Seven cars still have to catch up with the crocodile. Antonin Borga brings the #8 AGS Events Lamborghini to the lane. We have about 55 cars still in the motor race and 15 retirements. Borga the only car in the lane. So, the wave by is now completed. So, the pit lane is now in the lane and Antonin Borga should have been in the lane for emergency service because you can't come into the pit lane when it is closed unless it is for emergency service. Sam De Haan and one other driver has pitted and now we see the #54 Dinamic Motorsport Porsche in the lane of Christian Engelhart, the Dinamic Huber Motorsport Porsche, and the first of three cars they have in the race.
Four-minute laps behind the safety car. Will Raffaele Marciello dive for the pit lane? That is a good question. Car #8 is under investigation by the stewards for entering a closed pit lane. Just as we suspected. Aha. Marciello dives for the pit lane and Nick Yelloly is the interim race leader now in the BMW. We get another lap under yellow, and we'll go green at the end of the current lap. Jules Gounon takes over the car from Raffaele Marciello at the #88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes team. They will be caught at the very back of the crocodile, the very back of the queue.
They just didn't pit earlier. That is a major judgment error from the defending race champions. Oy! Nick Yelloly has control of the restart in the #98 Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3. We are back to green flag racing. Yelloly leads Engstler, Farfus, Vanthoor, Lorenzo Ferrari, Dannis Olsen, and more. Lucas Auer passes by Davide Rigon for tenth spot. Yelloly and Engstler going together and of course Franz and Luca Engstler have so much association with BMW. Franz Engstler drove touring cars for BMW for a quarter century.
Finally, under green after two and a half hours of Full Course Yellow period on track. A ten second penalty to the #46 WRT BMW for an unsafe release. WRT have just two of the their three bullets left. The #17 Audi for Scherer Sport PHX is i contention along with WRT, Rowe Racing, and Manthey EMA. 60 of 70 cars that started remain in the race. Pit infringements for Car Collection Porsche #24 and Sainteloc Audi #25 coming into a closed pit lane as we have seen the #56 Dinamic Huber Porsche in the lane removing a windscreen tear off and doing other service. Laurens Vanthoor is now chasing Augusto Farfus.
Jonathan Hui just pitted the #93 Sky Tempesta McLaren. There are other pit stops that are going to be cycling through in the next wee while. Lots of synchronicity during that two-hour Full Course Yellow. Augusto Farfus is now retightening his belts and now Maro Engel in the #999 Mercedes might just be coming back into the fight. They are just 7.9 seconds off the leader. I think there are now 55 cars still running. Winward, Garage 59, two of the WRT cars, and more have retired officially from the motor race.
The leading Ferrari I believe is the #51 AF Corse entry with Davide Rigon. Excuse me. I think it is #71. Ulysse de Pauw though also has the #50 AF Corse Ferrari in the race yet as well. Yelloly and Engstler are reeling in Ulysse de Pauw. Lorenzo Ferrari pits the #87 Akkodis ASP Mercedes and Conrad Grunewald pits the #188 Garage 59 McLaren in the Bronze class. Ralf Bohn at Herberth Motorsport, moves into the lead. Robert and Alfred Renauer took over Herberth Motorsport after the boss retired.
Augusto Farfus remains in front of Laurens Vanthoor and cannot quite get close enough to make inroads. Good morning, stewards. Bon matin The #16 Uno Racing Audi and the #8 AGS Events Lamborghni team managers summoned to the stewards as Laurens Vanthoor grinds over the curbs at the Bus Stop chicane. It does not even look like a bus stop anymore. Grello is chasing down the WRT BMW and here comes Dennis Olsen and Maro Engel as well. Porsche and Mercedes. Nick Yelloly and Luca Engstler, in one more lap, they will be into the pit lane.
Paul Frere corner, he was a journalist who also went racing and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as racing in Formula 1 and did so with Ecuric Francorchamps, a Belgian Ferrari team I believe. So they ran their cars in yellow paint as I recall. The Belgian racing colors. Nick Yelloly will pit very soon. Tresor Orange 1, Comtoyou Racing, and Grasser Racing Team are the top three in Silver Cup. Pit stop time for the #911 Pure Racing Porsche with Aleksandr Malykhin who took the car over from Joel Sturm. Engstler to the lane and now, Augusto Farfus will take the lead of the race with Dennis Olsen being harried by Maro Engel, Frank Perera, Mattia Drudi, and Lucas Auer. Driver change, tires, and fuel for the Rowe Racing BMW.
