Hola y bienvenidos a todos, a Barcelona, España. Es hora de la ronda final en 2023 del SRO GT World Challenge Europe, Endurance Cup. Hello and welcome, everybody, to Barcelona, Spain. It is time for the final round in 2023 of the SRO GT World Challenge Europe, Endurance Cup. We have the SRO GTWorld broadcast team of David Addison and John Watson, in the broadcast booth, and pit lane reporters, Jemma Scott, and Antonia Rankin, covering all the action. It has come down to the final race of the year. Barcelona is home of the Spanish Grand Prix at the teams and drivers titles are all on the line. 54 cars on the grid, dripping with international talent.
We have had a great racing season. This European championship is run in tandem with America, Asia, and Australia. 18 points separate Akkodis ASP Mercedes in the lead vs. Rowe Racing and BMW. These are the only two teams, the only two cars, we have seen in victory lane in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, all season, in 2023. Jules Gounon has no pressure and knows he and his co-drivers Timur Boguslavskiy and Raffaele Marciello must deliver. Rowe Racing are definitely on the back foot. Yet, Philipp Eng says their team has nothing to lose. They are not giving up.
In Gold Cup, with two Gold rated and one Silver rated driver in the team, the championship is also on the line. Maxime Soulet and Max Hofer are the championship leaders in the Comtoyou Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II. Soulet and Hofer sharing alongside Nicolas Baert, two German drivers, and a Belgian ace. Now, McLaren are close at hand in Gold Cup as well with the #5 Optimum Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 to be driven by the British trio of Charlie Fagg, Dean MacDonald, and Sam De Haan. Charlie Fagg is confident of their outside chances. Gold Cup has only seven cars registered.
Tied on points, in the #157 Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Winward Racing are their three drivers, Miklas Born, David Schumacher, and Marius Zug. They need pole and a win, and the Audi pilots can't score points. Two German drivers and a Swiss driver. David Schunacher is former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher's son, and the nephew of the legendary seven-time F1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher, and of course, David's cousin, Mick, has also made a name for himself in Formula 1 and could be headed for a future in sports cars. That, we don't know yet.
The Silver division is another battle we are keeping a sharp eye on this afternoon. Benji Hites of Chile with teammates Clemens Schmid of Austria, and Glenn van Berlo of Holland, is leading the championship for the #85 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo 2 only by five points. The Lamborghini struggled for speed, for pace, in Pre-Qualifying. Will their race pace be any better? We'll see throughout today's contest. Benjamin Hites knows they need a perfect race. Five points back, the other Comtoyou Eacing Audi R8, car #12. This is the entry driven by Finlay Hutchison from England, Belgian Sam De Jonghe, and Dutchman, Loris Hezemans, son of GT and touring car racer Mike Hezemans and grandson of touring car racing legend Toine Hezemans.
They know they have to finish ahead of the Lamborghini. The outsiders are clearly the #99 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II for Tresor Attempto Racing, to be driven by Germany's Alex Aka who is also the team manager, and the two rapid Italian's, Lorenzo Patrese (son of sports car and Formula 1 legend Ricardo Patrese), and Pietro Delli Guanti. They are leading the combined Silver Cup standings for Sprint and Endurance. The Bronze Cup has been close all year, for a combination of Platinum, Silver, and Bronze rated drivers. There is only a seven-point advantage for the #93 Sky Tempesta Racing McLaren 720S GT3 of Eddie Cheever III., the Italian American, Jonathan Hui of Hong Kong, and Chris Froggatt, of England.
Froggatt and company have shown consistency all year. But now they know they have to push like mad if they want a chance at this championship. Haupt Racing Team, they are in the exact same position of having to go for it and perhaps throw caution to the wind. Hubert Haupt, Sebastien Baud, and Arjun Maini, the German, the Frenchman, and the Indian driver, all of them will be giving it 110%. They hope their rivals at Pure Racing in the #911 Porsche 911 GT3R are not going to make it. But Porsche specialists Robert Renauer and Ralf Bohn who drive for that team, at Herberth Motorsports, they too are leaving absolutely nothing on the table.
In the Pro-Am class, it is a trio of a Platinum driver with two Bronze drivers. Ivan Jacoma has been the man to beat all year aboard the #24 Car Collection Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (992) model, which most of the new Porsche GT3 cars are of course. Jacoma sharing in the all-Swiss driver trio with Niki Leutwiler and Alex Fontana. Ivan Jacoma has been racing both GT3 and GT4 cars this weekend. We are set for a race and to crown championships for the Endurance Cup and there is one more race in the Sprint Championship. Bronze Cup will only race here and not in the sprint event at Zandvoort in Holland.
Stay tuned, we will have video highlight coverage over the offseason, of how the Sprint Championship races went. Excited to bring that to you when possible. A gorgeous trophy is ready to be earned. I think we will have Jemma Scott in the pit lane this afternoon along with our pals David Addison and John Watson. 14 corners, 2.9 miles around, and tire degradation and management of the Pirelli tires is going to be critical in the race this afternoon. The first corners of the race will be a major pitch point that we will be watching for. Something will have to give when these 54 GT3 cars scream into the first corner. It should be fascinating to watch. Next year, GT World Challenge Europe is actually set to conclude in the Middle East in Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah circuit.
The commission leader for the new Saudi Arabian race, Haifa Aldukajr is excited about the prospect of the new race to close out next year's championship. Thye have Formula 1 and Formula E as well. Reema Juffali, the Saudi Arabian driver, is making an impact on motorsports in Saudi Arabia and encouragement is to young racers to come and participate. Next November, we will see GT3 and GT4 having races there. GT cars will be a different challenge with less horsepower and less downforce than a Formula 1 car. It is rumored to be a race into the darkness. We'll have to see what happens there in the future.
Head of Customer Motorsport for Mercedes Benz, Stefan Wendl, he is looking forward to maybe winning a title today. They see their cars have strength. We'll see how things turn out. We have the overall championship and the class championships to look at. Lots to keep tabs on. For tire degradation, Barcelona has been tough on tires always because of the heat, the beginning of October. There is lots of load, and long duration corners with an abrasive surface, we'll see the marbles from the tires building up offline.
