With the 4 Hours of Shanghai at the half way point, Gustavo Menezes leads the race for Rebellion Racing as Ginetta Team LNT have dropped back after serving drivethrough penalties.
The two Ginettas got off to a great start and led one-two after the #1 Rebellion R13-Gibson of Norman Nato struggled at the start. As it turned out, both Ginettas and the #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid passed Nato before passing the start line, which handed all three cars penalties.
Menezes now leads from the #8 TS050 Hybrid at the hands of Brendon Hartley, while the #7, now in the hands of Jose Maria Lopez sits in third ahead of the two Ginettas of Jordan King and Mike Simpson respectively.
LMP2 is currently being led by JOTA's Roberto Gonzalez in the #38 ORECA 07-Gibson, with the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA of Ho Pin Tung in second ahead of the newly crowned SUPER GT champion Kenta Yamashita in the #33 High Class Racing ORECA.
Giedo van der Garde had a coming together with the #62 Red River Sport Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Bonamy Grimes, the two cars clashing at the final turn. Van der Garde was handed a drivethrough penalty, which was served after Frits van Eerd took over the #29 Racing Team Nederland ORECA.
Early front runners Cool Racing have dropped way back as the car is in the garage with an electrical system failure. The #42 ORECA 07-Gibson was up front early on, but is now many laps down.
Aston Martin continues to hold a strong hand in both GTE classes. The #95 Vantage AMR of Marco Sorensen leads, but pitted shortly after the hour to hand over to Nicki Thiim. The #51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of James Calado holds second, while polesitter Michael Christensen is in third, yet to serve a penalty for an earlier unsafe release.
Francesco Castelacci briefly led in GTE Am before the halfway point in the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, but has since pitted. This has handed the lead to the #98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Darren Turner. The #98 has fought its way up after early contact to lead, while the #90 TF Sport Aston Martin, now in the hands of Jonny Adam, is in second ahead Dutch debutant Larry ten Voorde in the #57 Team Project 1 Porsche.
