Bamber Leads as VSC Resets Race at Halfway Mark

Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI

A Virtual Safety Car for debris has effectively reset the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas as the race reached the halfway mark.

The No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R of Earl Bamber led at the time of the VSC with 3 hours and 13 minutes left on the clock in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Lone Star Le Mans event.

However, with leading Hypercar entries having previously been on various strategies and some with setbacks, the race’s first full reutilization, which turned into a safety car period some ten minutes later, came as a reset.

Bamber led at the halfway mark ahead of the No. 35 Alpine A424 of Antonio Felix da Costa, with Tom Gamble third in the No. 007 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Valkyrie.

Da Costa benefitted from the VSC after Charles Milesi was handed a five-second penalty for a pit infringement in the second hour.

The No. 7 Toyota TR010 Hybrid of Nyck de Vries ran fourth, with the No. 36 Alpine of Jules Gounon having completed the top-five.

The VSC-turned safety car period put the pole-sitting No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P back into contention after James Calado lost more than 30 seconds in the pits in the third hour after the car failed to re-fire.

Calado ran sixth at the halfway mark, ahead of teammate Antonio Fuoco in the No. 50 Ferrari and the No. 8 Toyota of Brendon Hartley, which along with the No. 50 Ferrari, were on alternate strategies prior to the neutralization.

Miguel Molina took the lead in the second hour after cars went on diverging strategies during its first stops, with Toyota, Ferrari and Cadillac all having split time out front.

LMGT3 was led by the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Zach Robichon, ahead of the No. 91 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of Ayhancan Guven and Seb Priaulx’s No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 EVO.

Class pole-sitter Eduardo Barrichello ran fourth in the No. 23 Aston Martin, upon threatening skies.

Attrition has continued to take its toll in LMGT3, with two additional cars having been in the garage with issues.

The No. 92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of Ricardo Pera slowed on track at the two-hour mark with steering issues and lost six laps undergoing repairs.

It was followed by the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Peter Dempsey, another championship contender.

Source: Sports Car 365