More Michelin Pilot Challenge headlines as we look ahead to the 2023 season, including a repost of the story on Van der Steur Racing moving up to GS (GT4) with an Aston Martin, in case you missed it.
More headlines from the IMSA WeatherTech Championship, gearing up for Daytona next month.
Recapping the sprint races from SRO GT World Challenge Europe in 2022. Here they are. Enjoy.
Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit, Kent, England
Magny Cours (Circuit de Nevers), Nevers, France
Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort, Holland
Misano (Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Misano Adriatico, Italy
Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Cheste, Spain
David Addison and John Watson, SRO commentators for Sprint as well as Endurance Cup, take you through all the action. Enjoy the sprint races, each of which are one hour apiece.
The two legendary teams are combining efforts in the WeatherTech Championship and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America.
News from the 24 Hour Series getting set up for the 24 Hours of Dubai next month.
Former Hyundai TCR squad Van der Steur Racing moves up to GS with Aston Martin…
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/impc/van-der-steur-racing-moves-into-gs-with-aston-martin/
The year was chock full of action throughout all IMSA sanctioned series.
News and notes including Team GT's European plans, Asian LMS lineups, and more...
https://sportscar365.com/features/roundup/weekly-racing-roundup-12-26-22/
A Merry Christmas to all the endurance sports car racing fans out there. More content still to come in looking back at the rest of 2022 and looking ahead to sports car racing's new era in 2023. Excited for the new racing season!
Stefan Wendl explains background to AMG joining GT2 with car based on Track Series...
https://sportscar365.com/industry/mercedes-amg-well-prepared-for-expansion-into-gt2/
More news from the WeatherTech Championship looking ahead to Daytona. It will be here before we know it.
Nicky Catsburg explains departure from BMW factory driver roster after 11-year stint...
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/catsburg-maintains-good-relationship-with-bmw-after-works-exit/
Porsche customer team has been on the inside learning about the 963 Hybrid while awaiting delivery of LMDh prototype.
https://www.imsa.com/news/2022/12/21/jdc-miller-plays-the-gtp-waiting-game/
The co-owner of BMW works team sees the GTP class launching a great new era for IMSA.
https://www.imsa.com/news/2022/12/20/movin-on-up-rahal-excited-to-contend-for-overall-wins/
The final Double Stint Podcast of 2022 recapping the IMSA season and reviewing the latest sports car racing news.
https://sportscar365.com/podcasts/double-stint-imsa-season-recap-news-roundup-more/
From Lanky Turtle.
Corvette racing testing the new Z06 GT3.R at Sebring Raceway to prepare for its racing debut in 2024.
From Lanky Turtle.
Hendrick Motorsports testing the Garage 56 entry Hybrid powered Chevy Camaro that will race at the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Additions come in the GTP, LMP2, and GTD classes.
News and notes including Porsche’s newest Junior driver, GTWC Asia entries and more…
https://sportscar365.com/features/roundup/weekly-racing-roundup-12-19-22/
Cadillac factory star Earl Bamber to contest Dubai enduro in Porsche 911 GT3 R...
As we continue looking ahead to the Rolex 24, more news from the IMSA WeatherTech Championship.
Campbell, Jaminet, Nasr, Cameron are among those named to drive the Porsche 963 at the Rolex 24.
https://www.imsa.com/news/2022/12/17/porsche-calls-on-champion-drivers-for-gtp-effort/
Valentino "The Doctor" Rossi is set to make his debut at the Bathurst 12 Hours in February as he continues his career on four wheels after becoming an absolute legend of two-wheel racing, and specifically, a ten-time champion on the FIM 500cc and MotoGP circuit.
This is interesting.
Bid on the car that finished second in the 2022 championship at BringATrailer.com
https://www.imsa.com/news/2022/12/16/a-chance-to-own-dpi-history-no-10-acura-up-for-auction/
Some other news within the industry of sports car racing that you may find interesting.
Headlines from SRO America covering the GT World Challenge America, Pirelli GT4 America, and GT America classes, and pertaining to 2023 driver and team announcements.
Full field of 60 entries accepted for season-opener at Daytona.
More headlines roll in from the WeatherTech Championship after Daytona testing for the GTP cars.
The first installment of the tracker is loaded with information.
In a brief offseason as we now put Abu Dhabi in the rearview mirror and look ahead to Bathurst and the 12 Hours, here is more news you can use from SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge.
Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella named full season drivers of the No. 79 Mercedes with Maro Engel and Cooper MacNeil filling out the endurance roster.
https://www.imsa.com/news/2022/12/13/weathertech-racing-sets-2023-lineup-for-gtd-pro-run/
The race broadcast of the Gulf 12 Hours at Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. Let's join GTWorld and the commentary team of Mark Werrell and David Addison in the commentary box, and Alan Hyde reporting from the pit lane, for all the racing action.
The FL5 Civic Type R TCR will be ready to race for the majority of the 2023 Michelin Pilot Challenge season.
https://www.imsa.com/news/2022/12/12/honda-introducing-new-civic-for-tcr-class-in-april/
The Hybrid Electrified GTP prototypes from Acura, BMW, Cadillac, and Porsche completed two crucial days of testing ahead of January’s season-opening Rolex 24.
The Rolex 24 at Daytona is January 26-29, 2023.
Recap from Thailand Super Series finale and China GT, plus news and notes...
https://sportscar365.com/features/roundup/weekly-racing-roundup-12-12-22/
The dust has now settled after a wild Gulf 12 Hours season finale in Abu Dhabi for the Intercontinental GT Challenge. Here is all the post-race news.
Race Recap:
Post-Race News:
The #88 Marvin Kirchhofer driven McLaren is the erstwhile GT3 Pro-Am leader but owes us a pit stop. Porsche #49 will have to serve a penalty and that is the Race Event Porsche. Ferrari #71 stays in the lead and just has not hit any kind of trouble save for a single track limit pit stop and a rogue, self-induced drive through under Full Course Yellow. That one penalty for #71 is the only thing we need to know about. Ask James Calado about that 21 second drive through penalty a couple hours back. Porsche #92 in the lane as we are searching for James Calado so he can give us the answer to our burning question. Sernagiotto, Lancieri, and company have another track limits penalty whole Antonio Fuoco must stay on the road. Patric Niederhauser is catching up in a hurry and maybe the #50 Ferrari needs a splash and a dash, or a Full Course Yellow or something.
A strange drive through pit stop for 21 seconds for AF Corse was not a penalty. Was it a drive through penalty? No. It definitely happened. James Calado knew nothing of it. The pit time was 21 seconds. OK. Eddie Cheever III. brings the #93 Garage 59 McLaren to the pit lane. Philip Ellis resumes in the Pro-Am lead and Alex Aka too is making what should be his final pit stop before this race ends. It was to allow the other car to go in front when the safety car came out so they would not lose a lap. That clears everything up. Pit speed noted for the #8 Ram Racing Mercedes in the hands of Canadian Mikael Grenier. The leading Am Ferrari #61 I think is marked for a penalty and a driving standards flag for James Cottingham in the 2 Seas Mercedes, one of them.
