Ferrari’s Antonio Giovinazzi leads a heavily rain-affected Lone Star Le Mans race, the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, at Circuit of the Americas.
The race was held under safety car from the start for more than hour as heavy rain over the circuit meant the race could not go green. It was then red flagged due to a problem with race control and the order of the field, with the race finally going green just before the 2 hour mark.
The race control problem stemmed from the safety car needing to be swapped to the back-up car, as the primary one had run out of fuel. It entered the pit lane, but race leader Hanson followed, as did most of the field, as a communication error meant the drivers hadn’t been told what was happening.
The cars that didn’t follow, then, got boosted up the order. The race was red flagged to figure out the correct order and then restart.
Race goes green
When the race finally went green, Hanson led away and initially created a gap to his Ferrari stablemate James Calado, in the factory #51 car, behind. The #6 Porsche behind, of Laurens Vanthoor, was also dropping further back from the leading pair.
However, the race was soon back under safety car as Fred Makowiecki in the #36 Alpine spun into the barriers at the esses, aquaplaning on a patch of standing water. Tom Gamble, driving the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie, did the same thing – but while the Briton managed to keep it out of the barriers, Makowiecki did not.
When the race restarted with 3 hours, 46 minutes remaining, Hanson still led. But, his wet tyres started to fade and Calado began to close the gap. Soon, he was right on the back of his teammate, and when Hanson had a big moment towards the end of the lap, Calado took the lead on the main straight.
Back under safety car
Another safety car was called for Nico Varrone, who’d spun out of sixth in his #99 Proton Competition Porsche and beached it in the gravel.
Most Hypercars pitted under the virtual safety car. Hanson got out of the #83 Ferrari and was replaced by Ye Yifei, but a problem with the pit stop dropped them back down the order to fifth.
This promoted the #51, now with Giovinazzi at the wheel, into the lead, from Matt Campbell in the #6 Porsche. Third is Antonio Fuoco in the sister factory Ferrari, the #50 machine, while fourth is the #5 Porsche, driven by Matheiu Jaminet, is fourth. Ye sits fifth in the slightly delayed #83.
In LMGT3, Ben Tuck leads in the #77 Proton Ford Mustang GT3. Second is Sean Galael in the #95 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3, while third is Sebastien Baud in the sister McLaren, the #59 McLaren.
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