Sunday, October 25, 2020

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 23

Leo Machitski leads Pro Am over Giancarlo Fisichella.  Maxsime Martin and Jens Klingmann, as well as David Perel, are also back there.  Sergey Sirotkin is back in the race in 12th spot.  Michele Beretta is in the lane for HRT in their Silver Cup car.  Final warnings about track limits for HubAuto Ferrari #27 and #108 CMR Bentley.  Romano Ricci leads Am, the perfume heir.  Boccolacci leads Calado right now.  Matteo Cairoli in the lane with the #54 Dinamic Porsche.  Frederic Vervisch says being on slick tires in the rain was really dangerous and really tough.  He can handle the water and the Pirelli rain tires.  He has to sit and be patient.  Fred Vervisch has driven that car mopre than anything.  Dorian Boccolacci pits for fuel only and one of the Mercedes' is in with electrical woes.  Water in the electrics?  Maybe.  Sainteloc has a slower pit stop than does Attempto.

It is more difficult to be out of the car, watching, than being in the car, driving.  Boccolacci leads the motor race.  James Calado leads on the road as we look at speeds in Eau Rouge, much slower.  Maro Engel runs 198 kilometers an hour in the wet.  Close to 200 clicks in the wet through Eau Rouge.  Nick Tandy into the pit lane.  There will be a refuel likely on the car and not a driver change.  Patrick Niederhauser can reclaim the lead.  Patrick Niederhauser keeps going and fresh rain tires for the #98 Rowe Porsche.  The Porsche back on track.  Niederhauser reclaims the lead as Tandy trundles down the pit lane for an interminable amount of time.

Niederhauser will go ahead and James Calado needs a stop.  He is almost at a maximum stint.  Mario Farnbacher is moving up in the Honda NSX.  The #29 car.  James Calado leads on the road and needs a pit stop.  Patrick Niederhauser will resume in the lead.  Fresh tires make the difference for Nick Tandy, psychologically and physically.  He has an advantage.  Calado needs to pit.  He'll actually have to do two stops.  Through Campus, Stavelot, and Paul Frere.  Into Blanchimont.  The Ferrari is headed for the pit lane.  The skies have descended, or the spray is hanging in the air.  Calado into the lane.  Driver change coming up, and with an hour and 44 minutes on the board, they have one stop left.

Niederhauser, the Swiss driver, will get the lead back as the Ferrari comes back on track.  That downhill pit lane drive is agonizing.  Through Raidillon, and now, Calado is off and running.  Here comes Tandhy.  Tandhy is screaming up the Kemmel straight.  Alessandro Pier Guidi is in th Ferrari.  Tandy is searching for grip out of the Piff Paff and into Campus.  That's Malmedy for the old school Spa fans, and through Stavelot, to the Bus Stop.  This will be a battle royal in the spray, headlights piercing through the gloom.  Into Les Combes, and the Ferrari is right there.  Go offline to try to go downhill from Les Combes to Brussels turn.  Ferrariu just ahead of the Porsche.  Tandy all over Pier Guidi at Speaker's corner.  

Through Fangnes, and this is going to be good, and Tandy, there he goes.  Into Stavelot, Tandy is pulling away.  Ferrari #72 is in the lane.  Niederhauser, Boccolacci, and Tandy, this is the battle.  Who is next to stop in the lane?  Audi #66, possibly.  Jules Gounon and Alvaro Parente run 14th and 15th for Bentley.  Tandy slides off at Eau Rouge and he recovers going uphill!  Yikes!  That's the save of the race!  Blimey!  Julien Andlauer in the sister Rowe Porsche with a broke rear wing, he isn't so lucky after a meatball flag.  Tandy lapping quicker than Boccolacci, and Niederhauser is still quick as well.  Gabriele Piana leads Silver Cup over Phil Ellis.

Florian Latorre and Ricardo Sanchez, followed by Frank Bird, are next in the Silver division.  Sandy Mitchell leads Maxime Martin and Eddie Cheever III., David Perel, and others in Pro Am.  Romano Ricci leads Am. He has that one sewn up.  We might have a car off the road in sector three.  Emil Frey Lamborghini #163 with Franck Perera is off the road.  That's Blanchimont.  Not in a good spot.  Scary stuff.  Patric Niederhauser is really running well.  Will Mattia Drudi do a final stint?  Romano Ricci could have a class win.  He's raced in GT's and Prototypes as well as at Le Mans.  In the gloom, Niederhasuer continues.  

The mist is atrocious.  Tandy is catching Boccolacci.  Full Course Yellow to move the Lamborghni.  Tandy is going to be chomping at the bit.  Alessandro Pier Guidi, Matteo Cairoli, Matthieu Jaminet, and others will be in the fight, too.  The leader in the pit lane and will Tandy pit?  Tandy in the lane too.  This could be a short or long stop.  Tire change for the Audi to fresh Pirelli P Zero wets.  Porsche out first.  No tire change.  Boccalacci stays out on track.  Could he still have something to say?  The safety car is on track.  Less than 70 minutes left.  Honda pits for fuel and tires.  Honda takes fuel only.  Fuel and tires for the Sky Ferrari, the #93.  

Eddie Cheever III. at the wheel of the Prancing Horse #93.  #51 is under investigation, and the Mad Panda Mercedes, Ricardo Sanchez, spins.  Too much welly and he spins out.  Safety car is deployed as the #51 takes their medicine, serving their penalty.  No.  They had a regular stop.  Can they have higher ground without facing a penalty?  Sainteloc is in for the final stop for their Audi.  Boccolacci will take it to the flag.  Tandy in the lane as well for a reset for the stint time.  Has the rain eased up?  Hard to tell.  Safety car still on the road.  

Tandy is going to try and use this restart to his advantage.  Here we go. 

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