LMS, Algarve - Hour 2 report
Aston & Strakka Find Trouble

It was the No. 88 Porsche that hit No. 77 at the start and No. 88 has retired. At the 1:15 mark we have drama as Mücke nearly taps his teammate’s car (No. 009 of Miguel Ramos). The leader spins into the gravel with damage to the rear and crawls back.

This elevated Boullion back to th e lead with Danny Watts about 13 seconds behind. Bruno Senna is another 5 seconds back and has inherited third place.

Pierre Ehret has taken over the second place in GT2 No. 90 Ferrari while Pilet remains aboard the class’ strong leader.

Marc Lieb is in the delayed No. 77 Porsche, which looks like it will be slowed further thanks to yet another puncture. Jaime Melo is now third in that class, as he has taken over the No. 84 Ferrari. Gimmi Bruni is now aboard the next car, the No. 92 Ferrari, followed by car owner Paul Drayson in the Aston Martin.

At the 90-minute mark we have a bit of settling [a statement that is always an invitation for mayhem]. The overall gap is about 11 seconds, LM P2 is about a minute and GT2 is nearly a lap.

Erdos is running fast and light, wrapping up RML’s second stint and briefly closing on second in LM P2. Some findings by Harald Gallinis of GT-Eins.de reports that Meyrick blamed a gear selection problem for the collision with the other Audi. The WR has had electrical problems. The Ibanez team suffered a broken wing and the LM P1 No. 13 Lola-Aston Martin (Andrea Belicchi) is having a not so Speedy clutch repair.

Mike Newton has taken over the RML Lola. The No. 11 Oreca has made its second stop, but it is very long as the team is fiddling with the tire pressure.

Danny Watts has started the proper second set of stops for the LM P1 cars. However, he’s been pushed into the garage with work being done to the induction/ignition area. More problems for the Swiss team as now the No 33 LM P2 Lola-Judd makes a somewhat less than speedy lap.

At the 1:45-mark J-C Boullion comes in from the lead for the second time.  Christophe Tinseau hops aboard and the No. 007 Lola-Aston Martin retakes the lead briefly until it stops for Jan Charouz to take a turn. The track is now mostly dark. We’re into a typically brief twilight period. The clouds over the hills have lifted, so we’ll remain clear henceforth.

Tiago Monteiro as taken over from Senna in the No. 10 Oreca.  That car is still in a strong third with the multi-stinting Mailleux next. The Strakka Ginetta is back out after having lost 7 laps. Nick Leventis is driving. 

The No. 14 Audi has returned to the race after nearly an hour in the pits. Narain Karthikeyan is aboard. Miguel Amaral is now in the LM P2 leading—by far Ginetta-Zytek.  The No. 26 is back in the fray (Pierre Bruneau driving) after its radically long stop.

JW