Philipp Ellis should stay in the SunEnergy1 Mercedes and Jules Gounon in the other 2 Seas Mercedes. Fastest driver in at the end of the motor race. It is the logical things. Everyone is now back on the same page of the book as they were at the beginning in the wee hours this morning. Marvin Kirchhofer will take the #88 Garage 59 McLaren to the end. There will be a change at Sky Tempesta Racing in the #93 McLaren. Will it be Chris Froggatt or Jonathan Hui? We have not talked about Chris Froggatt except for him doing two stints, maybe a single and a double. It is hard to keep info together for endurance races without suffering information bleed as Lilou Wadoux brings the Am class Ferrari 296 GT3 into the lane for AF Corse.
Maro Engel has run 318 laps, 1,043 miles. We won't be too far from last year's distance of 335 laps. Joel Sturm should finish the race in the #21 Porsche. David Fumanelli will finish the race in the #11 Ferrari 296 GT3. #11 is coming back into the picture. Joel Sturm is indeed the Am class leader. He is pitting as well. Chris Froggatt is in the #93 Sky Tempesta McLaren, it is not Eddie Cheever III. 54 minutes to go. Jules Gounon has been on the podium overall in every round of IGTC this year including winning Bathurst, third at Kyalami, and second twice at Spa and Indianapolis. Phillip Ellis gets quicker every single season. He is from a British family who grew up in Switzerland and has raced in Europe but has raced just once in England in British GT.
Joel Sturm leads Am over Isa Al Khalifa. Third place is the #7 Herberth Motorsports Porsche now being driven by Alfred Renauer. Racing One are out of the race after contact on the right side of the car. Game over for the only locally based team here in Abu Dhabi. We'll have to see how they do in the future. Lucas Auer will take the #77 Mercedes-AMG GT3 to the finish in fifth place. The Gostner family will achieve their goal of enjoying themselves and finishing the race. Suspension maladies for the #26 Racing One Ferrari. Game over.
Thomas Gostner will bring the #73 MP Racing Mercedes to the checkered flag and now, another track penalty for the #93 Sky Tempesta Racing McLaren. It will be a time penalty added at the end of the motor race. We have no more pit stops in the final 45 minutes of the race, folks. 46 minutes left and anything can still happen. Proper racing drivers want to go flat out, not trundling around at 80% to conserve petrol. The gap is 13.3 seconds between the Mercedes and the BMW. Engel should have something left in reserve. Believe me. That is kind of what I predicted.
We should complete about 350 laps at the end of this one. I think we might have to talk about the champions, tomorrow, before we get to the post-race news. We'll see what happens. Scott Andrews is third in Pro-Am and he has caught the Porsche in the Am class. Team WRT BMW #46, they say they can make it to the end of the motor race, and they aren't too worried. It will be a fight to the bitter end. Could we see BMW on top? It is possible. Bavaria fans should not lose hope. That said, catching is one thing, passing is another. BMW have not mounted a full assault until this year.
Last year there was a Pro-Am BMW M4 GT3 with Century Motorsports and this year's British GT champions Dan Harper and Darren Leung. Mercedes-AMG could win today for the first time in Dubai since the old Mercedes SLS-AMG that had gullwing doors. 326 laps completed as Milka Panu is fourth in the Am class in the sole Audi in the field, the #2 car. 326 laps, 1,070 miles. WRT have been coping with the pedal box troubles. 11.7 seconds is now the margin Engel to Vanthoor. Ther German is quicker than the Belgian. The Audi is coming into play and must allow the raceleader to slice through.
Milka Panu is not too slow but now, Vanthoor is through and so is Isa Al Khalifi. Vanthoor needs time to catch Engel dependng on what Engel has up his sleeve with 36 minutes to go. If Maro Engel stays where he is and Vanthoor stays where he is, then Mercedes takes the crown. Late last year an Audi caught a GT4 car late in the race and was wiped out. That was the car driven by Dennis Marschall. 330 laps now completed at 1:53.3 for Engel and for Vanthoor, 1:53.6. 330 laps, 1,083 miles. Thomas Gostner is 19th and the last car running. Conrad Grunewald in the Ferrari has been in the pit lane for half an hour, car #61. That car has had a litany of troubles.
Chris Froggatt is being pursued by Joel Sturm upholding Porsche honor. We have not seen multi-car incidents in this race. All the safety car scrambles have been due to single car incidents. The final pit stop for the #2 Audi with Milka Panu finishing the race. Chris Froggatt is being given a tough old time by Lilou Wadoux in the #20 Ferrari 296 GT3 in 17th spot a lap down. Maro Engel knocking down the laps and keeping out of trouble. He is in his own universe, taking his time, working out the gap and then just going for it and planting his foot into the firewall.
Fuel and tech issues for the #61 Ferrari. Tech woes for the Conrad Grunewald Ferrari. We are now into the final half hour of this motor race. Rob Bell is five seconds ahead of Lucas Auer. Rob Bell might let whoever he is scrapping with go. Drivers want the best result they can muster. A class win will be good. Audi #2 meanwhile is under investigation for a short pit stop. How strange. McLaren, Mercedes, and Porsche are closing in on each other. Rob Bell has won his class at Le Mans, won in the old Blancpain Endurance Series and has been the fastest man up the hill at Goodwood in the past.
