24 Hours of Spa Race Winners

Here is the list of winners from the 24 Hours of Spa.

Overall/Pro Cup: #88 Raffaele Marciello, Daniel Juncadella, & Jules Gounon

Akkodis ASP Team Mercedes AMG GT3

Silver Cup: #30 Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer, Benjamin Goethe, & Thomas Neubauer 

Team WRT Audi R8 LMS Evo II GT3

Gold Cup: #85 Doriane Pin, Rahel Frey, Sara Bovy, & Michelle Gatting Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GT3

Pro-Am Cup: #52 Stefano Constantini, Louis Machiels, Andrea Bertolini, & Alessio Rovera

AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3

Bronze Cup: #20 Tim Muller, George Kurtz, Valentin Pierburg, & Reema Juffali

SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes AMG GT3

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 24 (the finish)

It has been a great effort by Raffaele Marciello, Jules Gounon, and Daniel Juncadella.  Turning down the hill and back up as Marciello builds the gap over Dan Harper.  Harper in the #50 BMW Junior Team BMW M4 GT3 up to second.  No mistakes.  But the deal is, we still have the last hour to get through.  It is not over yet.  The tires might be a tad ratty before the end.  Marciello, Juncadella, and Gounon, they were tagged into a spin and had a fracas into Raidillon too.  They've lived a charmed life as the car barely has a scratch on it.  So often, Akkodis ASP has been so close to winning and they haven't been able to seal the deal.  

Mercedes have won Kyalami and Bathurst for IGTC and they could indeed win Spa too.  Jean Marc Gounon, a racer himself, Jules' dad, he is very happy about his son.  Jules Gounon is quick and rarely makes any mistakes.  Thomas Neubauer pits the Silver leading Audi and Tuomas Tujula is now second in the Silver class as final pit stops are underway.  You still have risk of making mistakes in the final hour of the race.  If any cars late due pit stops, can they do the short stop?  They could still get to the end by doing a short fill.  That is what the hope is.  Engel, Kirchhofer, and others are in this position.

It is possible depending on when they bring it in for six seconds, a splash and a dash.  Roll the dice.  Antonio Fuoco third and they need a pit stop at Iron Lynx too.  Fuoco wants by Patric Niederhauser.  GruppeM are next up with Maro Engel I believe.  Engel would have given the #2 entry more pace, or, is the #55 in a good place?  Questions, questions.  What if''s.  Could we see a Mercedes clean sweep?  Now, maybe the rain could come?  No.  Really?  Showers?  Due at 4PM?  Maybe it is too farth north to hit us.  Will the microclimate decide to do something?  We don't have the humidity, but there is the heat.  Spa is a brooding place with it's own aura.  This is the calm before the storm with 51 minutes to go.  

Maro Engel is real;y pushing in pursuit of Antonio Fuoco.  Fuoco will pit earlier.  He has to duck to the lane to avoid going over his drive time.  Engel has flexibility of a half an hour.  Then again, he has ratty tires.  Those Pirelli P Zero's are busted up.  Chris Froggatt is back to second in Gold Cup.  The BMW Juniors performed fabulously here, and also did at the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring untilm they got taken out of the race.  Ferrari to the lane from third spot.  Final stop.  Dan Harper, Carrera Cup GB, Neil Verhagen could have gone open wheel racing with Red Bull.  That did not work out.  Both Iron Lynx Ferrari's double stacking again!  Guys, please split up your pit stops.  It will be easier.  

AF Corse and Iron Lynx run a bunch of cars in different endurance sports car championships.  Oh dear.  Another spin for Chris Froggatt in the #93 Sky Tempesta Mercedes!  Sheesh!  The car is still going.  The last time we saw a Mercedes win here was in 2013.  Bernd Schneider, Maxi Goetz, and Maxi Buhk in a Mercedes SLS AMG.  They were ahead the whole race.  They won the championship that year, too.  45 minutes to go.  Where is Luca Stolz going to end up.  Dennis Olsen will take the #47 Porsche for KCMG to the flag.  Rowe BMW in the lane for the final time.  17,000 slick tires for Pirelli across three championships.  GT3, GT4, and Lambroghini Super Trofeo.  Right now there is an alloy wheel shortage with this wacky world we live in.

Oh dear.  Tuomas Tujula's tire has gone flat!  The wheel is broekn, left rear tire and the wheel will be ground down losing the tire and the bodywork!  Good gravy!  The left reat does not necessarily get tortured around here.  The Aud's are going to the flag.  The delaminated tire happens at Speaker's Corner.  Nicholas Scholl is 18 seconds in-arrears of Thomas Neubauer.  Neubauer leads the Silver division.  Neubauer has run in Ferrari Challenge.  He drove for Mercedes and won a Sprint event but is now an Audi driver.  We started the race with ten Audi R8's and half of them retired!  The favored cars were eliminated and the best Audi is 12, the #66 Audi Sport Team Attempto car.

Emil Frey Racing is down to one and it's the only car left.  You have to do more tire changes with the alloy wheel shortage.  We haven't had tons of punctures.  In the Audi R8 days at Le Mans, Marco Werner had a puncture on the formation lap.  Drivers know to keep out of the gravel traps.  40 minutes remaining now.  Any puncture comes from asking too much of the tires and the tires cry, enough.  Luck is also a massive part of all of this otor racing game.  That is why we love endurance racing.  The Iron Dames lead the gold cup.  She has raced DTM, ADAC GT. prototypes, touring cars and GT cars.  Ulyse De Pauw second in Gold.

Ollie Milroy in thrid spot.  Millroy's windscreen is a mess.  There are bubbles and pebble bashing on the screen, and thankfully, no holes in the glass.  BMW #50 makes it's final stop.  Dan Harper will take it to the flag as Raffaele Marciello is in the lane for the final time.  Where is the #2 car?  That is what we are going to look for.  This pit stop has to be perfect.  Akkodis ASP, led by former driver Jerome Policand.  Nicky Catsburg is seven minutes into a stint and gaining places back.  #88 in the lane.  Windscreen tear off removed.  New Pirelli boots.  Fuel in the tank.  Marciello stays in the car.  Don't botch any regs on the stop.  Off the air jacks, engine lit up, and back into the race.  

36 and a half minutes to go.  Where is Marciello in relation to the #2 Benz of Luca Stolz?  Working the way through the backmarkers.  Earl Bamber is a player/manager, third in Pro-Am sponsored by Singha Beer.  Engel needs to pit and so does Marvin Kirchhofer.  The gap between first and second is large.  Engel leads Marciello on the road.  He has a pit stop in his future.  Marciello P2.  Maro Engel has an advantage of 42 seconds but a pit stop is two minutes.  Engel will lose the lead.

#2 is 25 seconds down.  Marciello is moving up.  Stolz pressing on and will get two places back but might end up second.  He will need 25 seconds to catch Raffaele.  523 laps now on the board.  The nerves are showing.  Jules Gounon knows it is not finished yet.  To finish first, first you must finish.  Dani Juncadella says that he is not sure.  It's not done yet, so I don't know what to say.  It will be special whatever the results.  That's what Dani has to say.  The tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife.  Maro Engel will pit in two or three laps.  Marciello has not won Spa yet.  He's won a lot of other enduro GT3 races.  Ah.  Walkenhorst #35 BMW M4 GT3 is smoking and has a puncture.  It is fowling agaisnt the fender.  Oh my.  Dan Harper is tied to Dennis Olsen!  Porsche 911 GT3R vs. BMW M4 GT3. 

Through Pouhon they go.  Harper has the Porsche on borrowed time.  No place to go!  Oh man, oh man!  Olsen, the 2019 IGTC champ, Harper looking for an opening.  The BMW to the outside at Blanchimont and Harper does it!  That was good stuff!  Dan Harper up to fifth.  We have been race 23 and a half hours and everyone is still at it.  Harper's next target, Antonio Fuoco in the Ferrari.  Nine seconds to make up and there, look, Harper uncorks fastest first sector of the race!  This guy is the real deal!  Wow!  Impressive!  

Engel still in the lead.  Harper, in the BMW, he has new tires and they won't be squiggly at the end.  Harper can go into full attack mode.  This is getting spicy.  This is Marciello's race to lose, though.  Harper in the meantime is chasing Antonio Fuoco in the Ferrari.  #50 BMW M4 GT3, celebrating half a a century of BMW M.  Marciello could very well be the winner but there are a ton of drivers who are going to have stories to tell about this one.  Wow.  Fuoco, Harper, over the line, 6.4 seconds apart.  Harper passing Ollie Milroy in the Gold Cup McLaren.  Engel due to make a pit stop.  Marciello 34 seconds down but set for a win.  

It's turning it on now.  Harper chasing down Fuoco into Pouhon.  How many people attended this race over four days?  74,000.  Perfect weather.  Wow.  That's great.  But there are clouds rolling in.  Please hold off rain, until the end of this race.  Please!  Of the 66 starters, 38 cars still race.  Maro Engel to the pit lane, running out of options.  It was inevitable.  #55 has been stellar, but their strategy dictates a quick stop but with a tire change.  Engel will take it to the flag.  Marciello will become the race leader now.  Will Luca Stolz benefit and move to second?  Engel will be within striking distance of Dan Harper.  20 minutes left.  The pit lane goes on forever.  Maro Engel is trundling down the lane at 50 kilometers per hour.  Harper chasing Fuoco and Engel will drop down.  Fuoco has made the pass.  He is turning it on.

Harper to fourth.  Engel to fifth on fresh tires and full fuel tanks.  Dan Harper has only 18 minutes on the tires.  They have no edge on them but they are still good.  Position, position, position.  Location, location, location.  Marciello leads the motor race across the control line with Luca Stolz xecond.  Marciello leads the motor race alongside Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella.  Maro Engel pits and Marvin Kirchhofer in eighth will get lapped by the leader down to Brussels corner.  This will be a very popular win.  Marciello has been so close for so many years after his blinding qualifying performances for this race.  Hot but glorious weather, no one would have predicted it.

Dan Harper is not throwing in the towel.  He wants to pass the Ferrari of Fuoco.  Harper is a man on a mission indeed.  He has the Ferrari right where he wants him.  Jules Gounon trying to block out this pressure.  Jean Marc Gounon, came to remind us that the pronunciation in Gou non, not Goun-on.  Dan Harper is turning on the afterburners but has traffic ahead.  Light the fuse, Danny!  Catsburg at 247 clicks is tied with other for fastest Eau Rouge speed.  Thomas Neubauer, Benji Goethe, and Jean Baptiste Simenauer could win their class and a great effort for Gold Cup with the Iron Dames.  Pro-Am will be the AF Corse #52 Ferrari I believe.  Louis Machiels, Andrea Bertolini, Alessio Rovera, and Stefano Constantini.  

531 laps in the book with 11 minutes remaining.  We'll get about five or six more laps.  Raffaele Marciello's nerves will be jangling towards the end of this one.  Stay focused.  Maintain rhythm.  Maro Engel and Dan Harper are wrestling, touring car style!  Harper can't come back as well because his tires are older, more stale.  Fuoco will be safe.  Harper is not going to quit.  Harper wants by the Mercedes but he has dropped back a car length or two.  Maro Engel has the experience and fresher tires on the AMG Mercedes.  Mercedes AMG want a podium lockout.  

