Farfus is improving. So is Markus Winkelhock. He is an outstanding racing driver and knows how to drive a race, especially an enduro like the Kyalami 9 Hours. Farfus reeling in some of the lost time. Ten laps now for #999 in fuel save mode before their next pit stop. I see. A radio going on the blink is extremely frustrating. Oh dear. The turn indicator comes on, which tells me that there could be a problem. A pit board these days is old school, because so much communication is over the pits to car radio. Winkelhock is really pushing, look, coming out of Clubhouse. He is fourth right now. Winkelhock is an Audi family member, and he won the very first Intercontinental GT Challenge championship to ever exist.
Winkelhock drove for Tresor Attempto, for Sainteloc, for WRT, ran touring cars, and ran one F1 race for Spyker, the Jordan team, in 2007 something or other, I think. The one the only, the Irishman, Eddie Jordan. Winkelhock is almost at the end of his stint whereas we will see the #66 car, the sister Audi in a few laps later. The gap is closing up another time. The #999 Mercedes has fallen down to fifth place after starting on pole. Their radio problem has really been a bear to deal with. Mikael Grenier has had to tough it out, coming up behind Kenny Habul. At dusk everyone will have to switch on their headlights and taillights.
Habul leading Pro-Am in his second stint. He lets the #999 Mercedes by. Grenier's pace is ebbing away it seems. We saw Jules Gounon and Yannick Mettler running very well earlier in spite of Balance of Performance changes for Mercedes. Respect track limits at the final turn, turn 16, Inge (Leopard). Grenier should be into the lane in four laps according to the pit board. The Porsche is losing time to the SunEnergy1 Mercedes. 142 laps now completed. 399, almost 400 miles. Augusto Farfus is clawing back lost time on Charles Weerts. So, #33 is closing back in on #32.
Markus Winkelhock pits at the end of lap 143, running 39 laps on a fuel load. BMW might stretch out another five laps but Mercedes too, will have to hit the lane for service. The sun is beginning to set at Kyalami and the drivers are blinded during the sunset time for 20 minutes to half an hour. Alex Aka back in the #99 car instead of Dennis Marschall. I see. We are nearing the halfway mark. Farfus told to respect track limits at turn 13, the second of the Crocodile corners.
Mikael Grenier cannot hear his team on the radio and so the team has had to use the old-fashioned pit board routine. They are going to assess the situation on the upcoming pit stop. The team will not know yet if it is a quick fix or a lengthy one. Grenier towards the end of his stint, completing 146 laps up to Leeukop. In real terms, Brenton Grove has to pass Kenny Habul, and down the inside, but no dice. Habul pulls across and lets Brenton Grove by. Maro Engel will have to do his best to get back past the Audi's once this service is finished.
I don't know if #999 will be able to challenge the Audi's. #75 seems to have the advantage as Grenier is in the pit lane now. #75 has the same weight penalty. Can the team fix the radio? Yannick Mettler is now in the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes and #999 is now back on track. Did they fix the radio simply? You don't want to have to tear out the wiring loom. The BMW's pitted together along with the third place Audi, as expected. Weerts and Farfus are double stinting. It was assumed we were going to see Sheldon van der Linde in the #32. That could be the case. Maybe not. The radio issue at GruppeM is now resolved. It was an isolated incident with Mikael Grenier.
#32 was fractionally under the regulation pit stop, and you get three uses in the race of a one second joker on pit stops. The Mercedes looks to be faster in straight line speed vis a vis the BMW. Hmmm. Gearshift trouble for the #999 Mercedes it sounds like. In the South African drivers battle, it is Clint Weston vs. Marius Jackson at this time. Mercedes AMG GT3 vs. Audi R8. Fastest lap of the motor race for Augusto Farfus. Halfway home. Four and a half hours down and four and a half left to run. Yannick Mettler is now back at the wheel of Mercedes #75.
Kenny Habul is very happy with where he is at after finishing his second stint of the race. No immediate fixes for the #999, although the idea is to look at the paddle shift. The gearbox is the cause but may not be the symptom, honestly. Yannick Mettler is in his second stint of the race right now and the #86 Mercedes AMG GT3 for Stradale Racing is in the garage. Clint Weston brought the car in and they are wondering about sorting out the wheels. Is there something in the suspension? Maybe they are troubleshooting issues again.
