At the halfway mark of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the driving trio of Adrian Fernandez, Haruki Kurosawa and Robbie Kerr are currently battling back from misfortune. After a strong showing in the first six hours with the #33 Zytek 07S/2 sportscar sponsored by Lowe’s running first in the LMP2 class and as high as eighth overall, Fernandez felt his brake pedal go long and fluid at his feet at the 7-hour mark. Fernandez pitted during a caution period but it was an extended stop, just under 20 minutes, as the team rectified a brake system problem.
Kurosawa took over the controls at the stop and returned to the track third in class and 18th overall. An hour into his stint, Kurosawa had moved up to second in class and 14th overall and also set the team’s fastest lap at this point – 3:41.689. By the 9-hour mark, Kurosawa had resumed the LMP2 class lead and was 13th overall.
It was at the 9 hour 30 minute mark [12:30 pm local time] that a more serious problem developed for the #33 squad. After enjoying a six-minute lead in class, Kerr was forced to the garage with a fuel pressure problem due to a “crimped pipe. ” The team was again able to make repairs but at a loss of 25 minutes of track time. Kerr returned to the track fourth in class and 30th overall.
Fernandez is currently on deck and waiting to begin another stint at the wheel. Kerr is turning the fastest laps of the LMP2 field at present and is shown fourth in class and 25th overall.
Adrian Fernandez: “I started the race and everything went very well for us. There were no major dramas. Everything was fine until the final segment of my triple stint. I started developing a low brake pedal and we were losing fluid. It was to the point where we needed to come into the pits. We came in under yellow and lost two laps there, not too much. We fixed that and I went to rest and when I came back, they told me that we lost some time fixing a fuel leak. Overall, the car is working really well. We just need to make sure we don’t have any more problems if we want to have a chance of winning our class. I am loving it here. The car is good and it’s not raining which makes it fun. ”
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