternator, but they are 14 laps down on Pegasus, who take a stop with 2:55 remaining,

The Pescarolo penalty was actually for passing under yellows, not the pitstop.

2:50 to go, Leventis pits and the car is stationary a long time.

Strakka still pit bound so the Norma moves up to seventh, Bell and (a gaining) Lietz up to eighth and ninth.  This battle now for second in the championship.

2:42 to go and Hirschi pits from third in class, Ojjeh moves back to third for Greaves but the Zytek has made one less stop.

The lead is still only 4.5 seconds for Boullion. 

Radio Le Mans report that the oil pump belt has been knocked off the Strakka car, possibly by a lump of rubber but they will try and recover to the track.

Ojjeh pits with 2:32 to go and Kimber-Smith takes over.

Lietz is down to 11 seconds behind Bell who doesn't seem able to push on this set of tyres.

Pilet hands over to Henzler and IMSA keep their third place in class.  Melo is only 4.5 seconds behind though.

Reports are that the gearbox failed for Farnbacher.

A 1:40.227 for Henzler is an effective way of saying bye bye to Melo.

Strakka are circulating again, now down in 21st overall, Leventis still at the wheel.  Two laps and one position ahead are RLR, Hughes taking the MG Lola back out.

A second stop and go penalty for #88 will promote Quaife in the CRS Ferrari to third in GT Am.

2:23 to go and Ebbesvik stops so Beche leads, on a stop less than Boutsen Energy, Race Performance, Greaves and Extreme Limite.

Overall lead still only around three seconds.

Jani sets the fastest lap of the race, pounding round with a 1:30.702, consistently two or three seconds faster than the leading cars, suggesting that #13 is playing a very careful game.  Jani is now up to 23rd, having passed the Pecom car which is in the pits yet again.

2:19 to go and Boullion, Beche, Bell and Lietz pit.  This is a high quality pitlane at the moment!

Lietz had only trailed Bell by 3.7 seconds when they pitted, but Lieb takes over and the deficit is reversed, advantage Felbermayr.

Firth rejoins second in P2. 

Walker takes a second out of Lieb in the first sector.

2:15 to go and Collard pits.  A good stop, 21 seconds better than Rebellions, sees Jousse rejoin 13 seconds ahead of Bellichi.  Things go well for Pescarolo in the pits again.

The pace at the front starts to come down to Jani pace now for the run in, Jousse setting the fastest final sector of the race, then the best opening sector for the car. New tyres, but full tanks.

2:04 to go and Walker is flying for JMW, his Dunlops obviously on the money.  Into the 1:40s and now only two seconds behind Lieb.

Ebbesvik and Hirschi are now first and second in P2, Firth seemingly struggling in the 1:37s and 1:38s. 

Into the final two hours:

#16 from #13 by 18 seconds.

#45 from #40 by 78 seconds, then #46 11 seconds back but falling, then #41 a lap back.  The Extreme Limite Norma is five laps further back.

Schell is lonely in FLM in eight overall, four laps ahead of Marroc who is down in 15th overall.  Positions nine to twelve are Lieb, Walker, Henzler and Vilander, the first two nose to tail, the other two a lap adrift of Walker and each other.