Welcome, everybody, to the south of France, to Le Castellet, and the Paul Ricard circuit for round two of the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe presented by AWS season. This is the Paul Ricard 1,000 Kilometers, the first of two back-to-back true endurance events. This is a massively important event with greater points and it is a testing/training event for the Total 24 Hours of Spa. Mercedes AMG Team Getspeed know they have a straightline speed issue. Steijn Schothorst is wconcerned about that, but confident. Audi, just the same, are also prepping for Spa. One of the favorites on the Audi side is WRT with Kelvin van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, and Charles Weerts. They are looking for another W. They did very well in the season opener at Imola.
Kelvin van der Linde of course was one of the winners in the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring last weekend. Jules Gounon has been winning in GT3 races all over the world as of late in German GT, British GT, and in Intercontinental GT Challenge. Now he wants a GTWC Europe win as well. Akkodis ASP Mercedes know they have a lot of work to do with the #88 Mercedes. Cornering and straight-line speed are their strengths. Jules Gounon, sharing with Daniel Juncadella, and Raffaele Marciello. We cannot overlook the Silver Cup. WRT and Audi are well represented. Take a look at Thomas Neubauer who has won with Audi and also with Mercedes. Neubauer, the Frenchman, says the team is focused on the race for sure. They are looking to duplicate their pace from Imola.
Attempto Racing is another team to look out for, also with Audi. Germany's Marius Zug says the team made a pit stop mistake last time out at Imola, and now, they want to have no mistakes. Zug loves the Paul Ricard circuit including the slow turns in sector one and a fast corner like Signes. Cedric Sbirrazzuoli, the Monegasque, driving for Ferrari is yet another major player in the fight. Sky Tempesta Racing has a new brand and a new team. Eddie Cheever says he wants to start a better season, adapting to a new team and to a new car with the Mercedes AMG GT3. Rain during the bronze test stymied their plans to get mileage.
In the Gold Cup as well, Ralf Bohn for Herberth Motorsports says the team is very happy to be at Paul Ricard in a Porsche 911 GT3R. Watch for the #20 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes AMG GT3 as well, with Dominik Baumann, their lead driver. Over these long-distance races, the Mercedes is an ideal car, an ideal platform. Driving at night will be a challenge but Baumann says he likes that task, and he is up for it. The Austrian is sharing the car with Valentin Pierburg or Germany and Englishman, Ian Loggie. Let's review how this championship works for SRO GTWC Europe. There is a full season championship, and two separate championships for endurance and sprint.
There are four classes, all based on driver rating, with identical GT3 cars from all the manufacturers out on track. There's the overall championship, the big one, that everyone wants. Then, there are class championships as well for Pro-Am, Gold, and Silver. Here's how the classes and driver rankings break down. It is annoying. I know. Every sports car championship seems to be going with these rating systems.
Overall: any drivers
Pro Am: Platinum/Bronze/Bronze
Silver: Silver drivers only
Gold: Platinum/Silver/Bronze
Today's 1,000 Kilometers of Paul Ricard has 54 cars entered and ready to start from nine brands. Here's the breakdown of the cars.
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
Bentley Continental GT3
BMW M4 GT3
Ferrari 488 GT3
Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo
McLaren 720S GT3
Mercedes-AMG GT3
Porsche 911 GT3R
Here's how the pit stop requirements work. 65 minutes is the maximum stint length for every driver. Five pit stops throughout the race including one joker and a minimum refueling time of 41 seconds. Use the joker stop, wisely. The points table allocates one point for fastest lap in each class during qualifying. With this event at Paul Ricard being slightly longer than a normal event, the points are awarded in all classes down to tenth place.
1st: 33 points
2nd: 24 points
3rd: 19 points
4th: 15 points
5th: 12 points
6th: 9 points
7th: 6 points
8th: 4 points
9th: 2 points
10th: 1 point
This race and championship also count for the global Fanatec GT World Challenge across America, Europe, and Asia. Here are the manufacturer's standings combined across all three and they show Mercedes in the lead with 5,594 points followed by Audi with 4,848 and Ferrari with 2,470. The season is far from over. OK. The cars are making their way to the grid. We are going to see another stonking race around Paul Ricard. The track is in fine form as we join the commentary duo of David Addison and John Watson.
It is hot and muggy. 15 corners over five kilometers in length and Jules Gounon when he drove for Bentley, set the lap record around this place. We also join pit reporter Jemma Scott. Jules Gounon is who she is interviewing and he says that in six hours, he wants to have the car in good shape after the first third of the race. Hot, muggy, damp. That's what we have. Jules Gounon says they want the weather to be wet a little bit because Raffaele Marciello is a rain meister. A stint here is 65 minutes of course. Some teams will double stint and others will do one and then switch, and do the second, and then switch.
We know Raffaele Marciello will do a double to start. Polesitter, Daniel Serra at Ferrari and Iron Lynx. Davide Rigon is Serra's co-driver who says they want to stay out of trouble. 54 cars is a lot on a track like this. These endurance events are a sprint and third driver Antonio Fuoco echoes that, focusing on what their team is doing. Daniel Serra is ready to go being encouraged by his team mates. Alessandro Pier Guidi is not part of the Fanatec GT lineup. Watch for the #32 Team WRT Audi. Charles Weerts will start the race along with Kelvin van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor.
