It is a shame no Porsche's are in the Kyalami 9 Hours this year. Maybe in the future. Patric Niederhauser on his way to finishing on the podium. Fourth place Christopher Haase has lost time but is doing his level best to claw it back. Haase is now 7.3 seconds in-arrears of Niederhauser with 58 minutes on the board. If this race were in November like it was in 2019, we would see a far larger field in this event. It is great that we have it back. In the southern hemisphere it is late summer to early autumn, and so, motor racing can still take place compared to the northern hemisphere. Go check out the wildlife and enjoy the racing. Here in Kyalami, we have seen a few birds and some snakes probably.
There are many reptiles around this place. Pit stop time at High Class Racing. Alessandro Pier Guidi will be finishing this race at AF Corse. Patric Niederhauser and Jules Gounon will finish the race in their respective cars. The gap is coming down in small increments. 14.1 seconds between Jules Gounon and Miguel Molina. Half a second in it over the last few laps. The team are telling their driver to not make any mistakes. 275 laps down, 783 and 3/4 miles and the gap is 13.8 seconds now. Molina is eating away Jules Gounon's lead little by little. Ferrari are quicker and Mercedes are losing time hand over fist. Gounon is set to pit in a couple laps and Molina is going as quick as he can before he hands the car to Alessandro Pier Guidi. That's the deal it seems. There is still a twist in the tale. Twist in the tail, maybe. An animal reference of course.
Jules Gounon, 1:43.364. Molina has lost 4/10ths of a second it looks like. The Mercedes has outright, and yet consistent pace compared to the Ferrari. This is the final chapter of the motor race being written. Mercedes in the lane, Jules Gounon making a final stop and he will finish the race. New tires and fuel into the car. Sticker Pirelli P Zero's. They clean the windscreen. Jules Gounon gets a modicum of temperature into the rear Pirelli's. He rejoins in third spot just ahead of Christopher Haase and behind Patric Niederhauser. Is he passed by Christopher Haase? Yes. Haase is now third. Gounon in fourth I believe.
Miguel Molina shall pit in four laps. Molina leads Niederhauser now by 45 seconds. Audi's are in the lane. Both Sainteloc Audi's in. Check that. Christopher Haase in the #32 and the #26 of Nicolas Baert. Sticker Pirelli P Zero's for Haase. Maximum grip. Haase is fourth. Miguel Molina and Patric Niederhauser are to pit soon. Niederhauser will finish while in the Ferrari, Alessandro Pier Guidi will be the closer. Pier Guidi is ready to roll. It's been a pleasure to hear from Harry Benjamin as we welcome Bruce Jones back to the booth alongside our mate John Watson.
Alessandro Pier Guidi is ready. Be prepared well before the car comes in of course. Jules Gounon is back on track and he is running equally to Patric Niederhauser and Miguel Molina. Ferrari in the pit lane now. This is the final stop for Ferrari with a minimum pit delta at 68 seconds. The star driver, Alessandro Pier Guidi is in the car. Will they be champions in their first IGTC season? We'll see. Pier Guidi will be flying as Patric Niederhauser is leading the motor race in the #25 Sainteloc Racing Audi. Pier Guidi is on his first flyuing lap. He is a star at the wheel of a Ferrari.
Patric Niederhauser pits and will drop down to third or fourth place. Four new Pirelli P Zero's. Niederhauser will stay in the car. Only two points separate the Audi drivers from the Ferrari's. This is going to be mega in the last 40 minutes. 1:43 dead for Jules Gounon. It looks like the #86 Lamborghini has taken a drive through penalty. 1:54 ofr Pier Guidi. Jules Gounon now leads by 15 seconds over Alessandro Pier Guidi and Gounon seems to be uncorking very consistent lap times. Pier Guidi runs second in the Ferrari ahead of Niederhauser, Haase, and Baert to complete the top five. Ten cars are still on track of the 13 starters.
Haase is closing up on Niederhauser. Will Haase be able to catch Niederhauser? That is the question. Haase will be put ahead of Niederhauser should Ferrari have trouble? Lucas Legeret will take the #26 Sainteloc Audi to the end of the kotor race. This car has had difficulty in starting after pit stops and they seem to have rectified the trouble. Then again. maybe not. Oh dear. There's yet another problem with starting the #26! Up onto the air jacks and back down again! Goodness gracious! They've gone up and down on the air jacks at least five times!
That's a nagging electronics issue on that car. Jeepers creepers! Gounon still at the sharp end. Christopher Haase continues to monster Patric Niederhauser for third place. Thierry Vermuellen is back there as well and he is about to move ahead of Lucas Legeret in the beleaguered #26 Sainteloc Audi. Thierry Vermuellen leads the Silver class. His dad is Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen's manager. Kenny Habul and company are going to make it. Tschops Sipuka is second in National GT in the Lamborghini.
He went off the road at Clubhouse in the rain yesterday. The weeper is still on the road even though there is no rain. Should have cast a few flies and gone fly fishing there! We thankfully had a few raindrops today and not the monsoon from yesterday. The teams have to be relieved. In February, you don't get the same weather you'd get at the end of November. Half an hour to go. Mercedes #75 makes its last stop. Mikael Grenier I believe will take it to the end, changing four Pirelli P Zero tires. They are second in class to the High Class Racing Audi.