Engel quicker than Fuoco through traffic but both will have th handle it.  Fuoco clears the slower cars.  He clears the Samantha Tan BMW and the Walkenhorst BMW.  Samantha Tan is in her first 24 Hours of Spa.  She loves it and so do her team mates.  Dan Harper puts a lap on her but she will be satisfied to finish.  16 sons, and a grand uncle of Dani Juncadella who won this race.  Daniel Juncadella also has an uncle who raced Formula 1.  We thank the SRO and their camera folks, their producers, the broadcast team, the caermamen and so forth.  Don't forget the folks at Pirelli tire who hauled in 17,000 slick tires!  Holy smokes!

Raffaele Marciello will have probably two more laps to the end of this race.  But the battle is on for sixth between Dennis Olsen and Nicky Catsburg.  Sixth and seventh, Porsche vs. BMW.  Through Blanchimont.  Nicky Catsburg takes the preferred line.  He will have the run out of the final chicane.  Dennis Olsen is right in it.  Nicky Catsburg just says, hello, I'm still here, pal.  Dennis Olsen is trying to get away but the BMW reels him in into Les Combes.  Marciello and Jules Gounon will join Laurens Vanthoor and Fabrizio Gollin as two-time winners in the GT era of the race.  One lap to go Jules.  One lap to go.

Akkodis ASP are a great team and they have evolved and so has Raffaele Marciello.  His composure and maturity is amazing.  Years ago he thrashed a GT3 car like an open wheel racer.  Now, he is an seasone endurance racer.  The car has half a lap left.  The team mates watch and embrace.  He has been on three poles and will win this great race on merit.  It will be a second Spa 24 win for Jules Gounon.  Mercedes AMG wins for the first time in nine years!  Mercedes-AMG, Jules Gounon, Raffaele Marciello, and Daniel Juncadella win the 24 Hours of Spa!

Second place for Luca Stolz.  Thomas Neubauer wins Silver.  In the battle for third, Engel closes on the Ferrari.  No dice.  Ferrari third.  Maro Engel, Mikael Grenier, and Maxi Buhk.  Gold Cup winner, Iron Dames with Rahel Frey.  Valentino Rossi 17th on debut at the Spa 24.  Wow.  Dan Harper takes fifth ahead of Nicky Catsburg.  Dennis Olson might have some trouble.  But you know what, it is all Akkodis ASP!  Yours truly is spent.  The team loves it!  There's hardly a dry eye in the house!  These guys are soaking it in.  Everyone, you deserve it.  Spa has chosen Akkodis ASP!  You've done it!  

Marciello takes the victory lap!  Yours truly is spent!  We'll talk about the race later and have reactions, video and all the rest.  I need a power nap now.  Another Spa 24 is in the bag!  Au revoir from the Ardennes Forest.  We'll see you next year in 2023!  Stay tuned for more post-race coverage later on.  So long, everybody!  Take care!

        

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 23

Yelloly is jumping his way over Raidillon and now, the gap between Serra and Yelloly is growing as Harper is moving in on Yelloly.  Harper has 15 minutes before he has to think of pitting.  Stolz and Gounon are miles apart and Stolz is catching James Calado in the Ferrari.  Calado could be the cork in the bottle if he isn't careful.  Valentino Rossi will run the final stint of the 24 Hours of Spa in the #46 Audi R8.  Valentino Rossi off the road on his out lap.  Oh dear.  Don't move the steering wheel or mess with it.  In the Group C prototypes, a sliding sea was used.  But now, a sliding seat would be unsafe.  Rossi has his hands full!  Wow!  Dear me!  That was unreal and he got right to the edge of the gravel trap!  

Pit stop time for the #71 and the sister car #51, Iron Lynx the defending champions are double stacked in the pit lane!  Not good.  Calado's car had to be pushed back as the fuel hose would not stretch and now Yelloly's right rear tire is gone!  Puncture for the Rowe Racing BMW!  The right rear tire is flat and the bead between the tire and the rim broke!  The tire was losing pressure into Pouhon!  My gosh!  It is not the end of the world, but he is losing time trundling around slowly.  Now the tire is shredding all over the track, offline.  Is it attacking the bodywork?  Gosh, I hope not.  19 seconds lost for #71 and 47 seconds lost for #51.  The damage is to the tire and we hope the bodywork on that BMW is not damaged.  

They checked the wheel arch and now Jules Gounon is making up time over the Rowe Racing BMW.  It seems like it is game over for the BMW boys.  Unreal.  Then again, the hot temperatures for ambient and track temperatures are destroying these tires.  The heat causes the tires to explode and so Pirelli engineers will be looking at everything.  Three top ten contenders have had drama and we need to see at least a few more pit stops for some of the top contenders.  Augusto Farfus is standing by at Rowe BMW.  The Audi kicking up dust on the road.  Can't tell which one it is.

Ah.  That is the #30.  Watch for debris that could cut down the inside shoulder of the tire, down to the lowest point of the Spa circuit.  Thomas Neubauer, Jean Baptiste Simmenauer, and Benjamin Goethe.  Top speeds at Blanchimont, three BMW's in the top four at 259, 257, 256, and 255 kilometers an hour with Ross Gunn's Aston Martin also fast.  Harper extends his advantage.  That puncture came out of nowhere.  Andrea Bertolini still has the Pro-Am lead in the AF Corse #52 Ferrari.  The podium is now in the fan village for this race, not up above the track.  39 cars of 66 starters remain in the race.  27 cars out.  Unreal.  Technical and mechanical issues of attrition.  

We have not seen as many large accidents.  We are into the final hour and 45 minutes.  496 laps completed as Dan Harper and Raffaele Marciello have both pitted.  Marciello has one more pit stop to go before the checkers.  Maro Engel leads the motor race now in the #55 GruppeM Mercedes, but he is due a pit stop.  The order reshuffles like a deck of cards.  Marciello in #88 has just started a stint.  Maro Engel has 3-4 laps to go yet.  James Calado delayed after that double stack at Iron Lynx.  Last year's race winners will not repeat in 2022.  Marciello vs. Luca Stolz.  This will be the lead battle.  Wheel to wheel down to La Source!  Stolz forces Marciello off the road!  Yikes!  That was not too fair, giving racing room.

Same brand at Mercedes-AMG but no love lost between two different teams.  Marciello is now pushing.  He is driving angry.  A riled up Raffaele Marciello, he will be something to watch.  Release the beast!  Done deal and now the message is, "stop fooling around."  Race Control may issue a penalty as well.  An hour and a half to go.  Marciello runs ahead of Luca Stolz.  Marvin Kirchhofer, Nick Tandy, and Dan Harper are next up.  Nicky Catsburg has fallen to eighth place in the #98 BMW.  Reema Juffali is now leading Gold Cup, the only female racer from Saudi Arabia.  Excuse me.  Bronze Cup.  Not Gold Cup.  Juffali sharing with Valentin Pierburg, George Kurtz, and Tim Muller.

Andrea Bertolini, a double Spa 24 overall winner and a class winner multiple times sharing with Stefano Constantini, Alessio Rovera, and Louis Machiels.  Michelle Gatting for the Iron Dames leads the Gold Cup.  494 laps, three laps ahead of Sky Tempesta Mercedes #93.  The Ferrari is in showroom condition more or less.  Fredrik Schandorff has third for McLaren in Gold.  In Silver, Audi leads with the #30 WRT ROFGO car.  Alex Aka is coming fast as is Tuomas Tujula.  The Audi family at Ingolstadt will e disappointed about not having a chance to win another Spa cup.  

Maro Engel in the lane for his penultimate stop.  He will see saw back and forth.  He will need a late race pit stop.  The later they pit, the less chance they have of being the winners.  Raffaele Marciello will take the lead on the road, ahead of Luca Stolz.  Stolz is losing time.  Working lap 500.  #55 in and out of the pit lane.  Marvin Kirchhofer pits the McLaren as well.  I wonder if another driver got into the #55 Mercedes.  Maro Engel raced with Mercedes in GT and in Australian Supercars when they entered there for a season or two.  

Raffaele Marciello continues to lead the race ahead.  Marvin Kirchhofer is in the pit lane and now, Dan Harper passes Nick Tandy.  BMW M4 GT3 over Porsche 911 GT3R.  Give me a rearview mirror instead of a rearview camera.  Marciello runs ahead of Luca Stolz.  Fredrik Schandorff pits from third in Gold Cup.  The Iron Dames Ferrari pits now.  Driver change, tires, and fuel.  Michelle Gatting brought the car in.  Alessio Rovera still has the fastest lap.  Harper is reeling in Luca Stolz.  Harper has fresher tires and has not been in the car as long as Stolz.  

502 laps now on the board.  The BMW M4 GT3 for the BMW Junior Team has had relatively few issues and has had a good, solid race.  The Junior Team colors does not have a distinct paint scheme unfortunately.  Behind the BMW is the Attempto Racing Audi as Marvin Kirchhofer is in the last sector.  Nicky Catsburg has taken over the #98 Rowe Racing BMW but stay on the lead lap.  Dan Harper in third spot accelerating towards Fangnes.  Through Campus he goes.  Harper is matching the pace and exceeding the pace of Raffaele Marciello.  He is third, equaling the race leader.  He has lapped traffic ahead.

The gap second to third is 28.5 seconds.  The #8 AGS Events Lamborghini and the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, both are pushing.  Nick Tandy, too, he has been a great Porsche servant and has won big races.  Le Mans, Nurburgring, Spa, and Kyalami to name a few.  Antonio Fuoco is fifth in the Ferrari.  Marco Sorensen a lap down has a pit stop in his future.  The Ferrari is chipping away the gap between it and the Porsche.  There are not many surviving Porsche's left.  The gap is closing at 3.1 seconds through Blanchimont.  Fuoco reeling in Nick Tandy ahead.  Fuoco on a mission to be sure.  I don't know if Nick Tandy has anything left in the locker that he can use.

Tandy pushing like no tomorrow.  Keep your gun for hire fresh for the end of the race.  Less than 75 minutes to go.  Fuoco knows he has Tandy covered.  Through Blanchimont another time.  Tandy covers the line.  Fuoco is going to fire the bullet.  Tandy chops across the front.  The undercut isn't working.  Tandy won't roll over and play dead.  Fuoco is pushing.  This is a proper boxing match between these two drivers.  The Porsche oversteers and gets twitchy.  Clear as gin, that was Fuoco's opportunity, and he makes the pass.  Piece of cake.  The Porsche's tires are definitely slimy and need to be changed.  Alex Aka in the #99 Audi pits.  No incident investigation necessary for the Stolz and Marciello incident.  Racing deal.

Nicholas Scholl takes over #99.  Now, Tandy has Engel all over him like a rash.  Maro Engel applying the blowtorch right here right now.  He wants to give Tandy the rough end of the pineapple.  Tandy consolidates into Jacky Ickx curve.  Engel is harrying Tandy into an error.  Through Pouhon, some argy bargy?  Whoa!  He has done it.  That was the rough end of the pineapple indeed!  All top speeds led by Casper Stevenson are at 170 clicks.  That is through Pouhon.  Fuoco runs through but Engel is catching him hand over fist.  

Marciello is 15 seconds to the good.  Stolz gives the place back to Marciello.  Marciello leads Luca Stolz, Dan Harper, Antonio Fuoco, Maro Engel, and Nick Tandy followed by Nick Catsburg, Marvin Kirchhofer in eighth.  Engel is trying to reel in the Ferrari.  Marciello will lap Valentino Rossi who will take the #46 to the flag.  The podium will be in the fan village of course.  The cars will park in front of it.  Rossi hads learned a boatload of how to race endurance GT cars.  Rossi totally focused.  He isn't blinking.  His depth of concentration is unreal.  Ooh.  Rossi wriggles the car in a tad of oversteer.  Ride 'em cowboy!  Valentino has had a bunch of those on a motorbike.