Weerts was not at the track yesterday on qualifying day (Saturday), because he had a final exam to take for his studies at university. Dries Vanthoor and Kelvin van der Linde say they did well and Kelvin joked they were way too slow. They want to beat the Ferrari and they are coming off great results. They want a repeat of their podium effort here last year. We are looking for the Porsche, the Dinamic Motorsports Porsche of Klaus Bachler, Matteo Cairoli, and Come Ledogar. Ah. The car is being pushed to the grid space now.
Porsche won here last year at Paul Ricard. In GTWC Europe, Come Ledogar, the Frenchman, has won for three different marques, for Porsche, for Ferrari, and for McLaren. Ledogar says they finally had a good qualifying run even though it was hard to find a clear lap. There's lots of people down on the grid. Ledogar says he wants to convert the qualifying pace into race pace over the next six hours. We have another Porsche to point out racing here at Paul Ricard. The #91 Allied Racing Porsche for British drivers Ben Barker and James Dorlin, and racing under the FIA flag, Alex Malykhin. We saw these three in a Barwell Lamborghini earlier in the year, but they have found a new ride with Allied and Porsche.
Fifth on the grid we have the #30 Team WRT Audi for Benjamin Goethe, Thomas Neubauer, and Jean Baptiste Simmenauer. Normally, we see James Dorlin and Ben Barker in British GT but driving a Lamborghini. In sixth place we should look for yet another Lamborghini, the Emil Frey Racing entry, car #63, one of three team cars in this motor race today. Spaniard Albert Costa starts it, sharing with Italian ace Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti, and British open wheel/sports car driver, Jack Aitken. Albert Costa is happy and knows how long the trip is going to be. They want a good finish this year. Third time's a charm for the Lambo? We'll see.
Costa says traffic held him up in qualifying. He will take a later stint and stay positive. Maybe the weather will do something interesting. Seventh place is showing a car that we are going to have massive eyes on today as Valentino Rossi the king of MotoGP motorcycle racing will be starting it, sharing it with Frederic Vervisch and Nico Muller. Rossi is going to start the car. Will he do a single stint or a double stint? He is right at the sharp end of the grid and the fans love him. Rossi should do some night driving and he might do that. We'll have to find out. No one is giiving us a list of who is driving when. That's a silly idea.
Two hours of drive time for Valentino Rossi will be useful so he can learn how to drive in the hours of darkness. We are also now looking at the Beachdean AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 with Nicki Thiim starting the car. Beechdean, their sponsor, is an ice cream company. Marco Sorensen, his countryman and co-driver had a massive crash in this car during yesterday's Free Practice, so the team has worked around the clock to fix the car and have it set to go for the race today. Thiim is a hot shoe and makes things happen. In 12th spot, we have Nicky Catsburg starting the #98 Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3. This is one of the two cars from BMW. Catsburg is a former winner of the 24 Hours of Spa. The significance of #50 is for the 50th anniversary of the BMW Junior Team under then team boss Jochen Neerpasch who is still around today, and they are looking to do well in this race at Paul Ricard.
Clear the grid. Clear the grid, please. The co-drivers are getting ready and will be watching what their teammates do. We have a grid walk showing the cars on the grid. We are missing one starter who should be at the end of the pit lane before we get going. That is the #563, one of the two Lamborghini Huracan's for Vincenzo Sospiri Racing to be driven by Michele Beretta from Italy, Benjamin Hites from Chile, and Yuki Nemoto from Japan. When we start the race, the drivers will have to stay out of trouble when the lights flash green.
Let's hope the madness will be contained. OK. The cars roll off from the grid behind the safety car. #563 might be at the back of the grid as we roll through it. If you are watching, find your favorite driver and your favorite team. Alright. Everyone is vigorously weaving to heat up their tires up the Mistral straight. We have plenty of onboard cameras to view as the cars turn through Signes. OK. The battle is about to commence. Two and a half hours of this race will be in darkness. Watch for the sun dropping to the west later tonight.
Ferrari and Porsche on the front row. We're set and it's time to bring the action, GT3 style, here at Paul Ricard! Red lights on. Red lights out, and now they flash green. Go! Daniel Serra charges to the lead straight away and now, Klaus Bachler is looking for an opening but can't find it. They pour down into turn one for the first time. A couple cars squeezed off the road including Chris Froggatt in the Mercedes for Sky Tempesta Racing, the #93. Valentino Rossi is being monstered from all sides onto the Mistral straight for the first time, named after the Mistral wind on this track but it is hot. Hubert Haupt was tagged by somebody. He has smoke pouring off the left side of his Mercedes.
Nicky Catsburg goes around the outside trying to claim a spot and Benjamin Goethe runs wide and nearly off the road! Someone else is now off and in another post code. You can see those painted lines on the outside of the circuit here at Ricard. They are a substitute for gravel, but that paint in textured in such a way, that the pavement is really rough out there and trust me, you don't want all four wheels clattering across that stuff because it will bust up a car in a heartbeat. Mirko Bortolotti making strong moves into Virage de la Tour already. Yours truly looks at a circuit map and can't find any of the corner names.
Well, if our pals in commentary, David Addison and John Watson, mention them, then they will be listed here. Benjamin Goethe is pressing hard and we have the safety car scrambled already rather than a Full Course Yellow. Oh no! Heavy right rear damage for the #2 BWT Mercedes, the GetSpeed entry of Maro Engel. Engel sharing with Luca Stolz and Steijn Schothorst in the first of the two Team GetSpeed entries in this race. That is a tin can job with a huge slice of bodywork that could and has punctured that Pirelli P Zero tire and the bodywork has been peeled away like an open sardine can. How much damage will there be on the mountings for the bodywork on that car?