Both GruppeM Mercedes' retiring from the race so early. That is unreal. Antonio Fuoco is stretching out the rubber band between he and teammate Nicklas Nielsen. 14.4 seconds is the gap and the last time AF Corse won this race was eight years ago in 2014. Tom Boonen may be back on the road. Is it? The #48 Porsche might still be trundling around out there. Both cars with female drivers are going to finish this event. Kudos to the ladies. No damage to Boonen's car and maybe a sensor went awry after going up on two wheels. Daniel Allemann in the plum purple Porsche at Herberth Motorsports. Niederhauser is not able to make inroads on the two Ferrari's with only 48 minutes to go. Tom Boonen or his car gets passed by the race leader.
309 laps now in the bag for the Ferrari. 1,013 and a half miles. Niederhauser is barely gaining on the Ferrari's as Darren Leung will take the #42 Century Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 to the finish. You have to be out of the pits within a minute and nine seconds. Hurry up, boys. There's not enough time. There is a three-lap penalty if you miss the window on the final pit stop. He had 16 seconds to spare to get down the pit lane. Between second and third, it is 4/10ths of a second and Niederhauser is moving in, fast. Fuoco wriggles his way up under the hotel and onto the front straightaway. The leading Am Ferrari #61 gets a five second time penalty.
Niederhauser slightly slower in third but he is catching the second place Ferrari of Nicklas Nielsen hand over fist. Nielsen hanging on by a thread over Patric Niederhauser. This is going to be hot. Oh jeez! Spots of rain falling around the circuit! Oh man! Can you believe it?! I can't. But it must be wet out there. Spots of rain won't do a thing but I shall say that if we get a deluge, look out. Niederhauser gets right up to the tail of the Ferrari and misses his braking point! He has sunk down losing time! Light rain and late braking for Niederhauser and that could have been ugly!
Niederhauser has a head of steam, squirming under braking and now, Niederhauser is well aware he couldn't have made that move and moved offline and Nicklas Nielsen too, was skating all over the shop, but he has a gap. The Robert Renauer, Patrick Kolb, and Ralf Bohn Porsche gets a 15 second time penalty for not adhering to the proper rest period between stints for one of the drivers. That's a weird one but understandable. Since the pit stops have been doubled, those penalties will be added to the time at the end of the race. Niederhauser has to press hard to bring the gap down through traffic.
That #92 Porsche seems to attract Audi's like a magnet but not this time. 313 laps complete with 38 minutes to go. 1,027 miles completed. Patric Niederhauser is trying to claw back time but that is going to be a tall drink of water as the #8 Ram Racing Mercedes is pinged for speeding in the lane. Luca Stolz is still pushing like crazy as well. No points for the #88 Garage 59 McLaren for IGTC points as we see the #58 Mercedes in the lane for tires and a driver change. They were very badly delayed earlier in the motor race. MP Racing have worked their buns off keeping the car in the race. Like Rasputin, whatever happens, these cars will not die, the Am cars. They are here to have fun and enjoy the race and the event, and Thomas Gostner, the father, will bring the car home and they will get a three lap penalty and I don't even know if they will be classified at the end.
No need to worry about rain anymore for the final 34 minutes of the race. Phew! Good to hear! Fuoco now on lap 317. 1,040 miles as Antonio Fuoco out of the hairpin, has been flawless and we have a bing chunk of debris in the hairpin turn towards the hotel corner at turns 12 and 13. Will they leave it there? It is well offline. However, going around the outside could be risky. Nicklas Nielsen is gapping Patric Niederhauser. Corinna Gostner is back in the pit lane trying to accomplish the minimum number of pit stops not changing tires. That's Thomas Gostner I believe. Bring back some data. Is the car OK? Antonio Fuoco is trying to avenge the Indianapolis round where he lost to Raffaele Marciello. The same is true for not winning the Endurance Cup in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
Manuela Gostner is extremely appreciative of her team. They are going to enjoy the last portion of the race. All of the family drives for half an hour and her brother David will take the car to the end. Fuoco leads by 14 seconds. We are within the final half hour of the race as Eddie Cheever III. is the quickest driver out there in the McLaren #93 for Garage 59. We can see an inter class battle between the #92 Centri Porsche Ticino Porsche vs. one of the Audi's while Hunter Abbott is running ahead of the Attempto Audi in the hands of Pietro Delli Guanti. The Porsche Cup cars are mechanically faultless. Antonio Fuoco is let through by AF Corse teammate Giorgio Sernagiotto. Porsche #44 with more issues. When it rains it pours for Herberth Motorsports and now, Alfred Renauer will be headed for the house, perhaps. #44 has been the problem child and the #69 entry has been only dealing with time penalties.
320 laps completed. 1,050 miles. Daniel Juncadella should be the Intercontinental GT Challenge champion when all is said and done. Juncadella will win the title if Luca Stolz does not win the race and it does not look like Stolz is not going to finish but at the same time poor Dani Juncadella was denied a race when his car retired. Fuoco passes the second place Porsche Cup class car. That is the Moutran brothers driven entry for Duel Racing by Toro Verde who entered two cars in the class. Ferrari have won this race four times having taken the final win for the 458 Italia and should be the final win for the 488 which gives way to the 296 next year.
Of course, Ferrari will also have their new 499P Le Mans Hypercar next year, too. AF Corse have covered their bases today. AF Corse wins everywhere. Le Mans, FIA WEC, SRO GT3, British GT, Ferrari Challenge, you name it. They know too how to stay cool under pressure. A drive through penalty for the AF Corse Am leading #61 Ferrari! Oh dear! The #58 MP Racing Mercedes too is under investigation for refueling procedure. But that won't be too much trouble since they have what, a three- lap cushion? I think so. David Gostner will finish out the race in the final 18 minutes and change.
A ten second penalty too for the AF Corse #55 Ferrari of Stefano Constantini in GT3 Am a lap up on Giorgio Sernagiotto. #61 serves their drive through penalty with just about 16 minutes to go and we could cover another eight or nine laps in that time. After his brake lockup, Patric Niederhauser has just lost speed and he has had to nurse the car driving through the rain sprinkles. 15 minutes to go, 326 laps on the board, 1,069 miles. Put your quick driver in at the end of the race. That is how you handle an endurance race like this. AF Corse's pit box is standing room only. Plenty of people are down there and we are going to see a 1-2 overall and an Am 1-2-3. Five of nine podiums for Ferrari but no Ferrari Pro-Am entries.
James Cottingham in the #51 Mercedes has a ten second penalty for track limits. Through traffic, Patric Niederhauser is quicker than is Nicklas Nielsen. However, Nielsen is responding. Pro drivers putting the perfect lap times in constantly. Tick, tick, tick. Fuoco is 16 seconds up the road, and they have had one black mark on the copybook which was a five second track limits penalty. The drive through penalty was only to give a lap back to the sister car. These Ferrari's at AF Corse run like metronomes. The James Cottingham driven Mercedes for 2 Seas Motorsports is the next lapped car, 50 laps off the lead. Lewis Williamson did give it a good drive in his stint and the other team driver who was impressive was Aaron Walker.
