For the second consecutive year, we welcome you, to coverage of the grand finale for the Intercontinental GT Challenge. It is time, once again, for the renewal, of a classic, the Kyalami 9 Hours. A dozen teams, and 36 drivers, are here, in spite of the global coronavirus pandemic, to do battle for the championship in the 2020 Intercontinental GT Challenge. This race, returned, last year, for the first time since the Group C prototype era, in 1982, and was a real success. Now, it is back once more. Kyalami, the venue for the final round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge championship. The bulk of the entry list is full of championship contenders. We can surely expect rain in this race, and we saw that last year. One or two Balance of Performance adjustments. Honda are on pole with the NSX GT3 being shared by Bertrand Baguette, Renger van der Zande, and Mario Farnbacher. It is close at the top. Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor, Markus Winkelhock, Matt Campbell and more. Porsche are in the pound seats for the manufacturer's cup.
We are in for a very competitive event. This will be a nine hour sprint. It's everyone's to lose, really. The weather is gorgeous, but the wind is picking up around this 4.522 kilometer, 16 turn track. Pay particular attention to corners like Crowthorne, Jukskei Sweep, Barbeque Bend, Sunset, Clubhouse, Leeukop, The Mineshaft, and The Crocodiles, as well as Cheetah, and the final turn, Ingwe. The wind might stir up storms. We had a huge rainstorm last year that produced a mega race. Fire up the barbecues for sausages, hamburgers and a delicacy that yours truly can't remember the name of, that is barbecued beef. Delicious.
Drivers in the pit lane, cars in their grid spots. Augusto Farfus will start the #34 Walkenhorst Racing BMW M6 GT3. That's the car of Sheldon van der Linde, Nicky Catsburg, and Augusto Farfus. Andre Beuzeidenhout says that the the wind will make things tricky into Sunset corner. Look towards old Johannesburg, and we'll have some rain this evening before this motor race is done and dusted. It's the Kyalami Splatters. Sounds like a jazz band, doesn't it? The clouds are beginning to form. Here on the high belt, 5,000 feet above sea level, the weather is going to change. This is the last race we will see M Sport and the factory Bentley's. They want that championship.
Nick Yelloly and David Pittard for Walkenhorst Motorsports, are ready, and they will both get into the car a little later on. David Pittard says that they are ready to go. This race will be fast and very hot. David Pittard is an underrated driver. He could play a factor today. A year ago, Bentley double stinted their tires. Will that happen this year? This is a counterclockwise track at Kyalami, so the right hand Pirelli tires are going to take a pounding. A short pit stop is two tires with no fuel and a long stop is refueling and two tires. 37 seconds minimum time for short stops, 68 seconds minimum time for long stops.
Everyone here is in it to win a championship, and not on holiday, unless you are a bloke like Saul Hack or Andre Bezeidenhout who are here for fun and to drive. Mirko Bortolotti is making his first start here at Kyalami. Bortolotti says he enjoys the layout here at Kyalami. He's ready to go racing. A lot can happen in a nine hour race. The Audi's are ten kilograms lighter and so are the Porsche's. This is a symbolic race for Lechner Racing. We miss Walter Lechner, who was a racer, a bell boy, a nightclub owner. Walter Lechner, 1949-2020. We will miss you. Godspeed, Walter. We wish Lechner Racing well in a big race for them.
The South African national anthem plays. The black, red, green, and blue of the South African flag, is displayed. We're nearly ready to race. Five minutes away, and we'll be set to go. Jules Gounon, on the front row, his lucky socks are paying off. He is wearing safari socks today. This is Jordan Pepper's home race as well. It's a small grid, but it's ten factory supported cars in the field. The driver lineups are stellar. I hope everyone doesn't do any heroics into Crowthorne. The engines have fired up. Bertrand Baguette starts the Honda NSX GT3 from pole, which had BoP tweaks overnight.
The green flag is waved as the cars roll off on their formation lap. Who will win? We just don't know. BMW is strong. Audi is strong. Porsche is strong. Bentley is strong. Porsche has not been on their best game. If Bentley wins, they are a sentimental favorite because it is their last one. No mistakes. Don't go off the road. Don't screw up in the pit lane. If you finish, you will finish well. Stay reliable. Stay safe. Stay clean. Watch out for track limits. The cars are coming through The Crocodiles into Ingwe and into Cheetah. Here they come. It's time to go racing. Get ready. Get set. Punch it! Green flag! The cars scream into Crowthornes for the first time as Jordan Pepper runs wide and Bertrand Baguette leads the motor race.
Augusto Farfus shoots up to third spot. This is wild and contact at Sunsewt already between the #31 Audi and the #8 Bentley! Don't do that! What were you thinking?! Poor old Markus Winkelhock and poor old Alex Buncombe! He's stuck in the middle of Sunset corner! Jeepers creepers! You are fully aware that you don't need to make mistakes and on the first lap? Come on, lads. Settle down. We are going for a safety car. Yes indeed. Markus Winkelhock dives for the pit lane. Wow. Markus Winkelhock is in the garage with rear damage on the Audi. Deary me. Let's look at the replay and under braking, the Bentley and the Porsche get together. Goodness gracious!
