We wonder if Kelvin van der Linde or Dries Vanthoor will be the driver to take it home for Audi. #51 pits. The Audi makes it’s way into the chicane, scrabbing round the corner into the pit lane. They are at one hour, four minutes into their stint. In Pro-Am, the #52 machine is being investigated for sppeding in the pit lane and the #77 Lamborghini for Barwell could make it to second in class. The pit stop by #51 was 1:56. Iron Lynx have been matching wits with WRT all race long. Iron Lynx has a winning driver in Andrea Piccini on their team and WRT has three Spa 24 winners heading their operation with Vincent Vosse, Pierre Dieudonne, and Thierry Tassin.
Does it help a team to have winning drivers on the team? It can’t hurt. Audi has the long, long drive down the hill at the bottom of pit lane and this gives Ferrari the lead back. The Audi loses time on the stop and catching traffic at the wrong time, behind the #7 Toksport WRT Mercedes. The slightly slower pit stop will give them a significant deficit. Kelvin van der Linde is really pushing the car, right at the limit, flat out. Everyone has been on the same strategy since the overnight hours as far as the leaders.
Pier Guidi has loads of traffic to negotiate and here comes the rain. Dries Vanthoor slides the car. Drive through penalty for the #52 AF Corse Ferrari for Alessio Rovera, speeding in the pit lane. The lead gap is 5.9 seconds between Pier Guidi and Vanthoor. Raindrops coming on the pit straightaway. The track conditions are changing now for both Pier Guidi and Vanthoor. Vanthoor must be aggressive. Time and patience running out here if WRT wants to win from 54th place and allowing Charles Weerts to perhaps be the youngest winner in the 24 Hours of Spa’s history.
Dries Vanthoor into the car and we have a short Full Course Yellow to remove debris in turn 13. No need for a safety car. Full Course Yellow in 20 seconds. Full Course Yellow in ten seconds. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow, now. There is some rain. OK. Restart, on short notice. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Green flag. Green flag.
A long time ago, Ross Gunn’s dad Ian raced in the famed Mille Miglia road race in Italy. Ross Gunn was spotted by Aston Martin privateer Andrew Howard and put into a GT4 spec Aston to race. Then, the factory noticed and said, “we need to sign this guy up” and well, here he is, racing the 24 Hours of Spa. We look at the total pit time spent in the lane by the cars for service and most of them have been in the lane anywhere from 45-49 minutes for scheduled, routine maintenance. But in a 24-hour race, the less time you spend in the lane, the better.
Audi #66 has been in the pits for a total of 43 minutes and 37 seconds. Compare that, to 49 minutes and 51 seconds for the #63 Lamborghini for Orange 1 FFF. Our leader has been in for 47 minutes and 10 seconds, and counting the numbers of pit stops, they vary, but they are anywhere so far, for all these teams, between 22 and 26 stops. Even with more than two minutes over the next car in the pit lane, the Ferrari has had the advantage over everyone else. Fascinating. So, here are the pit stop amounts and times as they stand, not in order of time but in order of the top eight cars.
1. #51 Ferrari 488 GT3 24 pit stops 47:10
2. #32 Audi R8 LMS 22 pit stops 45:02
3. #95 Aston Martin AMR 22 pit stops 46:39
4. #63 Lamborghini Huracan 26 pit
stops 49:51
5. #37 Audi R8 LMS 23 pit stops 47:37
6. #47 Porsche 911 GT3R 25 pit stops 49:30
7. #66 Audi R8 LMS 23 pit stops 43:37
8. #25 Audi R8 LMS 24 pit stops 46:14
#66 gained time by not pitting, yesterday. But they got snookered because they spent the better part of an hour of the motor race trundling ‘round on the wrong tires. Pit time has not been in the favor of the Iron Lynx Ferrari, but fuel consumption has. We have seen the FFF Racing Lambo penalized and so on, so that has made their time more in the lane. So, Alessandro Pier Guidi, for the time being, continues in the lead of the race. You’ve missed nothing up front while we’ve been running down those pit times. Dries Vanthoor has not been able to eat into the gap to the leading Ferrari as he enters and exits Bruxelles. Ferrari #51 looks imperious and impeccable the whole way.