Stefano Constantini, second in Am is giving Ferrari #55 a good run. Patric Niederhauser is still pushing but Nicklas Nielsen is going to maintain his pace. AF Corse, I think had to do a brake change but will finish 1-2. The Audi, when Niederhauser went off the road, he got clag on his tires and it caused a vibration. Through the hairpin down the straight. Niederhauser cannot gain on the Ferrari. The Audi V10 is naturally aspirated while the Ferrari has a turbo motor. The naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10 and the turbocharged 3.9-liter V8 for the respective cars. Niederhauser slides wide and now loses more time. Five minutes to go. 331 laps completed. We will go for 334 laps and the record distance was in 2021 at 359 laps. The record is 1,177 and a half miles. Today, we could reach 1,095 and a half miles.
Nicklas Nielsen should take second if the fuel holds out. The Cup class leader pits the #92 Porsche very late and what is the issue? There is a punctured tire on the left rear! Wow! That was the corner that was hit by the Audi. He ran over something and needs a new tire. No worries. Get going and finish the race and they have a couple laps in hand as David Gostner now spins the #58 Mercedes! Oy vey! Please keep going and David Gostner, no. He blocks the track! Oh man oh man oh man! Don't anyone clobber that car with two minutes to go!
He will have to do a three point turn! Oh man! A minute and a half to go with a 15 second lead for Antonio Fuoco. The char has reversed out of harm's way and Bravo David Gostner, and he is back on track to finish the race. Under a minute to go now. I think Fuoco will squeeze one more lap out of this one. So, 335 laps, 1,099 miles. Luca Stolz squeezes out the best sector time on the next to last lap of the 11th running of the Gulf 12 Hours. 1,099 miles completed by the race winner, one away from 1,100 miles! A Ferrari 1-2, followed by Aido. ,ercedes. ,ercedes. Aido. ,ercedes. Ferrari. Audi, and Mercedes.
Your winners, the #51 Ferrari of AF Corse! Four wins for AF Course, eight for Ferrari. Four wins for the Ferrari 488 GT3! Antonio Fuoco, James Calado, and Alessandro Pier Guidi! We will talk about the race winners in another post. Yours truly is mentally drained after this one. We'll go through the winners, the champions, and the post-race, later this afternoon/evening, and tomorrow. Great to see AF Corse going out with a win at the end of 2022! Forza Ferrari! Felicitazioni AF Corse! Bye bye for now. Arriva derci, everyone. Take care.
#77 has only lost time twice through this race while most of the other cars have dealt with issues and we have not seen penalties or extended pit stops for the Mercedes, with just one track limits penalty for Fabian Schiller and company. Fabian Schiller, Al Faisal Al Zubair, and Luca Stolz. Kevin Magnussen is happy to be racing with his father. Both Kevin and his dad have run in Formula 1 and Kevin is happy to race GT cars as well. He wants to go fast and has a challenge to do so, and will race anything. Jan Magnussen has just let his son go for it and Jan and Kevin will race in January at the Rolex 24 at Daytona together as well.
Porsche #92, 18th overall thanks to Alex Fontana, leading the Porsche Cup class and keeping their noses clean for the most part except for being tangled up with Dennis Marschall and they were jolly lucky to get out of that shemozzle unscathed as they are doing a brake change. Put the pins back in and tighten the wheel with the rattle gun. We will see the Bahrain Pro Am 1,000 the same weekend as the Rolex 24. It will be a six-hour event for Pro-Am gentleman drivers. We'll have some kind of article on that race later on after Daytona. Alessandro Pier Guidi still leading, cutting laps in the high 1:52, low 1:53 bracket. The Cup class leading Porsche exits pit lane. Alessandro Pier Guidi leads by 13 seconds with 280 laps completed, 918 miles.
There will be more twists and turns before this race is over. We have lost cars from the race but the track is still busy. Martin Kodric is being harried by Patric Niederhauser, but this is not for position and now they both want by Nicklas Nielsen, and Nielsen has his hands full with Niederhauser. Nielsen catching Niederhauser hand over fist. We shall hear from Dennis Marschall. He says he apologizes to his team and cannot remember when he had such a disappointing moment in a race and he admits he made a mistake, not seeing a Porsche Cup car that was going to let him by, and he does not want to blame the driver of that car. Something new happens in every race.
Mistakes should not happen in races this big, though, a once around the clock enduro. We are getting close to where people need to have completed the ten imposed pit stops the organizers want. Everyone really needs one more stop and we could see splash and dash before this motor race is done and dusted. Porsche #49 is in the lane for service as we check in again on the Gostner family #58 Mercedes, finishing work on the car and Manuela Gostner will get back into the car and go for it and get a finish. That is what they want to do. Fabian Schiller in the #77 Mercedes is being reported to the stewards for a fourth track limits offense. Luca Stolz had a warning flag when he was booking it and uncorking purple sector times.
Daniele Di Amato is now in the #91 Ferrari, the Plus City sponsored car that had the quirky wheel and control, alt, delete moment earlier in the day. That is the car Di Amato shares with Matus Vyboh, Ernst Kirchmayr, and Axel Sartingen. Now, Pier Guidi leads Schiller by 14 and a half seconds and 30 seconds down on them is Nicklas Nielsen in Ferrari #50. #77 has a penalty in it's future. Traffic ahead as Patrick Niederhauser is closing on Nicklas Nielsen and now, Ian Loggie is in the pit lane. We thought we'd see the Pro-Am leader, the last car on the lead lap, Martin Konrad in the SunEnergy1 car. Porsche #44 for Herberth Motorsport in the lane.
Klaus Bachler hands the car to one of his co-drivers and it is off the air jacks, down and away, back into the race. Daniel Allemann might be in the car and it is Allemann now at the controls. He needs more drive time before the race ends. 285 laps completed by Alessandro Pier Guidi, 935 miles. Eddie Cheever III. chases Martin Kodric in a battle for ninth spot. We have not seen any more rain since the heavy shower we saw earlier on in the day. Most of the Middle East is desert, so rain, is a rarity. I did see a Creventic race at Bahrain I believe it was that was drenched and was run in the month of January and had to be closed out after a handful of hours.
The #1 2 Seas Mercedes AMG GT3 is in the lane with Martin Kodric of Croatia still at the wheel. He, Hunter Abbott, and Isa Al Khalifa have not had the best race. Hunter Abbott is still dealing with a sore neck. Martin Kodric will double stint. Ramsey Moutran, one of the Moutran brothers, will hand over to another for the next stint in Porsche Cup. Patrick Kolb should bring the #69 Herberth Motorsports Porsche to the lane and we ought to see Martin Konrad hit the lane as well, possibly. Class leads have not changed too much. Pier Guidi leads overall. Martin Konrad leading Pro-Am. Conrad Grunewald is leading GT3 Am and Ivan Jacoma is leading GT Cup, Porsche Cup.
Martin Konrad pits and will drop off the lead lap in the process in it's ninth of ten pit stops and should pit again in 45 minutes for the new driver going into the car who may do a double stint to the end. Philip Ellis is now driving the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes. Trouble for Gilles Magnus! Game over with steam pouring out the back of the #26 Sainteloc Junior Team Audi R8! Tough, tough break! This is at the exit of turn nine headed for turn ten. Full Course Yellow, now, with steam billowing out the back. No accident damage and she done blown up. Ka-blammo. This tosses the plan to do two pit stops nearly in the trash and you'll have to short pit.
