Having lined up sixth in an expanded 15-car LMP2 grid for the WEC season opener, Kubica made rapid progress at the wheel of the #9 Oreca 07 in the first quarter of the race, jumping up to third behind the two United Autosports entries.
Prema then pulled the trigger by not changing tyres when Kubica came into the pits the next time to hand over the car to Lorenzo Colombo, allowing the Italian driver to emerge in front of the two United Orecas after they had completed their own pitstops.
But the strategy backfired when the race had to be red-flagged following a massive crash for Jose Maria Lopez in the #7 Toyota Hypercar, making Colombo a sitting duck on old tyres when the race resumed.
Colombo and Louis Deletraz later managed to regain some of the lost ground and the team was hoping to return to podium contention after putting its star driver Kubica back in the car for the final two hours of the enduro.
However, the race had to be halted again as per US regulations following…
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