Dirk Werner is into the lane after a 23 lap stint. Bring one car in at a time for a two car team. We also watch the Lexus. Hang on. Will be with you about the Lexus soon. But there's drama for McLaren. They've got a problem there. Ferrari #93 is in the lane as well. Fisichella has done his stint and here is Ferrari #52, Daniel Serra at the wheel of it. Porsche #99 is getting new Pirelli P Zero tires. Ferrari #52 has sticker tires as well. This is the AF Corse 488 GT3 of Niek Hommerson, Louis Machiels, Andrea Bertolini, and Daniel Serra. More pit action as the fuel stints work through. GPX and KCMG both in the lane. So is the #78 Barwell Lamborghini. The Mad Panda Mercedes is also in the lane, too, look. That's the #90 car, Patrick Assenheimer driving. The Bentley's are shuffling 'round as well. Work with your neighbors. Drive through penalty for Audi #33, Rik Breukers, penalized for a refueling violation. Raffaele Marciello is in the lane from the lead. He will continue.
Mattia Drudi and Christopher Haase also in for Audi. Marciello is your leader. All the top ten drivers are in. Make it eleven, no, twelve. Marciello, Drudi, Mies, Preining, and more. Marciello is happy chappy right now. He has his gap to second place. He has fuel in the tank and gets new Pirelli P Zero tires. Marciello is back in business with warm tires and the WRT Audi boys will have to go down from the top pit. A net gain for Marciello and AKKA ASP. Working lap 26, 113 miles in. Patrick Niederhauser is now in the #66 Audi. He is the second driver and Fred Vervisch is the third. We are into the second hour. This is remarkable racing. It's been mega.
Mercedes #90 in the lane for Mad Panda. Ezequiel Perez-Companc from Argentina, sharing with Ricardo Sanchez of Mexico, Puhakka Juuso of Finland, and Patrick Assenheimer of Germany. Christopher Mies chasing Richard Lietz in the KCMG Porsche. Lexus #15 of Timothy Buret, has moved around Fred Schandorf in the Lamborghini. Wow. Ferrari #52, Daniel Serra, has been eating loads of carrots, because he has no headlights on at the moment. Jonathan Hui of Hong Kong has taken over Ferrari #93 as well. Buret gives Schandorff a love tap. There's debris. Buret used the chrome horn. Car #111 pinged for a refueling time violation. This is the JP Motorsports car. Patryk Krupinski from Poland, driving the Mercedes AMG GT3 along with Jens Liebhauser, Mathias Lauda, and Christian Klien.
Mathias Lauda, son of the late, great F1 world champ Nikki Lauda, and Christian Klien, former Red Bull Formual 1 driver. More woe for Mad Panda. They have had two consecutive pit stops, and so, they need to clean the slate and regroup. Rob Collard also, is in the lane for the second time. That's the other Barwell Lamborghini. Dennis Lind. Kamui Kobayashi leads Nelson Panciatici, Raffeele Marciello, and Patrick Niederhauser. Marciello leads and as we have unleashed the beast, we have a mega battle brewing. Dennis Lind all over Pat Niederhauser. Endurance racing is really fun stuff. The pit stop violation penalties are due to differing between long and short stops. A long stop has the fuel hose connected for 40 seconds. More than that and the marshals nick you.
Philip Ellis leads Rik Breukers and others, for Silver Cup honors. Philip Ellis, the German Brit, he is leading Silver as Breukers serves a penalty for the refueling violation. Nobody has their wipers on. Through the top at Les Combes and down into Speaker's corner, has been really wet and the mist hangs in the air between the trees. Phil Ellis is being monstered by Audi #26. That is Steve Palette in Am sharing with Christophe Cresp, Gregory Paisse, and Pierre-Yves Paque. Two French drivers and two Belgians. Now, Timothy Buret is chasing Alfred Renauer. That's the Herberth Motorsports Porsche. Buret, in the Lexus, car #15 for Tech 1 Racing, sharing with fellow French drivers Aurelien Panis and Thomas Neubauer.
34 laps, 148 miles, as the battle rages between Patrick Niederhauser and Dennis Lind through Blanchimont. The Lambo has the advantage on the straight while the Audi has the legs in the twisty bits. This is a great scrap. Still 22 and a half hours left. This is a fun race so far and will continue to be. Good to see Attempto getting an Audi Sport stamp of approval. Attempto were at the rear of the grid in the old Blancpain days, but now, they are at the top of the tree. They really are. Mattia Drudi is doing very well, coming from open wheel cars and into Porsche Cup and into GT racing. Patrick Niederhauser was a single seater driver, but then, he got into GT racing and has gone very well.
Dennis Lind wants by Patrick Niederhauser, and he can't quite get there. Niederhauser is flying. These two are bish bash boshing it, scraming up the Kemmel straight. Lind does not have enough in the locker right now, as Raffaele Marciello moves ahead. Pit stop time for Dorian Boccolacci in the #25 Audi right now. He is in an unscheduled pit stop. Tire trouble, maybe, for the Frenchman. The Lind and Niederhauser scrum continues. 35 laps, 152 miles, complete. Richard Lietz, Kevin Estre, and Michael Christensen, last year's winners, are in sixth in the KCMG Porsche, car #21. Tire debris damaged the splitter and power steering on Dorian Boccalacci's Audi R8 LMS. Not good.
