Drama for Championship Leaders in first Half of 4 Hours of Estoril

The no46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca was pushed back into the garage after the car failed to fire up after completing its second ptstop.  A suspected electrical problem was the issue.  The French team’s nearest rivals, the no38 G-Drive Racing Gibson, with Simon Dolan at the wheel, was over 40 seconds ahead of Nic Jonsson in the no40 Krohn Racing Ligier with the no32 SMP Racing BR01 in third.

This puts the no38 G Drive Racing Gibson in the championship lead if the Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca doesn’t finish 4^th or higher.

The no66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari also ended the second hour in the garage with mechanics working furiously after smoke and flames were seen from the back of the F458.  Suspected gearbox issue has left the British team stranded for over 30 minutes. 

The JMW Ferrari emerged from the pitlane at the top of the second hour but headed towards turn 2 very slowly.  Rob Smith kept the Ferrari off the racing line but was hit by 2016 LMP3 Champion Mike Guasch when he lost control of the no2 United Autosports Ligier, T-Boning the Ferrari.  Both drivers were OK but the race was suspended by the Safety Car being deployed to clear the cars and the debris at Turn 2.   

The only car that can beat the JMW Ferrari to the title, the no99 Aston Martin Racing Vantage, ended the first half of the race in the lead of the LMGTE class after Alex MacDowall started from the back of the grid and handing the car to Andrew Howard in the lead.  The British team need to win the race and the JMW Ferrari not to be classified for the LMGTE title to go to the Beechdean Ice Cream sponsored team.

The LMP3 class was led by the no18 MRacing-YMR Ligier of Thomas Laurent, with the no3 United Autosports Ligier of Mark Patterson in second behind the Safety Car.