Is this the sting in the tail? Mechanical letdown for Audi #26. It has neutral and they found the letter E and letter N signs to shut the electrical off and get the car in neutral to roll the car away behind the barriers. You steer it, we'll sort it, mate. #55 will cop a ten second penalty. That's the Fox/Stanley/De Meeus/Constantini car. An hour and a half to go. Manuela Gostner was back in the pit lane as Alessandro Pier Guidi remains in the lead. This one is flying by. Will we have a safety car intervention? I don't think so, but let's see. In the final 45 minutes, drivers who have imposed pit stops could get them done if the safety car were deployed before 45 minutes on the board. Full Course Yellow stays out.
Another Audi into retirement. So, Alessandro Pier Guidi shall lead Fabian Schiller who is caught up in traffic. The leading Ferrari has clear road, splendid isolation. James Calado might bring the car home to the end of the motor race. We could see the safety car being deployed to get the race back underway quicker. Pier Guidi working lap 291. 954 miles. Ferrari #71, Alessandro Pier Guidi maintaining the gap over Fabian Schiller, Nicklas Nielsen third, followed by Patric Niederhauser, Philip Ellis, Marvin Kirchhofer, Jan Magnussen, Eddie Cheever III., Martin Kodric, and Alex Aka. Luca Stolz's title hopes seem to be fading away as the sand runs through the hourglass.
Game over for the #26 Sainteloc Audi. They are a retirement in the last oh, 85-86 minutes. Pier Guidi and Calado are now three-time WEC champions. Track limit warning reviewed and removed for the #71 Ferrari. OK. Philip Ellis leads Pro-Am in fifth overall and the leading Am car is Conrad Grunewald in the #61 AF Corse Ferrari. Grunewald and his co-drivers may not be caught on pure pace and could very well make it to the end. Six back markers between the top two cars. We are 22 minutes away from the finale hour of the motor race and this could very well be a firecracker to the end. We'll see.
Safety car in this lap. Lots of cars and drivers still in contention as we head for a restart. Punch it. We are back running again. Pier Guidi is putting a tremendous amount of daylight (darkness), between he and Schiller while poor old Fabian Schiller will have to dart and weave his way through the traffic. Fabian Schiller has his hands full trying to catch Eddie Cheever III. and now, Stefano Constantini and others want a piece of the pie as Marvin Kirchhofer is being delayed by the Ferrari. Bailing for the pit lane, one of the delayed 2 Seas Mercedes cars. Pier Guidi is extending his lead. Ferrari #52 of Gabriele Lancieri is in the lane and so is the #51 2 Seas Mercedes. Sainteloc want a blue flag for #88 and #88 wants to pass #50.
Fabian Schiller biffs Morgan Tillbrook and Schiller had a head of steam, look, but the door was closed. Thud. The Century BMW is being chased by the Sky McLaren as well. Aaron Walker brought the #51 Mercedes into the lane and is staying in the car. Philip Ellis a lap down but leading the Pro-Am class. An hour and 15 minutes now remaining. More pit action as Nicklas Nielsen is in the lane and so is the #69 Herberth Motorsports Porsche. Pier Guidi in the lane for the final time, for their final pit stop of the race to get to the end and James Calado will bang out the final stint and make up his available drive time.
No driver change? Antonio Fuoco to take the final stint? No. It is true. Antonio Fuoco will take the car home. McLarne and Mercedes will be on the back foot with Pro-Am driver lineups. We might see the final hurrah for the 488 GT3 with the new 296 GT3 coming in 2023. There will also be the new Ferrari Hypercar which will be very cool. Jan Magnussen sneaking up on Morgan Tillbrook. Daniel Harper is pushing like crazy in the #42 Century Motorsports BMW M4 GT3. He is a BMW factory driver, with an IGTC commitment perhaps. Fabian Schiller to the pit lane and so is Jan Magnussen. Patric Niederhauser is the erstwhile leader, but he too has a pit stop to make. #55, Stefano Constantini, and #48 Tom Boonen in as well.
Oh dear. Morgan Tillbrook has spun the #8 Mercedes AMG GT3, the D2 liveried machine. Aaron Walker touched Morgan Tillbrook I think. Luca Stolz takes over the #77 Mercedes from Fabian Schiller. It is creeping and now, Tillbrook is safely off the circuit so we stay green. Luca Stolz will be pushing hard in the #77. Fabian Schiller is done and dusted with his driving. Stolz must win the race if he wants the championship cup. Patric Niederhauser in the pits for service and will stay in the car. Now then, the #48 Porsche of Tom Boonen is off the road with mechanical woes. Such a shame for Boonen, for Peter and Stephane Kox, and for Nico Pronk? Morgan Tillbrook has spun again out of the last corner. Good grief!
He stalled the car, and this could very well be a safety car if anything. This is a replay we are seeing and I think it was Aaron Walker who gave him a nudge. Luca Stolz does take over for Fabian Schiller. Tillbrook is back up and running again. No need for a safety car as we talked about. So, rats. I repeat myself. Now then, Patric Niederhauser did not get the break he wanted, and for Luca Stolz, he has to push if he wants the title as we said. A driving standards flag for Stolz. Oh dear. Porsche #48 is off the road with trouble. Such a shame for Tom Boonen who was just in the pit lane. There was contact, massive contact with the #61 Ferrari of Conrad Grunewald plowing right into the Porsche!
Giorgio Sernagiotto will take over the #52 AF Corse Ferrari and take that car to the end. Maybe Grunewald is in good shape as Patric Niederhauser clicks off another lap and the Gostner family Mercedes is still in the pit lane as we are five minutes away from starting the final hour here in Abu Dhabi. Penalty for the #91 Ferrari for Baron Motorsport and Matus Vyboh. Philip Ellis has now made his tenth pit stop. He has been totally in the clear. No worries. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. Kenny Habul scored a couple time penalties but after that, no worries.
The Gostner team in the green Mercedes are in the lane and so is the AF Corse #61 Ferrari of Conrad Grunewald. No obvious damage, strangely. The SunEnergy1 Mercedes also pitted. Turn three is a cambered corner at the brow of a hill. Porsche #95 is taking it's final stop. Louis Prette will take over the #61 car and take it home. Antonio Fuoco has run 301 laps, 987 miles. Nicklas Nielsen will need a splash and a dash. Patric Niederhauser will take the car to the end and now Luca Stolz has dropped to fourth spot. The Boonen and Grunewald fracas is noted. The #92 Cup class leading Porsche has a five second penalty on the next round of pit stops for Ivan Jacoma. The team also had a five second penalty in the first hour. So they have stayed out of trouble.
Dennis Marschall has to be very upset with himself. At pit exit, something happened to the car and maybe the crew chief came on the radio and said, "stop the car, Dennis. Stop the car." I think Marschall misjudged the closing rate between he and the Cup class Porsche. Has the wheel not turning broken the suspension? That would be my guess. No chance of a result. Game over. It's not worth it, and we have also seen struggles for the sister #99 Audi at Attempto. Poor Mattia Drudi and Kelvin van der Linde. They knew they could have won. This is the seventh Full Course Yellow and will bring in the sixth safety car intervention. We have had more incidents and mechanical woe than we expected to see as Antonio Fuoco is your leader under Full Course Yellow, by 35 seconds over the #75 SunEnergy1 by SPS Mercedes of Philip Ellis.
