Tandy, Niederhauser, Cairoli, are the top three. There's less spray in the air. The rain may be tapering off at the top of the hill, but in the lane it is tipping it down. Safety car lights are out. Tandy gets away and a Porsche will block Niederhauser. Niederhauser has his hands full. The spray into Eau Rouge and Raidillon is unreal. Niederhauser moves past Louis Deletraz. Niederhauser wanted to makie a move but he tried braking into Bruxelles and almost lost it. Matteo Cairoli gets passed by Alessandro Pier Guidi. Pier Guidi up to third. Bish, bash, bosh. Cairoli wants to make a move as well and here comes Maro Engel. Full Course Yellow. Benjamin Lessennes in the art car BMW off the road. 51 minutes on the board, with another safety car.
Full Course Yellow. It has been a typical Spa 24 even without fans. Loads of night time running as well. Just over 3/4 of an hour remains. Safety Car procedure. Nick Tandy has to be in the pound seats, but there's still 45 minutes on the board. The weather has been a hurdle and so has been the 12 hours of darkness. Henri Pescarolo set a lap record in 1973 on the old 8 mile Spa track. Safety car lights off. We are ready for a grandstand finish. 38 minutes to go. Green flag in the air. Pat Niederhauser is going fo rit, and he is going to throw the kitchen sink at Nick Tandy. Niederhauser won't roll over and play dead.
Through Eau Rouge they go. Up to Raidillon. Tandy is bish bash boshing it. He controls the restart and there are battles back behind. Nick Tandy is ahead by 9/10ths. The Porsche is a more stable car. Where is Alessandro Pier Guidi? He is trapped in traffic. Nelson Panciatici is a lapped car. Boccolacci is in trouble. He is going to have to dig to get back. He tries Engel but no. Matthieu Jaminet and Fred Makowiecki will apply the blowtorch to Boccolacci. The lack of visibility is staggering. Pier Guidi laps Louis Deletrazwho's dad Jean Denis won this race when it was in the FIA GT Championship. Boccolacci has dropped behind Matthieu Jaminet. Tandy has clear vision.
Niederhauser is going to challenge, but he has the spray in his eyes. The spray goes up, hovering in the air. Maro Engel muscles his way around Matthieu Jaminet who has moved around Louis Deletraz and Dorian Boccolacci. 30 minutes left on the board. Cairoli is pushing. Maro Engel and Matty Jaminet are pushing. Louis Deletraz in the lane with the sister GPX Porsche. Deletraz gets a splash and dash. Nick Tandy leads by three seconds. Attempto is working now on how they may not win this motor race, but they mkight still be able to fight. Pier Guidi is third. He isn't making inroads. Cairoli's Porsche is moving. Cairoli is 2.5 seconds behind Alessandro Pier Guidi.
Tandy is on rails. The balance of that Porsche is spot on. Niederhauser runs wide. The Audi does not have the same traction as the Porsche. Cairoli catching Pier Guidi out of the Bus Stop. Could Tandy have broke Niederhauser's spirit? Pier Guidi continues in third. Cairoli is 6/10ths behind. This will be a street fight for the final step on the podium. Cairoli goes wide and Pier Guidi isgoing to block. The Porsche's have the legs in the wet. Maro Engel and Matteo Cairoli, the man in fourth, the fourth and fifth place cars are being investigated for an incident. When was this? Engel may have gone deep into the Bus Stop. Cairoli wants by Pier Guidi but decides discretion is the better part of valor for now. The battle for second is Even Steven.
Tandy is in a class by himself, pulling away. Cairoli will squeeze Pier Guidi, but no. Pier Guidi slams the door in his face. Drive through penalty for the #22 Fred Makowiecki driven Frikadelli Porsche which collided with the BMW art car. Cairoli keeps tyrying. Here comes Pier Guidi. No dice. Ciaroli is right there. Side by side past the endurance pits. Cairoli makes the pass for third! Cairoli might just finish third. Sandy Mitchell leads Eddie Cheever III. in Pro Am. Hubert Haupt will win the Silver Cup for his own team in another ten minutes. HTP is second in the class. Hugo Chevalier in third in class. Bentley #108 will win Am and be the only finishing car in the Am division.
Nick Tandy is going to win this if he can hold one for eight minutes. Matthieu Jaminet wants by Alessandro Pier Guidi. Ferrari wants to keep their first Spa GT3 podium. Jaminet says "no you don't, sunshine". Game over for SMP parked in the pit lane. Porsche has an advantage on going over the curbs. Niederhauser is working on catching Tandy, but he won't be close enough. Niederhauser is throwing the kitchen sink at the Porsche. Maybe the grip factor isn't where it should be or was before. He has the high ground. The car has a problem with the transmission. Tandy is stuck in gear. The gap is up to 4.4 seconds. He is stuck in fifth gear.
This reminds me of Michael Schumacher winning the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix stuck in fifth gear. Final lap. The clock is at zero. Here they come. The 2020 Spa 24 Hours is over and Rowe Racing, Earl Bamber, Nick Tandy, and Laurens Vanthoor win! We will discuss all the winners, later. Yours truly is exhausted, needs breakfast, and needs to get some sleep. Margin of victory, 4.6 seconds. Wow. A race full of drama, here at Spa. We will talk about the final results and the class winners, later on. So long, for now, from Spa.
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