It requires commitment to believe in yourself driving through these daunting turns at Spa. We have been told by our dear pal in the press room, Monsieur Meteorologist, that the final ten minutes of this motor race will be run in the wet. The road never became properly wet, it was just extremely greasy there, mate. We’ve seen stacks of track limits abuses in this motor race. Go quick enough in difficult conditions but be careful enough to not make a mistake. Watch out for the drainage gutters on the side of the circuit. Keep in mind, a lot of this track used to be made up of public roads. In the last 30-35 minutes of the race, we are told that the rain is going to start off as a drizzle and then might just begin to pour down. So, we shall have to watch the skies over the next 50 minutes to an hour to see what happens.
So, the Iron Lynx #51 Ferrari, gracefully driving through Pouhon in the hands of Alessandro Pier Guidi, leads the motor race by 12.7 seconds over Kelvin van der Linde, the South African for Audi Sport Team WRT. Into the Piff Paff he goes. I tell you a lie, hit me with a cream pie. Dries Vanthoor is at the wheel of the #32 entry. Pardon me. We know the rain is coming. So, we continue to look at the gray Ferrari leading the motor race, still controlling the race. Drive through penalty, car #70. Drive through penalty. Track limits. That is the Inception Racing McLaren, the other of the two McLaren 720S GT3’s in the field.
Pier Guidi’s lead over van der Linde is now 18 seconds. So, it has decreased. Ferrari run 1-2-3 in the Pro-Am class as well. Ferrari could be looking at a very ideal race, a very ideal result. 530 laps, 2,306 and a half miles now complete. We are projecting a probable race distance here of 564 laps so in the last 75 minutes of this motor race it is projected the leader will run 34 laps hopefully all under green flag conditions. Maybe 34-36 laps. The Ferrari is rubbing Audi’s nose in it right now, putting the four rings from Ingolstadt in the shade. Another pitstop for Aston Martin #95. Ross Gunn staying at the wheel.
We haven’t yet seen a major response from the Audi boys. The gap has come down over the course of the previous lap. But the Audi has had a difficult stint. Ross Gunn gives way and Nikki Thiim will take the car to the flag. They need another pit stop because they still have too much stint time. Meanwhile, Dries Vanthoor is still pushing. It is inevitable though that you get a clear lap, and then, whack, you hit another clump of traffic. Check that. Marco Sorensen from Denmark, Nikki Thiim’s countryman, I believe, will be the final driver into the Aston to bring it home. We need to check and see if the Aston Martin will be in a scrap with the Lamborghini, or if it can just sail its way to the end.
Will the #63 Lamborghini be able to ruffle Aston Martin’s feathers in any way? The road is drying out but Dries Vanthoor is still 6/10ths of a second behind the Audi. Close, but no cigar for WRT with so little time left in the motor race. We just can’t tell why the Audi lacks pace. The Ferrari has not made mistakes and the lap times have been consistent in the 2:20-2:21 range. Alessandro Pier Guidi and company have dominated this race. There were points on offer at six hours. Bang. Got ‘em. 12 hours. More points in the bag. 24 hours? Will Ferrari and Iron Lynx break out the broom and sweep? We’ll find out very soon.
Iron Lynx is a new team, but they could very well hit the jackpot today. If they win, it will be very popular. Ferrari have not won Spa since 2004. We have seen the German brands sweep the floor clean here at Spa over the years in the GT era. Porsche, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, they’ve all won here. Ferrari might get a chance to return to glory in the Ardennes Forest if they keep their noses clean. Dries Vanthoor is losing pace. Can Charles Weerts explain? He says that the Ferrari is very quick in mixed conditions. It will be hard for Audi to do anything on strategy to get their pace back. Dries Vanthoor is the driver that Audi Sport WRT has confidence in.