Third is the #77 Al Manar Racing with GetSpeed Mercedes with Luca Stolz at the controls. Antonio Fuoco drives through the pit lane for a possible penalty he had to serve for 21 seconds. Luca Stolz third, Lucas Legeret in fourth place, and Christopher Haase fifth, followed by the #50 Ferrari of Davide Rigon, Kevin Tse in the Garage 59 McLaren with the sister Pro-Am entry of Alexander West next. Ninth is the #43 MDK Ferrari of Kevin Magnussen followed by the #1 Two Seas Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 of Hunter Abbott. A pit stop penalty for five seconds added to a future stop for Christopher Haase. Goodness. Those penalties really pile up fast. Team manager, please report to the stewards office, and no tea and biscuits for you, mate.
The marshals have been forced to change the goalposts on these penalties of course. Stop ignoring track limits. Take your medicine boys and girls. Don't agonize over it. You just have to do it. Dominik Baumann with the crash damage on the SPS Mercedes has been in the lane for quite a while as we go to the safety car and form up the crocodile before we go back to green. We still have a deal where the #58 MP Motorsports Mercedes is still being repaired with the fuel pump problem. Was there a re drive through penalty hanging over Antonio Fuoco in the #71 AF Corse Ferrari? That is what we want to know.
Fellow GT3 driver Dennis Lind thinks that the toe link of the suspension broke. We have seen that with NASCAR too because the new generation NASCAR cars are constructed similarly to a GT3 car. No noticeable suggestion of a penalty for the #71 Ferrari. Game over for the #20 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes. Too much damage. Impossible to continue. It's been a long day and folks, it's not over yet! Me eyes are getting bleary, but we shall just have to continue. Dennis Marschall, out. Dominik Baumann, out. Safety car scheduled to be in this lap. Shoot. We've missed Peter Kox again! We want to get an interview with him but we are always missing him and his daughter! Dang it!
Jan Magnussen has also left. Green flag. Antonio Fuoco still leads the race and the top three run right together. The tp four, actually. Fuoco, Ellis, Stolz, Legeret, and Christopher Haase. Mikael Grenier is finally driving the #8 Mercedes for the last portion of this race. Fuoco, Ellis, Stolz etc. Ralf Bohn has to serve a penalty for a pit stop infraction while Kevin Magnussen is monstering the many laps down RAM Racing Mercedes of Mikael Grenier. That is the D2 classic liveried car.
Philip Ellis to the lane, allowing Luca Stolz to move up and he can still win a title should he win tonight. Davide Rigon muscling his way through the traffic. Ferrari ahead of Mercedes. Fuoco, Stolz, Legeret, Haase, Rigon, the top five. Phil Ellis stays in the #75 and the #1 Mercedes of Hunter Abbott, who won the old Blancpain GT Asia series a few years ago, now called GT World Challenge Asia of course. Alfred Renauer in the sister #44 Herberth Porsche is in the lane, too. #71 Ferrari was given a five second penalty for track limits ajd not a drive through penalty. OK. That's interesting and baffling at the same time. Scratching my head, and my chin on that one.
#91, the beleaguered Ferrari is being pinged for a short pit stop. That is the Baron Motorsport Middle East Ferrari in the hands of Axel Sartinger. Luca Stolz is losing time to the leader, being harried by Martin Kodric. So Kodric has taken over that car from Hunter Abbott. Luca Stolz wants to play through and is flashing the lights to the next car in line ahead. Stolz is three seconds behind Antonio Fuoco as we speak. 258 laps now done and dusted with two and a half hours left on the board. Lucas Legeret in third is dropping away from Luca Stolz and Christopher Haasse is closing in but he has work to do to get to Lucas Legeret as well. They are both coming up to the end of their stints or so I would think.
For Luca Stolz, I think he has done a double stint. Fabian Schiller is the other quick bloke in that car as Alexander West is pushing his way through traffic as Martin Konrad is eking out a gap and they need Marvin Kirchhofer and Benji Goethe to push, push, push. Jamie Stanley and the #55 Ferrari are climbing up, but they need massive chunks of time and need to reel off the laps like no tomorrow in GT3 Am. Class leaders include Antonio Fuoco, Martin Konrad, Philippe Prette, and Alex Fontana. Chris Frogatt is back at the wheel of the Sky McLaren #93. Jamie Stanley has had enough of Alexander West, doesn't want to play anymore and says, Alex, let me by!
He makes his move. Cooler air in the desert night is helping the engines immensely. 260 laps completed by our leader Antonio Fuoco, 3.9 seconds ahead of Luca Stolz. 853 miles. Luca Stolz has just uncorked the fastest first sector time, nine and a half hours into the race. He is a man on a mission! Racing drivers do not give up. Racing teams do not give up. If you throw in the towel, why even show up to race? 1:52.4 for Stolz, best lap of the whole race for that car. Pour on the steam. He knows he has to win the race if he wants the title. Pull the pin and go for it as Stephane Kox moves over for the faster car. Stolz closing up on Fuoco.
Antonio Fuoco has no traffic to worry about. I wonder if Stolz can bring the gap down just like the commentators are. Luca Stolz does need to win this thing if he wants the cup. You know that he has to know that and he is going to keep pushing hard. He has no choice. If he wins he ends up tying Dani Juncadella and they have to do a tiebreaker and Stolz based on wins and countbacks would be the champ. But he has to win in order for this arithmetic to compute. GetSpeed have show the way while GruppeM have had a litany of troubles for this w0hole event/ Luca Stolz did go off the road during his stint and that is why he is behind and is pushing hard.
The #93 Sky McLaren has a ten second penalty for offenses of track limits. Davide Rigon in the #50 Ferrari is lapping slower but coming back into the picture thanks to the safety car after we saw it in the lane for that frantic brake pad change. BMW #42 into the pit lane but they are many laps down, 21st overall and 21 laps down to the leaders. Century Motorsports are on the back foot but they have been going like crazy, have Daniel Harper, Eduardo Coseteng, and Darren Leung, as Mikael Grenier will hand the #8 Mercedes to Ian Loggie, the D2 liveried car. Ian Loggie, the 2022 British GT Champion. Ge was assisted to his title by Callum MacLeod and Jules Gounon.
Giorgio Sernagiotto vacates the pitting Ferrari sharing the AF Corse GT3 Am car with Gabriele Lancieri, Tanni Hana, and Alessandro Cozzi. More track limits warnings and the next transgression will be a penalty for Martin Kodric, and for Luca Stolz. Luca, cool it. Rein it in a bit, sunbeam. He has not been able to catch Antonio Fuoco lately. He has to be careful and will cop a time penalty if he isn't. Lucas Legeret gains a place with more pit stops yet to come. Tick off the final pit stop box before the final 45 minutes of the race. Your final 1:40 scheduled stop.