The GetSpeed team has a sister car in this motor race, the #3 shared by Seb Baud of France, Valdemar Eriksen from Denmark, and Canadian driver Jeff Kingsley. There could be suspension damage to the #2. Those three blokes were struggling in qualifying this morning and when you qualify, you want to do so at the sharp end of the grid. They were way down on the 18th row of the grid. From rows 12 back it is no man's land out there. The cars are packed up single file behind the safety car. Trouble too for the #5 HRT Mercedes, being wheeled on the dollies into the garage. Team owner Hubert Haupt sharing with fellow German Florian Scholze and Indian driver Arjun Maini.
We've also lost the McLaren #159 which has stopped at turn seven. This is the McLaren 720S GT3 for Garage 59 being shared by Nicolai Kjaergaard from Denmark, Manuel Maldonado from Venezuela (cousin of former Formula 1 driver and race winner Pastor Maldonado), and Canadian Ethan Simioni. So, we've seen three cars off the road but we have no idea why all this has ahppened. #2 is wheeled back ito the garage. The rear damage of the Mercedes did not come from reversing into the McLaren. Game over for the #159 car, the Garage 59 entry. Valentino Rossi in seventh while Raffaele Marciello has lost two places already.
Now, a Ferrari could have been the car that had gotten into the back of the Mercedes as we are looking at replays of the start. James Calado and Charles Weerts had very contrasting starts as we expect the safety car in the lane this time by. Valentino Rossi woed up after seeing Jean Baptiste Simmenauer do likewise. Chris Froggatt in the Mercedes, with cars up ahead scrambling across the curbs and we see Maro Engel getting tagged into a spin. There is the McLaren that wrecked by getting into the Car Collection Audi of Hugo Valente. That would be the first of the two Tresor by Car Collection Audi's, car #11. Valente of France sharing with Lorenzo Patrese of Italy (son of sports car and Formula 1 veteran Ricardo Patrese), and Finland's Axel Blom.
So, we've seen a lot of argy bargy and spinning in the last ten minutes. Green flag. Daniel Serra continues to lead by 7/10ths of a second over Klaus Bachler. It's early doors yet. Keep it clean. Although, there's some bodywork on the road. Nicklas Nielsen chases Valentino Rossi and ahead of them we have Mirko Bortolotti crawling all over Benjamin Goethe in the Audi. Goethe is really going for it and has far more experience than he used to. He was 16 years old when he started racing GT3 cars. Maro Engel in the #2 BWT Mercedes is back in the race. But he is two laps down. So he will have to fight and claw his way back through the field to remain in contention.
Roald Goethe decides to let the Lamborghini go and discretion is the better part of valor. Raffaele Marciello though is right on Goethe's six. So, at the top of the shop we have Daniel Serra, Klaus Bachler, Charles Weerts, Benji Goethe, Mirko Bortolotti, Raffaele Marciello, and Valentino Rossi. Then, rounding out the top ten, it is Nicklas Nielsen, Rob Bell, and Luca Ghiotto. Daniel Serra leads by 4/10ths of a second, but Klaus Bachler is flying right now, cutting the fastest lap of the motor race thus far and he is nearly glued to the tail of the Ferrari.
Lorenzo Ferrari in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 is passing Giacomo Altoe. Ferrari, from Italy, sharing with Lucas Auer from Austria and Germany's Jens Liebhauser. Rob Bell has passed Luca Ghiotto as well. Marciello, look, clears Goethe for fifth place. Nielsen right on Rossi's back door halfway through the Mistral straight screaming towards the righthand corner. Bachler wants it going 'round the outside of the yellow Ferrari! Great move, Klaus Bachler, to the lead! Bachler is a Porsche specialist in GT or in Porsche Cup. Weerts is feeling the heat from Bortolotti who says, "right, I got this!" Weerts made a dud move there, but now he is fighting back on the Lamborghini driver.
The fastest man on the road is right behind them. Raffaele Marciello wants a bite of the cherry and Bortolotti is doing all he knows to fend him off. Sounds like an Italian race to me! Marciello vs. Bortolotti. Goethe is sticking right with this pack, and we also have Nielsen and Bell back there along with Konsta Lappalainen and Luca Ghiotto. Konsta Lappalainen, the Finn, sharing the #14 Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 with countryman Tuomas Tuujula and Stuart White from South Africa. Bachler is doing all he can to make good his escape. Now, there's a timing and scoring glitch because Bortolotti was briefly ahead of Weerts while Weerts made a pass.
Weerts, Bortolotti, Marciello, all in line through Signes corner. Marciello is coming back up through the field to the front. You know Bortolotti will not roll over and play dead. This is a fascinating three way fight as Klaus Bachler leads over Daniel Serra. We've only been racing for just over 15 minutes of a six hour, 1,000 kilometer motor race here. Bachler leads the motor race by just 8/10ths of a second. Bortolotti right on Weerts' six. We ssw Weerts run well at Imola in the first race of the season, but, Weerts could not make it work in that event. Now, he seems to be running well. Bortolotti tries to pull alongside Weerts. The Audi and the Lamborghini have similar, effectively the same, engines, with the 5.2 liter naturally aspirated V10.