Weerts says these mixed conditions are not working for Audi. A shower that drenches the track with rain would help their cause. They are in a wait and see situation while Dries Vanthoor takes the car to the checkered flag. More salt in the Audi’s wounds, they are nearly out of grace on track limits. Final warning, or they will be sent to the sin bin. Dries Vanthoor must push but will lose time if he is pinged with another track limits violation. Final warning, and he will get a drive through penalty. Ten more minutes and then, we shall be in the final hour of this motor race.
You don’t want puddles or rivulets across the road in cambered turns. You never know what the weather at Spa is going to do. We have not had anywhere near the number of incidents we normally see. Colin Braun, the American driver, he is currently at the wheel of the #20 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes and should take that car to the flag. Braun, part of GT World Challenge America of course along with George Kurtz. Great to see those drivers making the trip to Europe to compete in the SRO’s golden cup event. In the background, Mirko Bortolotti presses on, but they just aren’t going to have the result they wanted after a puncture and three drive through penalties. The Lamborghini has been the quickest car all weekend, but because of the penalties and tire issues, they can only muster fourth.
Mirko Bortolotti continues driving the wheels off the car. Colin Braun has good pace in the #20 Mercedes AMG GT3. It is a very user-friendly automobile. The Mercedes is the epitome of a turnkey race car. We look again at the race leading Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi. Come Ledogar, his co-driver says that it is hard to say because of the traffic helping or hindering. Focusing in on the goal is the key. Alessandro Pier Guidi is going to finish this race. It is incredible to think Iron Lynx could win this, the biggest GT3 race of all, in their first season.
Barwell Motorsports, the #77 car, the Lamborghini for Leo Machitski, it rain, and the track dried out. They spent too much time on the wet weather tires, had to come in and put slicks on and lost time in the process. We have run 534 laps, 2,324 miles. Many of the fancied Mercedes entries with factory backing have had trouble in this race while the privately run Mercedes have run far better. We see Andrea Caldarelli aboard the #63 Lamborghini for Orange 1 FFF Racing in the pit lane. Caldarelli in seventh and he was on his way down to te bottom of the pit lane before the car stalled. He has it running now.
Drive through penalty for the #14 Lamborghini for track limits. So, Caldarelli is now back on the button and that was a quick reset. It was a Control, Alt, Delete. The Mercedes AMG GT3 is the easiest car to drive for Pro-Am and Am drivers. Hard to say that the dominant Mercedes’ especially the #88, had problems, of course with the shock absorber. The load transition through Eau Rouge may have had something to do with that. Alessio Rovera pits the #52 AF Corse Ferrari from second place in the Pro-Am division. There is a big dent in one of the fenders. Carbon fiber does not dent. Normally, it shatters. Maybe there is a steel or aluminum panel there.
So, Eddie Cheever III. Aboard the #93 Sky Tempesta Ferrari will get second place in the Pro-Am class, even though Alessandro Pier Guidi is about to lap him. Pier Guidi has in hand, 22.6 seconds over second spot. Dries Vanthoor remains second as the leade turns through Les Combes another time on lap 536. He will pit in three laps on lap 539. He will drive the car to the end of the race. Just over an hour until we see the checkered flag. 62 minutes left on the board. We see Dries Vanthoor in second, aboard the #32 WRT Audi. Again, he is 22.6 seconds behind through Les Combes. Marco Sorensen is third. All Audi can do is hope drama befalls the Ferrari.
It is commendable they’ve come from 54th to second but Dries Vanthoor has the possibility of still getting a penalty if he goes outside the track limits with one or two wheels. Everyone has been running wide out of Fangnes, and it’s hard to tell what the demarcation zone is there at that specific corner. Ben Barnicoat has moved up to eighth spot, putting the #38 Jota Sport McLaren in that spot ahead of Andrea Caldarelli who had his slow pit stop we saw moments ago. Nico Muller runs fourth aboard the #37 WRT Audi. But he is a lap behind the #95 Aston Martin. Furthermore, he is matching lap times with the top two cars, though. So, he is not running slow by any means. For the moment, Christopher Mies has the #66 Audi Sport Team Attempto entry, another Audi R8 LMS in fifth place. Finally, finally, driver and transponder agree on that car! Of course, his co-drivers, Mattia Drudi and Dennis Marschall, have also done yeoman service throughout the motor race.
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