James Pull does give racing room to Nicklas Nielsen in the leading Ferrari. Nielsen passes. 463 laps in the book now. 20 hours now done and so we have started the 21st hour. James Pull will be as generous to van der Linde as he was to Nielsen on the pass here. 463 laps done, 2,015 miles. The key in overtaking is when you know you want to be close to the car you want to overtake. This way you don’t have to wait for the car ahead to make a move. Some drivers know and others don’t. In the next two hours, so, just before the race ends, or just before we get close to the final stages, we should see raindrops.
The #50 HubAuto Mercedes is back in the race, having dwelled in the pit lane for a long time with Nicky Catsburg sharing with the two Maximilian’s, Goetz and Buhk. James Pull did indeed let the quicker WRT car through and Nicklas Nielsen also goes by. So, the traffic factor is key once again. Kelvin van der Linde knows what is going on. So, Patrick Kujala leads in Silver Cup ahead of Nicolai Kjaergaard who is 14 seconds behind. Third place in class in Silver is the #99 Max Hofer driven Attempto Racing Audi. Kjaergaard is following Josh Burdon as the Australian has the wheel of the #18, the sister Porsche 911 GT3R for KCMG. Nicolai Kjaergaard is a former Formula 3 open wheel racer and occasionally races in historic events as his father owns a Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. Now that is a rare, rare car. I believe there are only, what, half a dozen of those in the world, unless their car is a replica version of some kind. Matt Griffin, who has won in class here at Spa before, he has the Pro-Am lead in the #53 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3. He and Duncan Cameron could win again. Max Hofer is third in the Silver class, and we just mentioned the Austrian before. So, he is running well.
Kujala, Kjaergaard, and Hofer, they are in a genuine scrap for position in Pro-Am with just under four hours left on the board before we crown the champions here at Spa for another year. This fight will indeed continue. This battle in classes or these battles, to be specific, are going to heat up. Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron have raced together in Ferrari’s for a long time. Deary me! We jinxed it! #99, the Max Hofer driven Audi for Attempto is penalized for, wait for it… track limits! New assistant Race Director on the radio, Georges Aurelles, giving poor Alain Adam a rest. He’s got to be bushed and his voice is almost gone. Get some rest, Alain.
Konstantin Tereschenko is ahead of Matt Griffin with some damaged bodywork on his Mercedes. Louis Machiels is second in Pro-Am now at the wheel of the #52 Ferrari. AF Corse runs 1-2 in Pro-Am, and we have rain spritzing on the track. So, this will make things very interesting indeed, as James Pull is 23rd but behind as the Ferrari’s are up the order. Matt Griffin is running ahead of Louis Machiels but with lapped cars to deal with. Drivers will be coasting the finish. Hungry as well they might be, the reward will be frites mayonnaise and a Stella Artois or a Jupiler, a good Belgian beer at the very least. There’s still work to be done.
Leo Machitski is moving in on Louis Machiels. Machitski won here last weekend in the British GT Championship, which also uses GT3 cars. No clutches on these cars with the semi-automatic transmission. So, a 15 second penalty for Maxime Martin in Porsche #47 that he will serve an extra 15 seconds on the next pit stop after Nick Tandy cut the chicane. Ugh. That will give Markus Winkelhock the advantage, a former winner of this race, in the #25 Audi Sport Team Sainteloc Audi. The gap has gone up between Nicklas Nielsen and Kelvin van der Linde, to 2.8 seconds. Jonathan Hui aboard the #93 Sky Tempesta Racing Ferrari, we are now watching his progress.
He is fourth in the Pro-Am class. The #166 Haegeli by T2 Racing Porsche is back on track! Wow! Our pals in the berries and custard liveried Porsche are back at it, just when we thought we’d written them off! Unbelievable! That car is leading the Am class of which there are just two entries. So, Jonathan Hui is safe as James Pull is trying to chase him down. Avoid track limits for the #93 Ferrari. That is their mantra. They were warned through Fangnes it appears as Leo Machitski may have had some argy bargy with someone. Now, he goes by the #7 Toksport WRT Mercedes. Oscar Tunjo, the Venezuelan at the wheel of it.
