A drink bottle change at Audi. No driver change is made. How quickly can Ledogar get on the pace here? Ledogar had to swerve to avoid the Lambirghini. Boguslavskiy also gets chopped. That is Philip Kekana in the Stradale into Africa Lamborghini, the #23. Nickjlas Nielsen says he has no idea what happened to the #71 Ferrari. He credits his co-drivers Alessio Rovera and Antonio Fuoco for some really good opening stints. There was no warning of why the car stopped. It just flat out lost drive. There was smoke that plumed out of the back of the car. We will have to see what the team can find investigating the car. Nielsen says his 2021 highlights were to be winners at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in class and overall, at the 24 Hours of Spa. Ferrari #51 are still in the fight.
Ferrari and Audi have both split their lineups for this race obviously. Boguslavskiy fastest of all and leading the Ferrari by two seconds, the sole remaining factory Ferrari. Over the curbs at turn 15 around the GT4 Audi through Cheetah. Marius Jackson, caboose on the field, but he is in a GT4 car which has far less performance than the rocketships that are the GT3 machines. Audi will win the manufacturer's championship coming into this race at Kyalami ahead by 36 points. Chris Reinke, head of Audi Sport Customer Racing, he says Audi is still focused and are relieved to be manufacturer's champions. We are twenty or so minutes to the halfway mark in this race.
That will fall in this hour since this event is oddly numbered compared to most endurance races with even numbered durations. Congratulations to Audi on a job well done. They have played a huge part in SRO and the GT3 formula. The weather will be a major factor. Back when 24-hour races were so different, they were won based on mechanical reliability. Nowadays, it is different. It is about pace. That said, we saw Ferrari absolutely rule supreme at the 24 Hours of Spa last summer. Timur Boguslavskiy leads Come Ledogar and Mattia Drudi. Drudi is ten seconds behind. Come Ledogar took 3/10ths out and then Bougslavskiy brought it back and put the puzzle together.
Down through The Mineshaft and into Crocodile, Bougslavskiy has a clear road. Of all the brands here this weekend, the Mercedes probably has the best of the best insofar as turnkey GT3 race cars. Ferrari also has a great turnkey automobile. The Ferrari has the greater pace but the Mercedes has the compliance and the drivability. As things stand, Ferrari leads in the driver's cup with Pier Guidi and Ledogar over Haase and Winkelhock as well as Patric Niederhauser, who are all tied being teammates. Well, well, well. Nielsen passes the GT4 Audi in the same spot where he was hopping up and down on the road earlier on. The sun is setting and the clouds thicken. The character of the speedway is changing.
Let's see. We have a squizz at the track limit warnings, and yes, the Baert/Gachet/Legeret Audi that could be getting another track limits penalty. Cough, cough. Uh um. Meanwhile. Boguslavskiy continues on in the lead of the motor race. So, this race might be getting into a status quo spot. 2.5 seconds now between Bougslavskiy and Ledogar headed into the darkness in a wee while. The gap ebbs and flows now three seconds between the two aforementioned blokes who are driving. One Ferrari has been given the rough end of the pineapple with one car and with another they are still in it. This is a battle of chess. We anticipate about 300 laps complete when this motor race is finished. So we are right about halfway through in another ten minutes. But if there is another safety car, we could see a change, and the race could be put on it's head.
The GT3 cars are aero sensitive, but not really the same way as a prototype or a single seater. Boguslavskiy can take his time and take it easy without driving like a madman. AKKA ASP, cool as a cucumber. Raffaele "Clockwork Orange" Marciello is enjoying this and so is Jules Gounon. A driver in Barbecue Bend has to take a good look at where he is with the lapped traffic. The headlights are on and this is so the slower drivers in the national GT3 cars can see them. In a larger field some drivers get freaked out and wonder "why the heck do I get all the traffic?" Well, things even out based on the law of averages. So, as we said before, freaking out is unnecessary.
When this track was redone, the first three corners were differently configured, and now, the current configuration is a better track. It was redone in 1987 or so. There was a different pit lane back in those days. Are there misbehaving snakes around the circuit? Mamba's? Cobra's? Egad. Let's hope not. Drudi was chasing down Winkelhock earlier but now, they are separated. Once again, the pace difference is enormous between an Audi GT3 and an Audi GT4. It would be nice if we had more GT4 cars. Audi's, Ford Mustang's, Mercedes', BMW M4's, McLaren's, and on and on. Marius Jackson brings the GT4 Audi to the lane. Come Ledogar, wrigglign around at the back. Does he have rear tire wear on those Pirelli's through Leeukop?