Raffaele Marciello is building his lead up again. Miguel Molina will pass Dorian Boccalacci. Lind wants a way back by Niederhauswer. This battle is still hot. Lind wants it into Bruxelles, but no. Rob Bell back in the garage, still in the garage. Such a shame for Rob Bell and company right now. Fingers crossed they can get that motorcar fixed. Patrick Niederhauser continus ahrad of Dennis Lind. They are closing on a lapped Mercedes, and Lind tries Niederhauser, but no. Lind is the hound and Niederhauser is the rabbit. Oliver Wilkinson is not happy as Dennis Lind has made it to second spot. Oliver Wilkinson says that Rob Bell has collected debris that has damaged the power steering pump. Let's hope they can get the car back out there.
What a tough time. Stefano Constantini leads Am, and Robert Renauer leads Pro Am. Raffaele Marciello leads the race. Frederik Schandorff leads Silver in the Lamborghini, the Dane. We have seven Silver Cup contenders. Dennis Lind is off the leash and ahead of Pat Niederhauser. Robert and Alfred Renauer are twin brothers. That's Herberth Motorsport who run in several GT championships. They are a welcome addition to this race here at Spa. Car #33 has a final warning for track limits. Rik Breukers will have to serve another penalty more than likely. He is running out of chances. Breukers is languishing down in 44th spot. Nelson Panciatici in the #107 CMR Bentley has had contact with the #27 HubAuto Ferrari.
Six Porsche's now run in the top 14 places. Bejmain Hites, in the #89 AKKA ASP Mercedes is running well. Hites is third in Silver Cup sharing with Alex Fontana and Lucas Legeret from Switzerland. Hites is from Chile. He is in his fourth season of any kind of racing. Steven Palette leads in Am in the #26 Audi. Pierre-Yves Paque may or may not get a chance to drive, as he did not feel comfortable with driving in the darkness. This race traditionally runs in the summertime. This is so different running in the autumn. The night will last forever, and it will be really cold. Jonathan Hui from Hong Kong is 40th in the #93 Ferrari, hustling on through Raidillon, having taken over from Giancarlo Fisichella, sixth in the Pro Am class.
Marciello is having his gap slightly eaten into by Dennis Lind. You cannot see out the back of a GT3 car and so everyone uses rearview cameras in the cars now. The #55 Audi is back in the race but they have lost an hour and a half of racing after Finlay Hutchison was rammed into. Nicolas Scholl, the Austrian, now in that car. Orange 1 FFF Racing had a remarkable year last year, but 2020 has been more of a struggle for them. Maro Engel is catching Patrick Niederhauser and Thomas Preining in the Porsche is right on Engel's coattails. Wow. The headlights pierece the dusk as we are approaching 6PM local time. The light will fade and we'll be into darkness soon.
Spa is going to be really dark tonight. The headlights will surely be needed. It's going to be dark, and cold. Watch out for cold Pirelli tires, too. Everyone will be on their toes soon. Jonathan Hui lets the leaders go and Maro Engel goes deep on Niederhauser but can't make it. One up and two back as Niederhauser and Thomas Preining have moved by. Preining is goping to be all over it. Alexandre Imperatori is penalized for a collision with Phil Ellis in the #84 Mercedes. Ellis sharing the HTP Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT3 with Dutchman Indy Dontje and American Russell Ward.
Richard Lietz is also in the wars here in sixth in the #47 KCMG Porsche. That's Lietz/Christensen/Estre, three Porsche factory drivers. We will be keeping an eye on fuel consumption here. How will the stints turn out? Deary me. It's raining at the Bus Stop. Things are going to get interesting here in a wee while, folks. Preining wants by Niederhauser through Les Combes. Raffaele Marciello's gap is shrinking. Dimitrios Konstantinou is the cork in the bottle, as the leaders are passing Porsche #918. Niederhauser, Preining, Engel. This is a fair fight. A fabulous scrap.
Bentley #108 spins at Bruxelles. Stephan Tribaudini spins, and continues. Meantime, the #66 Audi is really going well. Patrick Niederhauser is keeping Preining at bay. Down through Pouhon, Niederhauser stays third. Preining and Engel want this. Dennis "The Menace" Lind, is fastest at 258 kilometers an hour. Engel moves behind. Preining wants by Niederhauser in the Bus Stop. The Audi is ahead, barely. Preining goes deep in the corner, and he passes the Audi. Preining moves to third place. Wow. Maro Engel also wants by Pat Niederhauser as well, look.
The cork in the bottle effect is really taking shape. How will Fred Vervisch do? We see drivers, some, doing single stints, but we will start seeing double stints as night comes. Wow! Action packed racing!
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