Engel out of the car and Luca Stolz will get in. Daniel Allemann has pitted the #7 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R. Alfred Renauer could be into the car, or maybe it is Ralf Bohn again. Luca Stolz is now back on track. Dries Vanthoor is standing by to take over from Valentino Rossi. He is suited and booted ready for his stint. A great, solid stint, too, for Valentino Rossi. Fuel added, tire changed, and a clean windscreen removing a tearoff. Audi #2 and Mercedes #3 are also in the pit lane for service. BMW #46 is the top BMW that can put it all in for their effort for the manufacturers' championship against Mercedes. Charles Weerts is now in the #32 WRT BMW M4 GT3. Maxi Gotz leads the motor race and pits the 2 Seas Mercedes. Fabian Schiller will take over the car. Dries Vanthoor took over the #46 WRT BMW from Valentino Rossi. Dustin Blatner is next up in the serial.
AF Corse Ferrari and MP Motorsports Mercedes into the pit lane on the same lap. Fuel, tires, and a driver change at MP Motorsports. Maro Engel mentioned losing time with the loose left rear wheel on an earlier pit stop having to grab the rattle guns again to get it properly tightened down. Matteo Cairoli has finished his stint and he will rest up before getting back into the car for the night shift. Conrad Grunewald and Stephane Lemeret are battling. Actually, it is Kriton Lendoudis and Stephane Lemeret, the Belgian journalist racer. I think Antares Au has taken over the #33 Herberth Motorsport Porsche.
The #33 has had punctures and other issues, radio issues, and now, they had the car running while up on the air jacks which is against the rules. The #77 GruppeM Mercedes-AMG GT3 is in the pit lane with Lucas Auer driver, the former Formula 3 driver, also racing in DTM, and nephew of ten-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner Gerhard Berger. Lucas Auer sharing with Frank Bird and Lorenzo Ferrari. At BMW Team WRT, the #32 BMW M4 GT3, the exhaust system issue resulted in a sudden loss of power. Grove Racing were planning to debut a couple of Mercedes-AMG GT3's and that Porsche 911 GT3R was supposed to be sold before it wrecked.
The Porsche was supposed to go to a team in Korea. Of course, Stanaway never got to race. Track limits penalty for OJ Racing, the Ferrari with Omar Jackson, the team owner, and his co-drivers. Fabian Schiller leads Dries Vanthoor by 26 seconds. Milka Panu is now back at the wheel of the sole Audi in this motor race. Watch for how you get on power into turn nine, watch the camber before running wide and that is how easy the track limits are to break. Eddie Cheever III. at the wheel of the #93 Sky Tempesta Racing McLaren. At six hours, the strikes on track limits are wiped away and are reset. It works the same way at the 24 Hours of Spa.
Dries Vanthoor is now 25 seconds behind Fabian Schiller. He is chasing down the margin to the lead of the motor race as Martin Konrad pits the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes as Eddie Cheever III. picks up another penalty for yes, you've guessed it. Track limits. With the Grove Porsche out of the race, finishing positions are irrelevant. If Jonathan Hui is third, he would be champion by one point even if Antares Au wins the motor race this evening. Of the 24 cars that started the race, 22 are still running. A Pro-Am class car of course won the Bathurst 12 Hours earlier this year.
With GT3 being worldwide, you as a driver get more time behind the wheel and at different circuits. Miguel Ramos has had decades and decades of racing under his belt, and he is an Am, because he is also a businessman, but he is so good even compared to the younger drivers. The driver grading stuff in sports car racing is sheer, outright madness. Miguel Ramos has driven McLaren's but now is in a Ferrari. Mercedes #77 rides up the curb, Frank Bird at the controls. Marco Pulcini has Isa Al Khalifa all over him and Al Khalifa passes through the open door.
There is a spin at turn 16, the #73 Mercedes of Manuela Gostner. She will reset the car and try to get back into the action. No overtaking into turn 16 but there's no trouble. Manuela Gostner is back underway under her own steam. Maybe there was an assist from the #2 Audi. A lighter rear end on that car with the big V8 motor over the front wheels. Phillipp Eng is set to take over from Charles Weerts in the BMW and now, Marco Pulcini has brought the #25 Ferrari into the pit lane. Pulcini might hand off to Alessandro Cozzi.
Antares Au is now in the #33 Herberth Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R, and he has his hands full with Ramez Azzam. A ten second penalty issued to the Gostner Mercedes. Frank Bird wriggles through traffic and muscles his way past Kriton Lendoudis as Dustin Blattner is really proving himself aboard the Car Collection Motorsport Porsche. He and Constantin Dressler are doing their job and will hand it over in one piece to Joel Sturm later. Six and a quarter-hours of racing to go. Mikael Grenier is scrapping with Fabian Schiller. Grenier wants to unlap himself and is chasing Robert Renauer. Grenier is showing his nose.
Grenier on the inside and he almost clatters into the other Mercedes as they are back on the lead lap, making good his escape from Fabian Schiller. Many of the corners here at Yas Marina contain adverse camber so you wash out to the outside and a driver can use that to their advantage. Incident noted by the stewards. Mikael Grenier is beginning to pull away. In the Gostner team pit, they are looking at the fueling rig for MP Motorsports. They are still working on it. They also had a probelm... oh... hang on. Grenier makes his move on Daniel Allemann. Meanwhile, the Gostner team also have had an inoperative transponder.
The car retired from last year's Gulf 12 Hours. The #88 McLaren 720S GT3 is in the lane at Garage 59. Louis Prette will do a double stint I think. Tires and fuel. Adjustments going on in the cockpit. I don't think they are doing a driver change. Oh, never mind. There has been a driver change. The #26 Ferrari is in. No further action on the Grenier and Schiller contretemps. In Fanatec GT it is different between contact between pro and pro drivers or pro and Am drivers. Frank Bird's car is penalized for overstepping track limits. 12 months ago, GruppeM's cars were out of this race long before halfway but this year they are running far better.
The #61 Ferrari 296 GT3 is in the pit lane, Conrad Grunewald at the wheel of it. Five second time penalty for Frank Bird, his wings being clipped, for track limits. Pun intended. Rob Bell passes Isa al Khalifa for position. Bell is a former Blancpain Endurance Series champion and 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner. Rob Bell has been a McLaren stalwart in GT3 for many, many years. He has won in them as well as in Ferrari's, Aston Martin's, and the old GT2 Panoz Esperante. Mercedes #73 is now into the pit lane.
Team manager of car #26 to race control, the Racing One Ferrari manager. No pain au chocolat and cafe or espresso for you. Just don't spoil your own race other the races of others. Bird watch is happening with the Gostner's and the Mercedes. Manuela Gostner has handed over to Corinna Gostner now. We need the I Spy bumper book of GT cars. Fabian Schiller is now running slower, but he is still chasing down Dries Vanthoor in the BMW M4 GT3. The margin has decreased by six seconds. Is Fabian Schiller struggling?
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