Joel "The Sturm Trooper" Sturm, is a quick driver and he will indeed keep pushing. Thanks, David Addison, for that funny and yet accurate nickname. Lucas Auer can just about see Rob Bell up ahead. Alessio Rovera is also going for it after Tim Heinemann passes him for tenth overall and fourth in Pro-Am. Heinemann has run GT3 in DTM but might just also race in SRO competition. Philip Ellis is a lap down from Rob Bell and Joel Sturm. The gap is coming down with 22 minutes left on the board. After 11 hours and 40 minutes of racing we have three cars within 40 cars. Rob Bell is not going to roll over and have his tummy scratched just because Lucas Auer is chasing him.
337 laps now completed. 1,106 miles. Phillip Ellis spins the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes! Yikes! At least he gets back on track and keeps going. Scott Andrews, that would have been manna from Heaven for him. Rob Bell and Lucas Auer are still fighting and here comes our pal, Joel Sturm. Where did he come from? He is gaining on this pair. 18 minutes to go. Into the pit lane is Philip Ellis! SunEnergy1 in trouble? Well, this is a splash and a dash. They are taking the car to the garage! Oh dear! Lucas Auer and Joel Sturm have now gone ahead of Rob Bell.
His tires are completely busted now. They have no traction left. Driving standards penalty for the #46 WRT BMW. Trouble in paradise for the #75, but this is only a quick turnaround. Will they stay on the Pro-Am podium? 15 minutes remaining. Jules Gounon should indeed become champion of Intercontinental GT Challenge in 2023. A stuck brake pedal is the trouble for SunEnergy1. Scott Andrews will be chased down by Isa al Khalifa. Tim Heinemann has moved up to third in Pro-Am. A bitter pill to swallow for SunEnergy1. Thomas Gostner in the #73 MP Racing Mercedes has gone off the round at turns 10 and 11.
Those tires will be cubes, they will be thrupenny bits. It will have a wobble wheel. MP Motorsport game over with ten minutes to go! That's cruel! It is a rear suspension failure. I think even getting that car out for one solitary lap is too much of an ask. The wishbone has been tilted to the right. GruppeM now lead BMW Team WRT by 14 seconds and Maro Engel has maybe a handful more laps to go. More trouble for Philip Ellis at turn five and he can't go any farther. In replay, he tried braking for the corner and the car just goes straight.
It is stationary at turn five. Lucas Auer has not been able to do away with Joel Sturm the leading Am class car. Scott Andrews is now second in Pro-Am and seventh overall with SunEnergy1's problems. Joel Sturm has a lifeline with five minutes to go in the Gulf 12 Hours. The short Audi pit stop has been converted to a 30 second time penalty for being short on a pit stop. Joel Sturm is still pushing but the V8 power of the Mercedes is an advantage on the straight while through the corners it is the nimbleness of the Porsche. Does Joel Sturm have anything left in the locker to throw at Lucas Auer? Not quite.
Race leader Maro Engel is on lap 346 and should get two more laps. He is onto lap 347, and we are just going to miss out on the 350-lap mark. So, we'll see 349 laps, 1,145 miles. Maro Engel and company have done all the hard work. One lap to go. Engine trouble for the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes. Brake dramas and a seized engine. But it is joy for GruppeM! They have worked hard and had to push, push, push to get back to the front after starting on pole and that is what they did. Mercedes win again at Yas Marina! Maro Engel, Mikael Grenier, and Luca Stolz, and Mercedes-AMG GruppeM win the race!
The Pro-Am winners are the #27 Optimum Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 driven by Ollie Milroy, Rob Bell, and Mark Radcliffe. Your Am class winners are the #21 Car Collection Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R of Dustin Blattner, Joel Sturm, and Constantin Dressler.
Overall/GT3 Pro: #99 Stolz/Engel/Grenier Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Mercedes-AMG GT3
GT3 Pro-Am: #27 Radcliffe/Milroy/Bell Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3
GT3 Am: #21 Blatner/Dressler/Sturm Car Collection Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
Champions:
Intercontinental GT Challenge Champion: Jules Gounon Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3
Independent Cup Trophy: #93 Jonathan Hui Sky Tempesta McLaren 720S GT3
#93 Hui/Tse/Cheever III./Froggatt
Our last podium of the race is for manufacturer and driver champions. Presented by CEO Stephane Ratel, we say congratulations to Jules Gounon and your manufacturers' champions in GT3, Mercedes-AMG! To the victors, go medals, and a check, too. This concludes the trophy presentation at the Gulf 12 Hours. Time now, for final thoughts. We will have highlights of the race for you, coming up very soon as we do a complete race wrapup, tomorrow.
What a thrilling event the Gulf 12 Hours was once again, and so ends another fabulous season of SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge. We have four races planned for 2024. The Bathurst 12 Hours "Down Under" in Australia at Mount Panorama kicks it off followed by (for the first time) the fabled 24 Hours of the Nurburgring which, with the addition of IGTC will boost an already established motor race with production sports cars galore. We will then have the blue riband race, the one everyone wants to win, the biggest GT3 race in the world, the 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps in the Ardennes forest in Belgium.
We cap off the season in the fall at The Brickyard, the Indianapolis 8 Hours at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We'll see your next year for more thrilling action for SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge. You won't want to miss it. So long for now, everybody. Thanks for joining us in 2023. A fond farewell and goodbye, from Abu Dhabi. Take care.
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