Ferrari on pole. Italian Alessio Rovera starting the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 sharing with Robert Shwartzman from Israel and Dane Nicklas Nielsen. They are not in championship contention but can go for the win. Mirko Bortolotti and his teammates in the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan are ready to go. Bortolotti, the Italian, sharing with countryman Andrea Caldarelli, and South African Jordan Pepper of course. They are hoping for a podium place. One idea the drivers have not talked about yet, is track limits abuse, and blimey O'Reilly, we have seen boatloads of track limits abuse penalties handed down from the stewards this whole weekend.
So, that is something to surely have a Captain Cook at as the race progresses this afternoon. Track limits, a massive point of interest. Maro Engel, Fabian Schiller, and Luca Stolz, three German drivers, for Mercedes-AMG Team Al Manar also need to be considered. Their team car at Akkodis ASP have been unlucky with track limits according to Jules Gounon, in qualifying. They are fighting hard with the BMW M4 GT3 from Rowe Racing. Stay on track, score points, and go for it against the BMW. Timur Boguslavskiy is confident that they can and will win this motor race this afternoon. But again, you can never tell.
It does not matter really where they finish. They just need to stay ahead of that pesky BMW. This is going to be a field of pheasants chased by the hunters on horseback with their shotguns blazing. It's going to be a madhouse out there. SRO boss Stephane Ratel is extremely happy. He is happy about close racing, full grids, and fans coming to see the races. Ratel says he has no idea who will win as the engines roar to life. Clear the grid, please. The horn and marshals' whistles sound. It is time to go racing with the formation lap, imminent. Pit strategy is going to be massive and the first corner is also a massive gamble. You have one driver behind the wheel, but you have 20-30 pit crew members out in the lane who must execute if their teams want to win this race, and a championship, today.
54 cars will start as we are set to go. Use the traffic to your advantage. We have several onboard cameras for you in many of the cars for a driver's eye view of the race today. OK. The safety car pulls to the pit lane, and for the final time in 2023, the SRO Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, is go! Green lights on! Blastoff, here in Barcelona! The Ferrari's look to be inching ahead already. They are going toe to toe already. Daniel Serra and Alessio Rovera. Jordan Pepper splits the Ferrari's in that lime green Lamborghini as some cars, including Raffaele Marciello, the Swiss domiciled Italian in the #88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes, are already making a challenge at the top of the shop.
Ferrari's run 1-2 into the third corner and some contact, some argy bargy already, look. We have a car spinning into the gravel! Poor old Jordan Pepper, just as we mention his name, is off the road already! Raffaele Marciello doing all he can to gain ground, has now lost a spot to the #96 blue and yellow Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3R in the hands of Norway's Dennis Olsen. Olsen is a star in single make Porsche racing, has been a champion in Intercontinental GT Challenge in SRO, and has also raced with Porsche in DTM, which, in the interim, is using GT3 spec cars. Both Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3's are buried in the traffic, scrapping, battling each other, and hung out to dry on the outside line is the #98!
That's Phillip Eng racing with Neil Verhagen. Jordan Pepper, on the radio says he has no clue who hit him but someone absolutely "destroyed" him, and of course we saw it was the second AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 but another car tipped the South African into the gravel pit, languishing in 39th spot. Raffaele Marciello currently runs much higher in the race order than Philipp Eng does at this particular moment. Traffi is the buzzword for the next three hours. Eng moves ahead of teammate Neil Verhagen. Verhagen too far down the order to play the role of a blocker. Currently, Eng has to push, shove, and gouge has way through the traffic to go after the crown. Right now, he is working on Dennis Marschall in the #40 Tresor Orange1 Audi R8 that the German shares with Switzerland's Ricardo Feller and San Marino's Mattia Drudi.
Eng is driving his own race and so is Marschall and we have Simon Gachet scrapping as well. Gachet in the #25 Sainteloc Junior Team Audi sharing with Patric Niederhauser and Christopher Mies, the German veteran, driving with the Frenchman, and Niederhauser, the Swiss driver, who was a revelation at the Spa 24 Hours a number of years ago, finishing second I believe in the delayed October race in 2020. After being tipped into the spin at the start, Jordan Pepper has clawed his way back to 37th spot in the running order. The order sees Rovera, Serra, Maro Engel, Dennis Olsen, Raffaele Marciello, and teammate Thomas Drouet in sixth spot.
Completing the top ten we have Christian Engelhart, Benjamin Goethe, Fred Vervisch, and Gold Cup leader Michele Berretta in another Lamborghini Huracan. Ferrari, Ferrari, Mercedes, Porsche, Mercedes, Mercedes, Porsche, McLaren, Audi, and Lamborghini. Eng pokes his nose outside of Marschall through turn six and through turn eight they go. Clemens Schmid in 21st spot overall is leading the Silver division, the #85 GRT - Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini, and behind him, the sister Grasser Lamborghini #58 of Fabrizio Crestani.
Crestani sharing with Gerhard Tweraser and Sam Neary. Adam Eteki, the Frenchman, he has split the two GRT Lambo's, aboard the #10 Boutsen VDS Audi R8 that he shares with American domiciled (American licensed) Israeli driver Roee Meyuhas, and Italian Andrea Cola. Alessio Rovera cannot get away from his teammate. Meanwhile, in replay, we see "The Doctor", Valentino Rossi in the #46 WRT BMW M4 GT3 getting a tad sideways, bouncing off the side of the McLaren 720S of Henrique Chaves, the Portuguese driver for Garage 59, and Valentino Rossi is bounding over the gravel trap. Charles Weerts, the Belgian in the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, he has biffed his way past the #6 K-PAX Racing Lamborghini of Franck Perera, the Frenchman.
Perera starting that car and will hand over later in the race to Marco Mapelli, the Italian, (Swiss licensed Italian, maybe), and to Britain's Sandy Mitchell. This is a battle for 15th place. The BMW did not qualify too well but is going for it currently. Poor old Rossi has flown Plummet Airways to 19th place after his spot of rallycross. Eng has passed Verhagen and is now chasing the Audi with Simon Gachet at the wheel of it, who passes Michele Berretta, and adding to that, we've got a spinning McLaren to deal with. This may be Henrique Chaves taking a turn on the whirligig, look. Oy yoy yoy! He is in turn ten facing the wrong way up the road and the other driver's hopefully see him.
