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ALMS, Petit Le Mans
- Race Start and Hour 1
11:26
The teams are
wished God's Speed and the drivers are instructed to "Start your
engines! Petit Le Mans 15 will be the best one yet!"
The grid is cleared of all non-essential
personal, and there's a low growling from the massed horsepower as 42
engines rumble into life. The cars move off the grid on the first of
two laps.
11:30
Neel Jani brings
the pole-sitting Rebellion Lola round the final corner and speeds along the main
straight to begin the second of the cars' pace laps. They will then prepare for
the race-start proper.
11:33
And we're racing!
No incidents at all as all 42 cars stream through to begin the 15th Petit le
Mans. Everyone very well-behaved as the grid weaves through the first succession
of corners. Jani retains the lead, and completes the opening lap with the
Muscle Milk HPD, Lucas Luhr tight on his tail. The Viper is already up to
third in GT.
11:35
This is fast and
furious on what is a relatively short lap. Chris Dyson holds third for the #16
Lola, but has already dropped back from the leading pair. David HH leads P2 for
Conquest from Marino Franchitti, who moves through to take the class
lead.
The #20 Dyson Lola has
slowed, Tony Burgess freewheeling into Turn 10.
Jody Firth, taking the
start for Murphy, is running 8th, and pushing Tom Kimber-Smith in the Greaves Zytek.
11:38
Ryan Lewis heads PC for Dempsey Racing, in
the #25, while Scott Sharp has the lead in GT, the #01 ESM Ferrari flying the
flag for the pole-setter Guy Cosmo, starting from the back but already up to
31st.
Also making up ground is Gunnar Jeanette in the
DeltaWing, lying 25th after five laps.
11:40
Neel Jani has eased out a full second over
Lucas Luhr for the overall lead, but it's a massive 12 seconds already back to
Chris Dyson in third. Marino Franchitti, leading P2 for Level 5, has Dyson in
sight, but there's a full four seconds between them.
11:41
Jody Firth's excellent start continues, and
the Irish Oreca has moved through to third in class, taking Jacques Nicolet in
the #35 Oak as well as Tom Kimber-Smith's Greaves Zytek.
Scott Sharp's grasp on the GT lead is looking
slightly less secure, as Oliver Gavin has closed to within half a second of the
silver Ferrari - the Corvette really looking hungry for the lead.
The leaders have just lapped this dicing duo neatly,
with nine laps gone.
Gunnar Jeanette has now cleared the entire GT pack
and is starting to make inroads into the LMPC cars, and is tagged onto the tail
of Matt Downs in the #8, which he promptly passes.
11:46
Leh Keen holds the top slot in GTC at the
moment, the #22 Alex Job racing Porsche five seconds clear of Henrique Cisneros,
who has just moved the #30 NGT Porsche through to second in class ahead of Angel
Benitez in the #31.
Out at the sharp end, the duel between Jani and Luhr persists undiminished -
a mere six-tenths between them on that last lap - their 12th.
Whatever ailed Tony Burgess in the #20 appears to have been resolved, and the
Dyson Lola is running strongly again, and has recovered a few positions to be
lying 6th, just ahead of Firth (#188 Murphy) and Tom Kimber-Smith (#1 Greaves).
Marino Franchitti has fallen back on Chris Dyson now, and has just three seconds
over David HH in the #37 Conquest Morgan.
11:50
Dirk Mueller is off and into the gravel in the #56 BMW. He claims
"no brake pedal". There may have been contact back there with one of the Level 5
HPDs
11:51
Having lost ground to Chris Dyson, that tangle in the traffic
allowed Marino Franchitti to close right back down, and then not only does the
Scot pass the #16, but so too does David HH in the #37. Dyson is down to
fifth.
11:53
Chris Dyson retakes the #37 Conquest Morgan-Nissan to move back into
fourth.
The battle for the GT lead is even more intense, and Ollie Gavin is all over
the tail of the ESM Ferrari.
11:56
The #93 Viper is into the pitlane. The car looks to have been off
the track, and the intake mesh is full of grass cuttings. Marc Goossens was
running fifth in GT. Thereabouts, Guy Cosmo has moved on through to 7th in
class.
11:58
It is getting mighty tight for the lead, with Luhr now tucked into
the shadow of Jani's rear wing.
