Estoril 6 Hours: The Pescarolo team emerges victorious

H+1: Rebellion Racing still in front despite losing a car

The Estoril 6 Hours got off to a flying start. In LM P1 the no. 13 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota in the hands of Andrea Bellichi snatched second place from Julien Jousse’s Pescarolo-Judd. But the Swiss team’s double did not last as Neel Jani’s no.12 Lola-Toyota was pushed into its garage, and then stripped down because of a gearbox problem.

“It’s the gearbox again, as usual,” said the Swiss driver. “It happened at Le Castellet and at Silverstone.” Before this glitch Jani had set the fastest lap in the race in 1m 32.522s. After the first round of pit stops Bellichi was still in front of Jousse.

In LM P2, Olivier Lombard made a great start to the race in the Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SN-Nissan, and took first place from Johnny Kane, the early leader, in the Strakka Racing HPD ARX-01d.

Rob Bell in the JMW Motorsport Ferrari F458 Italia, Saturday’s pole setter, led for the first hour of the race in LM GTE Pro. The no. 51 AF Corse Ferrari F458 driven by Ginmaria Bruni had to stop early on with an electronics problem. The car’s new chassis was probably the source of the glitch.

The battle raged in Formula Le Mans between Neil Garner Motorsport and Pegasus Racing, and after an hour Patrick Simon in the French team’s car was in front.

In LM GTE Am, Marco Cioci in the AF Corse Ferrari F430 held first place followed like his shadow by Nicolas Armindo in the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 997.

H+2: Pescarolo hits the front!

After leading the race for over 2 hours, the no. 13 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota lost first place in the Estoril 6 Hours after its second pit stop. Jean-Christophe Boullion took over from Andrea Bellichi and rejoined behind Emmanuel Collard who had replaced Julien Jousse.

Collard immediately upped the pace setting the fastest lap in the race till then in 1m 31.965s. Nicolas Prost then beat this time in the no. 12 Lola-Toyota that has rejoined some 36 laps behind the leader.

Thanks to a quicker pit stop Dominik Kraihamer, who remained at the wheel of the Boutsen Energy Racing Oreca 03-Nissan for a double stint, got the better of Karim Ojjeh in the Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SN-Nissan.

In Formula Le Mans Mirco Schultis took over and Pegasus Racing is still in first place from Neil Garner Motorsport. James Walker replaced Rob Bell in the JMW Motorsport Ferrari F458 in LM GTE Pro, which has a comfortable lead in the category.

The AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT and the IMSA Matmut Performance Porsche 997 are still locked in battle in the LM GTE Am category driven by Belgian Stéphane Lemeret and Raymond Narac respectively.

H+3: Rebellion Racing back in front !

In LM P1, the battle rages between the no. 16 Pescarolo-Judd driven by Manu Collard and Jean-Christophe Boullion’s no. 13 Lola-Toyota. The latter got back in front after the third round of refuelling stops, and after 3 hours’ racing he has a 2-second lead over his fellow-countryman.

In LM P2, Thor-Christian Ebbesvik took over from Dominik Kraihamer for Boutsen Energy Racing, and has a solid lead. He heads 2 other Oreca 03s, Mathias Beche in the TDS Racing entry and Jonathan Hirschi in the Race Performance car. In Formula Le Mans Julien Schell in the Pegasus Racing FLM09 is tightening his stranglehold on the category.

Rob Bell in the JMW Motorsport Ferrari F458 Italia is still in front in LM GTE Pro. He has not yet made the break and is pursued by Richard Lietz in the Felbermayr-Proton and Patrick Pilet in the IMSA Performance Porsche 997s.

Nicolas Armindo has relayed Raymond Narac in the IMSA Performance Matmut 997, and has taken the lead in LM GTE Am from Piergiuseppe Perazzini in the AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT.

H+4: The pendulum swings back Pescarolo’s way

The no. 13 Rebellion Racing Lola -Toyota and the no. 16 Pescarolo team’s Pescarolo are on the same pit stop strategy, so the team managers in each camp can see what their rival is up to in real time! After 4 hours’ racing, less than 15 seconds separate the two title contenders!

This gap b was opened up during the fourth refuelling stop when Julien Jousse got into the Pescarolo and Andrea Bellichi took the wheel of the Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota. In the meantime, Neel Jani in the no. 12 Lola-Toyota set the fastest lap in 1m 30.702s, but he is currently 38 laps behind the leader.

In LM P2, the Boutsen Energy Racing Oreca is still in first place in front of the 03-Nissans entered by TDS Racing and Race Performance. Other cars in LM P2 have hit problems like the Strakka Racing HPD ARX-01d (oil pump change) and the Pecom Racing Lola (overheated engine). Pegasus Racing is still in control in LMP.

In LM GTE Pro the battle is hotting up between the Felbermayr-Proton team’s Porsche 997 and the JMW Motorsport Ferrari F458 Italia driven by James Walker, with the German car currently in the lead. With 2 hours to go to the finish less than 3 seconds separate the pair. In LM GTE Am Raymond Narac has taken over from Nicolas Armindo in the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche, and has a lap in hand over the second-placed CRS Racing Ferrari F430 GT.

H+5: Jousse in the lead with Boullion in hot pursuit

With an hour to go to the end of the Estoril 6 Hours the Pesarolo team is in a strong position to win the race. Julien Jousse opened up a small gap over Andrea Belicchi and then made a lightening pit stop rejoining with over a minute in hand over Jean-Christophe Boullion who replaced his Italian team-mate. But Boullion is not giving up and has reeled off a string of quick laps.

In LM P2, there are two Oreca 03-Nissan in the first two places with Boutsen Energy Racing in front of TDS Racing. In Formula Le Mans Pegasus Racing looks to have victory sewn up as it is a lap in front of Nicolas Marroc in the JMB Racing FLM, who is going flat out.

Rob Bell in the JMW Motorsport Ferrari F458 Italia has retaken first place in LM GTE Pro from the Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 driven by Richard Lietz. In GTE Am, Nicolas Armindo is setting a searing pace, and has opened up a big gap over the CRS Racing Ferrari 430 GT in the hands of Adam Christodoulou.

H+6: The Pescarolo team emerges victorious

Jean-Christophe Boullion in the no. 13 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota, who rejoined on the tail of Julien Jousse in the Pescarolo team’s Pescarolo-Judd, was unable to match Jousse’s pace because of excessive tyre wear. The man from the Var department gradually opened up a gap, and by the end of the race he was no longer under threat from the Swiss team’s lead car. The Pescarolo team on its Le Mans Series comeback scored its second win and took the drivers’ title, while victory in the teams’ championship went to Rebellion Racing.

In LM P2, the Oreca 03-Nisans scored a double with victory going to TDS Racing followed by the Boutsen Energy Racing squad. Title winners Greaves Motorsport finished third. In FLM Pegasus Racing racked up its fourth success of the season making the team from Strasbourg the uncontested victor in the category.

In LM GTE Pro, the JMW Motorsport Ferrari F458 Italia came out on top in its battle with the Felbermayr-Proton team’s Porsche 997, which finished glued to its rival’s gearbox. In LM GTE Am the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche got the better of its main rival, the AF Corse Ferrari F430, which ran into problems, and romped away to an easy victory.