No dice. Bortolotti tries pulling out to pass and hits a brick wall with that Lambo ahead. Ingolstadt vs. Bologna. Audi vs. Lamborghini. Roald Goethe runs wide allowing Valentino Rossi to enter the picture. Rossi was stunning on a motorcycle through his illustrious career. What can he do in a sports car, a GT3 car? Eight laps on the board as Klaus Bachler continues leading Daniel Serra. Silver leader is Benji Goethte, Gold leader, Lorenzo Ferrari, and in Pro-Am it is Miguel Ramos, the Portuguese driver leading in class in the sole remaining Garage 59 McLaren. He is 27th in the overall aboard the #188 McLaren 650S. Ramos sharing with countryman Henrique Chaves, and Sweden's Alexander West.
Weerts, Bortolotti, and Marciello, these three blokes are having a fair old wrestling match and allowing the two leaders to pull away. You have missed nothing so far at the top of the shop as Bachler continues leading over Serra. Porsche, Ferrari, Audi, Lamborghini, Mercedes. Five brands in the top five places early doors here at Paul Ricard. Marciello is right on top of the Lamborghini. Balance of Performance aligns people but it makes it hard to pass. Bortolotti, bounding over the curbs. Goethe is backing up into the clutches of Rossi, Nielsen, and Bell.
Momentum is everything. Foot to the floor, maximum RPM. Bortolotti can't get by. Weerts is not dropping too far away from the leader. Weerts going throughK the pass but can't make it through Beauseilles corner. Marciello through Village de la Tour and he can't get by still. Rossi indulges in a wee bit of autocross and Nicklas Nielsen is going to move in. Nielsen makes the pass and Rossi loses out. He won here way back in 1997, 25 years ago, on a 125cc Grand Prix motorcycle well before his days of dominating the 500cc Grand Prix and MotoGP championships. Rossi still learning the art of driving a four wheeled car on a track compared to two wheels.
Benji Goethe has a margin in Silver over Kosta Lappalainen and Charles Weerts. Bortolotti is right on top of Daniel Serra, the son of former Formula 1 driver Chico Serra. Bortolotti is exceptionally quick while Klaus Bachler is maintaining the lead over Daniel Serra but only just. Nicky Catsburg in the BMW is up behind Konsta Lappalainen and the train of cars is endless behind those two. Unbelievable. The gaps are negligible. Maro Engel had fastest lap but then Nicky Catsburg took it away. So, they are volleying vast laps around. We look at top speeds into Signes corner with the fastest being the #57 Mercedes of Lorenzo Ferrari.
Ferrari clocked at 244 kilometers an hour, 152 and a half miles an hour. Then, Klaus Bachler, Daniel Serra, and Giacomo Altoe are running 25 clicks slower at 219 kilometers an hour through the turn (137 miles an hour), followed along by Mirko Bortolotti at 218 clicks (136 and a quarter miles an hour). Bachler and Serra, these two blokes are going at it hammer and tongs and it's been an incredible race we have seen so far barely 20 minutes in. Just a little over 20 minutes and we have five plus hours on the board yet. The sky is gray but will we see raindrops? Mirko Bortolotti is going to swallow up Daniel Serra here in a matter of seconds if Daniel does not get on the stick.
Serra, wisely, gives enough room. Bortolotti is quickest now. Bortolotti is trapped slightly. The pole sitting Ferrari still in the fight. Last year, Porsche won this race. All the top brands in the top five illustrating the effectiveness of Balance of Performance. Giacomo Altoe uncorks fastest lap as now, look, Bortolotti is pulling the pass on Serra down the Mistral! Almost some argy bargy between those two but Serra makes the pass! He pulls it off! Wow! He tricked Serra into thinking he was going to go outside and made a fake. Raffaele Marciello also mugs Serra, look.
This is great racing! Serra just pushes the door open. Doesn't even knock. and bish, bash, bosh, he's right on the tail of the Porsche. Serra is the man right now! Bachler and Bortolotti nose to tail. Porsche heading Lamborghini. Giacomo Altoe uncorks the fastest lap of the motor race. So, the Lambo's were keeping their powder dry in qualifying. But now, they are hitting on all ten cylinders. This has been thrilling motor racing in the opening hour here at Paul Ricard! Altoe in 12th place. Marciello is still pressing hard. He has a quick car with that Mercedes as Bortolotti is right on Bachkler's tail.
To the right he stays but he is too far back and cannot slingshot the Dinamic Motorsports Pprsche down to Signes again. We're going to see pit stops in a half an hour or so. Marciello is still in the fight and so is Serra with just 13 laps completed. The Pirelli tire can work in fine margins but then it fades. It has it's own nuances on different cars in different temperature ranges. How does the rear of the car hold on? The Porsche is quick all over but the Lamborghini has more bite, more grip on the track surface which is billiard table smooth. Down the Mistral once more, the Porsche seems to have the slight edge on the Lambo. They sweep through Signes again. Charles Weerts continues holding off Roald Goethe in the battle of the Audi's.
