Winner & Highlights of the GT World Challenge Europe Paul Ricard 500 Kilometers

Bonjour et bienvenue à tous dans le sud de la France, sur la Côte d'Azur et sur le Circuit Paul Ricard, pour la course d'ouverture de la SRO GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup 2024.  Hello, and welcome everyone to the south of France, to the Cote d'Azur, and to the Circuit Paul Ricard, for the opening race of the 2024 SRO GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.  First up, we have the pre-race show, and then, we will ease our way into the racing action itself.  Welcome to Paul Ricard and a brand-new season of Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.  For the first time since 2018, we are starting a brand new season outside of Italy.  Plus, the Paul Ricard event reverts to a three-hour format after being run as a summertime evening 6-hour event into the darkness, for several years.  

It is a king size grid of GT3 cars as ever, in SRO GT World Challenge Europe with 54 cars entered and set to start this motor race.  On the season schedule we have a collection of 3-hour, 6 hour, and of course 24-hour races, meaning the 24 Hours of Spa.  There are new drivers and teams, and drivers switching brands.  The most documented of these changes is Raffaele Marciello now racing with BMW.  If you've followed the blog this year, you know Marciello is a BMW driver both in GT3 and in prototype racing.  He had years and years of success with Mercedes-AMG.  What this move does is open the playing field in GTWC Europe in a big way.  We have massive entries in GT4 and the burgeoning GT2 category.  

Now, in years past, I have promised, but not delivered on my promise.  This year, I plan to change that, and shall cover GT4 and GT2 to the best of my ability.  So, stay tuned for reports on the Paul Ricard races for those championships coming up, later on.  On Thursday evening for the photo shoot, oh my gosh!  I wish I could have been there.  It was a veritable car show!  These sports car races really are the new auto shows but instead of seeing cars on static displays in museums and convention halls, you see them in action, being driven by the best drivers in the world, as they are meant to be.  We have a ten-round championship in Europe alongside those in America, Asia, and Australia.  

On the blog, we will be covering the endurance rounds and highlighting the five sprint rounds later in the year, as well as the America rounds.  As for Asia and Australia, because those formats are different, I shall provide video recaps of those races when there is time to do so.  There are endurance and sprint championships plus individual titles.  The Pro class of drivers has no restrictions on the ratings of drivers who are eligible to compete.  Therefore, we are going to see a massive number of professional factory drivers duking it out for top honors.  One such is the GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG.  Reigning GTWC Europe champion Jules Gounon becomes part of their team in 2024.  

Gounon is coming back after a double title and he has a new team, and new teammates.  He misses Raffaele Marciello but has new teammates.  At BMW Team WRT, Valentino "The Doctor" Rossi, is back for a third season of competition alongside Belgian veteran Maxime Martin, and his new co-driver Raffaele Marciello.  "The Doctor" thinks his co-drivers are two of the best GT3 drivers in the world.  They want to improve and fight for the podium.  Also running with BMW and the M4 GT3, we have Rowe Racing, who are looking to go for the 2024 championship crown.  Philipp Eng is the lead driver.  There is contiuity in the team.  

Eng says they did not do enough and have enough pace last year, but they won the most important race at the 24 Hours of Spa last year.  Ricardo Feller, the Swiss driver who won the title in Sprint Cup with Audi last year, he is staying with them even though Audi no longer has customer support from the factory for their teams.  Ricardo Feller, the Swiss driver, is looking for success.  The whole team is motivated and ready to go.  Another season, another championship, another team for Mercedes stalwart Maro Engel.  He is racing with Winward Racing in 2024.  The talent, the cars, the manufacturers, everything is stacked.

Engel is looking forward to the season sharing a Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Lucas Auer and Daniel Morad, the German racer, and the Canadian sports car racing veteran.  There are new cars on the grid, too.  The Ford Mustang GT3 is one of the newcomers to the SRO GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for 2024.  Built by Multimatic in Canada, the car is being developed.  It looks great and sounds amazing.  Keep an eye out for the #64 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 set to be driven by Germany's Christopher Mies, Belgian Fred Vervisch, and Norwegian, Dennis Olsen.  Mies and Vervisch formerly ran with Audi.  Olsen moves to the Ford Motor Company fold, from Porsche.

The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo is another new GT3 car in GTWC Europe and Comtoyou Racing, former Audi campaigners, they are running this sleek new Aston Martin.  There are three of them in the field today, I believe.  Nicki Thiim is very impressed with the new car.  Aston Martin British Racing Green.  Those are the colors.  The Gold Cup was extremely competitive in 2023 and will be just the same in 2024.  This championship caters to lineups featuring two Gold rated drivers and one Silver based on the FIA driver rating system with the use of precious metals to designate it.

Sainteloc Audi are expected to have two competitive Gold rated cars in the field this year.  Frenchman Jim Pla is now a part of their team after driving for Mercedes in the past.  Jim Pla is adapting his driving style moving from a front engine V8 Mercedes to a rear engine V10 Audi.  The car feels good to him, and he is partner with fellow Frenchman Paul Evrard.  The Al Manar Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 is another car that is a likely winner in the Gold Cup.  Dominik Baumann, after a season away, returns to Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe after a year away, driving the #777 Mercedes.