Chaves points the McLaren in the right direction on the inside curb and is safe. But he is going to lose oodles of time after that little mishap. He was leading the Bronze division as Neil Verhagen is doing all he can pass Dennis Marschall but no dice. Eng has made a move on Michele Beretta. We understand that Andrea Cola, the Italian, has spun the #10 Boutsen VDS Audi as well. Phillip Eng is reeling in Simon Gachet and needs to be in the top ten after a poor qualifying effort. Gosh, we've been racing for ten minutes and there's already been loads of action to talk about.
You need to be alongside before hitting the brakes in turn ten trying to make a move as the gap is now growing at the front between the two Ferrari's and well, everyone else. Alessio Rovera is edging away from Daniel Serra and the tires are in their prime spot right now. The tires will only survive for about an hour before they fall off a cliff and need to be changed. Trust me, the drivers will start feeling the tires when they are fading. The car gets all squirmy and hard to control, and the tires themselves wear and fade, and we will have all that rolled up rubber clag on the side of the road. The drivers will instantly know when their tires have turned to jelly.
The drivers need to survive in this heat, in a closed cockpit GT car as much as the tires, with the intense heat of a late summer's day here in Barcelona which is physically demanding. We have top speeds registered at VMAX around the circuit and Anders Buchardt, the Norwegian in the #35 Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 is fastest at 271 kilometers an hour which equals 169 and 3/8ths miles an hour. We have four other cars within range. One at 270 clicks (168 and 3/4 miles an hour) and three others at 269 clicks (168.125 miles an hour) These are the #33 Bullitt Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Maxime Robin, the #46 WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Valentino Rossi, the #32 WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Rossi's teammate Charles Weerts, and the #30 WRT BMW M4 GT3 in the hands of Jean Baptiste Simmenauer, the Frenchman, sharing that car with Callan Williams of Australia, and Germany's Niklas Krutten. \
Drivers need to keep their hydration up. Adam Ballon, the British driver for Barwell Motorsports has had an off course excursion, someplace. Ballon driving the #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 with Rob Collard from England (former star in the British Touring Car Championship), and the rapid Danish driver, Dennis "The Menace" Lind. We call him "Dennis The Menace", like the movie title, because he is so incredibly quick. Alessio Rovera is pulling away from his teammate and now, Maro Engel is beginning to reel in Daniel Serra as well.
We are watching Serra' footwork on the brake pedal and the gas pedal. He dabs the pedal so he knows he has braking power. Maybe the pads are getting knocked back from the discs. Punch the brake pedal to find out if you have braking power. He is eking out a gap on Maro Engel next in the #777 Al Manar Racing Mercedes and then comes Dennis Olsen, Raffaele Marciello, and Thomas Drouet. Drouet protecting his teammate Marciello. In the meantime, Eng is having a tough old time trying to make a move on Simon Gachet. It is an uphill bttle for the Austrian, currently.
It is tougher to overtake the further you move up in the field. Eng is not being giftwrapped anything. He has to push. 65 minutes is the maximum for a stint. Will we have a different winner in the Endurance Cup finale than the #88 Mercedes or the #98 BMW which between them have won all other endurance races in SRO GT Europe this year? Or will order be maintained and will it be a knockdown drag out fight to the finish? Only time will tell. Andrea Cola in the #10 Boutsen VDS Audi has had a clatter with Saudi Arabian driver Reema Juffali in her Mercedes-AMG GT3. Juffali driving the #81 Theeba Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3.
This car, Juffali is sharing with Swiss driver Alain Valente, and Estonian driver Ralf Aron. Theeba translates to female wolf. Jordan Pepper in the #63 Lamborghini has made his way to 29th place. Michele Berretta is leading the Gold Cup, the best placed Lamborghini, car #19. Michele Berretta came out of Formula 3 open wheel racing and made his name in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America for a while. He is a Lamborghini factory driver. Up the curb and bouncing across it, Michele Berretta. Running over the curbs lap after lap, it will hurt the car in one of these races.
Henrique Chaves' incident with Valentino Rossi is being examined by the stewards and in the meantime, Clemens Schmid has another leading Lamborghini in the Silver division, the #85 car we have mentioned, for GRT - Grasser Racing Team. Porsche leading Bronze. That is the #911 Pure Racing entry with Alex Malykhin at the controls, Malykhin, the British domiciled Russian driver who is sharing alongside the rapid Austrian Klaus Bachler (a stalwart in GT3 spec Porsche's all over the world), and German driver Joel Sturm.
Pepper has passed Pietro Delli Guanti in the Audi #99. Getting into a clump of cars, you need to pass one, but there are a whole bunch there and it is not possible to pass, just like rush hour traffic on the interstate but at much higher speeds of course. Chris Froggatt leads Bronze in 24th overall. He is leading rhe Bronze Cup title fight by seven points. Sky Tempesta Racing not focused on the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup. Instead, they are only doing the endurance rounds as well as the British GT Championship which blends GT3 and GT4 cars in one single race. Froggatt is dping what he needs to do as the class leader, carrying huge speed through the final corner down the straightaway.
Take a deep breath and then go for it all the way around the circuit. The corners flow one after another. Poor Henrique Chaves has now fallen down to 43rd place in the overall. Garage 59 has a long road ahead through the rest of this motor race. We have only just run now for 15 minutes. In Pro-Am, Samantha Tan leads in class in the #38 ST Racing with Rinaldi Ferrari 296 GT3. Tan, the Canadian, she is sharing with Spaniard Isaac Tutumlu and Britain's Lorcan Hanafin. A good battle here, look, between Clement Mateu in the #44 CLRT Porsche 911 GT3R for Come Ledogar Racing Team and the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the hands of Bruno Baptista for Akkodis ASP in their #89 Mercedes.
Bruno Baptista, sharing with his brothers, all from Brazil. Rodrigo, Bruno, and Adalberto Baptista are all entered in this car. Come Ledogar's Porsche, sponsored by Hexis Energy Drink, the Mercedes makes his move on Clement Mateu. Baptista was pointing to find a way past the Porscher and he made it work like a charm. Rovera now leads Serra for the overall by two seconds and in turn, Serra is another second ahead of the Mercedes of Maro Engel. Olsen and Marciello are scrapping for position and at the back of this queue of cars, it's Simon Gachet closing on Fredric Vervisch, but Philipp Eng certainly is having other ideas.