So, Leo Machitski gets bonked in the tail by the Sainteloc Audi. That was the dust up there. Markus Winkelhock was in his own scrum with the Mercedes of Felipe Fraga. I see the deal. We saw Marco Mapelli biff the #93 Ferrari earlier. The Pro driver will be penalized. What will the stewards do? Will Markus Winkelhock get dinged with a penalty? Rob Bell has just gone by Winkelhock, as he has the wheel right now (Bell), of the #38 Jota Sport McLaren. Machitski is in the pit lane. Is this a scheduled stop for the Russian? Or is this a damage check? He’s got to go all the way down to the heritage pit lane. Nicklas Nielsen leads.
Nielsen is stretching the margin again with 467 laps now on the board, 2,032 miles. The Ferrari runs a 2:20.1 and the Audi a 2:20.6. The gap is increasing by just about a second if you do the math right. Let’s have another look at the top speeds through Eau Rouge. Right now, Aston Martin’s are fastest with Nikki Thiim running 244 kilometers an hour (152 and a half miles an hour), followed by the #159 (another Garage 59 Aston Martin) for Nicolai Kjaergaard at 243 kilometers an hour (151.875 miles an hour). Race leader Nicklas Nielsen is third through the Eau Rouge traps at the same speed as Kjaergaard.
Patrick Kujala in the Mad Panda Mercedes #90 is next up at 242 clicks (151 and ¼ miles an hour) and tied at that same speed is the #30 WRT Audi in the hands of James Pull. Check out the Race Vision dashboard on the GT World Challenge Europe website. It is genuine speeds. We look at overall speeds around the speedway next. American Kevin Madsen (competing in his first race at Spa), is fastest at 268 clicks (167 and a half miles an hour!) That is smokin’! Next up is James Pull in Audi #30 at 267 clicks (166.875 miles an hour!) Rob Bell, Nicki Thiim, and Nicolai Kjaergaard are all running 265 clicks (165 and 5/8ths miles an hour).
So, everyone continues hauling the mail around Spa. That explains why the lead cars are running slower than the back markers. We started this race with 58 cars and 37 of those are still running. Nicklas Nielsen leads the motor race as he is a couple tenths ahead of the Audi. Nielsen has risen to the occasion. He’s 3.9 seconds ahead of the Audi. So, his gap is increasing. #Don’t Jinx The Lynx? Likely so. We are not seeing any track limits or pit lane speed infringements. The drivers are bang on the money or the management is saying under no circumstances. Track limits, drive through penalty for the #31 WRT Audi. The gap is opening again, and WRT are running out of ideas, maybe.
Kelvin van der Linde continues the chase. Now, 469 laps on the board after 20 hours and 15 minutes are done and dusted. The gap is now up to 3.8 seconds between the leaders. What is left in the old think tank? There’s loads of rubber clag still out at Eau Rouge, and there’s more at the top of Les Combes. It’s like going to the dump. It’s worse, to quote commentator and former race driver in F1 and sports cars, John Watson, “than hitting a pigeon on the M-40”. The M-40 obviously being a British motorway. Poor old van der Linde is running out of ideas. He will likely need to rely on traffic.
Three more back markers again. Is there a fine mist falling? Kelvin van der Linde switches the wiper on briefly. There could be rain. There is cloud all over but there’s little spritzes, but nothing serious as of yet on this seven-kilometer circuit. Nicklas Nielsen leads by 4.2 seconds as the Ferrari is getting away. Nielsen is really putting the hammer down. He is consolidating the lead. Does Kelvin van der Linde have anything left in the locker? Out of Pouhon. #166 is the surviving Am entry. We do not know who is in the car because of a busted transponder. It could be Manuel Lauck. We’ll see. Pieder Decurtins, Dennis Busch, and former FIA GT1 World Champion, Marc Basseng, are all on the driver’s strength of that car.