Dennis Marschall was really upset and he is gone. The car is busted up. Dennis Marschall does not want to be approached with a microphone. Alan, our pal in pit lane, good call to maybe not interview a very unhappy race car driver. He has to feel sick after everything went well. Msrschall will need a heartburn pill. That is for sure. Porsche #48 in the pit lane. So is Mercedes #77. OK. We will get a chance to talk to Dennis Marschall. He just has to gather his thoughts. Respect to you, Dennis, when you are ready, mate. Davide Rigon takes over the #50 Ferrari. Luca Stolz takes over the #75 Mercedes and the Audi is also in the pit lane; I think the #25 Sainteloc car. Tom Boonan, former world champion cyclist is back behind the wheel of the #48 Porsche, the Saalocin Racing car.
Antonio Fuoco has brought the #71 Ferrari back to the lane and there is a driver change. It should be James Calado getting into that car. Christopher Haase will be the ertswhile race leader. #25, we think, had to take a penalty. There was a looming penalty for the sister #26 and there was a penalty that maybe the #25 has already taken. OK. It is in now and Christopher Haase shall have a five second penalty and we should see a driver change to Patric Niederhauser. #42, the Century BMW is being looked at for a safety car infringement. The team has completed the service, the penalty is served and the car is released.
Ferrari #71 has had few penalties and now the #43 MDK Ferrari is in and Kevin Magnussen finishes his stint. The #59 McLaren will pit and it will be handed back to Marvin Kirchhofer or to Alexander West, I think. You have only an hour and 55 minutes to get your compulsory pit stops in and Alessandro Pier Guidi bounces off the Armco! Egad! That was right on the ragged edge and could have gone pear shaped! No marks on the bodywork as the two McLaren's squabble with each other. Pier Guidi making hus way through traffic with a couple of McLaren's. He knew to keep narrower to the wall through the corner. Jamie Stanley pits the #55 Ferrari, and in replay, Alessandro clattered the wall big style!
Yet, Pier Guidi is 6.9 seconds to the good over his nearest rival. That would be Fabian Schiller. Ferrari #55 has Alex Fox in the car I think after Jamie Stanley exits. Nope. Stefano Constantini is in the car now after dropping off the air jacks and exiting the lane. 273 laps now completed. 895 miles. Gabriele Lancieri's Ferrari has been sparking on certain parts of the track for hours now but is still going. #61 of AF Corse for Philippe Prette is into the lane for fuel and a driver change plus new Pirelli P Zero tires. They are going to do a brake change as well, look. It could be just pads. Maybe they have a disc ready as well. Ah. No rotors. Just pads.
Alessandro Pier Guidi increases his margin over Fabian Schiller to 9.2 seconds. Nicklas Nielsen is 33 seconds off the lead. Nielsen running third in the overall. Martin Kodric in the #1 2 Seas Motorsports Mercedes gets a ten second penalty for track limits. Finlay Hutchison pits the sole remaining Attempto Racing Audi as Alessandro Pier Guidi almost gets chopped by the Herberth Motorsports Porsche! Yikes! Alex Aka is actually replacing Finlay Hutchison at the wheel. OK.
Alessandro Pier Guidi continues to lead, and we have a tad over the regular duration of a GT World Challenge Europe race left. Get ready for a very frantic final hour. Mercedes #75 is second overall leading Pro-Am, but they have completed just six pit stops and needs one more yet. The Mutran brothers Porsche pits again. Robert Renauer in the top ranked Herberth Motorsports Porsche and more issues for Manuela Gostner and MP Racing and their green Mercedes AMG GT3. Car #58 in trouble, again! Jeez! More time penalties piling up. Stefano Constantini has one in his future aboard the #52 AF Corse Ferrari and now, Martin Konrad pits from second in Pro-Am as Alessandro Pier Guidi continues leading this motor race. We thought Mercedes would be the winners, but they are not quite where we expected them to be. Still over three hours to go yet. Things can change.
The #66 Audi for Attempto Racing has never led the race at the ending of each hour. Time will tell as Alessandro Pier Guidi has just become a stalwart Ferrari endurance racer. #75 back to the race but the #58 MP Racing Mercedes has been wheeled back into the garage on the dollies. Not good. Marvin Kirchhofer's McLaren is getting new boots installed and we shall have Marvin Kirchhofer driving I think and now, the #51 Mercedes AMG GT3 is back on the pit lane after fixing their exploded brake rotor from earlier on. The car is being refueled but it is car that is walking wounded. The Mercedes AMG GT3's have not lived up to what we've expected them to do as fans and as writers about GT and sports car racing tonight in Abu Dhabi.
Alessandro Pier Guidi has a comfortable lead as Alex Aka is still pressing on in 11th overall. Aka cuts a 1:53.5 as his most recent lap, a lap adrift of the car he is trying to catch. We are in full darkness at 6:15 P.M. in the evening in Abu Dhabi. Kelvin van der Linde trying to catch Alessandro Pier Guidi. Fuel pump woes again for the #58 MP Racing Mercedes which they are going to try fixing, again. Conrad Grunewald is back in the #61 Am class AF Corse Ferrari ahead of Stefano Constantini. Alessandro Pier Guidi leads Kelvin van der Linde by 41 seconds, but he has a minute and change in hand. There's nothing in it between two quality cars and two all-star drivers.
There is a long way to go yet. In 45 minutes, we shall reach 75% race distance as the #49 Porsche pits with Johannes Zelger driving. Ferrari #91 is slow, again, the Barron Motorsport entry is in strife again, in limp home mode. Is this mechanical? Is it fuel related? It is still crawling. Wait. It fires up and then konks out. Now, he might get to the lane but is almost stopped dead stick! Jeepers creepers! #91 have had a litany of woe today. The car is stopped and how on earth do the marshals move it? Eddie Cheever III. has pitted and here comes Stefano Constantini at AF Corse with the #55 car as well. Full Course Yellow.
Daniel Allemann has just nipped it in the bud as far as pitting before the yellow flew! #25, Christopher Haase in the lane for another regulation pit stop, stop number seven. Good strategy call, for Sainteloc. That's a wise decision. Hopefully a tow rope is the only thing needed to rescue that Ferrari. #25 is undergoing another brake pad change too I think. Nope. Nope. Never mind. Ferrari #91 stalls but then gets back into full power. It had to be rebooted and that was it or so I'd think. We may or may not need a safety car. 231 laps, 758 miles completed. Full Course Yellow still on the speedway, running at 80 kilometers per hour.
The marshals are also doing a track cleanup here. The #20 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes, given a ten second penalty for causing a collision after Martin Berry hit the Ferrari with Laurent De Meeus at the wheel. Philip Ellis is now running in the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes and he shall be scrapping with the #71 Ferrari for IGTC honors. This would be the first race of the IGTC season in 2022 to not be won by Mercedes Benz should things stand the way they are for the next three and a half hours. The safety car is now on the circuit. Scoop up the field and get ready to go for it. Le Mans race winner Stephane Ortelli is here doing driver coaching. What a legendary driver he is! Ortelli owns an Audi that he won the Blancpain GT Europe series, and he raced the car in the historic exhibition races at Spa Francorchamps before the 24 hours last summer.
We are picking up the pace behind the safety car and readying for a restart. 233 laps now on the board. Stephane Ortelli will be the nominated driver for the Paul Ricard test day to set Balance of Performance for all the 2023 GT3 cars for next year. Jamie Stanley and his team are happy about catching a lucky break from the Full Course Yellow with three and a half hours to go. Back to green flag racing. Pit stop time for Luca Stolz in the #77 Mercedes and the #48 Porsche. That is Saalocin Racing with Stephane Kox, Peter Kox, Nico Pronk, and Tom Boonen. Team manager of #91 report to the stewards immediately. Thank you.
