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.
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