#166 if it finishes it will win Am as the #23 Porsche is out. Patrick Kujala, the Pro-Am leading Finnish driver passes the Am class leading Porsche for position into the last turn, the turn that we used to refer to as The Bus Stop chicane when it in fact was one in daily life here at Spa. Patrick Kujala has run well in GT cars. He ran in GP3 in open wheel cars but knew that wasn’t for him. He runs ahead of Nicolai Kjaergaard, the Dane. So, it is a battle of the Scandinavians. We need a Swedish driver, and maybe an Icelandic driver in that fight, or a Norwegian. Dennis Olsen is not in this race any longer. We may have a few Swedes, but they have not shown themselves all that much during this race.
The Mad Panda Mercedes has been in the wars. Ezequiel Perez Companc of course, we saw him in a panda costume earlier in the race, but he still will not divulge where on earth the team’s name came from. The Mercedes is a car that suits Ezequiel Perez Companc. Less experienced drivers are more suited to front engine cars. Patrick Kujala heads Nicolai Kjaergaard by something like nine and a half seconds. We still see the #69 Ram Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 pounding around. That car is much less pink as it has 200 mile an hour tape all over it, the team being overseen by team boss Dan Shufflebottom. The driving quartet, of Sam de Haan, Fabian Schiller, and father and son Rob and Ricky Collard, are keeping this car in the thick of things in this race.
Mad Panda reports from Perez-Companc on the radio, rain at turns 14 and 15. So, that is Campus and Paul Frere curve. Kjaergaard’s battle with Kujala will come down to pit stops. Wipers on as the rain is beginning to fall with just a wee bit over three and a half hours to go. Lots of drivers on hot but worn slick Pirelli P Zero tires. The mental strain is there as Matt Griffin continues thundering away as the Pro-Am leader. He is a wine buyer when he is not racing, and investor. Some people buy stocks, some buy classic cars as an investment. Griffin is 14th overall as the Pro-Am leader. He is a lap up on Louis Machiels who is next in class.
Two Ferrari’s. Good weekend for the Ferrari’s. They won’t win in Silver or Am but they might just win Pro and Pro-Am. Two different teams in Iron Lynx and AF Corse, but they are connected on an engineering side. Kelvin van der Linde is stepping it up and the gap is now just over three seconds. The gap is closing. He is moving in on Nicklas Nielsen who gets bottled up at Brussels corner. From Pouhon to Fangnes, Nielsen gets a good drive, and van der Linde must do the same. Can Nielsen do enough to stay ahead? Nielsen lost 3/10ths in the first sector but pulls out three thousandths. Van der Linde on the prowl through Blanchimont. We have a report of no wing on the #14 Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini. That’s strange. How did that happen?
Rolf Ineichen was driving, but now Alex Fontana is at the controls. So, the margin is three seconds even between the Ferrari and the Audi. No big wins or losses. Kelvin van der Linde is moving in closer. He is still charging. Nielsen stretches the margin just a wee bit. A big gain past a Porsche for Nicklas Nielsen though. So, it is a cat and mouse game. We will see more pit stops in a dozen or so laps. 38 minutes into the current stint now. Drive through penalty for the #27 Sainteloc Audi, Aurelien Panis at the controls, and it is indeed for, yes, you’ve guessed it. Track limits.
The gap yo-yo’s back and forth. Kelvin van der Linde through the traffic and the Porsche properly gets out of the way, professional, considerate, and convenient. Nicklas Nielsen still three seconds ahead. Kevin Madsen in the #70 McLaren is passed and the mechanical black flag (mechanical warning light in this case, the meatball), is given to the #14 Lambo. No wing of course, and so the team will bring it in and see if it was contact or a failure of the wing itself. Rolf Ineichen was driving, but now Alex Fontana is at the controls. So, Nielsen leads van der Linde, but by how much? Advantage Ferrari by only a tenth of a second.