Mark Patterson will be on the podium at 70 years old in his home race! Holy smokes! The gap has increased as Jules Gounon leads the Ferrari which ought to be champions at the end of this thing. Kelvin van der Linde is really happy to be racing at his home track. Kelvin van der Linde and Markus Winkelhock have been racing together for years and their dad's raced against each other in South Africa back in the day. We miss the late, great Manfred Winkelhock. The #32 WRT Audi is matching lap times, is Christopher Haase, with Patric Niederhauser.
Alessandro Pier Guidi is 16 and a half seconds now behind Jules Gounon. AF Corse will be going for the championship. Don't try to win the race. Gounon, and AKKA ASP have you covered guys. The gap is going up half a second a lap. We are headed probably for 300 laps being completed. 292 and change complete now. We will see a record as the greatest number of laps in a 9 hour race here at Kyalami. We have had a lot of incidents and a lot of rain in the past. Today's race in 2022 has been very clean. It does not give you much opportunity though to juggle your strategy.
Mikael Pitamber and company have had a tricky race today, but they are going to finish. Pitamber is at the controls sharing with Mo Mia and Marius Jackson. They are going to finish, albeit 85 laps down. That means you are 242 miles behind the leader. Sainteloc have had the only Silver Cup class entry in this motor race. Thierry Vermuellen has stepped up in a major way. It is a shame that Anders Fjordbach could not be here after testing positive for the virus. Michael Van Rooyen is now at the wheel of the #86 National GT3 Lamborghini for Stradale Motorsports.
The #33 High Class Audi is in the lane and Thierry Vermuellen will take it home. Mercifully, we have been light on tire punctures today. Tschops Sipuka is making his way around the back end of Kyalami, running lap 297 for Jules Gounon 17 and a half seconds ahead of Alessandro Pier Guidi. We're very impressed with the all-black African crew at Stradale into Africa, Philip Kekana, Tschops Sipuka, and Xolile Letlaka. If not for the virus, we would have had more cars, as well as the date the race is taking place at. Maybe next year there will be more.
Mercedes will be looking for their first win in Intercontinental GT Challenge since the Suzuka 10 Hours in 2018. We will exceed the predicted 300 lap race distance. We have had 300+ lap races here at Kyalami but on the old circuit. The original circuit at Kyalami was built in 1961, over six decades ago. Travel the garden route from Cape Town to Durban. That is the trip it sounds like. A dozen minutes left on the board and Jules Gounon is 12 seconds ahead. Ten minutes remain. Had we seen all three qualifying sessions and Super Pole, nothing too different would have happened.
Ten minutes to go. Now into the single figures. Through Clubhouse goes the Ferrari. Gounon did not finish at Daytona. That crash bang wallop between the two Poresche's in GTD Pro was bonkers. No finish in Daytona for Kenny Habul and company, sadly. In GT3 racing, the cars have individuality. Each one is different from another. Mikaeel Pitamber is leading GT4 class. All the performance points of different cars are considered. So, Saintleoc Racing lead Silver as they are the only entry. Mikael Grenier and company lead Pro-Am.
With only a three-race championship, any glitch can put you behind the eight ball. But the 2022 season will officially begin soon at the Bathurst 12 Hours in New South Wales, Australia, in May. Jules Gounon has two laps to go before he and his co-drivers Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy are going to win. He is a mirror of his dad, Jean Marc Gounon, also a driver. No mechanical worries for Ferrari #51. Two laps to go to end the 2021 season. The GT3 cars are run all over the world. Final lap here at Kyalami.
Through Barbecue and Sunset for the last time. Mercedes will join Ferrari and Audi as winners in the 2021 Intercontinental GT Challenge! Down the hill to the edge of the pit lane through Ingwe. Your winner of the Joburg Kyalami 9 Hours, Jules Gounon, Raffaele Marciello, and Timur Bougslavskiy! Come Ledogar and Alessandro Pier Guidi are the champions at AF Corse and Ferrari! Sainteloc finish third, and on the podium. Fourth spot to Christopher Haase and company. Audi win the manufacturer's cup. Pro-Am goes to SunEnergy1.
Overall/Pro: #89 Gounon/Marciello/Boguslavskiy AKKA ASP Mercedes AMG GT3
Silver: #26 Legeret/Gachet/Baert Team Sainteloc Audi R8 LMS GT3
Pro-Am: #33 Vermuellen/Patterson/Markussen High Class Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3
National GT3: #86 Arangies/Neveling/Van Rooyen Stradale Motorsports
Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo
Your champions, AF Corse, #51 Come Ledogar, Alessandro Pier Guidi, & Nicklas Nielsen
Ferrari 488 GT3\
That's all, from the 2021 IGTC finale at Kyalami in the legendary 9 Hours. We've enjoyed bringing you the race to start 2022. We'll see you at Bathurst at Mount Panorama in May for the Bathurst 12 Hours and the official start of the 2022 Intercontinental GT Challenge! So long for now, everybody. Take care.
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