Raffaele Marciello still leading, the Swiss driver.  He deserves and is overdue a win in this event.  Luca Stolz to the lane soon.  He will do a driver change and then Dan Harper will move up a place.  We've not had a Full Course Yellow for a while.  Marciello leads Luca Stolz by 16.8 seconds.  #88 is due a stop with 39 minutes remaining while Stolz's final stop is imminent.  Luca Stolz has preservation to keep in mind as we see Marco Mapelli still a lap behind.  We thought the K-PAX Lambo would be a dark horse, but it has been down and out a lap down the whole race.  K-PAX will finish 11th in the overall, probably.

They won't give up though.  That is for sure.  Ryuichiro Tomita, second in Gold Cup, they have been in the gravel trap and lost three laps.  So they will not catch the Iron Dames.  Chris Froggatt third in the Gold division.  Pit stop time now for Nick Tandy for his final stop and he may stay in the car with a new set of boots.  Stolz in the lane as well.  Marciello leads.  Another racing hour coming to an end.  The last hour starts now.  

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 22

Pit stop time for the #71 Ferrari and a delayed fuel hose connection as well as a driver change and tires.  The Ferrari is down and away from a full-service stop.  Nick Yelloly is making up time afer a botched pit stop.  The BMW's pace at 2:19.6 compared to a 2:20.9 for Jules Gounon and the Mercedes.  More retirements = less traffic and fewer incidents.  Antonio Fuoco is watching the #71 Ferrari which has since been taken over by Daniel Serra.  Fuoco will take the final two hours of the race.  The team feels they are in a good place to push to the bitter end going for their second Spa win in a row.  The #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes has Phil Ellis in the car, the Anglo-Swiss driver who was a champion in Audi Sport TT Cup at one time.  Daniel Serra has dropped behind Miguel Molina, but they will be back to the lane with an hour and 55 minutes to go.  

The top three are due to the lane within a ten-minute time window.  Rob Bell runs wide at the Paul Frere curve and now, Luca Stolz wants past Rob Bell and snatches it away!  Wow!  Bell, struggling for grip it seems.  Stolz was all over that like a rash.  Stolz dusted that McLaren.  The Pro-Am leading Ferrari of Alessio Rovera, he still has fastest lap of the motor race so far.  A Pro-Am car won't win outright but Rovera and his co-drivers have been in it all day, for the whole race.  Rovera still pushing like mad.  I don't know if anyone else is going to uncork a quicker time than Rovera did this morning.  47 will move up and the Aston has lost a lap.  Gounon in traffic moves on Ollie Milroy.  That's one of those squeaky, squeaky moments.  

Nick Yelloly is closing up on the Benz.  Stolz still pushing as the Iron Dames Ferrari of Dorian Pin, she is still leading the Gold Cup for her team at Iron Dames.  Sara Bovy knows how long the last hours will be and every driver has done a great job and so have the mechanics.  Loris Spinelli has taken over the #93 Sky Tempesta Mercedes but that car with Eddie Cheever III., Jonathan Hui and company, is two laps down.  Maintain consistency and the race will come to you.  No further investigation for the incident between Nikki Thiim and Jules Gounon.  

These endurance races are 24 one-hour sprint events.  Jules Gounon t the lane and he only will have two more pit stops to go.  Jules Gounon in and he will stay in the car for now and this promotes the #87 BMW M4 GT3 to the race lead but Nick Yelloly also has to pit.  Gounon will do this stint and Raffaele Marciello will finish the race out for Akkodis ASP.  Akkodis is the Ricci family who race SRO European GT4.  Door open, now closed, on the Mercedes.  That was close!  Nick Yelloly and Neil Verhagen are both pitting at Rowe Racing BMW.  Car #88 crusiing through Paul Frere curve into Blanchimont.  

Ferrari #71, Daniel Serra driving.  Lapped cars in the way.  Raffaele Marciello is calm, fresh, and relaxed.  Marciello will do the final stint or stint and a half.  Realistically, Akkodis ASP could be a potential winner.  Way off in the gravel, the BMW loses a diffuser!  That is unreal!  That is the #35 Walkenhorst BMW M4 GT3.  Don Yount loses the diffuser!  That was bananas!  Only two cars in that category in Am I believe.  Maxi Buhk leads the motor race now in the #55 GruppeM Mercedes.  The fittings of the diffuser on that BMW, have they been damaged?  SPS Performance to the lane.  Maxi Buhk leads Miguel Molina and they must pit as does Rob Bell.  Bell has done a shedload of work and so has Marvin Kirchhofer.  

Bell running in fourth spot.  The Ferrari of Daniel Serra is next up, then comes the Porsche of Nick Tandy.  Tandy has the BMW of Nick Yelloly next up. 470 laps in, the #50 BMW Junior Team car cuts the fastest sector one time and now, Yelloly passes Tandy, firing it right through!  Wow!  The BMW has more pace than the Porsche does.  Daniel Serra has relatively fresh tires.  He has to get a wriggle on or the BMW is going to catch and pass him, into Brussels corner again as Dan Harper is flying!

In replay, the gap out of Paul Frere curve, the BMW has the pace to go to the inside of the Porsche!  Tandy knew not to slam the door.  He gave the BMW of Nick Yelloly room.  Yelloly and BMW are turning it on.  The BMW's have the top speed.  Dan Harper is 20 seconds down on Nick Tandy but is coming.  Dennis Marschall in the Audi for Attempto is next up and so is the Mad Panda Mercedes.  Yelloly lines up and sweeps past the Ferrari.  He is past Mad Panda as well and now, Sara Bovy is also ahead I believe.  Yelloly is doing all he can and not overdoing his overtaking.

Yelloly is holding all the aces.  It is hotter than a two-dollar pistol outside.  The sun is very intense, baking into the tarmac.  40.3 degrees Celsius track temperature.  It feels more like Paul Ricard in France than it does Spa.  Yelloly is closing up on Jules Gounon steadily.  Ferrari #51 to the lane with a destroyed tire.  James Calado now in the car.  That tiere is totally trashed.  Thank goodness they didn't have it come apart.

GruppeM Mercedes in the pit lane.  Luca Stolz now leading in the #2 AMG Team GetSpeed Mercedes as Rob Bell also brings in the #38 Jota Sport McLaren.  Bell would need to do a bit more before Marvin Kirchhofer takes it to the finish.  Less than two and a half hours left.  Kirchhofer is in the McLaren now, the Garage 59 entry I believe.  Mercedes #55 was changing the driver display somehow.  Yelloly only 1.2 seconds behind Gounon.  Stolz has only 20 minutes left in his stint it looks like while second and third will keep driving their stints for a while.  Gounon is right behind the Ferrari.  The Ferrari is a lapped car.  The Ferrari moves over and let's the leaders through but more for the Ferrari than the BMW.  

Nick Yelloly closing on the Mercedes.  This is a split of one or one and a half car lengths.  Overtake at the earliest opportunity so your momentum is not lost.  The Lamborghini runs wide through Blanchimont and allows te battle to continue.  Gounon really is the pathfinder for the traffic compared to Yelloly who follows right through.  The backmarker has to realize when theree is a car there that they need to give space to.  Traffic ahead of the leaders with two hours and 20 minutes to go.  Yelloly has caught Gounon but it is going to be hard to go by.  Gounon makes the pass and so does Yelloly, gaining, taking the curb.  The different marques of car can take different levels of curb.  The BMW has a bit more ride height.'The gap is closing between the BMW and thw Benz.

Nicky Catsburg pondering things.  Nicky Catsburg wondering.  Secret Squirrel.  Don't tell any of our speed secrets to that camera!  The latest stint for the BMW is only 27 minutes old as Marco Sorensen is now in the #95 Aston Martin followed by Jason Calado it is getting more interesting.  Calado is making the best of the situation he has trying to make his move on the Aston Martin with two hours and 15 minutes to go yet.  Miguel Molina and Nicklas Neilsen could get into the car.  Serra is down at 1:23.7.  Calado to the inside, and a late lunge?  Surely, Calado will taker it.  Sorensen is going to fight back up the straight.  

Maro Engel in seventh is 51 seconds up the road.  Nick Tandy is catching Daniel Serra hand over fist.  Yelloly has taken everything out of the BMW's tires and the Mercedes is a tad more consistent.  These are the highest ambient temperatures we have seen.  The gap between the BMW and the Mercedes is expanding to beyond 2.1 seconds at Pouhon corner.  Maybe the performance of their Pirelli tires is a wee bit peaky.  Aston Martin in the lane for TF Sport, and I believe it will be Sorensen in the car.  Now then.  Gounon is running quicker than Luca Stolz.  Mercedes #2, with their strategy, it is looking good for the BWT team.  Stolz will reach the limits of his tires.  Gounon and Yelloly will be able to extract more out of the tires.  Top speed at Eau Rough, those are between 247-249 clicks, the thinner end of 150 miles an hour!  Amazng!

Yelloly is going to chase down Stolz.  Gounon though, will be running down Luca Stolz.  I don't know if the BMW man can keep up.  Jules Gounon is moving in again.  Raffaele Marcieloo been in the car already cannot run another stint before the end of the race.  Marciello could drive if he has not run to the limit.  Gounon or Marciello are the only choices as Daniel Juncadella has finished his stint.  Up through Ridill0n, Oollie Milroy as fastest at 247 clicks.  Scrub off speed from bottom to top.  That is what happens.

Mercedes #2 to the pit lane as we see the #30 Jean Baptiste Simmenauer WRT Audi leading Silver Cup by one minute of Konsta Lapalainen in the #14 Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini.  What pace dows the #2 BWT Mercedes have?  Nick Tandy to the pit lane.  Getting close to the end of another racing hour.  Dennis Olsen, Nick Tandy, and Laurens Vanthoor.  Luca Stolz now behind James Calado as he is down in ninth place.  Stolz has to move in on the Ferrari and Nick Tandy has a ton of space on fresh tires and a full fuel load.  Jules Gounon is almost a lap up and could go for the lead here any moment.  

The BMW pace maybe has peaked while the Mercedes has been on an even plateau.  Thomas Neubauer pits the #30 Audi in the Silver class.  Daniel Serra in third is 15.5 seconds behind as Valentino Rossi will get into the #46 WRT Audi.  They are 17th overall right now.  Yelloly's tires are fresher.  Rossi could take the Audi to the flag.  Fred Vervisch will come in soon as Rossi has done the 12 Hours of Abu Dhabi which will replace the Kyalami 9 Hours in December.      

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 21

Max Hesse, Dan Harper, and Neil Verhagen, sharing a BMW for two years in some of the biggest races of the year.  They have a house at the BMW dealer in Nuremburg.  This is the last year of their junior program.  Are BMW going to keep them?  Or will they release them to other brands or teams or whatnot?  Aston was coughing and spluttering on their fuel.  Max Hesse is running very well ahead of Augusto Farfus at 2:21.5 dropping away from Jules Gounon it appears.  Gounon to Farfus is 27.7 seconds of a gap.  Davide Rigon right on the tail of Sebastian Priaulx, Andy Priaulx's son who is third in Gold Cup as he goes off the road and back on, scraping across the gravel trap at Les Combes.  The front ened washed away.