#48 back on track with Stephane Kox at the wheel of it. Daniel Allemann hands the Herberth Porsche to Daniel Allemann. Ivan Jacoma comfortably leads the Cup class in Porsche 911 GT3 Cup #92 for Centri Porsche Team. Alessandro Pier Guidi leads Kelvin van der Linde by nearly 13 seconds. Christopher Haase is losing time as he is trying to unlap himself and Jan Magnussen runs ahead of Ralf Bohn who he is trying to pass. MDK Ferrari vs. Herberth Porsche as Conrad Grunewald is still running very well in the Am class. Davide Rigon is about to bring the third place #50 Ferrari into the lane and has driven for the last hour. Car #25 of Christopher Haase being told it is not being counted for it's last pit stop because it was under yellow and it was supposed to be under green I believe, or maybe I am getting that rule wrong.
The stop does not count! Sheesh! What a waste! #50 to the pit lane with Davide Rigon. They come in three laps short of their forecasted entry. No driver standing by so presumably Rigon will do a double stint. He will. No one down there waiting. They are on the air jacks and are going to do a brake pad change but only pads, not full brake systems, under green. This could be trouble wuth the brake pad change as the clock ticks down and this is going pear shaped and Rigon is now a lap down! Oh dear! They still don't have things worked out on the righthand side of the car. #50 hemmorhaging time with the brake change. The brake rotor won't come off.
So, the pad comes out of the disc. It just is so hot it won't engage because the metal expands. That was extremely long just for brake pads on the front. Porsche #92 leads the Cup class in 19th place, running reliably. That is how a lot of Porsche's are. #71 into the pit lane from the lead. We know #71 won't need to change the brakes. Alessandro Pier Guidi hops out and we will see Kelvin van der Linde assume the lead in the #66 car for Audi Sport Team Tresor. James Calado was standing by and is now back in the #51 car. Christopher Haase will get a lap back but they are behind on pit stops and on pace.
So Sainteloc will have to dig their way out. James Calado is not in the Ferrari. It is Alessandro Pier Guidi. Kelvin van der Linde pits now too. Audi #66 is a pit stop ahead. Antonio Fuoco has to be in the #51 Ferrari. James Calado just confirmed it. Calado says they are pushing to the limit and that they know the Audi is quicker. They are still pushing, crossing their fingers, running smoothly. Alex Fox brings the #55 Ferrari to the lane for service as well. Ferrari #43 with Kevin Magnussen now at the wheel. Jan Magnussen I think, has just ended his stint and he is sweating bullets and needs a drink. All the drivers are absolutely boiling inside these cars even with a cool suit. There is so much heat soak in these closed cockpit race cars.
Audi #25 has been warned and they will be penalized I believe. They will cop a time penalty on the next pit stop as Antonio Fuoco leads the motor race by nine seconds but things are beginning to stabilize. The quickest car we have seen is Luca Stolz in the #77 Al Manar Mercedes, going purple in Sector 1 I believe. Phil Ellis, Benjamin Goethe, and Kevin Tse lead the Pro Am class and in Am it is Conrad Grunewald, Giorgio Sernagiotto, and Stephane Kox. The leading car has a driver ID setting problem and Antonio Fuoco did not plug his radio into the right connection I think for the transponder, the ID tag.
Oh my! A puncture at the right rear tire on Dennis Marschall's Audi! Big damage perhaps and there is no turn in that right rear wheel at all! The tire is off the rim. I wonder but I think that will be a good bit of damage. He turns right at an angle at a high rate of speed. A new tire is bolted onto the car and he hit the #92 Porsche. That's what happened. They have changed the tire and they've got bodywork damage at the right front corner I believe, according to our pit reporter Alan Hyde. Flapping right front bodywork was not repaired. The Gulf painted Porsche with the desert mural, car #92, has scuff marks and the #66 has stopped on the road! Game over for Dennis Marschall and company! Goodness gracious! Ivan Jacoma back on track now and on his way.
Dennis Marschall misjduged where that Porsche Cup- car was going into the corner. Marschall had a lapse in concentration or, the Porsche turned in. I think Marschall made the mistake and he knows. What has broken? Alfred Renauer aboard the #44 Porsche pushed back into the box. Christopher Haase to the lane for an official pit stop,hopefully, the sole remaining Attempto Tresor Audi, the #99 of Alex Aka is now in the pit lane too. Benjamin Goethe has the #88 Garage 59 McLaren in the lane as one of the leading Pro-Am contenders.
Full Course Yellow inj 20 seconds. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow. McLaren #88 and Garage 59 doing a brake change. ROFGO have really caught a lucky break here. Game over for the #66 Audi. They are out of it, probably at the exit of corner number one and up the hill. It may have been crabbing down the lane as well but it is hard to say looking at the camera angle. Kelvin van der Linde and Mattia Drudi's efforts come to naught.
Erwan Bastard has now taken over the #25 Audi and we are trying to find out what on earth is up with Mercedes #98. Less than five hours to go yet. James Calado cycles to the race lead. 191 laps in the bag, 626 miles. Ramzi Moutran in the pit lane for service in the #92 Porsche 992 Cup car. Ferrari #55 spins off and gets back on. This is the Jamie Stanley, Laurent De Meeus, Alex Fox, and Stefano Constantini car. Stanley and De Meeus have run in GT Open, British GT, and other championships. De Meeus had contact with Martin Berry in the #20 Mercedes AMG GT3. James Calado continues on his way in the lead, 26 seconds over Simon Gachet who has done six pit stops, all of them imposed I believe. Al Faisal al Zubair has also done six pit stops as well.
Mattia Drudi, it sounds like he is back into the #66 car? No. It is still Dennis Marschall. One of the corner marker bollards has been dragged onto the circuit as we have the Team Baron Motorsports Ferrari, car #91 in the pit lane with a new set of tires. These cars are getting very dirty as we head towards sunet and the last vestiges of daylight disappear from the sky and we will be into darkness soon. I think the #66 Audi is still one pit stop ahead of everybody else. This put them in the pound seats or so it seems. Al Faisal Al Zubair is still pressing on as we have the SPS Automotive Mercedes of Martin Berry with a big shark bite out of the right hand side of the car between the grille and the headlamp.
Al Faisal Al Zubair gets a free pass as Simon Gachet locks the brakes and gets all crossed up, knowing the car just was not going to turn as Kevin Magnussen has just pitted the #43 MDK Motorsports Ferrari. Work going on on the Martin Berry driven mercedes. I think this is the D2 liveried Mercedes, or the 2 Seas Motorsports entry, one of their Mercedes AMG GT3's is having real trouble. Their brake disc just exploded on one corner of the car, and they had a litany of more trouble throughout the weekend. David Fairbrother is smiling but his arm is bothering him, and he tossed out a pair of striped underwear as a joke. That was weird. Striped trousers I should say.