Eng is discovering that passing the Audi isn't a cakewalk. He has not found the magic key to answer Simon Gachet's riddle just yet. Raffaele Marciello is having a fair old scrap with Dennis Olsen as well. Akkodis ASP Mercedes vs. Rutronik Racing Porsche. Marciello can just hold station and keep out of trouble but he dropped a wheel off momentarily, and that is all it takes to cut down one of these Pirelli P Zero tires. Thomas Drouet is playing rear gunner for Marciello, in the sister Akkodis-ASP car. Alessio Rovera has uncorked his best lap of the race so far. Jordan Pepper 25th and Phillip Eng in 11th, still out of the points.
We are only 20 minutes into the motor race currently. Ferrari have their cars running liner stern in flying formation, currently. Maro Engel has fallen back a wee bit from the Ferrari's. Neil Verhagen wants by Franck Perera into turn one but is going to get the door slammed in his face and there, look, Charles Weerts as well, is right behind, looking to make a move on the American ace for BMW. Of course, these are both BMW M4 GT3's but for two distinctly different teams. Weerts moves around Verhagen who tried making a move, but no dice. A good, opportunistic move for Weerts and Verhagen lifted to let Weerts by.
Weerts' new challenge will be solving the riddle posed by Franck Perera. Marciello, too, look, has made his move on Dennis Olsen, but now, he runs wide again into the gravel trap and may need a bucket and spade to get out of there, or not. Marciello can eke out a gap and drive his own race as now Thomas Drouet is monstering Dennis Olsen as well. Marciello will now be in hot pursuit of Maro Engel. Olsen, look, has fallen into Drouet's clutches. Goodness gracious. I wonder if the Porsche is not as kind to it's tires as the Mercedes and poor old Olsen could have Pirelli's that come off in the shape of cubes when his stint is over.
That was a late move, but Olsen gave Marciello room and didn't slam the door in his face. Christian Engelhart and Benjamin Goethe, both of them now, are going to show up to the party without an invitation. Well, well, well. This may very well get spicy here in a wee while. Uh oh. Valentino Rossi in 19th spot, the team manager of the #46 WRT BMW is being summoned to race control, and I can guarantee you, there will be no tea and biscuits for him when he gets there. This is for the shemozzle we saw when the McLaren was tipped into a spin, and this very well could be incident responsibility falling on Valentino Rossi's shoulders.
Let's break out the Race Vision powered by AWS computer again. This time we'll have a Captain Cook at the top speeds in the final corner here at Barcelona. Who is the bravest through turn 14? I'll call this a two-way tie for the first top speeds between Thomas Drouet in Mercedes #87 and Alessio Rovera in the #51 Ferrari both running 170 kilometers an hour (106 and a quarter, miles an hour), and another time just below that at 169 kilometers an hour (105 and 5/8ths miles an hour). Chris Froggatt in the McLaren, and the #88 and #777 Mercedes' of Raffaele Marciello and Maro Engel, are running at these speeds.
Keep in mind, one kilometer in metric is equal to 1.6 miles in standard American measurements. Drouet wants by Olsen. He can't make the pass into turn one and currently is the Mercedes meat in a Porsche sandwich. A sausage actually in the middle of a bun. Hot Spanish chorizo sausage? Yum. But drink plenty of water. It is spicy, just like the racing we have seen here so far this afternoon. Oh boy! Do not think about food! We have a race here, ladies and gents! Gachet diving to the inside of Eng into the first corner! Oh boy. The first turn. Please tell me you know what to at the first turn! Eng tries to go for the undercut. He has to make t to the inside, wriggles through the turn and loses time to the Audi.
The gap is now opening up by three, four, five car lengths. One step forward and two steps back. It is like Sisyphus rolling the boulder up the hill because the harder you push, the more the boulder wants to roll back down the hill. Uh oh. Right rear tire trouble, look, for one of the McLaren 720S GT3's! Three wheels on me wagon for Charlie Fagg in the #5 Optimum Motorsport car. He stops right in the middle of turns seven and eight and believe you me, that will be a Full Course Yellow followed immediately by a safety car scramble. This is the first tire drama we have seen and now Valentino Rossi has set fastest time in the first sector.
Charles Weerts, too, in the #32 WRT BMW M4 GT3, has massive damage to the rear, ripping the rear bumper away from the back of the car! A big clonk with the Lamborghini headed into turn one! That's where the damage came from. Sheldon van der Linde not happy at all. Weerts continues, but for safety, you know the marshals will be communicating to the stewards upstairs in the office and saying, "please, call this car into the lane for repairs." That is a significant chunk of bodywork that, if it falls off, could do massive damage to other cars on the road around it.
Oy yoy yoy! It... oy! It does fly off and onto the straightaway right into the path of the other cars bearing down on Weerts! My goodness! At minimum this will be the Full Course Yellow I was speaking of earlier so the marshals in the orange uniforms can go out there and remove the rear bumper of the damaged BMW from the racetrack. Full Course Yellow in 10 seconds. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow called. Will this be brief?
Will the #32 BMW get the meatball flag to be put into the lane? The marshal has recovered the bumper, and the car is safer now even without the bumper. Charlie Fagg's errant tire also was picked up. The car is good, according to Weerts. But he is being told to keep his eyes up and that the car is handling fine. Fagg's McLaren trundling 'round the circuit very slowly. Michele Berretta just grazed the back of the BMW very slightly. Those pieces of bodywork can be removed quickly. The rear diffuser is not damaged even though the bumper cover is missing. Simon Gachet and Philipp Eng will keep their battle afoot when we go back to green and maybe they are waiting for the McLaren to get back to the lane but it is in limp home mode.
The car is absolutely tearing itself to bits around the 4.6 kilometers of the Barcelona circuit. Charlie Fagg will go down at least three laps. Very disappointing because that team was chasing for honors in the Gold Cup. That is the end of their championship challenge in 2023. We have gone from Full Course Yellow to safety car and the pace is picking up. This is a quick Safety Car. It will be in this lap and we can resume under green flag conditions assuming the drivers get temperature and pressure back into their tires. Phillipp Eng can now leapfrog Simon Gachet running directly behind Fred Vervisch and can split the two Audi's.