Priaulx third in Gold Cup looking for the Mercedes #93 of Chris Froggatt.  Leading the race is Jules Gounon as we have started the 21st hour.  Nick Yelloly is getting set to take over the #98 Rowe Racing BMW.  Nicky Catsburg will finish the race out.  Jules Gounon has to pit this lap.  Farfus and Hesse pit next time by.  Gounon in the lane on the downhill side in the heritage pit lane.  Jules Gounon stays in the car as we see the #71 Ferrari in the lane and he could indeed go ahead of Gounon.  The lane is clear.  Rigon moves to the lead?  I think so.  Laurens Vanthoor is 12 seconds down.  Will the Porsche beat the Meecedes?  No.  Gounon is now in third behind the Aston Martin.  

Aston might have a pit advantage on their final stop.  We shall see.  BMW #98 pits at lap 440.  BMW will have newer, fresher tires.  They will be two seconds faster if everything stays together but now we have a Full Course Yellow coming.  5, 4, 3, 2, 1.  Full Course Yellow.  This changes things and puts strategy on it's head.  Debris being retrieved.  Gounon cannot go faster and we go right back to green.  Truly brief FCY there!  Yikes!  We have to analyze #47 and their pit stops.  The BMW's are gapped and Nick Yelloly is in #98 while Neil Verhagen is in the #50 and we see Maro Engel in the #55 Mercedes.

The #51 Ferrari and #38 McLaren owe us a stop in ten minutes or so.  #47 and #2 might have to do extra pit stops which could really put KCMG and GetSpeed behind the eight ball.  I take that back.  They can take three stops.  Vanthoor should be in with three hours and eight minutes to go.  Then, two hours and three minutes, with the final stop at three minutes.  We predict when the cars are due to pit but we don't know what the gaps will be.  Gounon passes Benji Goethe.  The lead Audi is 12th.  Unreal.  

At any rate, Jules Gounon has driven a Mercedes around this Spa circuit over the last ten days or so.  He knows this track with this car, like the back of his hand and he looks competely comfortable with it.  Jonathan Hui made a mistake or a late decision whether to pit or not.  Laurens Vanthoor at 2:20 he is running slower than expected.  The gap is 3.5 seconds between Gounon and Vanthoor as Maro Engel pits.  He is in with just over three and a half hours to go as Miguel Molina also pits the Ferrari and Rob Bell in the McLaren.  Stint times are concluding before driver changes.  Game over for the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3.  That Mercedes was the rented mule of this race.

Neil Verhagen now has the wheel of the #50 BMW.  Benji Goethe leading Silver and behind him, it is Nicolas Scholle and Tuomas Tujula.  So, this is a good scrap.  Barwell, Mark Lemmer, team boss says it is engine failure that made them retire and for the first time in five years.  Unreal.  Maxi Buhk, the 2013 24 Hours of Spa winner when he shared with Maxi Gotz and Bernd Schneider.  Nico Scholle through Fangnes, 38 seconds down on Leo Roussel.  Goethe is down a ways in Silver Cup.  Those last cars that stopped, Buhk, Molina, and Bell, they have to do three more stops and they will stop close to the end.

Rob Bell and Marvin Kirchhofer are near their drive time limits.  Ollie Wilkinson did early morning stints and he might have done stuff overnight too but I can't remember.  That was hours and hours ago.  The Race Predictor calls for the #88 to win but we will have to see.  That is assuming a green flag run to the end of the motor race and the unpredictable is going to throw a monkey into the wrench.  Thiim vs. Gounon, this could indeed be the battle for the win in about three and a half hour's time.  Rob Bell in tenth place in the #38 Jota McLaren.  He is the last car on the lead lap and McLaren doing very well with their reliability.

Marvin Kirchhofer will take over for a finishing double stint.  Kirchhofer says they were having trouble early but have improved and they are taking things as they come.  Marvin Kirchhofer started his career in open wheel before getting to sports cars and the R Racing Aston Martin's in GT.  Andrea Caldarelli has taken over the K-PAX Lambo from Jordan Pepper.  Gounon has been eating chunks of that giant cookie that resembles the margin between he and Thiim.  The days of any 24-hour race being a persistence endurance test?  Forget about it, mate!  It's a sprint!  This track has been bone dry all weekend.  No rain whatsoever, really.  The scrap is between Gounon and Thiim.  The Mercedes which won the Bathurst 12 Hours, is registered for IGTC points but the Aston Martin isn't.  

Thiim wants a run out of Stavelot and through Paul Frere curve.  This is your archetypal doppelganger scenario and the #56 Porsche gets in the way!  Giorgio Roda, Mikkel Pedersen, oh dear!  That was a close shave!  Giorgio Roda, please move!  Gounon darts past Felipe Nasr ex-F1 and prototype racer soon to be a prototype racer again, to stay with the Aston Martin.  Gounon wants this.  You know he won't stop pushing.  He is applying the blowtorch.  Gounon almost had it and into the final corner, Thiim goes wide out of the chicane.  Side by side.  Thiim won't quite.  Side by side down the hill.  Gounon to Eau Rouge.  Thiim spins at Eau Rouge and gets back on track!  That was unreal!  He has flat spotted his tires.  Those Pirelli P Zero's will come off that car in the shape of cubes!  

That tire is totally shredded!  In replay, side by side, one has more grip than the other, and a light touch and Thiim spins off the road!  The rubber is shredded off that Pirelli tire and yours truly almost spit out his coffee watching that!  Holy donuts!  That was insane!  So, you see, the Mercedes, he is going to have a horrid vibration.  Jules Gounon will have a clag fest n those tires!  All sorts of crap picked up there!  He's headed for the lane, Thiim is.  Game over for the boys at Aston Martin.  The Beechdean ice cream is melting.  Marco Sorensen is into the car.  The pit crew were taking a nap and were awakened by that shemozzle!  Sheesh!  Nikki Thiim may be as cool as a cucumber.  I want to see how flat those tires are.  The Pirelli P Zero square tire.

Nikki Thiim says I just did a bleeping 360 up through Eau Rouge.  We didn't have the pure pace and we knew the BMW had a better pace, but we are in the final rounds of this fight.  I was there.  I don't need to see that.  Apologies for the language.  Maximilian Gotz leads the motor race on the road.  Davide Rigon and Ferrari lead Jules Gounon by a second.  Maximilian Gotz says he is confident that things will go well and the GetSpeed car has pace even though there are pit stop issues they had, and crash damage, and strategy issues.  But they are back to the sharp end.  They are willing to gamble to win.  That is their strategy.  Less traffic will help, and the Mercedes has pace and speed and going offline is not a good idea because you get pick up and other crap on your tires.

As long as you are on the lead lap, you will have a chance to win this thing.  Jules Gounon driving out of skin chasing the Ferrari, the completely yellow Ferrari.  The straight-line speed between the Ferrari and the Benz is identical but the BMW M4 GT3, that bad boy has the most speed of them all.  The BMW M4 GT3, that thing is a secret weapon.  Time penalty for Christopher Mies for forcing the #7 Inception McLaren of Ollie Milroy off the road.  An imminent pit stop for Ferrari.  They will be in the lane this lap I believe and we'll see Gounon in the lane, too.  461 laps now complete.  Porsche #47 now has Nick Tandy at the controls.  Tandy ninth and the last car on the lead lap.  With the temperature rising the tires will react differently and Gounon goes to the lead as the Ferrari dives for the pit lane.    

    

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 20

From 65th on the grid, KCMG team boss Matt Howson says the pit stop is coming and they believe they can win this race.  The team is ready for a stop.  Howson is a former racer turned team boss.  So, the car is in the lane and Laurens Vanthoor will take over.  #98 and #88 have been matching each other, the BMW and the Mercedes.  #88 pits and is back on the road.  They stopped sooner than the Porsche.  The Porsche hesitated somehow.  Maybe Laurens Vanthoor stalled the engine.  We remain under the safety car until you catch up with the snake of cars.  One of the safety cars maybe is out of petrol.  That would be embarrassing if the safety car ran out of fuel.

The leader is in the pit lane now, the BMW M4 GT3.  Nicky Catsburg and Nikki Thiim in and so is Max Hesse.  Track cleanup is just about complete.  Safety car in this lap and we're going back to green.  No further action on the Chris Froggatt and Miguel Ramos.  Neither driver wholly at fault.  #88 passes #98 and Porsche #47 falls down a tad.  The #98 and #50 BMW's will be shuffled down the order.  #88 Mercedes has the advantage or so it seems.  Augusto Farfus will have to play catch up with everyone else and they pitted a lap too late!  #47 and #88 are going to move around for sure.  We're going racing, now, with Maro Engel in the #55 Mercedes in the lead.  Nicklas Nielsen and Rob Bell are next but those two might need to pit again.

Punch it.  Green flag.  Farfus will sink like a rock.  Maro Engel steaming up to Les Combes.  Jordan pepper going for it to get back on the lead lap and Augusto Farfus plummets.  The top three are due to pit.  Augusto Farfus will have to uncork some stellar lap times as the top three will see out their stint and then pit.  They cannot leapfrog anyone.  Maro Engel leads as Nicklas Nielsen is being trapped behind Fred Schandorff in the #7 McLaren.  Two cars side by side into Eau Rouge.  They've given each other room as Giacomo Altoe goes by and hee comes Jordan Pepper!  Wow!  Pepper is sixth and is focusing on the #50 BMW M4 GT3 for the BMW Junior Team through Les Combes and down the hill once more.

Giacomo Altoe is a lap down on Jordan Pepper.  Altoe should let Pepper go.  Nicklas Nielsen, Maro Engel, and Rob Bell, all need to pit.  Steijn Schothorst halfway through his stint will need a stop as he is out of sequence.  Nikki Thiim is noritonally the race leader.  Jules Gounon may be catching him and we have to see where Augusto Farfus is as Lucas Legeret is now 18th in the overall after being at the sharp end last night.  It's not if but when they come in.  Througb Les Combes, 417 laps complete.  Markus Winkelhock and company were virtually last yesterday evening.  15th overall now but not in contention to win.  Mercedes #88 of Jules Gounon, a second behind Thiim.

Gounon is 3/10ths quicker as Dani Juncadella is taking a good look at all of this.  Juncadella has finished his drive at Spa and he has had his best drive at the 24 Hours of Spa ever, this year.  He is done with his stints and will go back and rest, probably.  He hopes Akkodis ASP can make it to the finish and win the race.  Jules Gounon and Raffaele Marciello should bring the car home.  Maro Engel owes us a pit stop.  He is an hour into the stint and has five minutes left.  Maybe a couple laps, this lap would be ideal for a stop.  Nicklas Nielsen and Rob Bell are next.  The Heart of Racing Aston Martin with TF Sport is still in the race.  

We will see the top three pit.  They can short pit this time around.  But the regulation 41 second fuel coupling time is still there.  Steijn Schothorst will take over the lead in the #2 AMG Team GetSpeed car.  He is a former Audi driver and drove open wheeled cars with Formula Ford's and Formula 3.  Ten cars remain on the lead lap with four hours and 40 minutes to go.  Drive through penalty for the #20 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes, driving stint too long for Valentin Pierburg who loses the class lead to Theo Overhaus.  Pit stop time now at Iron Lynx as well as other teams.  Thiim, Gounon, Vanthoor, Farfus.  So, Aston, Mercedes, Porsche, and BMW.  Nikki Thiim goes to third and the Iron Lynx Ferrari heads back on track rdragf racing the McLaren.  Now that could be an unsafe release from the lane.