Kelvin van der Linde is 2.8 seconds away from Nicklas Nielsen. 476 laps done, 2,071 and a half miles. South Africa has many drivers in this race. Kelvin van der Linde is leading this first of three races, a triple crown, if you will, for the 2021 Intercontinental GT Challenge that will conclude in van der Linde’s home country, at the legendary Kyalami circuit in South Africa in December. He is chasing Nielsen hard. This is the same car that started at the back of the grid in 54th after trouble in qualifying. 2.4 seconds. 3/10ths gained. This is getting spicy! Wow! That’s the closest it’s been in recent memory. These two have controlled the motor race since the early morning hours.
It keeps saying #66 has Christopher Mies at the controls. Ignore that phony baloney. That car’s transponder is still glitching. It’s transponder is busted. Lapped traffic ahead for Nielsen. Five back markers that he must slice through like the proverbial hot knife through butter here. Nicklas Nielsen, the 24-year-old Dane, was just recently promoted to become a Ferrari factory driver. He won a GTE championship last year. Kelvin van der Linde now must slice through the traffic and 2.1 seconds now between the Ferrari and the Audi. The Ferrari is now locked into another group of cars as we look at the Pro Cup top speeds for the leading cars.
Fastest at 269 clicks, (168 miles an hour), it is Nikki Thiim. Rob Bell in the #38 Jota Sport McLaren rings in at 266 clicks (166 and ¼ miles an hour). Nicklas Nielsen, race leader, at 264 clicks (165 miles an hour even). Robin Frijns matches that speed in Audi #37. Fifth on the board is the much aforementioned, second place man Kelvin van der Linde, the South African running at 263 clicks (164 and 3/8ths miles an hour). Thiim hangs on to fastest lapm fo the race. Traffic ahead of Nicklas Nielsen in the lead which brings the Audi even closer. Van der Linde has had enough! He’s charging around the outside. Three wide coming to the Bus Stop!
Kelvin van der Linde tries for the lead but overcooks it! He’s off the road and at a dangerous trajectory here trying to get back on the track. He did not shortcut the chicane, which is the wrong thing to do. He’s given the position back, the lead, to the #51 Nielsen driven Ferrari. Wow! That was because of a cluster buster of cars there! Traffic remains ahead for Nielsen. Seven cars from three classes all converging in the same corner! Egad! Nicklas Nielsen leads as the rabbit. Kelvin van der Linde is the hound. Lapped traffic in the way and Jonathan Hui goes wheel to wheel with the Audi of van der Linde. Some contact there, look. Argy bargy time here mate. A little hip check and the rough end of the pineapple for the second-place man!
Kelvin van der Linde will not be a happy camper. Light contact. No action ought to be taken. Rain coming and is here in the middle sector off the first high point of the circuit at Les Combes. The other higher place here at Spa is the Stavelot corner. Windscreen wipers on. Christopher Mies stayed out on slicks during the wet weather we saw yesterday. This place is massive with different ecosystems at each end of the track. No real rain on the front side of the road but it could be raining anywhere here. This is going to perhaps be a lottery. The track temperature is good. Fans do have the brollies out. Brollies = umbrellas. More lapped traffic. We have different classes for driver levels here but each of these cars is GT3 spec.
Drivers continue to toss the cars across the curbs. Nielsen still leads over van der Linde. You’ve missed nothing but the deal is that van der Linde is closing in a hurry. We saw earlier that the Ram Racing Ferrari slammed the door in Nielsens face, a lapped car, and then, we saw van der Linde slither off the road and back on. Silence speaks volumes sometimes. If there’s a place with no grip, it’s the pavement on the outside of the circuit and way off the racing line. We don’t know who was driving the #69 Mercedes. It could have either been Rob Collard, the father, or Ricky Collard, his son, at the wheel.
We have seen Nikki Thiim in the pit lane for a driver change. They went with slick tires up against their maximum stint length. No wet weather tires yet. What will happen in the last part of van der Linde’s stint? We have a dry track now which would prompt these boys to stay on slick tires, but if the heavens open, deary me, that will throw a spanner in the works without a doubt. Motor racing is a team sport, not an individual sport. This is not a golf game. We have just seen a fleeting, light sprinkle. Our leaders are both good to go with only two more pit stops necessary.
