I got to start the race and, by the first lap, I had a two-second lead. This lead got bigger every lap, mainly due to Gunnar having a massive battle with the
Ferrari and Porsches. I was a bit lonely out there in the lead, but I didn't mind too much!
I had to take care of the tyres in the stint, as we started on a soft set from qualifying. I managed to maintain them, and the gap, although Gunnar slipped back to fourth as his soft tyres were giving up. He didn't have the luxury that I did, as he was battling it out with the others.
As the race progressed, it was obvious that we were in for a battle royale as three cars stayed on the lead lap, and 22 lead changes took place in the GT2 class. Our pit-stops were spot on, but the Ferrari was having trouble getting the wheels off the car. On some stops we got a ten or 20-second advantage..
Scotty and Seb drove really well and we were pulling further ahead as the race progressed. After I got out for the last time, we were 50 seconds in front and, then, after the pit-stops, we were 75 seconds clear. The only problem was that Scotty reported that the gearbox was shaking itself to bits in fourth, fifth and sixth gears!
Seb got in and radioed that the car was going to break. 'Great' we thought, lead all this way and then bang - out. However, we were 75 seconds in the lead and praying that the car would finish, when a safety car came out towards the end - reducing our lead down to three seconds. The team gave the orders to Seb to drive the wheels off it in the hope it would last and, so, when the green flag fell, the race was on.
Seb was leading by five seconds from a Porsche, while the Ferrari was third, just eight seconds behind the Porsche. Seb did a fantastic job fending off a very quick Flying Lizard team and, after twelve hours of racing, he crossed the line five seconds clear. What a race!