They've given the spot to the Inception McLaren.  The Ferrari team, the car controller made a mistake.  He wasn't even paying attention to the fast lane.  But they've been awake all night and their focus is shot.  But they want to win the race, too.  You are taking a massive gamble.  Maro Engel stays in the #55, Rob Bell in the #38, and Sebastian Priaulx who has debuted at Le Mans and at Spa for the 24-hour races.  Steijn Schothorst is 20 minutes out from his next pit stop as Davide Rigon is also off sequence.  Schothorst leading on the road.  Davide Rigon had a rear wing change.  Thiim and then Vanthoor followed by Gounon.

Porsche passes Mercedes and the Mercedes got tagged into a spin that was getting to the lane.  Jonathan Hui gets the worst of that deal.  He would never have seen another car tap him.  Gounon loses out to Vanthoor and he also loses a spot to Vanthoor.  Wow.  All looks good right now.  He is quicker than Vanthoor in the middle sector.  Jules Gounon has won Spa and Bathurst, both.  He did get spun off the road.  Then he saved it.  So, Nikki Thiim is 4.7 seconds up on Vanthoor.  Steijn Schothorst moving away from Davide Rigon.  The gap is growing.  Laurens Vanthoor in fourth.  Aston Martin last won the 24 Hours of Spa in 1948 I believe, and they have not scored any IGTC points or GTWC Europe points.

The gap is stretching out between the Porsche and the Aston and now we are into the intense heat of the daytime with four and a half hours left to race.  Thiim steams through the traffic and now, Thiim is chasing Davide Rigon.  Schothorst leads on the road.  Benjamin Goethe is 12th and is the highest placed Audi in Silver.  Stuart Hall looking at Goethe while Hall's brother races in Formula 3.  Lucas Legeret is doing all he can to keep the Aaton Martin and the Michelle Gatting Ferrari at bay.  The #46 Audi has been repaired and is back out.  Four and a half hours to go.  #57, Lucas Auer, is back on track.  Jens Liebhauser had a whole catalog of trouble with that car yesterday.

Auer is Gerhard Berger's nephew, the ten-time Formula 1 race winner.  Michelle Gatting, if she is fastest, use her sparingly and get the other drivers in before the very end.  It is similar to the 24 Hours of Daytona we see every January where it is a sprint to the finish more often than not.  Michelle Gatting driving her way through Les Combes.  The road is cleaner than it was.  We have had 14 Full Course Yellows and a dozen safety cars.  Theo Overhaus, age 17, new to GT3 racing for Walkenhorst BMW.  He leads the Bronze Cup as Valentin Pierburg is serving his drive through penalty.  Theo Overhaus has raced in DTM Trophy, their GT4 sprint series.

The BMW M4 looks big but it does not feel big.  Much like the Bentley Continental GT3.  Jules Gounon has caught Laurens Vanthoor.  It is predicted the #88 Mercedes could win but we are a long way from the end.  The Porsche teams maybe have a handle on their tires as the punctures are less common than we saw early doors yesterday.  Laurens Vanthoor has won two 24 Hours of Spa races and Jules Gounon, one.  Gounon in fifth spot right now.  That onboard ride through Raidillon is something special.  He is closing up through Les Combes but is driven crazy that he can't make a pass!

You know he wants it.  Speaker's corner has new pavement and Pouhon old pavement and so, the grip levels are totally different.  The #31 WRT Audi is in the way of the leaders and the Porsche has been wriggling around far more than the Mercedes but Jules Gounon is closing up on Laurens Vanthoor again and the move is on between these two.  They are really motoring.  Vanthoor in fourth and Gounon in fifth.  Jules Gounon might expect more oversteer.  The Mercedes engien in the front, and then the Porsche is mid engine.  

Steijn Schothorst still has to do more drive time to keep Maxi Gotz or Raffaele Marciello for the last couple stints towards the end.  He will stay out for one more lap.  He will get one more lap in.  Nikki Thiim is cutting similar laps to Steijn Schothorst.  Davide Rigon will be next into the Ferrari as Jules Gounon is side by side on Laurens Vanthoor and Gounon makes the move and clears away.  Vanthoor did not fight it.  Gounon very brave and now Schothorst to the lane at 64 minutes for his stint.  Jsut down to the wire.  Maxi Gotz takes over and he will have a full tank of gas and four fresh Pirelli skins on that car.

Gotz won this race in 2013 and is also a Blancpain Sprint champ, a DTM competitor, an ADAC champ and a Formula BMW champ.  Davide Rigon is the erstwhile leader before pitting in ten minutes or so.  As the temperatures rise, then the Ferrari's lose a bit of pace.  Maxi Gotz is now back on the track.  Gotz putting heat and pressure into his tires.  20 second time penalty for the #93 Sky Tempesta Racing Mercedes.  Jonathan Hui was involved with Jules Gounon.  #47, Laurens Vanthoor, to the lane after only 42 minutes.  Maybe it is strategy.  Maybe new tires will help the car.  New tires are ready and the car is refueled.  Vanthoor will do a double stint.

Vanthoor comes through and he could stretch the time of the stint and cut it very close.  Endurance racing makes your brain work with the strategy as they sweep through Pouhon and into Fangnes.  Miguel Ramos has retired.  Three cars have not officially retired just yet.  Vanthoor at the wheel of #47.  Tandy and Olsen will be saved for the final stints.  Tandy is a scrapper and he could come into the car.  Nick Tandy nursed the Rowe Racing Porsche to win two years ago with a gearbox that sounded like it had stones in it.  Uphill to Les Combes and Augusto Farfus is running decent lap times and so is Maxi Gotz.  We have lots of evenly matched, competitive cars as Davide Rigon is on his inlap or so it appears.  Rigon has run an hour and a minute.  He is at the end of his stint.  Nikki Thiim will be the new leader, the erstwhile leader.

Rigon running good lap times but not stellar lap times.  Do not push too hard because you could use a splash and a dash.  Rigon should be coming into the lane very soon.  The race car has an antenna on the car, a transponder that knows where it is on the car so that the marshals do not have to be stationed all the way around the track.  Rigon runs it right to the ened, 64 minutes and 43 seconds.  Nikki Thiim is back into the lane as well.  Some teams choosing to roll the dice.  The team pulls a tear off from the windscreen.  Ferrari and Aston Martin nose to tail.  Rigon and Thiim are back on track.  Will Maxime Martin take the Aston to the flag?  The hometown hero?  

Jules Gounon leads on the road and now, he will pit in another ten minutes or so and there is still a window.  Tire freshness is alll that makes a difference.  Take a gander at the stint time.  You will have to pit if you go too long.  Gounon leads on the road.  Goetz is ahead of Rigon and Thiim, both.  People have done drive through's to reset the stint clock to keep the driver's in the cars for two stints, but I believe that idea has been outlawed.

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 19

Matt Campbell says a Silver division Mercedes hit him and says they will get the car back on track.  Another driver may say he was reversed into.  Who knows?  Marco Mapelli taking no prisoners through Eau Rouge.  He is in no man's land right now.  Nobody to fight with.  Antonio Fuoco remains tenth.  Mapelli right behind Fuoco but separated by a whole lap.  Miguel Ramos leading Pro-Am scrapping with Andrea Bertolini I believe in the #52 AF Corse Ferrari.  The Iron Dames are a lap up on Bertolini actually, second is the Italian.  Michelle Gatting said that the Iron Dames car is not running at it's best but Doriane Pin seems to be giving it a good run.  The McLaren is losing time goign nose to tail in Pro-Am with the Ferrari as Bertolini moves ahead of the McLaren indeed.  Bertolini has been racing Ferrari's for the past 25-30 years.

Bertolini has to push before he finishes his stint.  Ah yes.  The Mercedes in the middle, has damage and the #74 Porsche had been hit beforehand.  Maybe it was the #20 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes with mega damage to the front.  No.  It was the #87 Akkodis ASP Mercedes of Casper Stevenson in 44th spot of 45 cars still running, not 43.  Steijn Schothorst in a scrap with one of the McLaren's of Marvin Kirchhofer.  The safety car was in and everyone jockeying for position before the starting line.  Steijn Schothorst clears the Audi in his BWT Mercedes.  The McLaren headed through Fangnes.  A single Jota Sport McLaren entry for this race as the #74 Porsche has had the diffuser replaced and now it might be coming back on track shortly.

Marvin Kirchhofer seventh behind the #51 Ferrari and then Max Hesse in the BMW M4 GT3 #50.  Catsburg leading Juncadella by a couple seconds.  The last lap through, the #74 Porsche is 24th six laps down.  A penalty to serve for five seconds for Fred Vervisch as Nico Muller takes over the #46 WRT VR46 Audi.  WRT are at the end of the F1 pit lane, and then at the end of the historic/endurance pit lane used by the Group C cars in the 1980s and early 1990s.  One of the other BMW M4 GT3's pits.  Track limits penatlies were cleared again at the six hours remaining mark.  We are going to go Full Course Yellow with a crash either at Paul Frere corner or at Blanchimont.  Paul Frere is the same as Stavelot I believe.

We will see a plethora of pit stops and the track can be cleaned up a wee bit.  For #74 they had to pit due to damage.  Marco Mapelli runs 11th in the #6 Orange1 K-PAX Lamborghini.  Catsburg continues to lead.  He pitted 55 minutes ago.  He does not need to pit but does so nonetheless and Juncadella does likewise, on the same strategy.  Dennis Olsen should be in the lane in the #47 Porsche.  Get the pit stop done and dusted since you are at the end of a stint, or towards the end.  Car #188 has crunched the gaurdrail at turn 15.  That is Miguel Ramos, the Portuguese driver.

Mikael Grenier too, makes a pit stop and everyone has come through.  At Curve Paul Frere, (Stavelot), the Mercedes tags the McLaren and it spears sharp right into the Armco!  Smash!  That is a huge wreck.  It is the only GT3 car with a monocell chassis.  Full Course Yellow.  The #71 Iron Lynx Ferrari is in the pit lane and back out and we also see I believe one of the AF Corse cars.  That was a 90 degree impact straight into the wall.  Ramos will be sore and bruised in the next few days.  The Iron Dames Ferrari has pitted.

We will have a lengthy safety car period.  That barrier will take a good while to repair.  Stefano Constantini leads Pro-Am in the #52 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 and we have lost another Pro-Am entry from the race.  Marshals are repairing the barriers keeping the cars all off to one side to travel around the circuit.  The car is back on it's way to the paddock.  Miguel Ramos will be headed for the medical center for a checkup.  Ramos is very experienced.  Right now we are going through a series of short pit stops under Full Course Yellow and we are going to go to safety car conditions and so, the teams are topping off the fuel tanks.

Under the rules, the pit stops are dictated by fuel coupling times, six seconds for a short splash and dash and a long pit stop is a minimum of 41 seconds plus tire changes and driver changes.  Safety car procedure.  Alessio Rovera set his fastest lap at sunrise this morning and he says he was trying to be as fast as possible with no traffic and the car and the motor performing to the optimum level.  Edgy, twitchy race cars are no fun  Some drivers like the rear wheel drive cars because it is easier to steer the car from the rear wheels.

Amato Ferrari, owner of AF Corse did half a second of British Touring Car Championship racing.  AF Corse and Iron Lynx are the go-to Ferrari teams and of course, Iron Lynx won here last year.  403 laps in the books.  #39 under investigation.  That is the #39 Earl Bamber Motorsports Porsche of Piti Bhirombakti.  The cars now run under safety car conditions.  The #7 Inception Racing McLaren is fourth in Gold Cup and something like 28th in the overall.  Many cars have been through the wars.  Keep going.  Tim Muller leading the Bronze Cup in the #20 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes AMG GT3.

