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LMP2: Orlen Team WRT Make It Two from Two in Austria

The no41 Orlen Team WRT Oreca-Gibson scored a second victory of the 2021 season, taking the chequered flag at the end of a dramatic 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring ahead of the two G-Drive Racing Aurus Gibsons. 

LMP2: Orlen Team WRT Make It Two from Two in Austria
16/05/2021

The race started in glorious sunshine but after two hours of racing heavy rain arrived and cars started to slide off the track bringing out the safety car. The rain abated but on a damp but drying track, tyre choice proved to be critical in the final hour of the race.

  1. The no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca-Gibson of Salih Yoluc started on pole position and led the 41-car grid across the line to start the 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring.
  2. John Falb in the no25 G-Drive Racing Aurus-Gibson took the lead after the first corner from 4th on the grid. Later in the race the American had to serve a drive through penalty as he was judged to have gained an advantage by running wide at the first corner in the melee.
  3. The no32 United Autosports Oreca-Gibson of Nicolas Jamin moved into second and kept pace with the leading no25 Aurus.
  4. At Turn 3 three LMP3 cars collided bringing out the first Safety Car to clear the debris.This lasted nearly 10 minutes before racing resumed.
  5. At the restart Phil Hanson in the no22 United Autosports Oreca was making up places from 8th on the grid, moving ahead of Yoluc to take 3rd position. Hanson then set off to catch his French teammate, setting the fastest lap of the race with a 1m22.390.
  1. Jamin passes Falb for the lead on lap 14 at T3, with Hanson immediately closing behind the no25 G-Drive Racing Aurus, moving into second at T9 on the next lap.
  2. On lap 20 the no25 Aurus was served a drive through penalty for overtaking beyond track limits and promptly came into the pits.
  3. Yifei Ye was back up to third after a poor start in the no41 Orlen Team WRT Oreca, with Roman Rusinov in the no26 G-Drive Racing Aurus moving up to 4th at the expense of the no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca.
  4. At the first pitstops the no32 Oreca was leading, with Jamin handing over to Manuel Maldonado.The no22 car also came in at the same time but Hanson had to come back into the pits after a drive through penalty was issued for constant abuse of Track Limits.The no26 G-Drive Aurus of Nyck De Vries was now leading, with the no41 Team WRT in second and the two United Autosports Orecas in third and fourth.
  5. With just over an hour of racing completed Hanson caught and passed Maldonado for third at T1 but the Venezuelan got a better exit and retook the position at T3.It would take another 10 minutes before Hanson could make the move again and make it stick.
  6. After the second stops De Vries had opened a 30 second lead over Robert Kubica, who was now behind the wheel of the Team WRT Oreca.
  7. Jonathan Aberdein, now in the no22 United Autosports Oreca closed the gap to Kubica in the no41 Oreca.
  8. With 1 hour and 50 minutes left on the clock it started to rain and within 10 minutes the rain became very heavy.Some cars tried to stay out on slicks while others opted to pit for intermediates or full wets. With several cars sliding off the track, including the no32 United Autosports Oreca, which sustained heavy front end damage, the Safety Car was deployed with 1 hour and 32 minutes of the race to run.
  9. The Safety Car remained on track while the rain abated and, with the clock showing 57 minutes remaining, racing resumed.Just before the green flag G-Drive brought the no26 Aurus in for intermediate tyres and when racing resumed the no41 Oreca of Robert Kubica was leading by 39 seconds from the no26 Aurus of Franco Colapinto, with Tom Gamble in the no22 Oreca in third, 1 lap behind the leading two cars.
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