Boguslavskiy leads the motor race by 3.5 seconds. Checking sunset on the weather app, we won't see it until 7PM local time, so we have another hour and a half of daylight left. 7:22 P.M. is dusk in Johannesburg out in the country, but the phone weather app says 6:57 P.M. Hmmm. A couple different estimates. The gap is sitting at 3.5 seconds between Boguslavskiy and Ledogar. Ferrari can still fight for the driver's title as this race continues. Conditions are beginning to change. We are past halfway. Right now we check out Philip Kekana, in this all-African crew on home soil. Xolile Letlaka has had a dream to race since childhood and now, he has a chance to. He is very proud to be in this race in a GT car.
Driving amongst international drivers is amazing. Will a young South African get to race full-time in IGTC? Philip Kekana and Tschops Sipuka, grew up together. Tschops Sipuka retired from driving, but was asked by Phil Kekana to get back into racing in the South African endurance championship, racing in an era where few black people were driving race cars. These three are doing a great job in their endeavors. They lost track of Phil Kekana but found him. Phil Kekana never got to race a real Formula 1 car, which he wanted to do. But the scoop is, he has been able to race a GT3 car, a supercar. They are so happy to have been able to compete. They have won for kids who have dreams no matter who they are, skin color notwithstanding. They are the first people of African descent to race here at Kyalami.
Kyalami is a special place, a special circuit. Kyalami means "our home" in the native South African dialect. Congratulations to the team and thank you all for sharing your story. Keep going. Xolie Letlakas is extremely happy and deservedly so. Now, Raffaele Marciello has pitted and Come Ledogar now is ahead in the motor race. Raffaele Marciello has taken over from Timur Bougslavskiy. The threatening rain has not appeared. Boguslavskiy's latest stint was stellar. He has been able to keep up with Come Ledogar. Ledogar leads Drudi by 19.3 seconds.
Winkelhock and Drudi continue their battle. WRT vs. Sainteloc, both factory works Audi entries. Winkelhock is catching Drudi. They are a second and a half apart. Christopher Haase was separated from Sainteloc and put into the WRT entry. Pit stop time for SunEnergy1. Mikael Grenier brings the car in. Will it be Kenny Habul or Martin Konrad into the car? Raffaele Marciello has just uncorked the fastest lap of the race at 1:42.749. The man is right on it and has the welly down. Marciello is catching Winkelhock who will have to pit as will Drudi and Ledogar. Raffaele Marciello just has to keep banging out the consistent laps.
Wow. 1:42.6 for Ledogar on a lightening fuel load. Holy cow. We welcome Harry Benjamin to the commentary box alongside John Watson. Soon, we will be to the end of another racing hour. Ooh. Take it easy at turn 15 as we see the cars flying over the curbs at Cheetah corner. Great slow motion replays but be careful thumping over the curbs. It is spectacular, but you can damage the car if you do too much of it. Audi has some easing in the pressure because they have won the IGTC manufacturer's cup. Marciello moves past the Stradale into Africa Lamborghini. Sunset is about an hour and a half away.
The headlights are on and the lights of the city center of Johannesburg, we can see it. It will be pitch black before long. This track at Kyalami goes pitch dark at night, and it is the same kind of a deal that we see in the United States at Sebring or in Europe at Le Mans or Spa. In the next four hours before the race ends we should have a dry race in store. Mattia Drudi sets a new personal best lap at 1:43 dead. They are running off the pace though, from the Ferrari and the Mercedes. Continuity, consistency, are the key. In it's time, Kyalami has seen seven or so different layouts. In the 1970s, there was a series called Springbox which was run during the energy crisis with two races at Kyalami and Cape Town. Kenny Habul receives another track limits warning, coming a cropper at Ingwe.
Mikael Grenier says that the car is good in fast corners, the French Canadian. They are leading the Pro-Am class. Habul can win the Bronze Cup by completing 75% race distance. Grenier and Konrad will finish out the motor race. That is the plan at SunEnergy1.
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