Marciello could be cackling like a madman inside his helmet, or, he is wondering, can I stick with these guys? Or, will their scrap end in tears? Speaking of ending in tears, Bachler thinks he's in the shade. He thinks, "oh boy, I'm in the pound seats." Bortolotti says, "not so fast, sunbeam", and dives down the inside into Virage du Pont, the final turn on the road and makes the pass. I don't even think Bachler saw him coming. He took the Porsche man totally by surprise! Bachler isn't done. He knows Bortolotti snookered him and now he wants it back. Bachler wants to poke his nose out and do the old squeeze play, but Bortolotti slams the door in his face.
Bortolotti strategized that perfectly. He knew his chances would be in the slower turns and not in the high speed stuff. Marciello is crawling all over the tail of the Porsche trhogun the right left turn onto the Mistral again. What's funny (ironically, not humorously), is how both Audi's of Weerts and Goethe have now dropped behind this leading quartet. We had a conga line of seven cars earlier but it's been split up. Let's have a Captain Cook at absolute top speeds. Fastest on VMAX so far is Brendon Iribe, the American, aboard the McLaren at 286 clicks (178 and 3/4 miles an hour). Next up, the #26 Sainteloc Audi of Frenchman Cesar Gazeau at 285 kilometers an hour (178.125 miles an hour). Third is another Dinamic Motorsports Porsche, with Swiss driver Mauro Calamia at the keyboard at 284 clicks (177 and a half miles an hour) and Neil Verhagen in the Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3 #50 is tied with him on that speed. They are followed at 283 clicks (176.875 miles an hour), by Lorenzo Ferrari in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes.
We should mention a couple of these other cars. Cesar Gazeau sharing the #26 Sainteloc Racing Audi with countryman Aurelien Panis (son of former Formula 1 racer and winner of the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix, Olivier Panis), and Nicolas Baert from Belgium. The #56 Dinamic Porsche, we mentioned the Swiss racer Mauro Calamia. He is sharing with Giorgio Roda of Italy and Marius Nakken from Norway. None of the top six cars are fast enough to be in that top speed serial. So, are you looking for low downforce for straight line speed? Or are you going for higher downforce so the tire doesn't get stressed?
Oh man! Raffaele Marciello right alongside Klaus Bachler now. Can Marciello make it stick? Yes! He's done it through the final turn! Bachler stepped aside but not for long. Marciello did not have enough welly in it to make the pass work completely. Marciello really was caught between a rock and a hard place. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Rob Bell, Kosta Lappalainen, Valentino Rossi, Giacomo Altoe, Nicky Catsburg, Nicky Thiim, and Lorenzo Ferrari. Ferrari has a penalty in his future as the stewards are investigating him for cutting across turn two on the very first lap. Lorenzo Ferrari was deemed to have cut across the inside of the corner, leading the Gold Cup division as we speak.
Bortolotti is now motoring away from Bachler while both of them are cutting personal best laps as the fuel load is coming down. Halfway almost through the first stint and the tires are getting a slight reprieve but not much. Miguel Ramos right alongside Ralf Bohn. Bohn sharing the #911 Herberth Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R with the Renauer brothers, Alfred and Robert. Ramos, the Portuguese veteran is in the McLaren for Garage 59, the #188 car we've mentioned already at least once. Ramos, the Pro-Am leader and Ralf Bohn is fending him off down the Mistral. This is not a battle for class honors but for 25th place in the overall.
Ramos was tentative and needed to be. He would have been in a pickle through Signes corner. This race is longer than a standard Endurance Cup event, but, it is also 1/4 of the length of what we'll see next time out at the blue riband event for GTWC Europe and Intercontinental GT Challenge with the 24 Hours of Spa coming up at the end of July. Ralf Bohn is an experienced hand in a Porsche having run in Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and we have also seen him dominate with Herberth Motorsports in the Creventic 24 Hour Series. You have seen those races if you've followed this blog for a while now. Plus he is becoming handy in these Endurance Cup events for GTWC Europe too. Meanwhile, Marciello is reeling in Bachler and in turn, Mirko Bortolotti is opening a gap on both of them, whistling off into the distance.
Ralf Bohn though, he still has his hands full with the McLaren. Bohn and Ramos still nose to tail. 17 laps now completed. Hold the position and keep it clean on corner exit. The McLaren, though, through L'ecole and onto the Mistral straight looks good. Bohn is behind Lorenzo Ferrari in the Gold Cup. Ralf Bohn comes back to the isnide and that was squeaky, squeaky time without a doubt. A squeaky pane of glass. We hear reports that Arnold Robin has spun on the road in the #33 WRT Audi. Arnold Robin, Maxime Robin, and Ryuichiro Tomita, in a Gold Cup entry for the two Frenchmen and the Japanese driver. Not entirely clear if Arnold and Maxime Robin are brothers, father and son, or cousins perhaps. Not familiar with the family relationship between the two of them.
The gap between Bortolotti and Bachler remains static at 8/10ths of a second while Giacomo Altoe has not relinquished fastest lap yet. Nicki Thiim in the #95 Aston Martin has gone by Valentino Rossi in the #46 Audi. Again, Rossi shares with Nico Muller and Fredric Vervisch. That is the Monster VR46 with Team WRT car. Nicki Thiim has passed Rossi. ESports racer Tommaso Mosca makes his move in real world., full metal racing against Luca Ghiotto. Mosca, the Italian, at the wheel of the #87 Akkodis ASP Mercedes sharing with Englishman Casper Stevenson and Frenchman Thomas Drouet.