The #86 is the walking wounded it seems. Engel and Marciello, will have to nurse the #999. Charle Aranges says there was contact, and the team is checking alignment and putting for green Pirelli tires onto the car. Just over four hours to go. If contact happened, with whom? The gap is now up to 3.9 seconds between Weerts and Farfus. It is yoyoing back and forth and Stephen Grove now takes over from Brenton Grove. That is the #4 Porsche 911 GT3R (991 II.). Stephen Grove is a lap down but is staying out of trouble, doing the whole series for the IGTC for Spa, Indianapolis, and the Gulf 12 Hours later in the year.
The Spa 24 Hours is the biggest GT3 race of all. Spa Francorchamps is the greatest track in the world for the GT3 cars to take place from June 29th to July 2nd this year. Mercedes #86 back on track and Clint Weston is shown behind the wheel. Alex Aka in fourth may have had contact with another car. Aka is catching back up to Ricardo Feller. Aka drifts wide through Cheetah. Ricardo Feller of Switzerland, currently in third place, coming to GT3 from a single seater career as open wheel racing is a shadow of its former self in terms of being a steppingstone to other championships.
Maro Engel and company are losing time and are down in fifth place. The gearbox seems to be getting worse. Engel has to nurse the car as the Audi accelerates through Clubhouse. Aka running wide through the exits of the corners having run a 1:43.2, now downhill out of Leeukop and all over the curbs. He is having an issue following racing lines and has to make his own. Augusto Farfus still holds a best lap of 1:42.7. In another hour it will get dark before we end the race this evening. A good chunk of racing in pitch black darkness.
Aka had some hip and shoulder with the Clint Weston driven Mercedes AMG GT3 that we saw damaged. Wheel to wheel contact but no real scuff marks on either car. Horizontal loading on the rear wheel, the suspension, the driveshaft, noted by Race Control, turning it over to the stewards. Normally, if a Pro car hits an Am car, there is a major penalty. Alex Aka runs wide again, rallycrossing the Audi dragging rubbish onto the road. The circuit is getting dirtier and getting more gravel dragged onto the racing line.
#999 Mercedes through Barbeque Bend and the gearbox is an issue so the distance and classification math is being done by the crew for sure. To be classified I think they must complete at least 3/4 distance of the nine hours. Maro Engel nursing the gearbox. Cannot remember if you need to take the checkered flag to be classified as a finisher at the end of this race. 1:45.8 for Engel but losing three seconds a lap to Alex Aka. The corner is called Sunset because the sunset hits you right in your eyes. Same idea as Sunset Bend at Sebring. Through Clubhouse, Leeukop, and Mineshaft.
With a race car not performing at an optimum level, a driver's motivation is gone. They have to scrape and scrap for points, babying a car. This race is of course, part of a championship. Marius Jackson has taken over the #80 Audi from Mo Mia. That is the MJR Audi. With a paddle shift, you cannot feel the car into gear like with a stick shift transmission, an H pattern box. Short shifting, not running the engine to maximum RPM making the gear changes. The Audi's are not registered as an official IGTC manufacturer. Mercedes, BMW, and Porsche are the only ones.
Miguel Ramos now chasing Stephen Grove again in Pro-Am. The Portuguese driver being sensible. No investigation necessary for the fracas between Clint Weston and Alex Aka. The Mercedes has great straight line speed. Charles Weerts now leads by four and a half seconds. Farfus caught in traffic and Ricardo Feller is in third place. There is less traffic but it depends on where you catch it. Pit stop infringement for the #4 Grove Racing Porsche team. Oh dear. Alex Aka out of Leopard and back around for another lap. Farfus loses 5.1 seconds to Weerts. The Audi ran out of road, over the gravel, and it looks like he hit a bird! Oh man!
Almost hit a bird I guess. Alex Aka has had a real adventure and will be glad to get to the lane as the light fades. The sun has disappeared behind the pit building and the ambient temperature is cooling off. Farfus and the BMW are dropping and the #66 Audi, look, is gaining. Feller closing in on Farfus and Patric Niederhauser will be next into the car. 11 second time penalty for Porsche #4 at the next pit stop for being under the pit stop time without the joker.
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