Portimao 2 Hr Report: No.8 Toyota in Front; No.23 United Autosports leads LMP2; Lilou Wadoux on top in LMGTE AM
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Portimao 2 Hr Report: No.8 Toyota in Front; No.23 United Autosports leads LMP2; Lilou Wadoux on top in LMGTE AM

Below are the main headlines from the first two hours of action at the 6 Hours of Portimao.

Hypercar – Leader: Sebastien Buemi – No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing

· No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing entered in control the 6 Hours of Portimao after two hours of racing.

No.7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar claimed lead on first lap of race as Mike Conway swept past polesitter Sebastien Buemi

· Conway then opened 7-second gap before Buemi catches and takes lead after team order to switch positions just before first pit-stops.

· Buemi and Conway run 1-2 goal then No.7 is forced to pit to change left rear corner and slips out of contention.

· Pair of Ferrari AF Corse 499P cars fight for third position as James Calado and Nicklas Nielsen in No.51 Ferrari jostle for supremacy.

· Nielsen takes Calado in first hour but pair run closely together throughout the race albeit 40- seconds behind Toyota.

· Leading Porsche 963 started by Laurens Vanthoor initially splits Ferraris but is then pushed down to fourth place.

· Vanthoor was earlier able to leapfrog Prancing Horse pair at first pit-stop but was then usurped by both 499P's.

· No. 94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 Hypercar places fifth as Nico Mueller completes double stint.

The second Porsche 963 runs sixth with Dane Cameron in cockpit.

· Cadillac briefly run in third place after first stop but then have to change tires shortly after and slip back down to seventh in Hypercar.

· In non-Hybrid Hypercar battle Glickenhaus runs eighth ahead of the Floyd Vanwall entry.

· No. 93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 suffers a steering issue pre-race and misses start. Paul di Resta joins race a lap down and fights back to tail of Hypercar class in 10 th place.

LMP2 - Pole: Joshua Pierson (No.23 United Autosports)

· United Autosports boss the first phase of the race as Portimao replacement drivers Ben Hanley and Giedo Van Der Garde push through to run first and second in opening stint.

Van der Garde then takes over in lead and stretches advantage before handing over to Josh Pierson who consolidates lead in to third hour.

The No.22 United car places second as Frederick Lubin takes over from Ben Hanley in second hour.

· Doriane Pin again impresses as she completes double stint in No.63 polesitting Prema Oreca-Gibson.

· Pin is overtaken at start by Sean Gelael in No.31 WRT machine but maintains strong position before handing over to Daniil Kvyat and car places third as third hour ticks over.

· No.48 Jota car runs in fourth place after deliberately conservative opening stint by local ace Antonio Felix da Costa.

The reigning champion saves fuel and stops one lap after most of LMP2 class. David Beckmann takes over and runs third close to Kvyat driven Prema car.

The early leading No.31 WRT car places fifth with Robin Frijns having taken over from Gelael.

· Front-row starting Vector Sports car hits trouble with a suspected fly-by-wire throttle issue which causes stoppage and then pit stop for Ryan Cullen.

LMGTE Am – Leader: Lilou Wadoux (Richard Mille AF Corse)

· Epic battle in early stages sees the No.21 AF Corse Ferrari clinch the lead from Ben Keating driven No.33 Corvette Racing car.

Diego Alessi then builds small lead but loses top spot after pit stops. But he then re-claims it before coming under pressure via Lilou Wadoux in No.83 Richard Mille AF Corse entry.

Wadoux then makes clean move to take the lead at Turn 1 just before the third hour.

Sarah Bovy in Iron Dames Porsche places third ahead of No.33 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R driven by Ben Keating who places fourth.

Find full results HERE

Track
Portugal
April 16th

6 Hours of
Portimão

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