Water still spewing out of the Mercedes. Jules Gounon unbuckles the safety harnesses. I think it is game over for the #89 Mercedes AMG GT3. Trouble in paradise early doors for both cars from GruppeM. Unbelievable! Jules Gounon is disappointed but does not want to complain too much. He is pulling for Daniel Juncadella and some of his other teammates. Juncadella says this whole issue is truly shocking for both cars. Spare a thought for GruppeM Racing who have not even made it past the two-hour mark in the race. If the #77 team wins the race, Luca Stolz will be champion. #77 of course is the Mercedes AMG GT3 for Al Manar Racing if I am right. Nicklas Nielsen leads the motor race and you haven't missed anything at the sharp end for the time being.
We shall just have to see what happens as this race goes on. Nabil Moutron is back in pit lane and Kessel Racing have now retired their Ferrari 488 GT3. It is all over for Murat Cuhadraoglu, Giorgio Roda, Axcil Jeffries, and David Fumanelli, as Martin Kodric pits the #1 Mercedes AMG GT3. He took over the 2 Seas Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 from Hunter Abbott. Mark Kvamme has brought the #43 MDK Motorsports Ferrari into the pits as well. In the meantime, Nicklas Nielsen leads the motor race and is now in the pit lane for service. 61 laps completed, 200 miles. Now, Isa Al Khalifa is actually at the wheel of the 2 Seas Mercedes. Martin Kodric and Hunter Abbott have already taken their opening stints of the race.
This is a serious race with international teams but there are lots of local drivers as the Inception Racing McLaren is in the pit lane for service as well. The Gulf 12 Hours is a one-off event even though it is part of IGTC. There is a long, long, long way to go yet. Audi #99 is now leading after starting 30th on the grid due to having many laps deleted in qualifying for track limits violations. This was the last of the GT3 cars in the running order. The sister car is third, five seconds down. Audi and Ferrari are coming back to the fore now that the Mercedes entries are out. Porsche #96 is in the lane, that is the Duel Racing by Toro Verde entry of Nigel Armstrong.
Armstrong has finished his stint and David Fairbrother is now into the car. Five second track limits penalty for Antonio Fuoco as we just saw the Garage 59 McLaren in the pit lane. Ditto for Ivan Jacoma in one of the Porsche's with a retro Gulf-esque livery on the car. Marvin Kirchofer will take over the sister Garage 59 McLaren. #92 does not have an official Gulf Oils livery. Rather it is a desert motif graphic on that automobile. The maximum drive stint time is two and a half hours, 150 minutes. Aaron Walker and Ben Barnicoat are two drivers who have taken over their respective cars. We also now have a new driver in the #50 AF Corse Ferrari.
Ian Loggie has now taken over the #8 Mercedes from Morgan Tillbrook. Dominik Baumann is now in the lane in his Mercedes he is sharing with Martin Berry and Valentin Pierburg. Philip Ellis might do a double stint and he gets fuel and new boots as well, sticker Pirelli P Zero tires. Alex Aka now leads Dennis Marschall in both of the Attempto Racing Audi R8's. Nico Pronk pits the #48 Porsche 911 GT3R that is also shared by Peter Kox, Stefanie Kox, and Tom Boonan. Aka and Marschall run 1-2 as we see the sunlight and the incredible architecture. When the floodlights come on in the darkness it is gping to be unbelievable. The narrowness of the second half of the track here at Abu Dhabi makes it feel like a street course even though this is a purpose built racetrack.
The cars are starting to slide and move around. 69 laps completed, 226 miles. Mattia Drudi now into the Attempto Racing Audi. Drudi is a feisty driver as they chase down Alex Aka. Attempto Racing ran Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, and they ran a McLaren at first in GT racing which was a disaster, but now, they are a top team with Audi along with Sainteloc. WRT who ran Audi's for years and years have now changed over to the BMW M4 GT3. Gilles Magnus gets passed by Philip Ellis. Magnus is a touring car veteran as there is a pit stop for Century Motorsports and their BMW M4 GT3. Darren Leung finishes his stint and hands off to Eduardo Coseteng.