Eng has an opportunity to pass yet another Audi. We'll see. The pace is quickening towards the turn ten hairpin. Safety Car lights off as Clemens Schmid and Fabrizio Crestani in the two GRT - Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini's, have swapped places as we have a Ferrari 1-2 heading back to green flag racing here in Barcelona. Green flag. The McLaren has made it to the pit lane. The lead car, Rovera, punches it. Now, Daniel Sierra is being harried by Maro Engel and in the background, look, Fred Vervisch is going for it around Simon Gachet and looming large in their mirrors is the Rowe Racing BMW.
Vervisch on the inside and now, Gachet makes a pass. Valentino Rossi is handed a ten second penalty on his next pit stop for causing a collision. Man, oh man! The wheels are coming off the wagon for the #46 WRT VR46 BMW team this afternoon, in Spain! The pit crew is chasing the McLaren down after the car is in strife, again. Eng has now passed by Vervisch and now, Maro Engel is feeling the heat from Raffaele Marciello. Two Mercedes-AMG GT3's from two different teams. Drivers are using the inside curb at turn ten like crazy. It is almost the de facto line. There were cones set up at turn 13 and we were assured by the stewards that the drivers must not hit those cones.
That warning must have fallen on deaf ears. The Cone Killers were out there, and they were definitely making a hash of the pylons that the marshals had set up in such an orderly manner. All of that was during qualifying because in the race today, said cones have not reappeared. The marshals finally threw in the towel and said, "boys and girls, forget it with these cones. They are useless." Track limits abuse penalties still in effect. Gachet vs. Eng, round two. Audi vs. BMW. Eng goes around the outside of the Frenchman this time! Blimey O'Reilly! He's going to make it stick! He has done it at last! He gad tge preferred line, and smartly, both drivers gave each other racing room.
Vervisch tries it again on the inside looking for a way around Gachet. No dice. He bails. Discretion the better part of valor. Michele Beretta has dropped back in the Gold Cup standings after his earlier shemozzle. This promotes Max Hofer to the class lead. Hofer is part of the championship fight in the Gold Cup division in the #21 Comtoyou Racing Audi R8 LMS Evo II he shares with Belgians Maxime Soulet and Nicolas Baert. Beretta, he is driving the #19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo for Iron Lynx and sharing with fellow Italian Leonardo Pulcini, and Frenchman Pierre-Louis Chovet.
Oops! More cars off the road and into the gravel on the edge of the road with a gully in turn nine that is getting bigger and bigger as Alex Malykhin gets out of shape and is in another spot of bother here. Someone has tipped him into a spin, and he is the villain of the peace here, look, facing the wrong way up the road! Does he have a cut tire? Or did he get caught out by other drivers going off the road? It is an odd place to spin as now, look, some argy bargy in the grass between Fred Vervisch and Finlay Hutchison! That was a door-to-door bit of hip and shoulder between Pietro Delli Guanti and Finlay Hutchison, actually.
Vervisch I believe is ahead of that melee. Getting my Audi drivers mixed up, as this is one of the last races, I believe that we are even going to see Audi represented in the GT3 ranks. Delli Guanti was the brave one and Finlay Hutchison had to make good his escape. The Porsche remains stranded at turn 12 as Michele Berretta comes to the lane with a puncture and I think we'll have to have another Full Course Yellow followed by a Safety Car scramble. We are going Full Course Yellow and there was a local yellow at the marshal station. Full Course Yellow, now, announced by Race Director Alain Adam. The left side of the car, the driver's side is right in traffic, and now, Malykhin was forced out wide and had a puncture and then... oof! An impact on the left reat corner does that Porsche no good at all.
Malykhin copped a whack from Andrea Cola in the Audi. Boom! That was totally unexpected. I don't even think the Italian ever saw Malykhin sitting there. The Porsche is now moving. The left rear is broken. Game over. That car is being driven into retirement cutting back across the gravel. Michele Berretta did suffer a puncture and we are back under Full Course Yellow. Charlie Fagg did bring the McLaren back into the paddock, but the car has been in its garage for six minutes so far and it may very well be day done and season done for the Optimum Motorsport team. The car made it halfway down the pit lane and stopped. Philipp Eng is making steady progress. He has Benjamin Goethe in the #159 Garage 59 McLaren ahead, and then, the Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3R, car #54 currently in the hands of Christian Engelhart.
This is the battle for seventh place in the Pro category and in the overall. The BMW team can move past Goethe and challenge Engelhart and now, Marciello is still looking for a way to go by Maro Engel and the pit stop window will be opening soon. We are thinking, (myself, and the commentary team, Addison and Watson), that Akkodis ASP might bail for the lane early and get Timur Boguslavskiy into the car earlier than anticipated to put the time in and get maximum points on the board for the championship. Raffaele Marciello and Jules Gounon will also maximize their time behind the wheel. We remain under Full Course Yellow with Alessio Rovera leading the motor race.
We may get a safety car restart but not just yet. Jordan Pepper was languishing in 16th place and has been getting lifelines thrown to him. He will still have cars to pass, a very unhappy South African after being "bullied" by Daniel Serra. Charlie Fagg's McLaren, the #5 car we have spoken at length about, we saw the puncture, but the car is even worse for wear than we first thought because there's damage to the gearbox and the gearbox casing. Audi #21, second in Gold, and the new class leader is Adam Eteki in the in the sister Boutsen VDS Audi R8 LMS Evo II for Boutsen VDS.
Eteki, the Frenchman, driving their #9 car alongside countryman Aurelien Panis (son of the former Formula 1 driver and 1996 Monaco Grand Prix winner for Ligier, Olivier Panis), and Italian Alberto Di Folco. The Porsche is off the circuit, the marshals are back at their posts, and we are going to the safety car procedure readying for the restart. Phillip Eng, too, is going to be helped. This is a relatively short safety car scramble. Everyone has to be on their toes for this safety car restart. Maro Engel does not have the rear gunner Mercedes of Thomas Drouet behind him. They are now split by the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3R of the rapid Norwegian, Dennis Olsen.
