Lorenzo Ferrari, too, making inroads and he will get picked off as Zaamin Jaffer goes by as well. Alessio Rovera, actually, is passing Dresler as well. Alexander West is coming to the pit lane for scheduled service and a driver change. Yes indeed. It is a driver change. Less than five hours to go now in the Gulf 12 Hours as we are into the final third of this race. Valentino Rossi looking on from the WRT pit. Louis Prette takes the McLaren over from Alexander West, the rapid and impressive Frenchman. It is a shame we never saw either of the Goethe brothers, Oliver and Benjamin. Sean Balfe was clearly unhappy of course. His ankle and leg were all bandaged up. He had to use laughing gas to kill the pain.
The Sky Tempesta Racing McLaren is now in the pit lane. Jonathan Hui out of the car. I am not sure who is driving it now. They had a track limits penalty but that's it. Eddie Cheever III is now back at the wheel of it. Luca Stolz is a minute and 35 seconds back from the leader, clinging onto the lead lap. Constantin Dresler is keeping Lorenzo Ferrari at bay. This race, the Gulf 12 Hours, is a real guessing game. We still are not aware of who has done what insofar as imposed pit stops. Side by side, look, Alessio Rovera goes ahead of the McLaren past Louis Prette for 11th spot. Well, well, well. Put Alessio Rovera into a car, light the blue touch paper, and he's off like a rocket.
Mote trouble for David Gostner. Maybe that green Mercedes is having troubles. Issues as well, look, for Ian Loggie who nearly goes off the road in traffic! Man, oh man! Lorenzo Ferrari has managed, no he hasn't. Never mind. Lorenzo Ferrari has now gone by Constantin Dresler. Omar Jackson and company, all friends before being teammates, they are representing the UAE in this race. They did a long stint. Axcil Jeffries still has three hours of driving left to do later on tonight. Three wide, as Lorenzo Ferrari squeezes Eddie Cheever and Ian Loggies decides to give it up, that he doesn't want to play anymore.
Constantin Dresler has made his way back past Lorenzo Ferrari in this massive scrap with Luca Stolz in third overall, he is pushing, and I don't have to tell you, hard. Ah. A brake change is going on for the Herberth Motorsport Porsche team and car #7. It looks like they are changing the front brakes, and they are down and away. Ralf Bohn has just handed off to Daniel Allemann. Jules Gounon still leads Nick Yelloly. Mercedes vs. BMW and that slugfest continues. Constantin Dresler still has Lorenzo Ferrari right on his six. Stefano Borghi, meanwhile, spins off the road, and... boom! He plows into the tire barrier and that #79 Porsche; I am afraid it is game over. There's big damage, the radiator is done in.
This is a Full Course Yellow. Team WRT BMW have pitted just before the yellow. Nick Yelloly into the #46 and Dries Vanthoor in the #32 I believe. Stefano Borghi got caught out under pressure and man, oh man, that is a massive accident! Borghi has raced Porsche Carrera Cup Italy. I think the ABS may have failed. So, the CLRT car is out. Time for cleanup and barrier repairs. I am going to get some breakfast. I shall return. I am back now after breakfast and a coffee. We have been under yellow and some of the teams have made compulsory pit stops while others will have to pit again for not maintaining enough stationery time in the lane.
Stefano Borghi's Porsche clobbered the barriers and now, we are under safety car conditions with Valentino Rossi leading the motor race ahead of Luca Stolz and still more in the fight. It is twilight here in Abu Dhabi and it is going to get dark, fast. Jules Gounon third with Constantin Drezler next up. 2 Seas Motorsports did a three mintutes and 40 seconds pit stop. We have to find out what happened with this specific pit stop. We will get an update and see what happens. Some of the cars are trying to catch up to the safety car crocodile.
2 Seas Motorsports did a brake change and they also put fresh Pirelli P Zero tires onto the car which is now running third. Under the Full Course Yellow, one or two teams have used air conditioning to help cool the drivers off a bit. We have completed 216 laps of this race. Race Director Peter Roberts will decide when the safety car will come to pit lane and then turn them loose. Valentino Rossi will be ten seconds ahead of Luca Stolz and Jules Gounon. Did car #99 do a brake change earlier? I don't think so. These new, modern cars have the whole process of changing brakes go much quicker than they used to.
Safety car in this lap. Maybe teams can get away without a brake change because of all the safety car time we have had. OK. Green flag! Away we go, again! A host of cars dive for the pit lane including Jules Gounon. The BMW team are set up to double stack at WRT. Will the BMW boys need to change brakes? That is the burning question. Jules Gounon is in with Fabian Schiller taking over. This is a routine pit stop. Gounon is in and so are many more. Contact between BMW #32 of Sheldon van der Linde and the #25 Ferrari of Alessio Rovera! That was elbows out stuff! Neither of those blokes were going to give it up until Sheldon van der Linde went for the lane.
No double stacking because Valentino Rossi still leads this motor race over Luca Stolz who dives up the inside of the #26 Ferrari 296 GT3. Stolz is a man on a mission but he has Eddie Cheever all over him like a cheap suit! Cheever is 12th but will keep motoring. Sheldon van der Linde still in the lane waiting for the clock to count down compulsory time. Luca Stolz in second spot working through traffic. Where is BMW #46 compared to Mercedes #14? #14 is a lap down for the time being. This is the Mercedes and BMW rivalry we talked about in the race preview on Friday.
Luca Stolz has an opportunity as Eddie Cheever III runs wide. Constantin Drezler pits the Porsche from fourth place. Stolz clears one of the pesky McLaren's. Stolz might be quicker than Valentino Rossi. Ollie Milroy and Maximilian Gotz both pushing. Valentino Rossi though leads this race. Alessio Rovera in ninth in the overall and now, Miguel Ramos, the Portuguese driver is in the pits in Ferrari 296 GT3 #61. Rossi is clearing traffic, but Luca Stolz must complete the same task. The back markers still have good pace. They aren't too slow due to Balance of Performance. Louis Prette stymied behind Daniel Allemann.
Prette dives inside Allemann. No dice. Stolz pokes his nose past the McLaren and is now working on Allemann. Ollie Milroy and Eddie Cheever are right there and now, Stolz passes Allemann as well, look. Ian Loggie at 2 Seas Motorsports says that things started out fine in his stint and he got his foot stuck to the accelerator with tire junk under his racing boots, going for the brakes. Al Faisal Al Zubair is not doing as much driving. Ian Loggie will be back in the car later on. There's super glue to repair racing boots to fix the soles.
Axcil Jeffries now at the controls of the #26 Ferrari 296 GT3. You know Axcil Jeffries is going for it, the Zimbabwean driver really going for it like always. Luca Stolz is losing tme hand over fist with all the traffic. What does Valentino Rossi have ahead of him? The light is still fading, getting dark even with the brightness of the floodlights, a slight orange tinge to the night sky. The race is 2/3rds over or thereabouts with 223 laps completed.
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