Ghiotto wants by Mosca down the Mistral straight. Another Italian battle. Mercedes vs. Audi. 6.2 liter V8 vs. 5.2 liter V10. Through the chicane and Ghiotto pulls off the pass. That's get your own back time right there. Mosca ahead and might have to give him the spot back. Rossi has fallen to 11th place as Nicky Catsburg is right up his tailpipe. Altoe and Catsburg have passed both of them. Nicki Thiim is back there, too. Lorenzo Ferrari continues making progress as well. 18 laps in the books. In replay, Rossi snap oversteers and runs wide. Catsburg steps through an open door. Bortolotti just a second up on Bachler and Raffaele Marciello is still lurking in third place.
What we have seen thus far here at Paul Ricard is nobody, when they get to the lead of the motor race, gets too comfortable. We've seen only 8/10ths of a second of a lead gap between the Lamborghini and the Porsche. We now see this strangely liveried pink and blue McLaren which used to be gold, in the hands of former Formula 1 driver Christian Klien of Austria who used to drive for the Red Bull team in F1 many moons ago. This is one of the two JP Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3's from the Polish team. Klien from Austria sharing with two of the heavy hitters of GT3 racing in recent years, Dennis "The Menace" Lind from Denmark, and Vincent Abril, another driver hailing from Monaco.
This is the Pro entry for JP Motorsports but they have a sister car entered in Gold Cup, #112 for the all-Polish trio of Englishman Joe Osborne and Polish racers Patryk Krupinski and Maciej Blazek. Klien runs 18th and has had fastest time of all in sector two while he is caught in a group of cars and being stymied by an Audi and a Mercedes. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, into Signes corner, Catsburg is monstering Rossi down the Mistral straight. Catsburg wants to make the move. Rossi shuts the door. Rossi goes wide, Catsburg tries the slingshot pass. Blimey! There's a puncture for the Lamborghini! Giacomo Altoe, not the leading Emil Frey Lambo, but the team car, is in mega trouble.
So, he pulls off the road wisely with a punctured Pirelli P Zero on the left rear from ninth spot on the road. That's a rapidly deflating tire which could easily have picked up a puncture from trackside debris. Rossi hits the windscreen wiper by mistake and now we hear Rob Bell in the #38 Jota McLaren is under investigation for speeding in pit lane. He is in the lane now pitting very early, by 20 minutes. He has been there for a few minutes. Now, Mauro Calamia in the #56 Dinamic Motorsports Porsche goes off the road. He rejoins just ahead of Chris Froggatt in the Sky Tempesta Mercedes #93 who proceeds, bang, to tag the Porsche in the left rear. Oof. That was a close shave.
The Porsche is speeding along the inside, and he tries returning to the road but ducks out in front of Froggatt who can't really judge where he is. He interferes in the existing scrap, and, clunk. That is where the damage came from to the right rear corner of the 911 GT3R. We saw Rossi pass Altoe and get passed by Nicky Catsburg and then we see that Lamborghini that had the tire go down right through Signes for Giacomo Altoe! Egad! That was ugly! In the meantime, Rob Bell remains in the pit lane and was running in the top ten, so there are concerns about the Jota entry possibly having a malady of some kind.
Bell is now three laps down as we return to the leading trio. Bortolotti is still monstering Bachler and we can see Raffaele Marciello has a ringside seat for all this. Marciello has the propensity to overcook it if he gives it full welly. But, right now he is biding his time, driving with a level of restraint, waiting to see what these chaps ahead of him are going to do. Marciello has a proven car under him. At the same time, Bachler knows that Porsche has gobs of speed especially towards the end of the Mistral straight. Marciello can catch Bachler at the beginning of the Mistral, but by the end, he's probably run out of steam in spite of the power of that massive 6.2 liter V8 in front of him while the traction is better with the mid/rear engine Porsche and it's 4.0 liter flat six motor.
Last time by Marciello cut the fastest lap of the race so far at 1:55.3. This race is only 40 minutes old. The Ferrari's from AF Corse are fourth and seventh. AF Corse? No. I meant Iron Lynx. Sorry about that. Giacomo Altoe ducked to the pit lane and rejoined the motor race and is still on the lead lap, fortunately. That puncture was scary. Nicklas Nielsen right on Benji Goethe's back door. If the next few hours are as frantic as this one, we might not even see the 6 hour mark come. We might get this race done in a tad over five hours. A few years ago we saw a phenomenal race here at Ricard where the Bentley team lost the race due to a puncture I think and the Emil Frey team came from nowhere to win, when they were racing with Lexus and the RC F GT3 that we see regularly in a different championship, in IMSA in the United States.
Goethe holding off Nielsen for the time being. Christian Klien gains a spot in the #111 JP Motorsports McLaren, making a pass for 15th. The top five hasn't changed yet. Bortolotti, Bachler, Marciello, Serra, and Weerts. Nielsen tries to send it around Goethe but that isn't going to work. Speaking of sending it, the popular phrase in racing now, he's going to try around L'ecole, but will he make it? Outside line onto the Mistral, out wide onto the paint. Goethe will duck inside and protect the line. Goethe hangs on by the skin of his teeth! He's right alongside Goethe but the Audi still has a head of steam. Nielsen may have the preferred line into Signes. Okie dokie. Nielsen makes the pass.