Five and a half hours left in the race as the field tries catching up to the lead crocodile of cars.  Through Les Combes, and down towards Les Combes.  Valentin Pierburg in his third Spa 24 Hours, making sure to avoid contact during the night and staying safe.  They did have a pit lane incident and dealt with broken suspension that was fixed.  Pierburg next to drive.  He loves to drive at night because of how the track is with the fans and the atmosphere.  Tim Muller, George Kurtz, Valentin, Pierburg, and Reema Juffali.  

Jorg Breuer in the #35 Walkenhorst BMW is the competition.  Spa, in the dark of night in pouring rain would not be the best place to be, but we have seen nice weather this weekend.  Breuer has also run GT3 in Asian Le Mans Series.  The #85 Iron Dames Ferrari has been running very well followed by the Sky Tempesta Mercedes and third is the #33 WRT Audi of the Robin's, Ryuichi Tomita, and Ulysse De Pauw.  The weather is getting warmer and warmer.  The top ten cars are on the lead lap in the motor race and the first car a lap down is the K-PAX Lamborghini and they just are not in the right place to get a lap back,

Nicky Catsburg continues to lead.  BMW still leading as we continue behind the safety car and the barriers are continuing the be repaired as the field circulates behind the safety car.  The #188 McLaren team manager summoned to the stewards to ask what on earth happened.  Augusto Farfus leads and he is getting ready for his final driving stint.  He is going to keep it together and it has been a very intense race.  It is full push to the end of the motor race in another five plus hours.  Head down for Farfus and ready to go.  BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren Aston Martin, Bentley (no car left), Lamborghini, and Audi, which has their lead car way down in 12th spot.  The WRT car is gone.  It is retired.

The Iron Lynx Ferrari is under investigation, the #71, for it's safety car procedure.  It hits the pit lane and they may or may not have already done their technical pit stop, but it was in the garage.  Antonio Fuoco is still driving.  Check that.  Fuoco handed the car to Davide Rigon.  That car and the #90 Mad Panda Motorsports Mercedes have been looked at for their safety car procedure.  Ezequiel Perez Companc in the #90 Mercedes.  We have just a tick over five hours remaining.  Four consecutive days of sunshine here at Spa this weekend.  The Iron Lynx Ferrari was in the pit box maybe for a rear wing change.

The rear tail may have been damaged and the wing struts were perhaps bent and had to be replaced.  More pit stops and this recent raft of safety cars and Full Course Yellows have turned this race into a battle of the top ten cars.  Jordan Pepper now back at the wheel of the #6 K-PAX Lamborghini which is still quick but well out of contention.  The #563 VSR Lambo has a penalty.  Michael Dornbecker I believe is the driver.  We have been under Full Course Yellow for the better part of an hour here.  These are long safety car periods running around at 80 kilometers an hour.  It is a long time to lap slowly.  Maybe you are relieved to get a rest, or, you get grumpy about not being able to punch it.

Nick Catsburg leads and now the barriers are still being repaired here.  Save drive time for your quick drivers for later on.  It is dry as a whatnot with no rain whatsoever at Spa and in the Ardennes Forest.  The K-PAX Lamborghini will not get back on the lead lap because of all the traffic.  It will not be able to unlap itself and the clock is ticking.  Jordan Pepper running in 11th overall;.  The car was penalized for a tech issue and had all the time scrubbed with a ten place grid penalty.  The #47 Porsche also started caboose on the field.  

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 18

We have seen more woe for the #46 Audi and now, Matty Jaminet is in the lane at the end of 374 laps.  Laurens Vanthoor is now going for the lane.  Vanthoor as we said is not dealing with traffic but he needs to slow down to look after the tires.  The BMW has had more time in the lane but leads in real terms.  Porsche into the lane after 375 laps.  WRT Audi #46 under investigation for causing a collision.  WRT have had a lousy race at Spa in 2022.  This is one they'll erase from their memory bank.  So, Nick Yelloly is still your race leader in the Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3.  378 laps, the #51 Ferrari and poor old Richard Heistand has just gone straight on at Campus, missing the braking point, understeering into the wall and he will be buried.  Full Course Yellow, again.  The K-PAX Racing Lamborghini #6 also spun with a punctured tire for Marco Mapelli.  Full Course Yellow and safety car #12.  

The BMW Junior team pits and so will the #55 Mercedes for AMG Team GruppeM.  Yelloly and Marciello in sector two through the exit of Pouhon.  Dennis Olsen spent four laps on track and is short stopping to save refueling time.  #47 will lose track position.  Fred Vervisch under investigation for causing a collision and the #93 Mercedes is rumbling slowly on the road.  James Calado has handed the #51 Iron Lynx Ferrari to Nicklas Nielsen.  Reigning champion Nicklas Nielsen at the controls, a discussion with the team manager about track limits.  Calado said he misjudged them.  

Keep the car on the road.  Ferrari have had one lap pace but James Calado is just not confident Ferrari can defend their win from this race last year.  Car #31, the Silver Cup car from Team WRT, collecting 45 seconds of penalties for eight track limit warnings.  This Full Course Yellow will be a strategy reset.  No gains and no losses yet.  Mercedes #88 in the heritage portion of the pit lane.  Teams always stay in the same spots where they want to be.  The Porsche's and the McLarens at the bottom, Porsche in the middle of the heritage pits and WRT in the F1 pits on the top.

So, Nick Yelloly has finished a stint and he says that they are back on their strategy for sure.  Just over six and a half hours to go.  Spa has it's own microclimate like the Nurburgring and can do what it wants when it wants.  So, will we have raindrops before the end of this race?  I wonder.  Within the vicinity of Spa Francorchamps, we could see rain before the end of the race.  Will it be a deluge or will it be misty and spritzy?  The race has barely even begun just yet.  Niki Leutwiler leads Pro-Am for Herberth Motorsports.  We'll be into a sprint race for this one pretty soon.

Traditionally Audi have run in the top six or so in the last decade.  This year that is not the case.  Thomas Neubauer leading Silver Cup but he is outside the top ten.  It is a legacy of WRT being very unlucky in 2022.  We go into safety car conditions to speed up and catch the safety car crocodile.  B,W should be leading Mercedes for sure and the safety car does pick up the #98 car at the head of the queue.  Richard Heistand is stil, trundling the BMW #34 back to the lane with big damage.  Andrea Bertolini now runs third in Pro-Am in Ferrari #52 for AF Corse.

The safety car does not wait for everyone to bunch up before the release.  Bring up the temperatures and the speeds after Full Course Yellow.  Same old scenario.  Get the brake temp and the tire temp up, and ride the brake pedal to get temps into the brake discs and pads.  We have had a couple hours since the most recent Full Course Yellow.  The safety car lights remain on.  BMW leads Mercedes and Porsche.  Safety car in this lap.  Loads of traffic to deal with.  Matt Campbell has not even caught up to the queue.

Tire clag all to the outside of Eau Rouge.  Nicky Catsburg will take control of the race at the green flag.  There are cars way down that will never catch the back of the queue including the #71 Iron Lynx Ferrari which is behind on the Kemmel straight.  Antonio Fuoco is 11th overall.  He is a very capable driver.  He did a great lap in pre-qualifying at 2:16.4.  Fuoco is the final car on the lead lap.  Green flag.  We're racing again at Spa with just over six and a half hours to go.  Catsburg leads by 2.9 seconds over Dani Juncadella and they pass by Dean MacDonald, or at least Juncadella does.

Thomas Neubauer leading for Audi in 13th place.  Unreal.  Juncadella hopes Neubauer will give him room.  Dennis Olsen in traffic.  He is six seconds away from the leader.  Mikael Grenier dives inside behind the BMW Junior Team M4 GT3 of Max Hesse.  Grenier should move ahead of the BMW.  Dennis Olsen is now third.  Max Hesse to third as Nicky Catsburg leads the motor race, still.  Grenier is next up with Matty Campbell behind who is on a different strategy, an off strategy to the leaders.  Grenier clears the SPS Automotive Performance #20 Mercedes as well.  Marco Mapelli is a lap down.  Catsburg leads Juncadella and Olsen.  

Matt Campbell needs to push and get on terms with everyone else.  Campbell needs and gets cooperation from the #22 Allied Racing Porsche of Dominik Fischli.  Another Porsche off into the gravel and that is Niki Leutwiler in the #24 Herberth Motorsport Porsche.  Leutwiler gets tagged by the Lamborghini from Emil Frey Racing.  Front wheel to front wheel contact there.  Fischli should have known he was there.  We should perhaps see yet another Full Course Yellow, to remove the car from Campus.  5, 4, 3, 2, 1.  Full Course Yellow, now.  Once again?  Ugh.  The cars will be packed up again and let's hope we can get a quick extraction like getting your teeth pulled at the dentist.

Arthur Rougier cannot do a Houdini and vanish.  Dean MacDonald retakes the lead in Pro-Am.  Poor Nikki Leutwiler as he is swallowing a bitter pill right now.  Dean MacDonald ought to be in the pound seats at least briefly.  Dennis Olsen in third spot, 8.9 seconds behind the #88 Mercedes of Dani Juncadella, who is 2.6 seconds down on Nicky Catsburg.  Thomas Neubauer in 13th spot leading Pro-Am and the Audi contingent ahead of Marius Zug in a similar car at Attempto Racing.  Max Hesse has now changed strategies once more.  

BMW #50 comes out of the pit lane and resets their drive time again for Max Hesse.  He might have had some issue.  Who knows.  The strategy nerds are punching and crunching numbers into their computers to go for another hour of racing.  We are going to be into the final quarter of the race very soon.  These final six hours will be a real mystery indeed.  Again, without the corner workers, we could never have these races.  A lot of British marshals are here to be a part of an international event.  Someone in the parking lot has a Peugeot 205 convertible.  Never mind.  That is a Volkswagen Polo.  Wow.  OK.  Safety car procedure.

Dani Juncadella is now right behind Nikki Thiim.  Dennis Olsen will be clearing the backmarkers, the lapped cars.  Let's hope we can get some serious green flag racing with over six hours of the race still left.  A lot of the principal front running cars are no longer running while many are completely out of position as Max Hesse has lost two places just ahead of Nicklas Nielsen who did the very same thing in Ferrari #51, and Matt Campbell did not pit under the most recent Full Course Yellow in the #74 EMA Porsche 911 GT3R.  We will see a short safety car deployment as the Porsche will be retrieved to a safe zone.  

Nikk Leutwiler back to the pit lane.  Maro Engel says the strategy is playing out for his team in the Mercedes.  BMW seem to be the biggest threar right now.  Interesting thoughts in that the BMW has great straightaway speed.  It is hard to find a clean overtaking spot as the #2 AMG Team Getspeed Mercedes pitted as did the #95 Beechdean Aston Martin and the #71 Iron Lynx Ferrari.  Maxime Martin in the Aston and Antonio Fuoco the last car on the lead lap of 11 on the lead lap and Marco Mapelli in the K-PAX Lambo is the first car a lap down.  Markus Winkelhock has a track limits penalty in the #66 Audi.  