Baumann, the Austrian, sharing with Canadian Mikael Grenier and Al Faisal Al Zubair from Oman.  Baumann will push hard and try everything to win.  There is no question.  Now we move to the Silver Cup, for all of the "sneaky Silver" rated drivers entered as trios for their respective teams in the championship.  Nicolas Baert and his family team at Comtoyou, of course, have switched over to Aston Martin, the British sports car manufacturer out of Gaydon, Warwickshire, in England.  Nicolas Baert says that they are going for the Silver championship and they have a strong lineup and have developed the car.  

Boutsen VDS Racing are back and switch brands for 2024 from one German marque to another.  They separate from Audi and join the fold at Mercedes Benz.  Aurelien Panis looks ahead to a good season and to success on home soil.  He is the son of former Formula 1 driver turned sports car team owner and 1996 Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1 winner, Olivier Panis.  He is happy about the team and about his co-drivers, driving a Mercedes-AMG for the first time.  Now we move to the Bronze Cup.  One Bronze graded driver is required on each team alongside a Platinum driver and a Silver driver.  Watch for the experienced Omani racer Ahmad Al Harthy.  He has been away from SRO Europe for some time.  But he is back now and racing for BMW and Team WRT.  

He is happy to be back.  Experience and consistency are what he brings to the table.  Now we move to Optimum Motorsports and the McLaren team with lead driver, Mark Radcliffe of England.  He ran well in the Gulf 12 Hours last winter and has been racing GT3 in British GT.  Before that he explains he raced single make Porsche Cup cars.  So, he has adapted to the world of GT3.  The aerodynamics are things he has learned a lot about, and he is confident.  Bronze graded driver Ralf Bohn leads GT3 stalwarts and Porsche stalwarts Herberth Motorsports into another season of GT World Challenge Europe racing.  Bohn was third in the championship chase in the past, second last year, and now, he wants to get to the top step in 2024.

He enjoys racing at Paul Ricard.  He is looking forward to an interesting season.  Sky Tempesta Racing, after a couple years experimenting with other brands like Mercedes and McLaren, now they are back home, racing with The Prancing Horse and Ferrari.  They are campaigning a new Ferrari 296 GT3 with Chris Froggatt, the lead driver.  Froggatt is ready to go, with a new car that proved competitive last year.  They are prioritizing points and finishing all the races.  Last year they had podiums, no race wins, but they want a title in 2024.

So, we have about 20 minutes before we get started as we have now covered all the contenders and we join the commentary team of David Addison and John Watson for this event here at Circuit Paul Ricard.  The grid is forming up, and you leave the pits and go straight to the grid.  No recon or formation laps.  We have had two cars that have had dramas between the warmup this morning and now at race time.  On the pole, Mirko Bortolotti and Lamborghini.  This is the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 that Bortolotti, the Italian, shares with countrymen Andrea Caldarelli, and Matteo Cairoli.  This is Bortolotti's tenth pole and he earned his first in a Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini in 2015.  

The Schumacher/CLRT Porsche 911 GT3R (992) is on the outside pole.  Come Ledogar of France, this is his team, merged with Eduardo Schumacher, no relation to the famous racing family of Formula 1 lore.  This is the #22 Porsche 911 GT3R (992) set to be driven by Dorian Boccalacci of France, Germany's Laurin Heinrich, and Turkish driver, new Porsche recruit, Ayhancan Guven.  There's a lot to look forward to as spring is here and the crowd at Paul Ricard is ready for a fun race today.  It is more comfortable at this time of year in the spring, cooler.  The race will not be as long.  Fans young and old are here to see the GT3 cars on track.  

For many years Paul Ricard was a test track.  This is a festival of GT racing.  As I said, we have had GT4 and GT2 races too, and you will hear about those, soon.  There lots and lots of action that is still to come after this race is done and dusted in another three hours.  The grid is huge and fans here love GT racing, with many brands in the picture.  We don't know who is going to win.  There are no guarantees.  La Marseillaise, the French national anthem plays.  We are ten minutes away from the formation lap.  We will see two mandatory pit stops.  63 minutes per stint.  One of the things that has changed is SRO are using 100% biofuel in the GT3 cars.  

We are using TotalEnergies Excellium biofuel racing fuel to look after our world and keep stewardship of the earth in mind.  We have Antonia Rankin, intrepid pit reporter, checking in with the drivers.  Maxime Martin is happy with the qualifying position of the #46 BMW M4 GT3 in sixth place.  They have a strong car.  When the track cools, they can find their sweet spot.  Mattia Drudi, the San Marino based driver, he is with the Comtoyou Aston Martin team in car #7, ironically, not numbered as #007 as a nod to James Bond.  Drudi is sharing with "The Dane Train", so, Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen.  Drudi won the 2023 GTWC Europe Sprint Cup.  Aston Martin has high hopes with their all GT3 effort.  They have no worries about GTE anymore.  

