Mirko Bortolotti stays on track to make up the laps. Catsburg has a perfect pit stop while the sister car has a slightly longer stop at Walkenhorst BMW while JAS has had their race ruined. Renger van der Zande was actually the driver to get into the car. He is back on track. But they are third behind both Nicky Catsburg and Nick Yelloly. It is the Nick and Nick show at BMW right now, chaps. Maxime Soulet has a loose bonnet on the #7 Bentley. All of the GT3 cars count in points but only the top ten score. Catsburg's margin over his team mate, has ballooned to ten seconds. Renger van der Zande is third two laps down to the leading BMW. Mirko Bortolotti is fourth in the #31 Audi Sport Team Hardpoint by WRT Audi R8.
Renger van der Zande is only 23-24 seconds clear of Bortolotti who has an extra pit stop to make. We are well past 70% of this race being complete. We watch the #20 Jan Heylen driven Porsche and also, James Clay in the GT4 class leading BMW M4 for Bimmerworld. Robin Liddell, the Scotsman, is chasing in the #2 GMG Racing Porsche Cayman. He has been a team manager as well as a driver. Jason Bell, Andrew Davis, and Robin Liddell are running very well. Jon "Mr. Excitement" Miller is a verye xsciting driver to watch and when he drove touring cars he would slide them all over the shop. But now, he is just plain fast.
Into the lane, Mirko Bortolotti, for his penultimate pit stop. Refueling first, and the car must be turned off during refueling. Sticker Pirelli P Zero's going on the car. A very clean stop for WRT and program manager Thierry Tassin really knows what to do as he is a former racing driver and a former Spa 24 Hours winner in touring cars, himself. James Clay into the pit lane from the GT4 lead. We look at the iconic pagoda in the background of the track. This is the longest race in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history. Is it the longest pro race? The longest pro race in the history of the track was the 1912 Indianapolis 500, allowing the top ten to complete the distance after the winner won. A driver did it in over eight hours, but he was hungry and so he had to stop and chow down on a fried chicken dinner, first.
That guilty pleasure food ain't the best for a racing driver, but I digress. George Kurtz has completed his stint in the #04 Mercedes and Ben Keating is going to do another stint. He's been really going for it in an impressive fashion all day. Ben Keating has shared cars with Jeroen Bleekemolen in other championships and the two of them have been real quick. He's shared with Bleekemolen in IMSA and in the FIA World Endurance Championship. George Kurtz is proud of his team as they want to bring it home for a Pro Am win with just about 100 minutes to go.
In the last ten minutes, Robert Megennis made a mistake which slowed down a pit stop they were making, and there has been a major battle in GT4 with the Porsche Cayman sandwiched betweent he BMW M4's. James Clay continues to lead GT4. We have been paying a little more attention to GT4 as of late. This is a great game of cat and mouse between ST Racing and GMG Racing. Walkenhorst continues to lead and they have been the class of the field all day. Jon Miller is trying a different line than Robin Liddell and Robin went in hot into turn one. He drops the nose and runs wide into turn one. That was a costly moment.
What does Robin Liddell have left in the locker? Very rarely does he make a mistake like that. There's loads of clag offline on the straightsaway and the gap is a second a half in GT4. The final pit stop will be the tale of the tape here. Team strategist Mike Johnson, working with GMG Racing is very sharp. Mark Issa is back at the wheel of the #1 Hublot Ferrari. But it is Nicky Catsburg still leading this motor race for Walkenhorst Racing. Catsburg remains on pace. Catsburg, Yelloly, and van der Zande, the top three. Maybe though, the #34 of Catsburg has hit the sweet spot. These two blokes have been evenly matched until now. #34 are likely in the pound seats now.
Catsburg leads by 23.5 seconds over Yelloly. Mirko Bortolotti continues to fly aboard the Audi with just an hour and 20 minutes left on the board. The opening few hours of this event were very mentally exhausting. Nicky Catsburg continues to lead by 28 seconds over his team mate Nick Yelloly. Renger van der Zande third, a lap down, followed by Mirko Bortolotti, and Ben Keating. Shelby Blackstock is seventh overall, a number of laps down. Trent Hindman has also run well. Robert Megennis has also run very well for the Racer's Edge team. James Clay continues to lead GT4 in the #82 Red Line Oil, Bimmerworld BMW M4 GT4. Bill Auberlen might just finish the motor race, and James Sofronas is trying not to go another lap down, in the #8 GMG Racing Audi R8 GT4.
Nicky Catsburg is running vwery well, along with Connor De Phillippi. De Phillippi says that the BMW boys have been responding to this race just as they would at the Nurburgring. We have some sunshine out on the track with a shade over an hour left on the board. Run the last hour of the motor race clean, and execute, hoping the weather stays away as Nicky Catsburg has to check up for a couple GT4 cars. Walkenhorst has been able to slice the cake the right way and will make it to the end.
James Clay continues leading GT4, the Bimmerworld team boss. He won a championship yesterday in one of the other races here at Indianapolis. James Clay's margin is fairly large. The battle for second between Jon Miller, Robin Liddell, and Patrick Gallagher, is quite robust. Pit stop time for the #93 Acura and Shelby Blackstock has finished his stint and so, Trent Hindman will take the car to the end. Mark Issa also brings in the #1 Ferrari 488 GT3 as well. Also, Patrick Gallagher has just run a wonderful race, and so have Joe "Matt" Dalton and Jonathan Taylor.
Jan Heylen pits the #20 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R and Nicky Catsburg is dialed in with a 33 second lead. The sister BMW #35 is in. Will Renger van der Zande have an issue on the #30 Acura? That car does not necessarily have a clutch to work with. nThe intensity of the pit crews is just asd much as it is in the drivers.
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