We are only 45 minutes into the race. The unofficial pit window is not far way. Timur Boguslavskiy limbering up getting ready for his stint. He has to be suited and booted, with his gloves and helmet on, ready to go. The pace is picking up. Ferrari, Ferrari, Mercedes, Mercedes, Porsche, Mercedes, Porsche, McLaren, BMW, Audi, the top ten. Alessio Rovera, Daniel Serra, Maro Engel, Raffaele Marciello, Dennis Olsen, Thomas Drouet, Christian Engelhart, Roald Goethe, Phillipp Eng, and Simon Gachet. Your class leaders, currently, include Adam Eteki in Gold, Fabrizio Crestani in Silver, Chris Froggatt in Bronze, and Samantha Tan in Pro-Am.
Eteki will be fending off Max Hofer as we get set to go back to green. We are closing in on the pit window. Marciello still wants by Engel as the safety car lights are out. Alessio Rovera punches it and we are green! To turn one they fly. Olsen alongside Marciello who has to let him go and Olsen moves the Porsche to fourth spot! Raffaele Marciello has a get your own back time, moment, into turn three and says to Olsen, "I fooled you, mate." Fools rush in where wise men never go. Well, well, well. Marciello prepared to fight. This is a boxing match!
Olsen is doing all he can to defend and Marciello has the place on the inside line? Question mark. Olsen lets Marciello off the leash for now but here he comes back, sweeping across the road and then down the hill into turn ten. Safety Cars breed Safety Cars and now, Valentino Rossi is stuck in the gravel. It has been a bad day for "The Doctor" all day long. He and teammates Augusto Farfus and Maxime Martin have a long road ahead of them. That car will need a snatch tractor. Rossi is tumbling, flying Plummet Airways down the race order as we speak. Dear oh dear.
Meanwhile, Fred Vervisch has his hands full with fellow Audi pilot Dennis Marschall. Charles Weerts in the "lightweight" version of the BMW without the rear bumper, he iis still in the fight, and now look, the green machine, the Lamborghini of Jordan Pepper appears in the shot. Green pepper? Deary me! That was bad! Even by my standards! Green pepper. Question mark. More dust kicked up as we have a Full Course Yellow. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow, now. Valentino Rossi is out of the car walking around.
He may have had an assist and in replay, he got a tank slapper on the dirty part of the road and spun the car into the gravel in the turn seven and eight chicane. He should know all about tank slappers after being a motorcycle racer and a champion motorcycle racer at that. Maxime Martin and Augusto Farfus know it is without doubt game over and their 2023 season is history, now set to focus on what 2024 may hold in store. We are getting closer to the end of the first racing hour of three here in Spain. The car has to be removed and then we'll release the field behind the safety car. But we could have a few cars, look, heading early doors for the pit lane.
Marciello is in. Olsen is in. Both AF Corse Ferrari's are in the lane as is the Rowe Racing BMW. Wholesale driver changes happening. Timur Boguslavskiy in at Akkodis ASP. The only time specific part of the pit stop is refueling where the hose must be connected to the fuel probe for 42 seconds. Pitting early will still work in a mathematical sense even though the maximum stint length in an endurance race for GT3 Europe, GT World Challenge Europe, is 65 minutes. That is the way it has been pretty much since the beginning of this championship around 2010-2011 or so, back in the old Blancpain Endurance Series days.
Both Ferrari's now coming back on track but this is a close shave here, look! A yellow flag waving at pit out ahead of the #77 Al Manar Racing Mercedes. Fabian Schiller was released from the box but has sprinted out into the lead of the motor race ahead of the Ferrari. Will the stewards accept this or will there be reshuffling of the deck? Robert Shwartzman, the Israeli driver has taken over Ferrari #51 from Alessio Rovera and in third spot is the aforementioned Timur Boguslavskiy. He has gone ahead of Davide Rigon in the second AF Corse Ferrari, the #71 car that Rigon is sharing with Daniel Serra and Antonio Fuoco.
There could have been an unsafe release. Shwartzman was told to let the Porsche by and go. The safety car is on track picking up the leader, and yes, you've guessed it. Our math is correct, and it is the #777 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Fabian Schiller at the top of the shop. Pit stops can definitely make a difference. That's for dead sure. This is our third Full Course Yellow of the race and we are nearly 1/3rd of the way through it. Fabian Schiller ahead of Robert Shwartzmann, Timur Boguslavskiy, and Davide Rigon. The notional leaders are going to fall back in the queue with their regulation pit stops still to come. Thomas Drouet expected to dive for the lane this time by and Drouet comes in along with Benjamin Goethe in the McLaren.
All of this will come out in the wash in a couple laps. I think Fabian Schiller might come out the leader. A number of cars are taking the opportunity to pit. Shwartzman wants to know who is driving the #777 and his crew chief tells him it is indeed Fabian Schiller. Shwartzmann asks, "is he good?" His crew chief says, "you are better." ROFLMAO! That's funny! We'll find out who the best driver is here when we go back to green flag racing. Play that radio transmission at the SRO awards banquet at the end of the year. That was gold!
Meanwhile, #87 Mercedes in the lane. I've got to get a grip here! It is essential to get these stops done under Full Course Yellow now that the safety car is on track. You cannot cross the demarcation line and now there's shuffling with the McLaren. Will he or won't he concede the position? He has to, so he falls in line behind the lime green Dinamic Porsche and another car I couldn't quite recognize in the picture. Everyone has now made the first of their two scheduled stops in the motor race. The other is still shuffling here in Barcelona. We'll go safety car as soon as everyone is out of the lane. A shuffled order with different drivers in each car.
A Mercedes-AMG GT3 is in the lead of themotor race and yes indeed, Fabian Schiller is quite the shoe in one of these cars. I wonder if Schiller has been asking his team who is in the Ferrari and is that driver any good. We are under safety car conditions with the quickening pace before the restart. Many black marks are in turn ten from this race but other support events as well. If cars go off the road, will they kick gravel onto the road? Safety Car in this lap. We are laps away from being one hour into the race. Nick Yelloly and others have to stick like glue to the tails of the other cars they feel they can challenge.
Valentino Rossi is back into the pit lane doing a ten second hold and Maxime Martin will get into the car. I have miscalculated, thinking it was a premature demise for the BMW #46 and yet, the beast lives, at least for now. This car is way down in 51st place as the tires are changed. The cheers are going up for Valentino Rossi. Safety Car lights off. Hopefully we can get a good stint of racing in under green flag conditions. Fabian Schiller, Robert Shwartzmann, that is one battle, and the other will be between Timur Boguslavskiy and Nick Yelloly. Green flag. Away we go, again. Schiller puts heat in his Pirelli tires and tries breaking the tow.