It would be amazing to stay green straight through for the rest of the event. I wonder if that will happen. Mercedes #88 is down the order in 12th place and there is a piece of bodywork or debris on the side of the road that could have come from a Mercedes. Somehow or other the #88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes has definitely flown Plummet Airways. Lucas Auer has stopped in the pit lane in the #777 Al Manar Racing Mercedes as well. Nick Yelloly knows we have a long way to go yet. He is glad everyone is OK after that accident we saw.
The track is beginning to warm up again. Minimize mistakes. Keep it clean and wait for the final couple hours. Nobody really sleeps in this race, but unwind your mind and your body, get a bite to eat, sit somewhere comfortable and nap for a little while. We have some very interesting racing going on. Maro Engel being chased by Franck Perera. #999 Mercedes vs. #6 Lamborghini. Still ten hours to go. Don't look at the clock. Just keep going. It is cloudy but has been entirely dry. So, Maro Engel comes to the lane and Franck Perera has done five seconds less drive time and might go for another lap. He can squeak it in right to the edge.
Sandy Mitchell, Marco Mapelli, and Franck Perera at K-PAX Racing Lamborghini with team boss Darren Law and team strategst Thomas Blam. Laurens Vanthoor leads the race over Dennis Olsen. Some cars did start on intermediates on the wet start of the race yesterday. I say yesterday. Well, it is Sunday in Europe already and we'll be getting to Sunday in 44 minutes. Laurens Vanthoor has brought in the #92 "Grello" Porsche for Manthey Racing and K-PAX is in as is the #30 WRT Audi in the hands of Callan Williams.
The #62 Porsche is also in the pit lane, which spun with Derek Pierce earlier. Derek Pierce, Xavier Maassen, Andy Meyrick, and Kiern Jewiss. Nicklas Kruetten takes over the #30 car and Franck Perera takes over the #6 Lamborghini. Dennis Olsen now leads Mattia Drudi and Nicklas Kruetten is catching up. Christian Engelhart third and Sam De Haan leading Gold in the #5 McLaren as Daniel Serra in the Ferrari chasing Luca Stolz in another Mercedes. Nicklas Kruetten sixth and behind him is the #91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche leading in the Bronze division.
You get through the night, and into daylight, and find a car in the daytime and think, "how on earth did this specific car get here?" The field was really jumbled up and might still be. We had a real mixed candy dish for the grid. Several flavors. Take your pick. Ah yes;. I am thirsty, me eyes are tired, and yet I am still in this thing and I hope you are too. Timur Bougslavskiy has moved up to fourth place in the #88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes which should be driven next by Jules Gounon, the Andorra domiciled Frenchman. Sam De Haan is seventh overall and leading in Gold. The best lap is a 2:19 flat. It's fastest lap is a tick under two seconds slower than the fastest car on the road.
Marco Wittmann now passes Timur Boguslavskiy. Sam De Haan and Christian Engelhart have run now for 46 minutes apiece and they've done a complete pit stop less than the other Pro cars around them. Stay out of the pit lane and don't hit things, and top up on gas when you cam. Robert Shwartzman in the Ferrari and Daniel Serra, too, as well as Nicklas Nielsen, the Ferrari's are good in the technical areas but it does not have the outright top speed. It has better speed in the corners compared to in a straight line.
We are almost done with the 14th hour. Don't fight your rival. Keep your speed up as high as you can. Don'y give time away. Your battle is with the stopwatch, not with anyone else on the road as Timur Bougslavskiy almost loses it! Yikes! Simon Gachet has just now gotten into the top 20. They have been very consistent at Saintleloc with Christopher Mies, Patric Niederhauser, and Simon Gachet. With Balance of Performance you mitigate against the extremes of performance for different cars at different tracks.
Maro Engel hanging on by the skin of his teeth over Dennis Olsen. The Norwegian driver is pushing and I don't have to tell you, hard. You go in fast and deep and I'll try to undercut you. This is speed mid corner to exit. Porsche carrying speed and rotating better in the corner.
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