Dries Vanthoor says that the Audi team is repairing the right rear suspension on the car. The pushrods and toe links are bent up. Being down a few laps does their cause no good at all. The Audi was indeed tagged by the Bentley, which is a very large car. Again, this whole concertina effect happened in Sunset corner. The Audi was hit on the rear and the Bentley #8 does not look to have any real damage that we can see and we don't have access to the onboard camera at the moment. We are back to green flag racing. Take two. Bertrand Baguette leads Jordan Pepper and Augusto Farfus, followed by Martin Tomczyk. At the rear of the field, Saul Hack in Porsche #9. We are headed out of Barbecue and into Sunset.
The stewards are going to investigate this incident to see exactly what happened. We are just ten minutes into the race. Bertrand Baguette just needs to drive cleanly and not overdrive the car. Diving inside, Earl Bamber passes Frederic Vervisch. Bamber needs to be pressing on to stay in the hunt for the title. Just ten minutes on the board. A long, long way to go. It's definitely early doors right now. Markus Winkelhock will rejoin the race but four laps behind. If you go a lap down you can't quite make up that ground. Earl Bamber is catching Patrick Pilet, and fast. Pilet sharing with Matt Campbell and Matthieu Jaminet.
That Lechner Porsche is also with Perfect Circle, that's David Piper's livery from the 1960s here at Kyalami. Bertrand Baguette leads the motor race and everyone has gotten back down to earth. Don't let the red mist come down too soon. Freddie Vervisch is monstering Patrick Pilet at the moment. Patrick Pilet meanwhile, is on pace, right behind Patric Niederhauser, who tried and tried at Spa but just couldn't get the job done. However, he is fifth right now in this race. The gap has ballooned to 1.2 seconds between Bertrand Baguette and Jordan Pepper. Everyone else is diving and darting for position right now.
This is a low degradation circuit at Kyalami, but tire wear will show up. Martin Lechman has been warned about track limits at the final turn at Ingwe. Saul Hack is being hounded by Martin Lechman through Crowthorne, Jukskei Sweep, Barbeque, Sunset, Clubhouse, and Leeukop. Earl Bamber is pushing past Patrick Niederhauser and here comes Fred Vervisch. The Porsche's might have more steam than the Audi's at the momnt as Vervisch tries Patrick Niederhauser and can't quite make it. Jordan Pepper is trying to reel in Bertrand Baguette.
Great battling between Pilet and Niederhauser in replay and Bamberis also pushing hard. Baguette, Pepper, Farfus, Tomczyk, Pilet, Bamber, Niederhauser, Vervisch, Hack, and Buncombe, the top ten. Alex Buncombe is just barely on the lead lap. He has to try and catch up. Jordan Pepper has uncorked a best lap of 1:44 dead. The tires are compromised on the #8 Bentley after the spin. We've done ten laps, 28 miles. Make that 11, 31 miles. The group of cars between Tomczyk and Vervisch are very close together. It is hard to make a breakway from a cluster of cars like this.
Bertrand Baguette still leads the motor race over Jordan Pepper by 1.3 seconds. 12 laps done and dusted as Patrick Pilet is catching Martin Tomczyk little by little. Will Tomczyk be the cork in the bottle? Will he have to give way to Patrick Pilet? Where will he use the strength of the Porsche to move past the BMW? Into Sunset, no dice that time, look. Now then, Earl Bamber is going to whistle his way 'round Pilet, and some argy bargy. This is great racing, and here come the Aufdi's. It's dodge 'em cars here, look. Thre Porsche's are beign muscled to the outside and Niederhauser hblocks. Here comes Freddie Vervisch, and he can't quite get there. Wow!
This is incredible racing! Wow! Bamber's drive out of Sunset was unbelievable. This is some fabulous racing. Earl Bamber is already thrashing that Porsche and it is whimpering for mercy. Four cars glued together between the Mine Shaft and The Crocodiles. Jordan Pepper is chipping away at Bertrand Baguette. They start yet another lead battle. It is a culinary battle. A baguette with pepper? He's "The Pepper Grinder" adding spice to the battle, look. Oh dear. Let's not start that nonsense. Meanwhile, Jordan Pepper is indeed reeling in the Frenchman.
The Porsche's and the Audi's are still wrestling. 6/10ths of a second, and Jordan Pepper is pressing hard. The gap is closing now betwen the BMW, the Porsche, and the Audi. Tomczyk is being monstered by Bamber at the moment. You have a 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Spa winner against a DTM champion. Wow. Bamber won those big races and Tomczyk is a DTM champ. Earl Bamber is in no mood to be patient. Through Sunset, Bamber is right on Tomczyk's six. The BMW man is the cork in the bottle. Tomczyk knows how to defend as Bamber is finding places on the road to overtake. Going super long 'round Clubhouse or The Crocodile is not the preferred line. 17 laps on the board now. Bertrand Baguette leads by 7/10ths of a second.