Can Juncadella get the jump on Catsburg?  Green flag.  Just over six hours to go.  Catsburg is really pushing and here comes Dennis Olsen going after Thomas Neubauer.  Dennis Olsen might have a difficult time making a pass.  The BMW has the legs on the Mercedes up the Kemmel straightaway.  Into Les Combes, and a yellow flag.  Porsche #24 of Niki Leutwiler has lost the left rear wheel.  You picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel.  The wheel nut is gone.  That is a fresh left rear Pirelli P Zero tire.  Three wheels on me wagon.  Dani Juncadella overruns the chicane.  Miguel Ramos takes over the #188 McLaren.  Casper Stevenson picks up a piece of paper on the #87 Akkodis ASP Mercedes, the final car on the track in 43rd place.

Arthur Rougier under investigation in one of the Emil Frey Racing Lambo's, the surviving car.  Max Hesse and Matt Campbell battle but with traffic in between.  Nicklas Nielsen in seventh overall as Max Hesse moves by Frederic Vervisch who is a couple laps down.  Hesse is ten seconds down on the sister Rowe Racing BMW.  Short refueling penalty for 40 seconds for the Emil Frey team.  Oh dear.  The two lead cars are up and gone.  Ferrari #71, Antonio Fuoco, trying to pass Maxime Martin in the Aston Martin.  They are scything their way as best as possible through the traffic.  V8 vs. V8.  The #93 Sky Tempesta Mercedes of Chris Froggatt makes a pass on one of the other BMW's.  

Max Hesse telling traffic to move over as Nicklas Nielsen is all over him like el cheapo suito there.  The pace of the pack is not as quick as Catsburg running by himself.  Fuoco checking up on the throttle through Stavelot.  Blanchimont is the big one on this side of the track.  So much traffic to contend with.  Wow.  Chris Froggatt is keeping it together it seems.  Maxime Martin stays tight into La Source.  Dow the hill through Eau Rouge and back up the other side.  Matt Campbell into the pit lane after 50 minutes in the #74 EMA Porsche.  So he will go a lap down due to a green flag pit stop.  We are closing in on the final quarter of the race as the battle rages between Maxime Martin and Antonio Fuoco.

The Porsche is put on the dollies and wheeled backwards to the garage.  Not good.  Flat tire and damaged rear bumper from contact.  That is what it looks like.  Marvin Kirchhofer in the #38 Jota McLaren who runs right behind Nicklas Nielsen.  Nielsen is being boxed in by the #56 Porsche for Dinamic Motorsports and the #46 WRT Audi.  Nielsen still stuck through Fangnes.  The #74 Porsche up on the jack stands.  Something around the rear is damaged, the suspension and other components and the back exhausts could have been impacted and would experience a real shock.

They are taking the undertray and the diffuser off at the rear of the car.  Hard to see what is going on exactly.  A bent exhaust system is hugely affecting on how the engine performs.  Arthur Roguier is a lap down and he has a penalty perhaps in his future.  The #31 Audi moves out of the way allowing Max Hesse and Arthur Rougier through.  Juncadella and company at the front running in the 2:18-2:19 bracket.  Matt Campbell says that the Porsche got hit from behind damaging the diffuser and they have a puncture now so they will have to retire the car, probably.    

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 17

Calado is going to stay on track for one more lap headed down to La Source.  He leads over Nick Yelloly and is on his in lap on lap 351.  Nick Yelloly will assume the lead with Raffaele Marciello 5.7 seconds behind.  Jota are having a solid run.  So, the top ten is set for now.  50 of the 66 cars still running.  The top ten is Calado, Yelloly, Marciello, Engel, Harper, Laurens Vanthoor, Bell, Jaminet, Gotz, and Sorensen.  Von Ryan McLaren won a championship in GTWC Eurppe but they have not succeeded, has McLaren in a 24 Hours of Spa yet.  Calado will hit the lane now and Yelloly will take the lead of the motor race for BMW.  

So we will see the order shuffle around once more.  Nick Yelloly ahead in real terms and has done 18 pit stops compared to 16-17 for the other leaders.  James Calado stays put in the Ferrari but takes a longer stop for fuel and tires.  #51 will drop down the order.  Frederic Vervisch is in the #46 WRT Audi.  Valentino Rossi says he enjoys the 24 Hours of Spa and getting the experience.  He has been sleeping but finds it hard to wake up.  Rossi was not sure he wanted to get into the car but might do something later.  We have just gone past 9AM and now we hear from David Addison and Ben Constanduros who has been doing eSports and sim racing coverage at the race this weekend for the most part.  

Nick Yelloly going through traffic as Marco Sorensen is being caught by the leader, Nick Yelloly and Daniel Serra has gone a lap down.  So many Full Course Yellows and safety car scrambles through this race.  Catch the crocodile at the end of the safety car intervention, but that is easier said than done.  The race has had Full Course Yellows peppered throughout that have thrown a number of curveballs.  It all might come out in the wash, especially for BMW.  Alessio Picariello leads Pro-Am.  Raffaele Marciello is next up.  Dan Harper is 11th overall, and he is targeting Mikael Grenier in the Mercedes that was driven before by Maro Engel.  Yelloly and Marciello both running laps in the 2:21 range.  

Dominik Baumann is 35th overall, fourth in Pro-Am.  Dean MacDoanld second in Pro-Am in the #188 Garage 59 Aston Martin.  Sven Mueller is in the lane with a vibration in the #100 Toksport WRT Porsche.  Louis Machiels now third in Pro-Am.  No little marbles coming off the tires these days, instead, giant chunks that are softball size globs if they get out of control.  Michelle Gatting leads the Gold Cup right now.  The second Gold entry is the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW and now, Brendon Iribe moves ahead but has a bit of damage on the rear end of the McLaren.  Those guys at Inception Racing are so busy either in GT3 or in GTE in FIA World Endurance.

Michael Dinan now in the #34 Walkenhorst BMW M4 GT3 in Gold Cup.  They won overall here a few years ago.  That is an Andy Blackmore designed scheme, partnering with Turner Motorsports who race in the United States in IMSA and in SRO, both.  Dinan is a tad quicker than Michelle Gatting.  21 retirements as the Barwell Motorsports entry is out of the race.  Ahmad Al Harthy and company, game over.  Alain Valente in the #4 Mercedes is out.  44 cars.  22 have met the market of doom.  Ross Gunn and TF Sport are trying to keep The Heart of Racing Aston in the field.  A notional gain of two places as Nick Yelloly has two laps before he needs to pit again.  

#98 and #88 as well as #38 might all be in the lane on the same lap.  BMW, Mercedes, and McLaren.  Nick Yelloly leading while other cars are in the same fight.  With a single GT3 category, there is a long train of cars even with different drivers and classes.  Ricardo Feller is back at the wheel of the #66 Audi Sport Team Attempto Audi R8.  He is a frontrunner in DTM which also runs GT3 cars and he came out of Formula 4 open wheel cars.  Feller chasing after Alessio Picariello in the Pro-Am leading Porsche for overall positions with seven and a half hours to go and 363 laps on the board.  

The gap is now 1.6 seconds.  Yelloly has not yet cleared the Aston Martin as he is due to hit the pit lane.  Sorensen cutting 2:20 laps.  The gap is growing, 8.3 seconds to Raffaele Marciello.  Yelloly and Marciello both in the lane.  Brand new Pirelli P Zero sticker tires.  Some cars have the tear off's but a lot of times the pit crews just wipe down the windscreens.  It was scorching hot yesterday but today it is cool.  Laurens Vanthoor, halfway through his stint takes over the lead of the motor race.  The gap was 8.2 seconds and we'll see where it is now as Rob Bell hits the lane.

Maxi Gotz and Marco Sorensen are the next cars to come in after being 3/4 of the way through their stints.  Marciello stuck in traffic.  Laurens Vanthoor retakes the lead of the motor race after 16 and a half hours.  Last year, Laurens Vanthoor barely raced because he hurt himself on a quad bike hurting his back.  Laurens Vanthoor has had some bad luck in 24-hour races earlier this year especially at Daytona and at the Nurburgring as well as at Le Mans I believe.  KCMG from the far east and they are now in the European sports car racing scene.

Top speeds through Raidillon see 247 kilometers an hour for Ollie Milroy in the McLaren followed by 246 for Maxime Robin, and a tie at 245 for Laurens Vanthoor, Antonio Fuoco, and Casper Stevenson.  We have seen far few incidents through Eau Rouge and Raidillon.  The new asphalt here is really grippy.  We are still at the same distance of 7+ kilometers on this circuit.  Of course, it was all done due to flooding and putting the gravel traps in.  There are new buildings and everything else plus that incredible new grandstand.  

Eau Rouge is pretty much Harry Flatters for everyone if you are brave enough.  Eddie Cheever III. is at the wheel of the #93 Sky Tempesta Racing Mercedes in 30th spot I believe.  368 laps now complete.  Drama for the #35 Walkenhorst BMW M4 GT3 of Hentry Walkenhorst, Theo Overhaus, Don Yount, and Jorg Breuer.  Henry Walkenborst driving, and he got pinched by Laurens Vanthoor and those tires are completely trashed.  Nick Yelloly in third on the road catching up to Matthieu Jaminet.  Augusto Farfus should be taking over that car for the next stint.

Speaker's Corner, that is named because of being the one spot where commentators could see, with an old commentary box and of course it is now Jacky Ickx corner.  Rowe Racing won this race in 2020 and have won the Nurburgring 24 Hours in a BMW M6 GT3.  The Porsche drivers are having to look after their tires while other cars and teams do not have to worry so much about their tires being worn down.  The Audi has pace as Maximilian Gotz is trying to pass Ricardo Feller.  The track is becoming very dirty indeed.  THe racing line is only getting dirtier.  

Jaminet and Yelloly are scrapping coming to La Source.  He pulls out and tries but it won't work this time.  The drivers are pushing flat out but still planning decisive moves.  Can Raffaele Marciello make inroads on both of these guys?  Maxi Gotz is pushing and Marco Sorensen too, as they are ready to hit the pit lane for service in a lap or so.  Michelle Gatting pits the Iron Dames Ferrari to the lane from the Gold Cup lead.  Michelle Gatting out and Doriane Pin into the car.  Sara Bovy is taller and Doriane Pin is a foot or so shorter.  Yelloly is committed to getting past Matthieu Jaminet and Raffaele Marciello is steaming right along behind both of them.

Marciello is pushing like crazy.  Nick Yelloly over the curbs and no dice as the #6 K-PAX Lamborghini is still in the race, 12th overall, and a lap down on the race leaders and they just cannot get their lap back.  Marco Sorensen in the pit lane on lap 371.  Yelloly has clrared the Porsche for third spot.  Aggressively into Les Combes, Yelloly is ahead but he has some dirt on the tires through Brussels corner.  Yelloly moving ahead into Pouhon on fresher tires.  Michelle Gatting from Denmark said her stint was tough because of some dud tires.

She accrued another five second penalty for track limits.  Laurens Vanthoor leading on the road but has a pit stop in his future.  One more lap to go before he finishes his stint as Fred Vervisch runs off the road in the Audi on the inside and committed to a different line and then the Ferrari gets forced off the road, either #21 or #52.  Could not tell which one.  More issues for the #46 Audi which runs 16th in the overall and could drop down further if they pick up a penalty.  Vanthoor lapping in the 2:20 range and Yelloly in the 2:21 range as Jaminet is in the lane.  Vanthoor on his own.  No traffic but his lap time is falling and the car will have new boots and a driver change.

Mercedes and BMW are both running superior lap times compared to the porsche who is in clear sailing.  Look after the tires, Vanthoor is being told.  Well, welll, well.  Vanthoor in the lane now 375 laps completed.    

