Raffaele Marciello whistles past the GT4 leader and he is taking huge risks, getting two wheels onto the dirt. This is all he’s got. The gap will be impossible, and Marciello needs a safety car. No more pit stops. Will there be a safety car to help the SunEnergy1 team? Maro Engel has to make up ten seconds to Dries Vanthoor. Marciello is 16 seconds inarrears of Engel, as TRG pits the GT4 leading car with Spencer Pumpelly taking it to the flag. Vesko Kozarov needs to have his driving time recycled before the end. Since that off, Marciello has not been showing pace even though the tires are fresh and the windscreen is clean. Maybe there is sand and other debris that has gotten into the suspension system or something.
More scrapping going on as Vincent Abril is fourth, with the dusty Mercedes of Raffaele Marciello going for it. He can’t push the car, and might lose the title. He has been charging all day. Meanwhile, the Land Audi team has been pouring things into the strategy to make it work. Bentley #8 is in the pits. Marciello has now made it to fourth after Bentley has pitted. The #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG GT3, might still be in contention. It’s possible Habul has the placing to win the Bronze Cup. Tim Pappas is still hoping for a championship even though they have been chasing the race all day.
Felipe Fraga passes Christian Vietoris. Pappas won’t be able to recover it seems. Pappas has to win, and he is not in a winning spot right now. Kelvin van der Linde continues to lead the motor race in the overall. Kelvin van der Linde still leads, but he did go off the road, and Dries Vanthoor is catching up. Maro Engel in third knows he is carrying Tristan Vautier’s hopes for the championship. We still have 40 minutes to go in this race. We have four different brands in the top eight places at this moment. Maxime Soulet has made a pass on Fred Makowiecki in the #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R.
Everyone thought the Mercedes would be the car to beat, and that’s not the case at this moment. Audi #29 has put together an incredible race to this point. These chaps haven’t really put a wheel wrong all day. #29 still leads, but the margin over Dries Vanthoor is just four seconds in arrears. Someone runs wide throwing up a sand cloud. Kelvin van der Linde is dealing with the lapped traffic well, even though the sun is getting low in the sky and blinding the drivers in certain places. The GT4 traffic is still out there. Coming through The Corkscrew, there is zero dust because of the extra green curbing.
The clag takes away the grip. Maro Engel remains in third place in the overall. Kenny Habul is involved in the solar energy business. Maro Engel is running quick, clean laps. There will be a bronze title and also, an overall championship. Raffaele Marciello just cannot recover the time he has lost as we pay tribute to the pit crews who not only set the cars up, but also make them go fast thanks to their outstanding pit work.
In GT4, Ian Lacey had to pit, for fuel, requiring a full 145 second stop, and Vesko Kozarov has taken over the lead in class. Just 25 minutes to go. Raffaele Marciello is in a scrum with Kelvin van der Linde, letting the wind out of the sails of Marciello’s championship hopes. Maxime Soulet in the #8 Bentley is a lap behind even though he is in the picture at the moment. The Mercedes air intakes point forward and are close to the tires. Raffaele Marciello and Kelvin van der Linde continue to battle for the fourth position overall.
More drama for Raffaele Marciello has another cut tire, and his championship hopes, they’ve evaporated. There is something consistent with another mistake for Marciello. The Mercedes just does not have the power. The hubs are sophisticated and there isn’t much torque needed to get the wheel off and make sure the drive pins don’t get sheared off. A lot of this technology is from DTM and F1. Kelvin van der Linde has opened his lead up to seven seconds. Just fifteen minutes to go. Remember, next year, this race is going to be in the spring, and it will be the second event of the IGTC season, in March, after the Bathurst 12 Hours.
So, if you are so inclined, check out the information for tickets etc. soon. Raffaele Marciello has completed a drive through penalty, compounding his misery in this race. Kelvin van der Linde and Audi are setting sail for a third straight manufacturers title. Audi won’t win the drivers championship for Land Motorsports, but the manufacturers cup will be theirs. Sheldon van der Linde had a penalty perhaps for exceeding the maximum stint length. Then comes the #44 Mercedes of Christian Vietoris. If Luca Stolz does not get lapped in the last eight minutes, the Pro Am title goes to Kenny Habul and company.
Stolz won’t be challenged. Just bring it home. We enter into the final few minutes of the season, in the California 8 Hours. Amazing execution by Land Motorsports, save for one penalty. Effort equals reward for these blokes. Audi will win the manufacturers championship, a three-peat. Two more laps to run for Kelvin van der Linde. We will run a minute over the eight hour time. This is it. It is the final lap. No white flag for one lap to go in international racing. Maro Engel should bring it home so Tristan Vautier will be the IGTC champion for 2018. Porsche will finish fourth with the #911 Wright Motorsports car, Land Motorsports wins the California 8 Hours and their third manufacturers championship!
Tristan Vautier is the champion of the Intercontinental GT Challenge! Kenny Habul is the Bronze Cup champion! In GT4, it is Vesko Kozarov winning the GT4 division! Tristan Vautier is overjoyed to be champion here.
Overall/Pro: #29 Mies/Haase/van der Linde Audi R8
Pro Am: #43 Marciello/Williamson/Goetz. Mercedes AMG GT3
GT4: #626 Kozarov/Roberts/Faulkner. Audi R8 GT4
Audi wins the manufacturers championship over Mercedes. Porsche, Bentley, and McLaren, who did not have a car enters at Laguna Seca, were third, fourth, and fifth. This celebration for Audi has taken four days to achieve. Drivers have to adapt to different teams depending on what continent everyone is racing on, and to different continents. Remember that next year, the California 8 Hours will be the second race along with the Bathurst 12 Hours, Spa 24 Hours, Suzuka 10 Hours, and the new Kyalami 9 Hours.
Bentley ran very well with M-Sport and K-PAX. This has been a treat to bring this race to you as the champagne is uncorked. Celebrate, Land Audi, you deserve it. The 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge is in the books. See you next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment