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.
No comments:
Post a Comment