Le Mans Le Mans and the WEC

[Incubus]

Right OK.

 

[Galahad]

Webber/Hartley Bernhard 156
Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer 143

Points are awarded as in f1: 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 plus 0.5 for any classified finish 11th or below

The Porsche will triumph on countback in the event of a tie

 

[Incubus]

We're not quite to that point yet but is there a chance if it looks as the 17 doesn't make it the 18 will slow right down towards the end of the race to gift what could be the crucial extra place the 17 needs?

EDIT ...and as I type that the commentator is now pondering precisely the same thing.

 

[Galahad]

Yes, effectively the 17 needs to pass at least one of the Toyotas. Which are showing greatly improved pace this weekend. It'll be close - as long as nobody else hits trouble. Which they probably will.

 

[Galahad]

So if a lap is around 100 seconds, and the Porsche is 2 1/2 laps down on the second Toyota, that's a gap of about 250 seconds to make up. I reckon there are about 116 laps still to run - about 200 the race distance - so the Porsche needs to average 2.2s/lap faster over the remaining distance (very roughly). It's fluctuating a lot with traffic, but I don't think Hartley is quite managing that. And of course a caution of any kind would change things - most likely help the Toyotas, depending on the exact timing.

 

[Incubus]

Well this is a bit of a game-changer...

 

[Galahad]

They have about 2 minutes to fix this...

 

[Galahad]

OK, well, Audi need more trouble to hit the #18 for the championship to come back into the equation. Still there's a battle for the win to enjoy.

 

[Incubus]

This is turning into Grand Prix racing.

 

[Galahad]

Except for the multi-team battle for the lead, the driving standards and the fact we get more than 3x as much of it

 

[Galahad]

All-British battle brewing in LMP2: Nick Tandy closing on Sam Bird

 

[Galahad]

And the championship leader back in the garage!

 

[Incubus]

Strange, we' re being told that Webber has no hybrid power but it sounds as though you can still hear it kicking in on the onboard shots?.... Or is the sound coming from somewhere else?

 

[FB]

Think the commentators said there's now hybrid drive to the front, which could have a knock on effect on the front brakes.

 

[Galahad]

I think they said the front axle recovery is broken. They'll still be recovering energy from the engine and deploying whatever's in the battery - presumably less than maximum.

Webber's lapping in the 1:48s - 1:49s and that's comfortably quicker than the LMP2 leaders he needs to stay clear of. All of which relies on his team mates winning the race in the other car however.

 

[FB]

Webber just did a reboot out on track, it might not be as clear cut a Porsche hope/think.

 

[Galahad]

He's got 7 laps in hand on the seventh placed car he needs to stay ahead of. So he can afford to reboot every lap if he needs to, but he must keep going and avoid long stops in the pits for fixes. Not under his control of course.

 

[Incubus]

He's back in the 1'47's though so he's lapping OK at the moment.

 

[FB]

Remind me, if the car isn't running at the end it isn't classified is it?

 

[Galahad]

No, the car has to pass the chequered flag under its own steam.