Saul Hack is losing ground to the train of cars we have been watching and Alex Buncombe is losing time to the South African Perfect Circle Porsche man. Bamber still wants by Tomczyk. Bertrand Baguette is the danger man, in the lead right now. Porsche are ten kilograms lighter than they were in practice and qualifying and Freddie Vervisch dives in on Pilet, and Patrick Pilet slams the door in his face. Tomczyk stretching the gap, little by little. Pilet has to defend over Vervisch as Earl Bamber is pressing Martin Tomczyk between Sunset and Clubhouse. In the points championship, the Bentley boys are in a three way tie at 46 points, two points over Mario Farnbacher in the Honda on 44 points.
Frederic Vervisch is pushing hard. Tomczyk is being hounded by Bamber. Vervisch is trying to drive a very determined race. Fred is a real scrapper. He is like an Allan McNish or a James Weaver. A little terrier, who nips at his rivals. Who will benefit from all this tussling? Down again through the Crocodile, wriggling their way back to the start of another lap. Vervisch is still on Pilet's six, but Pilet is losing ground behiund the other Audi of Vervisch. Martin Tomczyk can outrun Bamber just slightly. He's comfortable in the knowledge that Bamber can't touch him right now.
Through Leeukop, and here comes Niederhauser, but Bamber says, "no way, sunshine", and Tomczyk gets a little juice to keep moving. Niederhauser has the wind in his sails, and he wants it. He wants a bite of the cherry. Freddie Vervisch tries again, but that door is locked. That's going to give Vervisch a real king size headache here. Dropping through Sunset, down the hill. Pilet runs wide through Clubhouse trying to defend. No dice there, mate. That was slef induced and Vervisch is probing, bumping, boring, and then he moves in and passes and here comes Pilet again. Bang! Pilet touches Vervisch and slams the door back in his face. Vervisch has got to be pulling his hair out! Egad!
Give us more! This is wonderful racing! This is why these blokes are signed up for the factory teams. They can drive! Patric Niederhauser is finding pace and he is going to give Earl Bamber fits. Bamber has had his elbows out all race. Now, into Crowthorne, he has to realize discretion is the better part of valor, or is it? Niederhauser wants it against Bamber. This is a small field but that doesn't matter. This is a Saturday night short track stock car race, not a nine hour enduro.
Alex Buncombe is playing catch up and is fastest in sector one. We continue to watch Patric Niederhauser all over the back of Earl Bamber like a rash. Niederhauser again, tries, but he can't get it done in the braking zone. This is 230 kilometers an hour, 144 miles an hour. Martin Lechman is stuck in the gravel. He has high sided it. We might get a safety car and the cars will have to close up into the crocodile, not the corner, but the crocodile of cars. We might just see a Full Course Yellow. Ah. It's going to be pit stop time here momentarily for fuel. Bamber, he wants by Tomczyk, and here comes Niederhauser, through Barbeque. This battle is hot, into Sunset! Bamber says no way to Niederhauser. Vervisch wants by Pilet, and Tomczyk, he's holding these chaps off, and holding on by the skin of his teeth!
Woohoo! This is bonkers, mate. Absolutely bonkers. Ah yes. Full Course Yellow. Here comke the pit stops. The top three are staying on the road. This could throw a spanner into their strategies. Fresh sticker Pirelli tires for a coupole of the Audi's and the Honda and Bentley teams are kicking themselves! We are still eleven minutes short of the end of the first hour, the natural pit stop time. Saul Hack also stays out in the Lecher/Perfect Circle Porsche. Mattia Drudi takes over, Charles Weerts is in one of the other Audi's, and it looks like Nick Yelloly into one of the BMW's I think.
Bentley #8 is back on the road. Bertrand Baguette and Jordan Pepper are trundling 'round, and here comes Markus Wikelhock. Winkelhock is caboose on the field but he has been uncorking fast lap after fast lap after fast lap. Baguette and Pepper are in and there will be driver changes. Into the Acura it will either be Mario Farnbacher or Renger van der Zande and into the Bentley it will be either Maxime Soulet or Jules Gounon and the Lechner Porsche is in the lane. No lead change, look. Honda, Bentley, BMW. Baguette, Gounon, Farfus, the top three. No overtaking under Full Course Yellow. Renger van der Zande has taken over the leading Honda.
Oliver Jarvis is now into the Bentley and Kelvin van der Linde has taken over from Markus Winkelhock. Not sure who else. Matty Jaminet, Charles Weerts, and others, have taken over. In a Full Course Yellow, the speed is set at 80 kilometers an hour, 50 miles an hour. What a wild first hour this has been and it is almost done and dusted, in another five minutes or so. Earl Bamber is confident he and his team can win a championship. The heat is really tough, the wind is changing direction, and there might be rain. We just don't know. It's a high workload circuit here at Kyalami, both mentally and physically. We are under the Safety Car and we will have a momentary restart as the field gets bunched up and the gaps disappear.
Martin Lechman made an error, spinning in the esses in the #45 Car Collection Audi. Audi #31 of course had to have the rear suspension fixed, but currently is fastest car on the road, and Bentley #8 are getting back in contention and a couple drivers took their joker pit stops. Wow. What a frantic opening hour here at Kyalami! I think we are in for a lot more action as the day wears on. Safety car will be in at the end of this lap. We're back to green.
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