stop a little later, he wouldn’t though be in the lead. With the field compressed by the safety car period, there was briefly a Toyota-powered 1-2-3 – the #12 Rebellion close enough on the road to go by the Audis when they made their stops. After the next round of stops though, the #7 Toyota’s pace
“I think we could run a little faster through the traffic, and on my stint I was alone most of the time, with not much LMP around. We had no choice after the puncture – we had to go flat out” ..
Marcel Fassler
was enough for it to retain the lead – albeit only just – pitching Lapierre into a battle to defend his lead from Duval in the #2 Audi. But the Toyota man was up to the task. Alongside was as far as Duval got in the next half hour, before Duval pitted once again. The Toyota stayed in the hunt until well past the halfway mark, leading on pace round the Audi pit cycle until disaster struck – the car in the garage with a hybrid system issue that was later diagnosed as an installation issue (aka “finger trouble”). A tough break for TMG, with the system causing the brakes to overheat. The #7 car would retire in the garage, a promising run ruined – but the storm clouds were gathering. Toyota insisted that the diesel/petrol performance balance was now seriously awry, with the Audis able to close them down even after suffering issues. For now though, the lead was handed back to the #1 Audi, and although the #2 car would retake the lead again on the pit stop cycle, the pace of the championship leaders would keep them at arm’s length. The championship lead went to the winning car here too. Behind this pair, the #3 Audi was just too quick for the 2012spec Toyota to challenge. It was an Audi 1-2-3 at the flag, with the #8 Toyota a lap adrift. In the Privateers stakes, Rebellion – both cars equipped with new aero and “trick” dampers – were two laps back from the Toyota, but way too good for the Strakka HPD, that car having clashed early in the race with an OAK Morgan. The #12 car could have been closer, but suffered a race long power shortage. Its reliability held though, and the crew were too quick to allow the sister car to pass. The Lola Toyotas had benefitted from some sensible investment, and the HPD looked outclassed. There were some very long faces at Strakka.
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