It's no use being in the lead because you can't get away from your rivals. They are shadowing your every move. Even without lapped cars, the pace you have to storm your way to the lead of the motor race stalls out like an airplane wing in dirty air and of course, a race car wing is just an airplane wing turned upside down. Through the Virage du Pont again to complete another lap and the top three remains the same as we've seen for a wee while now. Daniel Serra is within striking distance. He's keeping a watching brief in case any of the three blokes ahead fluff it somehow.
The battle continues as Bortolotti still leads Marciello and Bachler. Lapped traffic ahead in the form of the Lamborghini of Giacomo Altoe. He is still in recovery mode. Altoe has new boots on the #19 Lambo, the second of the three Emil Frey Racing entries that Altoe shares Frenchmen Leo Roussel and Arthur Rougier. Onto the Mistral once again. Lamborghini, Porsche, Mercedes. The start for car #11 is under investigation. That is the Hugo Valente piloted Car Collection Audi being shared by Lorenzo Patrese and Axel Blom. They are being looed at for how that car accelerated at the start. Valente has that car way down in 42nd spot.
Marciello trying to find a way to give Bachler all he can handle and pull the overtake on him. He's wriggling all over the road trying to find a way by. Marciello is having his pace dictated by two cars ahead and not just one. It is the Porsche and the Lamborghini, both. Right now, he is getting stymied. In about 14 minutes before we start another racing hour, we have to see who will bail for the pit lane and how things will come out in the wash after that. These three cars are so evenly matched, that it could take a strategy call to make a change here. We heard Marciello say he'd do a double stint. So, since he's staying at the wheel, the pit stop will still dictate where he comes out and how he can play into the hands of the leaders and what they do.
It's redundant, but of course, no matter what, Marciello still is adhering to the maximum 65-minute stint length. Marciello is up to racing speed so if anyone around him makes a driver change, that driver will have to come up to snuff. Lookie, lookie. #87 Mercedes on #12 Audi. That is the AKKA ASP entry trying to move in on the #12, the second Tresor by Car Collection Audi R8 being shared by Italians Luca Ghiotto and Mattia Drudi, alongside vastly experienced Audi GT3 ace, German, Christopher Haase. There are two schools of thought. Some teams want to cycle all their drivers through the first half of the race. On the opposite side, other teams keep their first driver in for a double stint at the beginning because they know the car and are comfortable with what they have.
Christian Klien, the rapid Austrian is all over the back of Thomas Mosca, giving him everything he can take. This is a battle for 14th between the Austrian and the Italian. Klein has massive momentum down the Mistral straight and will pass the Mercedes it looks like. That was a side draft. Two cars in one pass down the Mistral for Christian Klien. Has Klien cleaned up? Pun intended. Not yet, and he gets run out wide, look. Luca Ghiotto, elbows out. I don't give a flip about your reputation, Christian. I am going to pass you, you little sneak. Klien still on the inside. Whoa. You little fighter! Ghiotto is hung out to dry and here comes Tomas Mosca straight into the picture. How about that?
That was a battle royal for four, five corners, and Ghiotto has to give it up. Well, I'll be doggoned. The Mercedes just nips his way right past the Audi into the final corner. It ain't over 'til it's over. The Mercedes has a loose window net outside the window. What will the marshals say about that? Poor old Ghiotto dueled with his sword and was still vanquished as he loses two places. Deary me. Was that even worth it? It was to the audience here. Debris on the road in the first turn is insignificant yet noticeable.
Ghiotto is cooking with high temperature oil right now. He's turning it on. The afterburners are lit. Valentino Rossi is all by his lonesome, although Christian Klien should be filling his mirrors soon. Klien is nibbling into Rossi's advantage. t the front you are missing nothing. The order is the same. Bortolotti, Bachler, Marciello and the rest are having their own little party. Rob Bell has been stuck in the lane for six laps and the transmission has likely eaten itself having lost gears. That is without dought game over for the Jota boys. They are in the process of restoring the gears, but that could be futile. We shall keep you updated. Is it game over? Do they advance to the next level? We'll find out.
Maro Engel also in trouble in the lane and he has lost nine or so laps to the rest of the field. It could be game over too, for the #2 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed BWT liveried racer. From the onboard camera we see Valentino Rossi hard at work, full concentration on the road and occasionally checking his mirrors. He is well aware the McLaren is coming in a hurry. 25 laps now in the bag, 90 and 3/4 miles. Giacomo Altoe on fresh Pirelli P Zero tires, he ought to be cutting quicker laps than anyone else. That's what new tires will do for you. Check that. That is the #14 Emil Frey Lamborghini, seventh in the overall with Konsta Lappalainen still at the wheel of it. Presently, he is the leading Silver driver, look. Benji Goethe has just dropped behind him.
Better late than never for Konsta Lappalainen. Goethe and Weerts are fading just slightly. The gap between Rossi and Klein has dropped a second and Goethe was forced offline by Lappalainen. Bortolotti still leading the motor race over Bachler and Marciello. 65 minutes only per stint, unless there is a safety car in which drivers are awarded a five minute grace period to get to the pit lane. Pit strategy coming to the fore. If there is a safety car late in the race, plug your quickest driver into the car. Perhaps Giacomo Altoe's puncture may have damaged the car due to the puncture. That is not his fault.