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 16

The net result for Rigon is that Iron Lynx have served the penalty and have gone down the order.  The race changes, the cars change, the track changes, constantly.  Drivers are happier in clean air and poor old Daniel Serra is in traffic.  So, Engel and Verhagen will pit and that will promote the KCMG Porsche back to the lead.  Laurens Vanthoor, Augusto Farfus, and Jules Gounon, so, it is as you were.  Luca Stolz being harried by Matthieu Jaminet taking over the #74 EMA Porsche from Felipe Nasr.  Rob Bell is next followed by James Calado.  The battles are heating up as Verhagen and Engel hit the lane.  The advantage swings in favor of Laurens Vanthoor and KCMG.  Jules Gounon four or so seconds behind as Luca Stolz is ahead of the Porsche of Matthieu Jaminet.  Then comes Marco Sorensen in the Aston Martin followed by the #21 Ferrari that has had a fraught race, and now Hugo Delacour is at the wheel of it.

The #38 Jota McLaren will move up a wee bit.  James Calado next up.  He has now gone through Pouhon.  The #14 Lamborghini for Emil Frey Racing of Konsta Lapalainen will be next into the pit lane but he is nowhere near the top ten.  Maro Engel and Dan Harper are starting their stints and so is James Calado, and those three are off strategy.  Van "The Man", Laurens Vanthoor leads the motor race at this juncture after starting from the tail end of the grid.  Lesser men would have had their hearts in their boots.  Nick Tandy and company were the third Porsche at Le Mans who no one expected to win, and they did anyway.  

That was Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber, and Nico Hulkenberg as I recall.  It is really down to the drivers and the teams more than anything else.  We also know at least ten cars could still win this motor race.  You have to have a dusting of luck.  Six brands in the top six.  Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari, and Aston Martin.  KCMG and Porsche are setting the gold standard leading by nine and a half seconds.  The track temperature is beginning to go up.  Under nine hours to go as we appraoch 8AM here in Belgium.  We are about to hear back from David Addison and John Watson.  Thank you, Martin Haven and Bruce Jones, for doing a bang up job with the night stint.

Rowe Racing have been running superbly.  Second spot for Augusto Farfus and Rowe Racing.  Matthieu Jaminet in the blue Porsche has just gone around Luca Stolz in Mercedes #2.  Jules Gounon wants a way past Dennis Marschall indeed, who is two laps behind.  48 cars of the 66 that started still running.  Isaac Tutumlu Lopez and the Leipert Motorsports Lambo may call it a day.  Charles Weerts in the #32 Audi was given a clunk by that car and the Heart of Racing Aston earlier in the motor race.  Alain Valente leads Silver in the Haupt Racing Team #4 Mercedes, some argy bargy early doors yesterday.  Nico Menzel and Herberth Motorsport lead Pro-Am.  In Gold, Iron Dames, the first all-female crew we have seen at the Spa 24 Hours in 25 years.

Jorg Breuer leads Bronze for Walkenhorst Motorsports three laps ahead of Reema Juffali.  Walkenhorst won this race overall in a BMW M6 GT3 four or so years ago.  Light rain at the Bus Stop?  Haven't seen any.  Porsche leads BMW and Mercedes with Jules Gounon five seconds down on Augusto Farfus.  The #71 Iron Lynx Ferrari and Davide Rigon, it has come apart for them and they are down to ninth place as James Calado in the sister car runs fourth.  Laurens Vanthoor leads the motor race afer starting last on the grid.  Nico Menzel leads Pro-Am for Herberth Motorsports in car #24.  

Laurens Vanthoor leads the race as we rejoin David Addison and John Watson for the rest of the race.  Oh dear.  One of the Mercedes' is off.  That is Alain Valente in the #4 Haupt Racing Team entry.  He has to do a Control, Alt, Delete.  He has ground to a halt at Les Combes.  No.  That's Rivage to Bruxelles.  If he can get away, we'll see.  Nicolas Scholl now leads Silver in the Attempto Racing Audi.  It looks like the Mercedes can be moved under a local yellow.  Audi has had a horrid event here at Spa in 2022.  In the last 11 years they have not finished outside the top spots for a long time.  10 seconds away from Full Course Yellow.  5, 4, 3, 2, 1.  Full Course Yellow, now.

The snatch truck is taking the Mercedes off the course I believe and ow #98 is in the lane for service and for a driver change.  So it will be either Catsburg or Yelloly getting into the car.  Mercedes #88 in the pit lane as well.  Around eight and a half hours to go.  The Mercedes of Raffaele Marciello leapfrogs Nick Yelloly in the pit lane!  Wowzers!  Ollie Milroy's Inception Racing McLaren has lost bodywork or has loose bodywork as Nick Yelloly is trapped and he will be spitting feathers in anger after getting balked.  Raffaele Marciello is now ahead.  Yelloly has to be like, "ugh!  I can't believe we got snookered!"  Miguel Ramos in the #159 Garage 59 McLaren is the cork in the bottle.  Luca Stolz goes around Marco Sorensen as well.  

Laurens Vanthoor leads and Raffaele Marcieloo loses time.  Calado second, Jaminet third.  Marciello moves ahead of one of the other Mercedes, the #44 entry.  Alain Valente has a dead battery.  Batteries normally don't fail.  The alternator maybe did not charge it.  Modern batteries are not designed the same way as in the old days, and it has just enough juice for all the electronics in the car, but the battery has cut out and died.  We are back to green flag racing again, thank goodness.  No safety car necessary.  Those who gambled got it right.  The safety car never came.  Matthieu Jaminet in third.  EMA Motorsport #74 and KCMG #47, those two are both up there.  338 laps completed by the leading car so far.  In 1969, Jacky Ickx was last off the grid at the final echelon start, he walked across, and he still won it that year, the closest finish in Le Mans history snatching it away from Hans Hermann and the factory Porsche 908.

McLaren Formula 1 driver, and our pal, John Watson, did similar things in the U.S. Grand Prix back in the 1970s in Formula 1.  Alessio Rovera second in Pro Am chasing Nico Menzel.  He passes Mercedes #20.  Alessio Rovera set fastest race lap on lap 285 at 2:17.4.  Wow.  Alessio Rovera has won championships in tons of cars.  Formula Abarth, Porsche Carrera Cup Italy, Italian GT, and FIA World Endurance GTE.  Nico Menzel, class winner at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, he is in the sole remaining Herberth Porsche and Jean Baptiste Simmenauer in Silver, is chasing Nicola Scholl.  Marvin Dienst is in the #100 Toksport WRT Porsche.

Simmenauer loses a spot to Maro Engel as Marvin Dienst is running not for the Audi WRT team but Toksport is from World Rally.  Valentino Rossi's car is 19th overall three laps down.  So, still in the race.  Watch out for bodywork and radiator damage.  Good for WRT to fix it.  Maro Engel in the GruppeM Mercedes flies out of Blanchimont and Dan Harper is running tenth, down to the chicane, the Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion from a few years back.  Engel wants by Dienst through Eau Rouge and Raidillon.  Garoer novng in on Maro Engel.  Mercedes being harried by BMW.  In the background, look, there's Harper in the #50 celebrating the 50th year of the BMW M performance brand.  Dan Harper was a Porsche Junior driver before BMW noticed him and snapped him up.  

The Mercedes and BMW are racing each other for ninth and Harper passes Maro Engel!  Wow!  He totally took Engel by surprise!  Harper catching Daniel Serra and now, Nick Yelloly is chasing down the Mercedes of Raffaele Marciello!  Marciello won't roll over and play dead as the two of them closing on Marco Sorensen are in a real race.  Sorensen is up the road.  Through Blanchimont they come.  Sorensen makes his move on the Porsche and cannot vanish.  #77, Ahmad Al Harthy has stopped in the Lamborghini for Barwell Motorsports.  That is a Gold Cup entry.  Laurens Vanthoor leads James Calado.  Marciello defends from the BMW.  

The BMW has the legs on the Mercedes.  6.2-liter V8 in the Mercedes.  3-liter V6 in the BMW.  66 cars started.  47 still running.  19 cars out.  Isaac Tutumlu Lopez might be out of the race as Raffaele Marciello runs wide.  Clear as gin, he has to back off and Nick Yelloly makes the pass.  The Rowe BMW is ahead.  Let's see that one again in slow motion, Mr. Director.  Marciello can go for it again though as Yelloly is dabbing the brakes to make sure he has a pedal into Les Combes.  Riding the curb and now, Marciello clears the Ferrari 488 and let's see what happened in replay.  Through Stavelot, Marciello had all four wheels off the road and Yelloly was looking a gift horse in the mouth there.

Bish, bash, bosh.  He took that opportunity.  345 laps now on the board.  Nick Yelloly pressing the Aston Martin.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.  Like taking candy from a baby.  Mercedes #2 in the lane as the "Pink Panther" is in the lane.  Luca Stolz out.  Marco Sorensen hands the #95 Aston to one of his co-drivers.  Marciello was just too wide off the corner.  Jeepers creepers!  We have Maximilian Gotz now in the #2 Mercedes.  Louis Machiels has the wheel of the #52 Ferrari an Alessio Picariello leading Pro-Am in the #24 Porsche for Herberth Motorsport.

Jaminet in third is fractionally quicker.  Yelloly and Marciello will be scrapping for the lead here in a wee while once the pit stop cycle starts.  BMW vs. Mercedes, 1-2.  Laurens Vanthoor leads the race and has two more laps left in his stint.  Jaminet, the same deal.  Eau Rouge and Raidillon is still daunting but we have not had any multicar accidents through there as Reema Juffali goes off the road, the first female racing driver from Saudi Arabia.  She gradually brought the car back onto the pavement.  Smart move.  Laurens Vanthoor's dad, and so many others have had dads who have raced here.  

Laurens and Dries Vanthoor, Sean Walkinshaw, Maxime Martin, Giorgio Roda, Eddie Cheever, Mattia Drudi, Stephen Grove, Markus Winkelhock, Lorenzo Patrese, Nicki Thiim, Seb Priaulx, and Steijn Schothorst I believe.  Thomas Neubauer leads Silver Cup in the #30 WRT Audi.  They still have one bullet left.  This is the worst Spa 24 Hours for WRT and Audi in recent memory.  Such a shame.  Matthieu Jaminet bails from third place to the lane and Vanthoor will be in at the end of the next lap.  Sven Mueller has taken over the #100 Toksport Porsche.  

Fifth in Silver, damaged bodywork and all, Benjamin Hites in the #563 VSR Lambo for the Chilean driver in 24th overall in Silver Cup.  Laurens Vanthoor in the lane from the race lead.  James Calado will proceed for two more laps before he hits the lane and does the driver change.  Damage can sometimes make a car feel better but often it does not.  Laurens Vanthoor will double stint taking fuel and tires.  Only two rattle guns allowed I believe or maybe just one.  Fuel must be coupled to the car for 41 seconds and the bowser must be decoupled while the car is still on the air jacks.  Daniel Serra also in the pit lane.

Nick Yelloly and Raffaele Marciello are halfway through their current stints.  James Calado is now the erstwhile leader and Nick Yelloly will take over.  Daniel Serra got to 64 minutes before pitting.  So, Laurens Vanthoor is now down the order a wee bit.  Dan Harper will be behind Maro Engel after these stops as Andrea Caldarelli brings in the beleaguered K-PAX Lambo.  James Calaod leads in the interim with smudging and so on, on the car.  We are almost 16 hours into the race.  You can see the rolled up rubber right on the outside line at Pouhon.  The Ferrari is lapping in the 2:20 range being reeled in by Nick Yelloly.