Philip Ellis puts a lap on the #11 Ferrari of Emmanuelle Tabacci. Luca Stolz has completed his stint and now we have another Full Course Yellow on the circuit. We have just had 32 laps of green flag racing. 72 laps now in the bag. 236 miles. Car #16 has buried itself in the barriers at the chicane at the end of the backstretch. There are skid marks and perhaps he spun way off the road after bounding over the curbs. Adrien D'Silva sharing with Brenton Grove, Stephen Grove, and Carlos Rivas. Will he be able to trundle back to the garage?
The Porsche is being recovered by the tow truck. The #16 car is not as damaged as we first thought. You'd barely know the car hit the barrier. The #33 Kessel Racing Ferrari is retired from the race but is still being worked on so the team does not have to do a bunch of work back at the shop before they have to crate it back to Europe. They could also be headed back for races in Bahrain next year, or other IGTC races planned for 2023 at Mount Panorama Bathurst in Australia or Kyalami in South Africa. This is only our second safety car intervention of the race. Where will the second-place car fall in behind Alex Aka? I want to say Antonio Fuoco shall be right on his six and then comes Al Faisal Al Zubair in the #77 Mercedes AMG GT3.
Alex Aka leads the motor race overall and in the Pro class. Pro-Am being led by Philip Ellis. Am being led by the #61 Ferrari with Louis Prette now at the controls. Alex Fontana leading the Porsche Cup class for the Porsche 992 models. Damaged bodywork being repaired on the #16 Porsche checking under the skin of the car. The mechanics are disassembling the car. This will be a lively restart. Working lap 76 about to start lap 77. Aka being harried by Fuoco in a battle between Audi and Ferrari. Fuoco is right on his six into turn three. Aka rides the curb, running wide. Fuoco wants to make the move and he does and takes the race lead! Wow! That was a power move from the Italian! He leads on merit over Alex Aka.
Left, right, out of the chicnae and to the hairpin. Al Faisal Al Zubair is pushing as we watch Marvin Kirchhofer pass by Isa Al Khalifa as well. The #92 Porsche Cup car will be penalized. Fuoco and Aka now pitting from the race lead and Al Faisal Al Zubair will be the erstwhile leader. A spin for Corinna Gostner in the #58 MP Racing Mercedes and she spun off on cold tires under the bridge underneath the hotel. #99 in the lane and we have a driver change. Finlay Hutchinson started the car. Alex Aka is in it now and so the next driver into the car would be the young 18 year old driver, Pietro Delli Guanti.
Al Faisal Al Zubair is trying to eke out a gap over Christopher Haase. He has driven for almost every Audi team going in an R8 in the GT3 era. Louis Prette and Patrick Kolb are both pushing and so is Kevin Tse in the #93 Sky Tempesta McLaren. Alex Aka is being shown that he is double stinting in the #99 Audi. Pietro Delli Guanti will be held back for a later stage in the race as he is only a go kart racer. Al Faisal Al Zubair has been delayed and he is in a mess of traffic ad is going to lose the lead to Christopher Haase, look. Haase makes his move. Yup. He is now the race leader for the first time in the Sainteloc Racing Audi.
We have heavy rain falling at the start/finish line here in Abu Dhabi! Rain in the desert? You bet. Proper rain. On your toes everyone! Wow! Watch for the paint and the curbs on the outside of the circuit because that will just retain the water if the rain falls harder. Pirelli rain tires being scrambled for. Some of it has blown through on one side of the circuit. Rain, dry, rain, dry, and it is not consitent all the way around the lap. Well, well, well. Teams and drivers do not know if they can brave it on slicks or go for wet weather tires.
Staying on track with hot tires might work. But this is going to be a real bear. Spinning is Kevin Tse under the hotel in the #93 McLaren. He could not get the car to move under it's own steam. Drivers avoid the McLaren stuck right in the middle of the circuit as Lewis Williamson runs wide and Al Faisal Al Zubair has Mattia Drudi right on top of him. Some drivers are not going through tire changes becuase of what we are seieing with the rain. But there might be more slick Pirellin P Zero's available than there are wets. David Fairbrother too, has spun the Duel Racing Porsche Cup car that we have talked about, with light damage on the right rear corner.
The pit lane is now beginning to get soaked. Davide Rigon might opt to jump back into the AF Corse Ferrari. Everyone will be short shifting, and if you touch the throttle too hard it is like driving on ice. The track is not fully dry nor is it fully wet and this is the worst for a driver. These conditions are the worst for drivers as Matus Vyboh has also spun and whacked the wall but was able to get back on the button in this wacky weather we are experiencing.
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