Kelvin van der Linde is right up behind Nicklas Nielsen right now. The track is relatively clear. The diffuser clatters over the curbs. The Aston Martin in third might go a lap down. There will be imminent pit stops for these two blokes, but then two more before the end. Start back timing this race. We still have a full regular endurance race for GTWC Europe yet to go, a three-hour sprint event. Don’t blink. You’ll miss something. Trust me. The fight for the lead is just 7/10ths of a second.
Ferrari wants their first victory overall here at Spa, in 17 years. The last time they won this thing, it was in the GT1 era in 2004, with a Ferrari 550 Maranello in the hands of a half Swiss, half Italian foursome. Luca Cappellari sharing with Fabrizio Gollin, Lilian Bryner, and Enzo Calderari, were the winners on that day. Drivers are composed behind the wheel, but they are still on the knife edge. The Garage 59 Aston Martin is catching the Mad Panda Mercedes in Silver Cup as we have a drive through penalty for the #33 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 488 GT3. Benjamin Hites had been driving, but the Chilean driver is not in the car presently. His Italian co-driver Fabrizio Crestani is, so Crestani will take that penalty.
Nicolai Kjaergaard is closing fast. We go back to the scrum for the overall lead as Kelvin van der Linde stays in striking distance of Nicklas Nielsen. If they choose, both these drivers can take an extra lap before the driver stint is done. Reset your mind and begin building up the momentum again. Robin Frijns has moved past Dennis Marschall for fourth place. van der Linde flies through La Source, chasing Nielsen. Drive through penalty for track limits to the #11 Kessel Racing Ferrari running 30th in the overall. This scrap has been fascinating as the tide between these cars and drivers ebbs and wanes.
The Ferrari is different than the Audi. V10 vs. V8. Turbo vs. normally aspirated. Race car to road car. Road car to race car. So, the Ferrari is in the pit lane now. Kelvin van der Linde will have clear track. Nielsen is in and will stay in the car for a double stint. Then, Alessanndro Pier Guidi ought to finish this race. Kelvin van der Linde is trying to leapfrog the Ferrari. So, van der Linde has to floor it now to get past the race leader.
Kelvin
van der Linde has natural lap pace in that Audi. Kelvin van der Linde very well could be on an
in lap here. So, bang on cue, the #32 is
in the lane for WRT Audi. WRT will have
to answer for how Ferrari pitted a short time ago. Kelvin van der Linde will stay in the car and
ought to get a fresh drink bottle. It’ll
be a squeaker as the Ferrari has to fly around La Source and down the hill
before Eau Rouge and Kemmel straightaway.
Nielsen is catching the #7 Toksport WRT Mercedes AMG GT3. That lapped automobile might just slow him
down and make all the difference.
#32 is back on track. Nielsen passes the Mercedes, the #7 car. Now it is Ferrari vs. Audi. Mano e mano. The Ferrari ought to be in the lead as the Audi creeps down the lane at 50 clicks. Now, the Audi accelerates but not before the #32 goes back on the road. Three cars issued drive through penalties for track limits, including the #66 Attempto Racing Audi. The gap has expanded. Other cars pinged with drive through penalties are the #27 and the #69. The WRT Audi spent 1:58 in the lane while the Ferrari spent 1:54 in the lane. Four seconds is a massive difference. The sun is shining as the Aston Martin #159 pits for scheduled service.
Nicolai Kjaergaard is the erstwhile leader in Silver Cup and now Patrick Kujala will take over the class lead. Mercedes vs. Aston Martin. Mad Panda vs. Garage 59. What can the Finn do? He is in La Source now as the Aston Martin will be passed as the Aston is halfway down the pit lane in the heritage pits. The exit is on the uphill. So, Mad Panda now comes back to the fore. Nicklas Nielsen has inherited the lead once again over Kelvin van der Linde. The Pro car is third in podium contention and the Silver Cup car in the hunt for a class victory. Good news for Aston Martin. But, Nicklas Nielsen leads with two cars between himself and Kelvin van der Linde running second.
No comments:
Post a Comment