McLaren #59 is being hauled away. We might hear from Sean Balfe. He was so excited to be a part of the race today. Motorsports is always full of highs and lows. Sean Balfe is a veteran driver, and it is a shame he will not be able to race. He lives here in Abu Dhabi. We have three of the drivers, as spectators, who wrecked in qualifying and could not race. Wayne Marrs, Matthew Topham, Ameerh Naran, and Tom Jackson, who were supposed to race the 7TSix Mercedes-AMG GT3 but are spectators. Drivers are getting set for the second stint. Louis Prette aboard the #88 Garage 59 McLaren is leading the motor race. Louis Prette and Milka Panu have both done a phenomenal job in the opening hour. The temperature is creeping up here in the desert.
Out in the sunshine, it will be 27 degrees Celsius. So, it's hot! Garage 59 team boss Andrew Kirkaldy says that it is a shame Sean Balfe wrecked. He was really apologetic but has had a great weekend of driving. The sister car, things are going jolly well. Louis Prette is leading the race outright, but there's a long, long way to go. Bits of the #59 McLaren are now at the top end of the pit lane, and we have Maro Engel and Lucas Auer in the pit lane, but their stops will not count. We will likely go to safety car conditions here before long. The tires and brakes are getting cold from cruising around at low speeds. Thankfully it is still warm, and we now go safety car. This is so the cars get tire and brake temperature back once we form the crocodile.
Will we see more cars come to pit lane when the green flag waves again? The safety car crocodile has formed up. Some cars will be compromised by traffic. The focus for next year might return to Pro-Am racing and a two-part event, and it will not be a part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge for next year. There were more categories of cars and a different race format altogether. All GT3 cars are in this race. In the past years we have seen spec class cars along with GT4 cars. It used to be the race was split in half and in the middle of the race the cars could be worked on in parc ferme before the second half of the event.
Car #99's pit stop was good crossing the first safety car line before the pit in line, the pit commit line. Louis Prette pits as we go back to green! Milka Panu is now the new leader. Everyone is in the lane now. It is a busy pit lane here. The #7 car of Ralf Bohn, the Herberth Motorsport Porsche is being investigated for improper Full Course Yellow procedure. Another big accident on cold tires! Stephen Grove on cold tires has speared into the barriers! We have the perils of safety cars breeding safety cars! Deary me! Now the teams have to make a decision about pitting again. Full Course Yellow in ten seconds. Jeepers creepers!
Louis Prette says the McLaren feels great and he had a good stint. Marvin Kirchhofer has taken over the car and it was a difficult call for the boys at Garage 59 to make a driver change now with another safety car scramble and another Full Course Yellow. It is now game over for Stephen Grove, Brenton Grove, and Richie Stanaway. He locked the brakes, spinning, and ker-runch!, right into the Armco. Everyone being brought through the pit lane because of the debris field. Grove hit the wall in the same spot, in the overlap between the barriers, where Stefano Constantini had his massive wreck yesterday. So, I think we have had at least two cars now retired from the motor race. We were talking about how well the Porsche's were running, but there's two completely gone.
It is a shame that we will not see Richie Stanaway driving in the race today. Grove Racing will have to regroup and get ready for the 2024 IGTC season opener at Bathurst. The safety car is waving through cars behind it and Milka Panu is going to be the leader. So, into second place, it will be Dries Vanthoor, and Maximilian Gotz to third spot. The #88 Garage 59 McLaren has stopped and made another driver change. I think the same is true for the #93 Sky Tempesta Racing McLaren. Alexander West has now taken over from Marvin Kirchhofer.
The #61 Ferrari 296 GT3 has also just pitted. At Herberth Motorsports, Ralf Bohn is having radio issues. Daniel Allemann has taken over the #7 Porsche 911 GT3R. Mark Radcliffe continues in the #27 McLaren. Dustin Blattner has handed over to Constantin Dressler in the Car Collection Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. We are still going to be under yellow for barrier repairs for 15 minutes or so. All of these different GT3 endurance races all have their own sets of rules. They are byzantine rules, but the top teams will know the rules inside and out, backwards and forwards as the new Armco barriers are being installed with a prdicted time of 15-20 minutes for these repaires before we go back to green.
In another quarter hour we will have another hour into the bag. Milka Panu leads ahead of Dries Vanthoor, Maximilian Gotz, Sheldon van der Linde, Miguel Ramos, Daniel Allemann, Mark Radcliffe, Alexander West, Kenny Habul, and Constantin Dresler. The pit stop sequence has become a pig's breakfast as we remain under the safety car due to barrier repairs. BMW #46 in second and Mikael Grenier in the #99 Mercedes is now down in 22nd spot. Jonathan Hui is now in the #93 Sky Tempesta McLaren. Timing and scoring is a real mess here and so, it is very hard to figure it all out.
The teams will know what they are doing. But for me, writing about the race, it is extremely confusing. The safety car will now use the start/finish line. No more of this rubbish of driving through the pit lane. Omar Jackson is still driving the RacingOne Ferrari 296 GT3 he shares with Axcil Jeffries, Ramiz Azzan, and Zaamin Jaffer. Ferrari #61 in the pit lane but will have to wait five minutes for their driver change under safety car conditions here. Under yellow flag at any rate. I love GT racing but these rules are so convoluted.
Valentino Rossi, "The Doctor", is about to get into the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3. Porsche's #21 and #33 are in the lane. This is Antares Au taking fuel and a splash and a dash for the #21 of Constantine Drezler. Maybe there was an electrical problem in the car. Maybe a handful of cars will come in as the safety car comes to the pit lane. The race leading Audi is now in the lead. Milka Panu, vs. Dries Vanthoor, vs. Maximilian Gotz. Milka Panu pits as we have a green flag and are back to racing. Dries Vanthoor is not in the lane, too. Sheldon van der Linde and Maxi Gotz in the lane. Daniel Allemann and Mark Ratcliffe are now 1-2.
Valentino Rossi now into the #46 WRT BMW M4 GT3 as Kenny Habul has his elbows out. Manuela Gostner has pitted the #73 MP Motorsports Mercedes. Mark Ratcliffe has been spun around by Alexander West! They do get away, but this was a traffic jam and the marshals will have a Captain Cook at that as West harpoons the other McLaren, and... boom, hits him right in the middle of the door. Corinna Gostner takes over the #73 Mercedes and the #79 Porsche is in the lane as well. 44 laps now in the books. Mika Panu says this is his first IGTC race and it is his chance to show his pace and even though the car setup was a struggle,. the setup changes are working with the sole Audi in the field.
Panu is right into his racing career internationally.
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