The Gostner's were tagged into a spin earlier. All track limits now reset to zero. All bets are off now, chaps. Mikael Grenier is quicker on laptime than the two leaders, but all of them are running in the 1:52 bracket. Ollie Milroy has been building confidence racing McLaren's worldwide. The two BMW's have swapped places with #46 going past the beleaguered #32. Marvin Kirchhofer will have to serve a track limits penalty. The stewards seem to be flooded with paperwork. We are into the second half of the motor race now. It is flying by! We are racing towards the darkness in the second half of the race. Once the light goes, it drops quickly. Ferrari #51 in the pit lane as we thank Tim Fulbrook and Mark Werrell win rejoing the commentary team as Kriton Lendoudis pits and the BMW's nearly made contact with the Greek driver.
Again, welcome to part two of the Gulf 12 Hours. Vanthoor has pulled back 1.4 seconds over the Mercedes. Porsche #33 has spun, Antares Au. Did hie spin all by himself? I think so, coming out of the final turn. Mikael Grenier has run a fabulous stint. BMW #32 is now working like a metronome again, but Charles Weerts is way down the order, and yet, even after the exhaust issues, he is still charging. Fabian Schiller is an hour or so into his stint and now Milka Panu is running incredibly well. It is a team that is new but also a car that is not on the market any longer. There are customer Audi R8's around that are good for the Am drivers.
Dustin Blattner is in and so is Mikael Grenier. Grenier has finished his stint. Marvin Kirchhofer has had a puncture to the left rear tire of the Garage 59 McLaren! Oh dear! He made contact with the #61 Ferrari 488 GT3 now in the hands of Jean Claude Saada. Marvin Kirchhofer must serve a five second track limits time penalty incurred by Louis Prette earlier. The left rear tire and all other corners are being changed for new Pirelli P Zero tires, and they are doing a driver change at the same moment.
The imposed pit stop is the time and maybe doing a driver change is not such a good plan. BMW #46 of Dries Vanthoor is in the pit lane, up on the air jacks after the tire change. Drop it off the air jacks and the new driver will take it back onto the track. Frank Bird is chasing the BMW making his debut in IGTC for Mercedes racing in Fanatec GT World Challenge and the German GT Championship. Isa Al Khalifa is now in the #3 2 Seas Mercedes when Alexander West has taken over the Garage 59 McLaren from Marvin Kirchhofer. Alexander West, the Swedish driver, has historic cars including the late 1990s McLaren Formula 1 cars with the West tobacco sponsorship driven by Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard in a huge collection of F1 historic cars.
Ian Loggie, former British GT Champion is now into the 2 Seas Mercedes as Fabian Schiller is back on the pace. Pirelli circuit activities manager, Matteo Braga is here telling us about the scope of their effort. They have had a longstanding artnership with SRO and the GT3 championship. 3,120 tires in use for this event. Every car uses 18 sets of dry tires. No limitation on wet tires if they are needed. A year ago, at this race we had rain at the start of the event. This partnership between Pirelli and GT3 goes back a long way. The tires have to match the different brands of cars, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari, you name it.
They find an average product that can work in the performance windows of all the cars and then find a way to make things work for performance levels of amateur drivers. The same product has to be used in several types of races and tires that still need to be warmed in tire blankets as well. The design process for motorsports carries over to development of consumer street tires at Pirelli. They will keep their current generation of tires for the next two, three years. Tire technologies do indeed evolve as time goes on.
Bringing 3,000 tires and the personnel and engineers, it is a big logistical job for technicians, engineers, and people who fit the tires on the wheels. Yas Marina is kind and easy on tires. It is not abrasive, and the curbs are manageable. But in the evening with the ambient and track temperature drops, this helps the consistency and performance of the tires. Teams compensate with putting more air into the tires for cooler conditions. Mercedes remain in charge as Jules Gounon has taken over the #14 2 Seas Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3. Pirelli issue a set of parameters for the utilization of the tires that they must abide by.
There is a bite out of the dive plane, the left front dive plane on Fabian Schiller's car. Antares Au pits the #33 Herberth Motorsports Porsche and will hand the car over to Matteo Cairoli. Frank Bird has finished his stint and of course Lucas Auer and Lorenzo Ferrari are his co-drivers. Nick Yelloly now is second at the wheel of the #46 WRT BMW M4 GT3. Lorenzo Ferrari is on an out lap currently and he squeezes his way past the Mercedes of Ian Loggie. There was very near contact between the front of the BMW and the rear of the Mercedes! Criminy! Jules Gounon has now completed 185 laps. A yellow flag at turn nine.
We'll have to see what will happen there. Frank Bird says this stage is the hardest part of the race, just past the halfway mark. One of the Ferrari 296 GT3's is in the lane for service. Frank Bird has really proved himself and has tried his best this year and will keep pushing. We remember his father, motorcycle racing team boss, the late, great Paul Bird. Phillip Ellis is now aboard the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes, the Anglo Swiss German driver. Lilou Wadoux, she has taken over the #20 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3. Wadoux has been racing in America and Europe in SRO, IMSA, FIA WEC, and more, part of the Richard Mille team at Le Mans.
The pit stop strategies are making the race fly by with the shuffling of the order as Jonathan Hui is doing all he can to pass Tim Heinemann who in turn is doing his best to try and pass Alexander West, the Swede vs. the German vs. the Hong Kong driver. Tim Heinemann is flashing the lights at Alexander West because he believes he is quicker. But the two of them are not on the same lap. More and more marbles, pickup, tire clag, all over the shop. Heinemann runs deep into the chicane at turns six and seven.
We have not talked about this, but soon, we may see brake changes or brake pad changes. Joel Sturm has now gotten into the #21 Porsche while the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG GT3 has also pitted. Ralf Bohn's Porsche has run like a train all race. We'll have a battle of the Porsche's for the Am class title. Gregory Servais puts a lap on Alex Fox in the sole Ferrari 488 GT3 car in the field. Joel Sturm is not in the #21 Porsche. Forgive me. It is Constantin Dresler at the wheel of it again and they've been right there all the way. Dresler is rising to the occasion here at Abu Dhabi. Louis Prette too and the same is true of Milka Panou.
Rubbing is racing between one of the Ferrari's and Rob Bell's McLaren. Alexander West continues holding Jonathan Hui at bay, the Garage 59 and Sky Tempesta McLaren's. Jules Gounon puts a lap on Alex Fox. Luca Stolz is third in the #99 GruppeM Mercedes. Ramez Azzam brings the Ferrari to the lane for Racing One for service and a driver change. We're not too far away from twilight here at Yas Marina. Constantin Dresler and Ralf Bohn are almost two minutes apart as Phillipp Ellis has gone past Alexander West. Mercedes passes McLaren. Lorenzo Ferrari is closing on Constantin Dresler and a spin, a quick one, for the #79 Tsunami RT Porsche 911 GT3R currently driven by Davide Scannicchio.
Rob Bell brings the Optimum McLaren into the pit lane and Alex Fox, too, in the Ferrari #51, and the #11 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Scott Andrews. Optimum Motorsport are doing very well in this race thus far. Mark Radcliffe is back on board for his final stint to get his drive time out of the way. In the meantime, Greg Guillvert passes Davide Davide Scannichio and Marco Casara needs to do more laps at least in this race. Jean Claude Saada is now back on track having remained at the wheel of it. Phillip Ellis has been racing in the SunEnergy1 Mercedes now for an hour and a half as Constantin Dresler is bearing down on Alexander West.
Yikes! Dresler almost makes the pass and West does not give it up, as they both continue on their merry way. Dresler should have the preferred line and makes the pass on West.
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