Shwartzman is up there just ahead of Boguslavskiy and Davide Rigon. A move i son now, look, for fifth place with Lorenzo Ferrari side by side with Laurin Heinrich. Nick Yelloly tries a move on Nickolai Kjaergaard now driving the Garage 59 McLaren but that's not on at this moment. Lorenzo Ferrari did indeed lose out to Laurin Heinrich for that contested spot. Sven Muller has taken over the #54 Dinamic GT Porsche from Christian Engelhart and he is right on Lorenzo Ferrari's six. Kjaergaard is the cork in the bottle and poor old Yelloly is getting stymied by him.
Muller dives to the inside on Ferrari and takes the spot away. Laurin Heinrich ahead. Fabian Schiller is answering Robert Shwartzmann's question, and answering the bell at the same time because he is motoring away from the Ferrari hand over fist. Is he any good? Yes, he is. Shwartzmann has to be a wee bit tongue tied thinking, um... um... um... I... I... I've got nothing! You'll find out, Robert over the next hour of racing and if you can't catch him, you'll know how good he is. Davide Rigon has Laurin Heinrich all over him. Shwartzman can't answer any questions now except for why he is under investigation by the stewards for speeding in the pit lane. Deary me! Well, this may undo all that hard work.
Yelloly chasing Kjaergaard for eighth place. Gilles Magnus has gone by Mattia Drudi and Sven Muller has made a pass as has Mattia Drudi going around Gilles Magnus. Sheldon van der Linde, the South African, he is now to the inside of the Comtoyou Audi even though we know that #32 WRT BMW has been in the wars already this afternoon and still has the damage to the tail of the car. Magnus takes a peek to try and get back by van der Linde, but nothing doing. The first lap kerfuffle between Jordan Pepper in the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini and the #777 Al Manar Racing Mercedes now with Fabian Schiller at the wheel of it, will be looked at by the stewards post-race. So, stay tuned for what might happen there in our post-race debrief.
Rigon and Heinrich scrapping hard for fourth and fifth place in the meantime. Andrea Caldarelli is now at the wheel of the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini, but the Italian is languishing in 25th spot. Timur Boguslavskiy is pulling away from Davide Rigon in the battle for third place. Fabian Schiller runs 1.3 seconds ahead of Shwartzman. Sven Muller is the one who could make real headway. Nick Yelloly is ahead but he has fallen away from Nicolai Kjaergaard. The BMW has advantages in some places and so does the Audi. Through turn 12, Sheldon van der Linde crawling all over the back of Mattia Drudi looking for a way by!
van der Linde will be filling his mirrors and forcing him into a mistake, possibly. Yelloly closing on the McLaren into turn one and the same is true with van der Linde nearly side by side with Drudi into the first corner. Both Yelloly and van der Linde are stymied in their pursuits to pass. Nick Yelloly could have more in the locker at this stage than does Sheldon van der Linde in their respective battles, in the BMW M4 GT3 and of course these two cars are being campaigned by two completely different teams. WRT and the Spa 24 Hours winning team of Rowe Racing. This same team with Yelloly, Philipp Eng, and Marco Wittmann won the great race, at the Spa Francorchamps circuit, this past summer.
Laurin Heinrich remains ahead of Sven Muller. Fabian Schiller continues leading the motor race 1.3 seconds to the good over Robert Shwartzman and now, we have a whole gaggle of cas from third place on back. This is from third through about 15th spot with a dozen cars in one shot. More and more cars add themselves to the queue. Davide Rigon continues chasing Timur Bougslavskiy for third place. Ferrari were dominant in the race's opening hour. However, they have been shuffled back in the order as other brands have begun coming to the fore. Rigon pokes his nose in trying to find a gap to get alongside Boguslavskiy, but the experienced Mercedes pilot, from Russia, slams the door in Davide Rigon's face.
The handling might not be optimal for the Mercedes as he washes out into the corner and now, Rigon sees a chance. He smells blood in the water. But Boguslavskiy is not going to make it easy. Front engine V8 Mercedes, naturally aspirated with 6.2 liters of displacement, vs. the 3 liter turbocharged V6 Ferrari 296 GT3. Into turn seven and Boguslavskiy is dealing with the pressure and the challenge Rigon is throwing at him. Rigon in the meantime also has to defend from Laurin Heinrich and those two I believe still have a whole pack of hungry wolves behind them.
Sven Mueller in the queue next followed by Lorenzo Ferrari, Nicolai Kjaergaard, Nick Yelloly, and Mattia Drudi. Rigon is not making ground on Boguslavskiy. The Ferrari of Rigon is good under braking. Boguslavskiy can take a wider line but Rigon, as Boguslavaskiy kicks up dust, and now we hear from a disappointed Valentino Rossi. Rossi says the first stint had confusion but he was in a good position battling with the other BMW's. He exited from turn seven too wide and spun off. Rossi will be back for the Sprint series finale at Zandvoort in Holland. Car #46 is now languishing in 51st place and is out of the event.
Meanwhile, as we look again at the leaders, Fabian Schiller's gap is only 8/10ths of a second. He is clear of Bougslavskiy who is being harried by Rigon, Heinrich, and Muller. Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche, Porsche. Boguslavskiy gains on corner exit as Rigon has to wait for the Mercedes to accelerate through the twistier, trickier corners. Davide Rigon is a greatly accomplished GT racer whether that is in SRO competition like it is here today, or, in the Le Mans rules championships like the FIA World Endurance Championship or the European Le Mans Series.
Bougslavskiy runs over the curbs and almost into the gravel as we look at overall top speeds through the final corner on the circuit. Boguslavskiy has the fastest speed at 173 kilometers an hour (108.125 miles an hour). Fabian Schiller is second at 171 kilometers an hour (106.875 miles an hour). Daniel Serra, Sebastien Baud, and Sheldon van der Linde are all tied for third fastest speed in the final corner at 170 kilometers an hour (106 and a quarter, miles per hour). Davide Rigon still cannot find a way through. Bougslavskiy soaking up the pressure, answering the bell, solving Rigon's riddle.
