We are into the final two hours of the motor race. Beginning hour eight, and now, Markus Winkelhock is pinged with a track limits warning. You can take the man (or woman) out of the racing car, but you can't take the racing car out of the driver. I wonder about a splash and a dash before the end. We'd probably still have two more stops on the table. Eng still trails Vanthoor. We have just not tracked pit strategy. It has been a pig's breakfast. Roughly we have seen fuel stints lasting 37 laps. Vanthoor leads Eng. They are still 1-2 for the two WRT BMW's. Markus Winkelhock, fourth, the 2017 IGTC champion and from a prolific motor racing family. Track limits warning for the #66 Attempto Audi while the sister car has lost gobs of time in the last couple of hours in the darkness.
So, Ricardo Feller cops another track limits warning. He is dropping behind the BMW's. We could very well see a BMW 1-2. The pit stop plan, it will be full stops and driver changes for WRT BMW. Maxime Martin will finish the #33 and Sheldon van der Linde for #32. Two more stops to go for the BMW boys. In Pro-Am, Yannick Mettler is two laps up on Reece Barr. Reece Barr, second in class, only two laps down. He is running very well indeed. Luca Stolz has given car #20 momentum as well. The battle in Pro-Am is Reece Barr vs. Brenton Grove. An hour and 51 minutes left on the board.
Would you have stints for Stephen Grove and Miguel Ramos? Stolz and Bamber, the gun drivers, have already been in the cars. Stephen Grove is quicker than his dad. For the final stint, Earl Bamber and Luca Stolz should slug it out in the darkness. The lightning, we are told, is two hours away. We could indeed go without the bad weather for the first time at Kyalami in years. Jules Gounon is trying to cool down and he cannot decide to stay in his race suit or change into his civvies. We might have the answer for why the Mercedes was fading, the #999, and I think it had to be the gearbox. It had less to do with driver pace or the weight issue on Balance of Performance.
Gear cluster woes would be cumulative. Brenton Grove catching Reece Barr. The #86 Mercedes is now eighth overall, the #86 Stradale Motorsport Mercedes of Charl Aranges, Arnold Neveling, and Clint Weston. Quickly fixed skid block trouble on the #86. The air jack did not depress when the hose came out. You typically hear, whoosh, ke-thunk. That is how you tell the air jack is working. Brenton Grove is running well, too. The margin is closing up between Brenton Grove and Reece Barr. The gap is 4.4 seconds between them. The Mineshaft corner here at Kyalami lives up to it's name. It is as black as coal.
Brenton Grove reeling in Reece Barr, and he is being told, "we need more pace, sunshine." Game over for the #80 Audi which is 84 laps down. Mo Mia, Kwanda Mokoena, and Marius Jackson are out. Pit stop and track limits infringements for the #66 Attempto Racing Audi. Engine not switched off, or too many crew members working on the car at once, being examined by the stewards. Penalty for car #66. Team manager to see the stewards immediately. Damocles' sword doth strike again, look. The sixth -place battle continues and as Brenton Grove closes on the Mercedes, it is taking him longer to gain back time.
The margin is two and a half secnds between Reece Barr and Brenton Grove. Attempto are readying for a pit stop. Brenton Grove and Reece Barr sweeping through Clubhouse and the esses, up to Leeukop to the plateau. The gap is shrinking but the time gains are getting slower and slower. If I were at EBM, I would bring the car to the lane for track position and stick Earl Bamber behing the wheel. SPS Automotive Performance are running their own car as well as the SunEnergy1 car. The #99 Attempto Audi is under investigation and not #66. Dennis Marschall taking over from Markus Winkelhock. But Alex Aka will finish the motor race, wearing his sunnies in the darkness. Hardy har har.
Track limit warnings for Brenton Grove. Be careful, mate. Grove catching Barr and be wary of Damocletian track limit warnings. Brenton Grove is about to give Recce Barr the stick here. Barr locks up into Crowthorne's as Dennis Marschall is serving a drive through penalty but could be having other troubles as well. The Audi has just gone back out, (#80), back on track after two and a half hours in the pit lane working on the hydraulics, the brake master cylinder. Reece Barr could get trapped behind the #86 Mercedes. Now, I wonder how much more patience Brenton Grove has through Barbecue Bend. WRT are coming to the lane and now, Brenton Grove is crawling all over Reece Barr through the esses, Leeukop, and the Mineshaft.
#86 under investigation and Dries Vanthoor is in the lane along with Philipp Eng. Sheldon van der Linde and Maxime Martin will do a stint and a wee bit to the end of the motor race, I think. Tires and fuel. Reece Barr is still being harried by Brenton Grove. Grove passes Barr for position. Porsche going ahead of Mercedes. Mettler leads Grove by two laps in Pro-Am. Grove ahead of Barr. Grove read the traffic into Barbeque, Reece Barr was wrongfooted, and needed no second invitation. Stephen Grove is a happy bloke.
Sheldon van der Linde is running really well and we can see the joie de vivre in South Africa for this race at Kyalami. It is like a club racing atmosphere but is an international motor race. 263 laps complete. 739 miles. The #999 Mercedes AMG GT3 is still being worked on according to Raffaele Marciello. Marciello won this race last year and it is nice to come back to Kyalami for him, as it is fun to drive. Marciello won here last year and at the 24 Hours of Spa. Sheldon van der Linde continue to lead the motor race with an hour and 15 minutes to go.
Sheldon van der Linde's brother Kelvin van der Linde was supposed to race in Formula E, but his team, the Mahindra team in Cape Town, South Africa, had to withdraw. The #20 Mercedes in the lane and Reece Barr will give the car over to Luca Stolz. Sheldon van der Linde won this race in 2020 for Walkenhorst Motorsport in the BMW M6 GT3. They are now in a BMW M4 GT3 but in DTM. I think they are actually in a GT4 car in DTM Trophy. Porsche in the lane but back out now breaking the beam. Earl Bamber gets back on track just ahead of Luca Stolz, I think.
The Mercedes stopped quicker but the Porsche is well ahead through Crowthorne and Barbeque. Jules Gounon will take over the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes for the final hour. We welcome Dries Vanthoor to the booth. He and his co-drivers have worked on race pace all weekend. That is why their qualifying effort was not what they wanted, but the car is running extremely well. The team made small updates on the car and the Balance of Performance has helped the BMW here where they had issues at Bathurst last time out.
The twin turbo straight six BMW is so different from the Audi naturally aspirated V10. The engine is in the front, and it means being gentle on corner entry and rotating through the corner on the brakes and the traction is worse than a rear engine car. The #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes is in with 65 minutes to go. Jules Gounon into the car. Habul says "I am as nervous as a butcher's thumb right now." The BMW battle has been great and there were small tweaks on both cars. The two cars are very similar indeed insofar as lap times.
Yannick Mettler will have to a drive through penalty I believe, in the #75. We have no clue what will happen in the final hour which is coming up soon. Do the stop at your earliest opportunity. #999 remains in the pit lane as we have just over an hour of racing left. It has been great to have the drivers in the broadcast booth to give us their insights. That's great to hear. Maxime Martin is dropping away in the #33 WRT BMW from the sister car, the #32.
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