More pit action as well for thew Ferrari crews. Splash and dash for a Full Course Yellow, and new wet tires. In, fuel, in, fuel. Rowe Racing and the Porsche will also be getting new boots. Boccalacci is into the Audi and Ben Goethe is out of the car, and headed for the medical center. The Audi will also be extracted from the tire barrier. The rain is falling, steadily, but it isn't a biblical thunderstorm. The visibility is really poor. Has the rain begun to ease off a tad? It's possible. We shall see. We are at a Full Course Yellow, once again, as mentioned. Maybe the skies are beginning to brighten up. However, we can't really tell. Even if it stops raining between now and the end of the race, there will be a slightly drying line, and then, some damp spots. Cold and wet, will catch the cars and drivers out. If you get a wheel too far to one side or the other, that's enough to take a car out. Benjamin Goethe's rwreck is a perfect example as SMP and Rowe both pit.
When you see the tops of the trees at Spa Francorchamps, that's good. At the end of October, the track conditions are so different from being here in the summertime in late July. This is Spa, always difficult in the wet. We are in daylight hours. We have raced in darkness for 12 hours, in the mist and rain, and with the powerful LED headlights flashing in your eyes. Honda #29 in the pit lane. The marshals might have to remove the tire bundles to lift the car onto the flatbed. This Audi is left hand drive. Belgian Audi Club WRT has done really well in this race over the years, but this race will be one they want to erase from their memory bank.
We are still in Full Course Yellow mode, not under safety car. Slow running under Full Course Yellow is not gaining anything fuel mileage wise or stint wise for the 65 minute maximum. We will go to a safety car soon. The wet weather Pirelli tires operate in a completely different temperature window. Dorian Boccalocci leads Freddie Vervisch and Vervisch will retake the lead, with the two SMP Racing and AF Corse Ferrari's. Dorian Boccalacci leads over Fred Vervisch, Sergey Sirotkin, James Calado, The WRT Audi #33 has been recovered and it was absolutely pancaked into the tires. That was not a Belgian waffle. That was a pancake. Christopher Haase and his team may be in front bewfore we end this race.
Two hours and 41 minutes to go. Again, the rain is falling, and the track conditions just won't improve. That's how it has to be unfortunately. The marshals have done a whale of a job. Could you pay someone enough? You have to have a passion for racing to be a marshal. The amount of spray at Raidillon is unreal. Cars, drivers, and the track, are colder, in this rain. I worry about the visibility being terrible and so does everyone else. The cars are running at 70 miles an hour, and the spray is unreal. The trees lining the circuit hold the water, hovering in the air. It falls back down with more rain. The visibility is going to be a major problem.
Be safe out there, everybody. Take it easy. Safety car lights are out. Paul Frere Curve is really wet. Stay away from the curbs. Green flag. Here we go. Two and a half hours left. Boccalacci has nailed the restart being chased by Fred Vervisch. You can't see a thing in the spray up through Raidillon. Through Les Combes, Vervisch is chasing Boccalacci. Fred Vervisch second with Dorian Boccalacci leading. Two Audi's lead two Ferrari's. Vervisch is coiled like a spring, ready to make his move.
We keep talking about it, but these conditions are atrocious. Sainteloc vs. Attempto, two Audi Sport teams. There's more to happen. In the middle of Eau Rouge, it is a wall of spray. Has this race come back to Attempto? We shall see. The condition of the track has changed dramatically. Fred Vervisch is really hounding Dorian Boccalacci. The cars produce these great rooster tails in the rain. James Calado is the best Ferrari. Nick Tandy has moved around Sergey Sirotkin. We ha spin and it is the Frikadelli Racing Porsche moving across the #5 Pro Am class HRT Mercedes. Check that. That's the #4 of Maro Engel splitting two cars. That is not the Am class car. It is the Silver Cup class leader. Honda continue running in the top ten in the #29 Honda NSX GT3.
Nick Tandy is closing up. Freddie Vervisch takes the advantahge through the Paul Frere curve and he takes the lead from Dorian Boccolacci. Big rain during the night, and now, the proper Spa rain is falling. The track is cold and wet. Maybe the independent Audi teams are working as a family right now. Who knows. Let Vervisch go. Nick Tandy has dispensed with Sergey Sirotkin. Kevin Estre takes the racing line from Pierre Ehret, Daniel Keilwitz, Rino Mastronardi, and David Perel. Not sure who is driving that green Ferrari. Patrick Pilet runs into the Sergey Sirotkin Ferrari and forces him into the tires.
Patrick Pilet was not turned in far enough, tipping the Ferrari into the tires. Sirotkin had to turn and Pilet did not have the corner. He should not close the gap. No signal yet for a yellow, hut we will see. Maybe the car has been recovered at Speaker's corner? Nope. It's still there. Sergey Sirotkin can't get the car restarted? This is confusing. Sirotkin is asking the team what to do, perhaps, or says, "I can do nothing. It's game over." We will have a Full Course Yellow. The Ferrari has not moved. We need a snatch vehicle. Sirotkin could not selectr reverse for some strange reason, and it's back in the race now, though.
The race restarts on short notice. Green flag. We're back at the races for the last two hours and 15 minutes. Thank you, Bruce Jones. Welcome back David Addison. It is gloves off. David and John, take us home. Nick Tandy is still in contention. 482 laps, 2,097 miles. Incident in turn one under investigation. The Honda of Mario Farnbacher was reeling in the cars ahead of him and he was on new Pirelli P Zero tires while everyone else was on scrubbed or used tires. Nick Tandy is pushing. He has wins at Le Mans and Nurburgring. He wants a race win at Spa. He did really well in the wet at Kyalami in South Africa last December in the 9 Hours as well.
Maro Engel is under investigation by the stewards. The Honda is a lap down but they are in the fight. Two hours and ten minutes on the board. Patrick Pilet, in the gloom, can't find the way around Maro Engel. Headed to La Soruce again. Vervisch lesads Boccalacci and Calado. Pilet has the oppoortunity to pass Engel. Engel stays in it. Engel was trying to pass the Honda;. The seven leaders are on the lead lap, covered by a blanket. The Porsche is sticking like glue to the Mercedes. Patrick Pilet has moved ahead of the Mercedes. Side by side and Patrick Pilet moves ahead. Serious motor race here, blokes. Pilet is a brave soul in this deluge. No investigation for the Pilet/Sirotkin incident.
485 laps, 2,110 miles. Mercedes #4 gets a ten second time penalty for causing a collision to be taken at the next pit stop. Maro Engel cops a penalty for contact at La Source. Maro Engel can't pass the Honda but Patrick Pilet finds it possible. Engel does not have an answers. Pit stop time coming up. Patrick Niederhauser will take over the #66 Attempto Audi. Niederhauser will bring the car home. Patrick Pilet is also in the lane. He too, might be taking the Porsche to the end, Porsche #12. No tires for #66. Porsche #12 for GPX is back on track as well. The Porsche has to motor way down through the endurance pits and past the F1 pits.
Dorian Boccolacci is now in the lead of the motor race. James Calado will be second and Nick Tandy third. Just over two hours left in the race. In the gloom, James Calado is eight seconds behind, and Nick Tandy is next up. The Audi leads the motor race by ten seconds. Colin Braun is 29th overall in the SPS Automotive Mercedes AMG GT3 sharing with Valentin Pierburg, George Kurtz, and Dominik Baumann.
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