Bortolotti has been reeling off quick laps in the 1:55 bracket. 1:55.3, 1:55.4 and so on. Marciello pushing through L'Ecole. Nicklas Nielsen running in sixth place in the Ferrari has brought the lap record down a touch, down to a low 1:55, uncorking a 1:55.255. Roald Goethe is losing places hand over fist to both Nikki Thiim in the Aston Martin and Nicky Catsburg in the BMW. It's the Nicholas and Nicholas show! Who'd have thought of that?! Thiim and Catsburg have gone by Benji Goethe. Marciello is loose through Signes and runs wide onto the paint. We are now looking at the Barwell Racing Lamborghini being pursued by the Aston Martin, the AMR #95 car. Excuse me. That's #97, not #95.
So, this is the car of two Frenchmen and a Brit. Andrew Howard from England, sharing with Frenchmen Valentin-Haase Clot, and Theo Nouet. Haase Clot driving that car scrapping for places in the Gold Cup. Sheesh! Goethe is off the road. That is a puncture. Left rear tire gone on the Audi for the Dane and we're getting very close to the one hour completed mark. Hold the phone here, ladies and gentlemen. The left front Pirelli on that Audi also looks to be flat. That Audi is shaking itself to pieces driving across the paint. Goethe is feeling like he's in the drum of a cement mixer. Without a doubt he's Fred Flintstoned his tires there. That motorcar has stone roller wheels.
Wowzers! He was jolly lucky to get away with that! The car whipped around and slid backwards along the runoff. He didn't clobber the wall, thankfully. But both of the left side tires are pancaked. There's probably a gaping hole in each of those tires and they'll be torn apart all the way down to the cords, to the fabric backing material on the inside of the tires and maybe down to the belts, to the steel belts inside as well. Thoroughly tortured Pirelli P Zero's. Valentin-Haase Clot is very underrated and for sure he has been uncorking some wicked lap times in the last little while.
Rob Collard and Ezequiel Perez-Companc are back here as well. Collard in the Barwell Motorsports Lamborghini #77 sharing in the all-British lineup with Sandy Mitchell and Alex MacDowall. It looks like Rob Collard was just overtaken by the Aston Martin and now we ride aboard the #93 Sky Tempesta Racing Mercedes. Chris Froggatt, winding it up down the Mistral straight. He is eighth in class but his position now matters none. It only matters where you are when the checkered flag falls at the stroke of midnight, like Cinderella at the ball. Christian Klien reeling in Valentino Rossi and that McLaren is coming on like gangbusters late in the stint here.
Klien's pace has contributed as has the competition having dramas of their own. We've seen both a Lamborghini and an Audi with punctures coming to the end of the first stint, the end of the first hour of this motor race. Poor old Goethe is still trundling to the lane and I agree with SRO color commentator and former F1 and sports car driver John Watson. He had to have a tire deflate towards the end of the lap. He was a passenger in a runaway GT3 car that was cannoning off the road like a meteor. Thank heavens it didn't smash into anything solid.
ROFGO WRT are going to do a driver change and see if they can glean something positive out of this mess. Trundling back to the lane with three wheels on the wagon has cost Goethe two laps. That's the galling part of this whole episode. Late in the first stint, Raffaele Marciello has made it to second place passing Klaus Bachler. Marciello clears the Porsche and up ahead, Bortolotti is motoring away from both of them. Through Signes, it looks the Porsche washes out a bit. Marciello just took away the track real estate that Bachler in the Porsche wanted. That's all that was. Mercifully Benjamin Goethe makes it to the pit lane. New tires on the right while the flat ones stage left have yet to be changed. You can't help thinking Roald Goethe is scrabbling his way back to the lane thinking, "what the heck have I done to deserve this?!"
Luca Ghiotto in the #12 Tresor by Car Collection Audi is also in the lane for fuel and tires. If the tires are feeling tired, ho ho, then it is time to change them. Thank you, David Addison, for that one. Fuel in the tank as well. The Pirelli tire technicians will be having a Captain Cook at both of Goethe's square tires. Mirko Bortolotti whistling while he works in the lead of the motor race. Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go. 29 laps now in the bag around Paul Ricard. 105 miles. Wow! 8/10ths behind Bortolotti, Raffaele Marciello just now bags the fastest lap of the race so far! 1:55 dead. 1:55.097 is the purple time for Marciello on the 29th lap. Unbelievable!
The top two have 30-lap-old, knackered Pirelli's while Marciello's still have a razor-sharp edge on them. Speed building along the Mistral Straight just before Signes corner. Marciello has to get past this lapped Audi so he isn't held up. He'll have to dig deep into the courage reservoir and pull the rabbit out of the hat. He might make his move into Double Droit de Beauseilles later in the lap. The Audi has the grip. Marciello is going to do all he can to make this move and make it stick. Audi #25 ought to move because he's not on the lead lap. Lucas Legeret started it and now, the Audi veteran Christopher Mies is at the controls.
You'd think Mies with his vast experience would move over. Then again, he has legitimate pace. So, he won't be easy for Marciello to pass. Mies is going to hold out. He must sense that Marciello has to pit soon. Mies is OK with being passed but he doesn't want to compromise ground to the Swiss-Italian Marciello. Oh no, no, no! Another puncture for the #14 Lamborghini! Trouble in paradise for Lappalainen in ninth place. OK. This is the first puncture for Lappalainen, but we've seen two Lamborghini's suffer this same fate in the opening hour. #19 and now #14. We've had three cars with tire failures all up toward Signes corner right at the end of the Mistral straight.
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