Jody Firth has lost a place to Tom Kimber-Smith, with the Greaves Zytek
through to third in P2 now, 7th overall. Marino Franchitti has three seconds
over Chris Dyson now, and his last lap was a second quicker too.
12:01
Lucas Luhr got held up there through traffic at Turn 5, through the
Esses, and that has allowed Jani to ease several seconds clear.
12:02
The #23 Lotus Evora is into the pits and taking on fresh tyres, but
there seems to be an issue with the right-rear.
Gunnar Jeanette continues his progress through the field, and has now cleared
the LMPC leader, Ryan Lewis, to move the black DeltaWing into 13th overall. His
next target is Jacques Nicolet - the #35 Oak having slipped to the tail-end of
the P2 field.
Tony Burgess maintains his recovery in the #20 Dyson, and has moved ahead of
David HH to take 5th overall. He's within two seconds now of Chris Dyson in the
sister Lola Mazda.
12:06
More traffic issues curtail the leaders, and Lucas Luhr is the
beneficiary this time, and has closed right back onto the back of the leading
Rebellion.
The leading pair lap Tony Burgess for the first time.
12:08
The #55 is into the pits, and so too Tony Burgess in the #20. The
BMW is swiftly back out again. It's an untidy stop for Dyson, in contrast, and
there was a risk of the car moving off with cables still attached.
12:10
The leading pair pass Chris Dyson, so they've now lapped the entire
field. That's just 38 minutes into the race.
12:11
The Dempsey racing P2 Lola is into the pits. Their troubled week
continues. The car had been running last in P2 before the stop.
Meanwhile, the nose-to-tail battle for the GT lead is unchanged.
12:12
Chris Dyson pits the #16 Lola. This would seem to be early for a
scheduled pitstop, but the routine looks normal. He returns to the track, but
instantly heads out off-line and doesn't appear to be up to speed.
12:14
The DeltaWing is into the pitlane - fuel only - and is followed
seconds later by the two leaders. Now it's a race in the pitlane as well!
Rebellion adds fuel only, but it's a quicker visit for Muscle Milk, and Lucas
Luhr resumes the track with a generous lead over Jani.
12:16
Both Level 5 cars are into the pits at the same time. Franchitti
drops out of third overall as a result, with David HH moving through for
Conquest. Elsewhere in P2, Jody Firth is back through to third (or, possibly now
second) after a lengthy pitstop for Tom Kimber-Smith drops the Greaves car down
to 15th.
Jody Firth then pits, and has a lurid moment on his return to the track, but
recovers his composure and presses on.
Oliver Gavin has taken the GT lead, and was close to Firth when the
Murphy exited the pitlane, and there was nearly contact - they may even
have touched. Most of the LMP cars have now made their first scheduled
pitstops.
12:20
Lucas Luhr now leads the race by nine seconds over Jani. Franchitti
has held on to third, but the fuel efficiency of the LMPC cars has allowed Colin
Braun to inherit fourth - the #-5 Oreca yet to make its first pitstop. Some of
the other LMPC runners are now starting to make those intial pitstops.
12:23
Luhr seems to be making the most of the clear track ahead, and is
easing out roughly a second a lap on Jani. After his lengthy pitstop, Chris
Dyson has returned to the race in 5th, with seven seconds over the second-placed
P2 car, David HH and the Conquest HPD #37.
Antonio Garcia steps out of the #3 Corvette and Jan Magnussen climbs into the
cockpit. Team-mate Oliver Gavin now has a seven-second lead over Scott
Sharp.
The #93 Viper is back into the pitlane for yet another visit - more tyres are
fitted.
12:26
Gunnar Jeanette has now moved the DeltaWing into the top ten, and is
running a stong ninth overall.
In GT, Scott Sharp has now got Jorg Bergmeister on his tail in the #45 Flying
Lizard Porsche; just three tenths between them. Leh Keen continues to enjoy a
relatively untroubled lead in GTC, the best part of 30 seconds ahead of Cisneros
in second. The two ELMS GT runners are lying 29th and 30th, with Raymond Narac
having a narrow edge over Perazzini for the championship - at the moment.
Guy Cosmo pits after a challenging opening stint, working through from the
back of the grid to fourth in class, already having set a best lap in the class
on his recovery run.
12:30
Oliver Gavin into the pitlane, as we near the end of the first hour
here at Road Atlanta. Sharp and Bergmeister join him there, so it's a busy time
for GT and all to play for as the crews set to work.
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