He is uncomfortable and so is Hunter Abbott who has had a sore neck after his driving stint. Maro Engel had gone back out on the track and come back into the garage. What the blank is that all about? That is perplexing. Maybe the team heard he had gone for a swim and they needed him to come back and do a tad more driving! Aye yaye yaye. Lewis Williamson had an exploding brake disc that went through the Pirelli tire and the bodywork. Matus Vyboh was also having a few issues.
Mercedes #20 of Martin Barry is back on track now after SPS Automotive Performance fixed the car and Dominik Baumann is now driving. Here, look, the Sainteloc Audi's are sorting themselves out through traffic with Simon Gachet passing Erwan Bastard. Have a Captain Cook at Alessio Rovera as well. Maro Engel and his team know they have to regroup for the rest of this race with far less than five hours to go. Porsche #44 in the pit lane for service. GruppeM has just put a message in, Dear, All, I have to retire both cars #89 and #98 from the race. Thanks, and goodnight, everybody.
Sorry, mates. That line came out before I thought about it. Now then, Ferrari #91 lost a tire and instantly had to go to the garage. I have a tendency to want to pronounce it in the British fashion and say 'garridge'. Mercedes #77 are doing a long pit stop for full service, tires, fuel, and a driver change. Al Faisal al Zubair at the wheel. 200 laps completed by that specific car, 656 miles. Morgan Tillbrook is back on track with the RAM Racing Mercedes, now seven laps down and running in fifth in GT3 Am. OK. That takes care of things and answers our questions. Alessio Rovera's car is being reported to the stewards for track limits.
Luca Stolz is off the road! This is at turn five and he is back on track now but he ran off the road in the same place where Klaus Bachler did it earlier, and just outbrakes himself and has to slow down without crunching the wall! Well, talk about giving yourself the rough end of the pineapple and losing a bucketload of time. Martin Konrad now leading the Pro-Am class for his first stint with just over four and a half hours to go. Jeez! There are one or two blokes who will never get to drive in this race but Martin Konrad was taking his sweet time. We saw Philip Ellis earlier driving the wheels off that #75 Mercedes. Yikes!
Konrad has been driving in Creventic, Formula 3 open wheel cars, and other things. James Calado continues to lead the motor race, 35 seconds ahead of Simon Gachet. Mattia Drudi running fifth but still in contention, one step up. That is the real Mattia Drudi, not his double in the former of co-driver Dennis Marschall. Double? No. Just kidding! James Calado is making his debut in this race in the Gulf 12 Hours, the car completing 203 laps, 666 miles. The wheel nut on the Baron Motorsports car was not threading properly. I see. More duct tape (gaffer tape) going onto the #20 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes AMG GT3.
They are in yet another spot of bother. The light level is getting darker as we are at 5:30 P.M. in the evening in the UAE and soon, it shall be dark and the floodlights will be turned on. James Calado still pushing with a last lap of 1:53.287 and Marvin Kirchhofer in eighth in the McLaren is running in the 1:52 bracket. The Moutran's are leading the Porsche Cup class and doing so by a comfortable margin of three laps. Four and a half hours to go and now darkness is setting in as we see the headlights of the cars becoming ever brighter in the last twinkles of twilight as the marshals tell everyone, "please turn on your headlights ladies and gentlemen."
Simon Gachet making a pit stop, a scheduled one, but had to also serve a five second penalty for something. 37 laps on fuel between stints for that specific Sainteloc Audi. Alessio Rovera in Ferrari #50 will also be pinged with a five second penalty. Gabriele Lancieri is having real issues with the loose diffuser on his Ferrari and he shall have to limp around and drag it until it can be taped up, orange sparks flying all over the shop. David Fairbrother says that when the rain came he went off the road and banged his shoulder. He will have to get rid of those striped trousers since we have been talking so much about them! Well played! Brilliant! ROFLMAO!
We have a serious race, but it is also relaxed. Some amateur drivers discover racing and want to do it but they build a business, and then discover racing through a track day or something. Alessio Rovera in the lane for new boots and fuel as well as a penalty to serve. David Fairbrother is a Yorkshireman, and he was tricking us with those striped trousers! Waste not want not. That's the end of the trousers story! Thank heavens! At Ferrari, at AF Corse, they have completed the seventh stop for the sister #50 car compared to the #71 sister car that has to have an extra stop that is not going to count. Will the #50 AF Corse Ferrari get a brake change eventually?
We'll see. A lot of pad changes but not as many for both discs and pads. 211 laps now in the bag. 692 miles. Mattia Drudi sneaks past Erwan Bastard for second place. Team Tresor, actually with Dennis Marschall at the controls, going to second and Erwan Bastard runs third. Ferrari #55 of Stefano Constantini pinged with a track limits penalty and Dennis Marschall is on a mission and pulling away. Morgan Tillbrook being passed by Tom Boonen and these backmarkers are being reeled in by the top runners. Luca Stolz needs a good finish, or if he wins, he could win the IGTC title. James Calado leads and Eddie Cheever III. is 11th in the #93 Sky McLaren but he picks up a penalty for track limits.
Morgan Tillbrook, too, will have to pay a penalty. James Calado leads by 45 seconds. Mercedes #58, the MP Motorsports car of the Gostner family, they are back into the race with David Gostner now behind the wheel. They need a well-deserved cup of tea after fixing that car. At the end of lap 214, James Calado dives for the pit lane. 214 laps, 695 and a half miles. #71 is now taking it's seventh pit stop and will lose the lead of the motor race due to the pit stop and we are in full darkness now, under the Abu Dhabi floodlights with just over four hours to go. Martin Konrad is the Pro-Am leader as we check in with Phil Ellis.
He says it has been a long day and that is true. Still over four hours left to race. Audi #66 has been taken over by Kelvin van der Linde, after Dennis Marschall finishes his stint. Stint lengths being reduced, but I wonder why? No Full Course Yellow. Maybe the teams are back timing the race with four hours and ten minutes left to run. Erwan Bastard now leads on the road in the #25 Sainteloc Audi. Martin Konrad has now moved to third spot in the overall. Philippe Prette pits and steps out of the #61 Ferrari. Audi #99, a ten second penalty for the Attempto Racing Audi driven by Pietro Delli Guanti. Dominik Baumann's Mercedes still being repaired as Erwan Bastard is being caught by Alessandro Pier Guidi.
Bastard to the pit lane for a driver change. He has run a relatively short stint, and now, the #71 Ferrari cycles back to the lead. We have seen 29 lead changes back and forth since this race started. Which car is going to pit last? We'll have to see. We have had five Full Course Yellows and we have had something like nine safety car interventions I want to say but I may be fudging my numbers there a bit. Sorry. Christopher Haase takes over the #25 Audi Sport Team Sainteloc Audi and so, Alessandro Pier Guidi resumes in the race lead. Martin Konrad in the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes could inherit second spot as we are coming up to eight hours completed. Whoops! We have the Gostner family Mercedes stopped on the road after fuel pump troubles and radiator maladies. It is not stopped in the safest place.
We are going to have to go to Full Course Yellow? Phew! Thank goodness! We can stay green! That's a major relief. Will that car head for the pit lane? We shall see. This has been an incredibly busy race. I mean, incredibly busy. So, please forgive me if I have missed out on a few details. My brain is just going a million miles a minute here!
