Alpine on track for the title but all is not yet lost for JOTA Sport ...

Alpine on track for the title but all is not yet lost for JOTA Sport ...

The 35 cars which made up the grid for the finale of the 2014 ELMS season were given the green flag for the start under bright sunshine and in front of an impressive number of Portuguese spectators and fans of endurance racing. 

The six champions due to be crowned will only be known at the end of this four-hour race. Starting from the second row, Signatech Alpine's Nelson Panciatici got a great getaway and got a jump on the Ligier JS P2 of Thiriet by TDS Racing in the hands of Pierre Thiriet while Pierre Rague's No.43 Newblood by Morand Racing Morgan Judd also gained a place on the opening lap.  A fourth pretender to the championship title, Race Performance,  had a less successful start to the race as Michel Frey suffered a spin and also had to serve a Stop & Go penalty for using unmarked tyres.

From the 28th lap the pit stops shook up the order ... Paul-Loup Chatin took the wheel of the Alpine A450b, Pierre Ragues that of the No.43 NewBlood by Morand Racing Morgan Judd, and Simon Dolan into the JOTA Sport Zytek Z11SN Nissan.  At TDS Racing it was Tristan Gommendy who took over from Pierre Thiriet. Super-motivated for this title chase, Paul-Loup Chatin managed to steal the top spot from Simon Dolan (JOTA Sport) after just one hour of racing.  Unsettled, the Briton suffered a spin on cold tyres soon after taking to the track but hasn't given up the fight. 

The battle for the lead has been played out between Signatech Alpine and JOTA Sport, and third and fourth positions between NewBlood by Morand Racing and Thiriet by TDS Racing. Each lap has been an adventure and, on the 45th lap, Tristan Gommendy driving the Ligier JS P2 even held second place in the race! Gommendy benefited greatly from traffic when overtaking cars from the GTE categories to steal the lead from his compatriot Chatin. The two protagonists from the front row of the grid waged a great battle until the 63rd lap when TDS Racing's Ludovic Badey, who had left the pits in the lead, was forced to return the No.46 Ligier to the garage due to suspicious smoke coming from the car.  The new Ligier would ultimately remain in the box, the stop turning into a retirement and huge disappointment for the clan of the brave.  Indeed Thiriet by TDS Racing had chosen mid-season to change chassis, a move not without risk.  

At the halfway point, Signatech Alpine headed the No.24 ORECA 03 of Sébastien Loeb Racing driven by the Swede Jimmy Eriksson. Simon Dolan driving the Zytek Z11SN of JOTA Sport occupies third place, while the No.34 Race Performance ORECA 03 Judd has risen to fourth place in the hands of Frenchman Franck Mailleux. Gary Hirsch and No.43 NewBlood by Morand Racing Morgan Judd is holding fifth place. Following on from them is the No.41 Zytek of Greaves Motorsport, the No.29 Morgan Nissan of Pegasus Racing, the No.48 ORECA 03R Nissan of Murphy Prototypes, with its new drivers to the ELMS, and finally the second Greaves Motorsport Zytek (No.28).

Great Battles for Lead of LMGTE and GTC Classes while Championship Rivals Hit Trouble in First Half of Race.

At the half way point of the 4 Hours of Estoril it is  Gulf Racing UK that is dominating LMGTE with a 1-2 for the team's no85 Aston Martin and no86 Porsche. However the story of the first 120 minutes is the demise of the championship leading no55 AF Corse Ferrari.  Duncan Cameron was an innocent party in an incident that saw the 458 limping back to the pits and losing 7 laps.  Michele Rugolo rejoined but at the top of the second hour the Ferrari was seen to be limping back to the pits once again.  

With a 21-point lead in the title race, the AF Corse team are still in pole position to take the title as their only rivals in the no72 SMP Racing Ferrari are back in 4th place.  Nothing less than victory for the Russian team will deny the no55 AF Corse crew the 2014 Driver and Team titles.  But with two hours to go the LMGTE title is still up for grabs. 

In GTC the no 87 Marc VDS BMW and the no71 SMP Racing Ferrari are having a great battle for the class lead with Luca Persiani getting the upperhand at the top of the second hour.  The championship leading no73 SMP Racing Ferrari is currently 4th in class but their only rival for the title, the all Danish entry of the no60 Formula Racing Ferrari is running in 5th, 11 seconds behind the Russians.  Again, like the LMGTE battle, the Danish crew has to win the race and the no73 SMP Racing Ferrari finish down the order. 

It is going to be an interesting two hour run to the final chequered flag of the 2014 season.

Results HERE