Rigon being mindful of where Heinrich is. Heinrich in the Porsche is quicker compared to the Ferrari and can hold a tighter line. Rigon is laser focused on moving ahead of Boguslavskiy but believe you me, these Porsche's might mug him if he isn't cautious. Shwartzman in second is still reeling in Fabian Schiller in the lead and we still have a massive battle afoot for third spot. Rigon does extremely well under braking, but Timur Boguslavskiy seems to still have more. Boguslavskiy and company at Mercedes and Akkodis ASP are still in the pound seats for the championship, running third, while Nick Yelloly and Rowe Racing BMW are down in ninth place, currently.
Philipp Eng says that he had a great stint and hard but fair battles with Simon Gachet. The position they are in is not ideal but there's still an hour and 45 minutes on the board. Stay optimistic. Very soon we will be at the halfway mark. Shwartzman trying to distract Fabian Schiller and Lorenzo Ferrari is closing on Sven Mueller and all the rest of these chaps are stuck behind one another. Rigon having another go trying to pass Boguslavskiy with Heinrich in the Porsche keeping a watching brief. The incident we saw earlier between the two Porsche's, #911 and #91, is now under investigation, word comes from Race Director Alain Adam.
So this is Aleksandr Malykhin and Ralf Bohn. Muller is closing on Heinrich and Bougslavskiy is closing on Shwartzman. Sheldon van der Linde tries making a move on Mattia Drudi, who is the king of late braking, saying, "no you don't, sunbeam" and slams the door directly in his face. van der Linde aboard the "lightweight" BMW with missing rear valance is hanging onto Mattia Drudi in this battle for tenth spot. The lead gap is 7/10ths of a second. 40 laps on the board, 116 miles. Gilles Magnus is trying to make inroads on the BMW and so is the #25 Sainteloc Junior Team Audi, now being piloted by Christopher Mies.
Back into the lead of the Bronze Cup is the #188 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3, Miguel Ramos of Portugal at the wheel of it. Ramos sharing with his countryman Henrique Chaves, and with Monegasque driver Louis Prette. Garage 59 have made a great recovery after being spun by the now retired Valentino Rossi earlier in the motor race, so they have made a great recovery drive to this point. We are closing in on the halfway mark of the final race of the year in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup here at Barcelona. Laurin Heinrich tries putting up a fight and challenging Davide Rigon. No dice. The Italian slams the door in Heinrich's face.\
This Italian's no fool, and he is going to sprint away from the Porsche's as the #87 Akkodis ASP Mercedes has a left rear wheel in the gravel trap! Lorenzo Ferrari was a lucky luck boy to gather it up and not end up way out in the kitty litter! That was the save of the day and goes onto the ride 'em cowboy list of lucky escapes! Blimey! Ferrari hangs onto seventh place ahead of both Kjaergaard and Yelloly. Mercedes, McLaren, and BMW. Fabian Schiller is now one second to the good, over Robert Shwartzman.
My gosh, that incident with the #87 was another tank slapper but unlike Valentino Rossi's race ending incident, Lorenzo Ferrari did not do his impersonation of a Swiss Roll. Mattia Drudi making an outside move on Sheldon van der Linde. This could be successful, or, it could end in tears. Drudi was in the pound seats into turn ten, and successfully makes his move on van der Linde into that little chicane. Gilles Magnus as well, is closing in on this duo. After going off the road on lap one, Andrea Caldarelli has clawed the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini up to 18th spot now. Alain Adam, Race Director, on the radio makes an announcement. Full Course Yellow speed of car #188 under investigation by the stewards.
#188 is Miguel Ramos, the Bronze Cup leader. That recovery might be all for naught. These GT3 endurance races are not just won by outright pace but also by mitigating errors. That is how sports car racing works in all its forms, and really all racing in general. Dries Vanthoor at WRT says that the rear bumper damage and valance damage is not affecting the performance of the BMW M4 GT3 at all. Robert Shwartzman, meanwhile, the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 has been noted by the stewards for the unsafe release from their pit stop that we saw earlier. We are watching yet another battle between Dan Harper in the #998 BMW M4 GT3 and Christopher Mies in the #25 Audi R8 LMS Evo II.
Harper in the second Rowe Racing BMW chasing down the Sainteloc Audi. Dan Harper, the BMW factory driver, is in the hunt for the British GT Championship also sanctioned by the SRO, trying to secure a championship in that series alongside co-driver Darren Leung at the end of October. Six of seven cars that started in the Gold Cup class are still running and right now Aurelien Panis is the leader aboard the #9 Boutsen VDS Audi. Panis followed by Miklas Born, Indy Dontje, Nicolas Baert, Callan Williams, and Pierre-Louis Chovet.
Miklas Born, in the meantime, has his hands full with Andrea Caldarelli. Caldarelli should soon find a way past Born. The Italian vs. the German. GRT - Grasser Racing Team, the #85 Lamborghini Huracan continues leading the Silver class with Gerhard Tweraser, the former Formula 3 open wheel racer driving alongside Sam Neary and Fabrizio Crestani. Sam Neary will take over from Gerhard Tweraser, for the final stint, the final third of tis race, coming up in just over half an hour or so. Second in class is the #56 Dinamic GT with Car Collection Porsche 911 GT3R which has Thai driver Tanart Sathienthirakul at the wheel of it, sharing the car with Jop Rappange from Holland and Daniele Di Amato from Italy.
The third Silver ranked car is the #90 MadPanda Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 which has Magnus Gustavsen of Norway currently driving, sharing with Alexey Nesov of Russia, and the team boss of Madpanda Motorpoets, Ezequiel Perez Companc of Argentina. The leading Pro-Am car is the #38 ST Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 currently in the hands of Spaniard Isaac Tutumlu. Lorcan Hanafin will finish the race in the #38 Ferrari. We've lost three cars out of this 54 car field, with 51 still on track. Maxime Martin undergoing an extended test session for next year.
Timur Bougslavskiy remains ahead of Davide Rigon, Laurin Heinrich, and Sven Muller, all n your picture and by doing so, he is keeping the lead in the overall standings. Here is the standings prediction for the championship as we near the halfway mark in this race.
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