There are four Aston Mattin's here.  Two were damaged on Saturday but repaired.  We are set to talk to the man himself, the head cheese of SRO, with his name on the sanctioning body, Stephane Ratel.  He says they are pleased to be here with a fabulous grid and a special anniversary because 30 years ago here at Paul Ricard, the BPR endurance championship began in 1994.  30 years later they have more cars and brands of GT3 cars.  We can see, if you are watching on GTWorld on YouTube, a montage of GT racing's past, cued up to the results theme, the "dance music" as I call it, that is one of SRO's themes.  

The BPR championship which this started as, morphed into the FIA GT Championship.  We had a lot of roadgoing type cars early on, Porsche's, Venturi's, Ferrari F40's.  Then came the awesome McLaren F1 GTR's.  BPR spread from Europe into Japan and there was a star-studded field of sports car and Formula 1 drivers alike in competition.  We saw races especially in the United Kingdom at Donington Park and Silverstone.  The McLaren GTR's were run by the late, great team boss Dave Price.  There were the McLaren's sponsored by Harrod's department store, and the Thomas Bscher run entry that was sponsored by German cigarette brand, West.  30 years on, GT racing remains incredibly popular, globally.  

Porsche won the first BPR racing with French former Formula 1 driver Jean Pierre Jarier, Spaniard, Jesus Pareja, and the late, great Bob Wollek, the French sports car racing legend.  GT1 started it all and that has morphed over the years into the FIA GT Championship and now into Fanatec GT World Challenge on most continents.  Europe, America, Asia, and Australia.  Over 30 years, it has been absolutely incredible.  When the Group C prototype championship ended in 1992, the manufacturers had poured so much money into the deal that the costs were astronomical, and the cars just could not be raced anymore.  Stephen Ratel, Jurgen Barth, and Patrick Peter, these three men said "wait a minute.  We need to keep sports car racing going on an international level."

GT racing was determined to be more cost effective, and so that is what they did.  GT racing is a massive success even today and in about five minutes, you are going to once again see why.  We had some awesome racing in the recent opener of Fanatec GT World Challenge America at Sonoma, California, and you've no doubt read about that.  Well, now we get the European season underway.  So, sit back, grab a cold beverage and some snacks, and get ready to enjoy some top shelf production sports car racing for the next oh, three hours or so.  The pre-race show is coming to a close.  We go racing... live, next!

We saw the old turbo Porsche 911 GT2 cars from the 1990s.  A totally different automobile than what we see today with the 992 model GT3 car.  Amateur drivers were encouraged to compete.  David Pittard in the Walkenhorst Aston Martin is ready to go.  I'll tell you what.  I digress.  I need to see if that archived footage of the classic GT cars from the '90s is on the SRO YouTube channel, and if I can find it, my gosh, I shall post it here at some stage.  You can count on it.  Walkenhorst Motorsports have moved from BMW to Aston Martin, and they are more competitive than Comtoyou Racing.  Ferrari well represented including AF Corse.  

Mechanics are strapping the drivers into their cars.  The grid based on aggregate of the best times of each driver who took part in qualifying, so every driver in each car turned laps to set the time.  Ricardo Feller is ready to g in the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi and will be on a tear to overtake a bunch of cars.  Audi Sport are effectively done and dusted.  Christopher Haase and Ricardo Feller, dropped into other teams, are still on Audi's payroll.  They are still getting money to drive and make a living through Audi.  The car is well-developed, and it is still winning races.  The team can still deliver a good result.  Audi have such a well sorted car, to make it fast and reliable.  It is a package everyone who has raced it, loves.  It is more of a front end oriented car than the front-engined cars like the Mercedes and the Aston Martin.

Green flag at the back and we are ready for the formation lap.  Race Control will take charge and release the cars.  We know one car is going to start from the pit lane after an engine change.  This is the #72 Barwell Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO of Patrick Kujala of Finland, Gabriel Rindone from Luxembourg, and British driver Casper Stevenson.  The cars roll off on the formation lap before we go racing.  Top drivers, brands, and teams are all ready to go with a wide open field.  Lamborghini found a load of pace.  54 cars starting the race.  Matteo Cairoli starting pole and he is last in the car for the final stint of the race. 

He knows he is part of a team and has a massive responsibility for the final stint of the race.  He is used to it.  He can handle the pressure.  The cars are now in Noah's Ark formation and ready to race.  Such a surprise to see Jules Gounon in the #2 GetSpeed Mercedes running the first stint rather than the last one.  Luca Stolz and Fabian Schiller are Jules Gounon's co-drivers.  The cars make their way towards the starting gantry.  Red lights on.  The clock starts as soon as the car break the timing beam.  Greem flag and away we go!  Everyone fanning out in the pack.  Mirko Bortolotti and Ayhancan Guven lead the field towards turn one for the first time.

Guven late under braking on the outside.  He runs deep, up the curb and off the road and we have a spinner!   That's the GRT Grasser Lamborghini of Christian Engelhart on stone cold Pirelli tires that has rotated.  Turn two has been calamity corner thus far.  There are cars everywhere coming through turn five.  There is one of the Mercedes-AMG GT3's with damage and that is possibly one of the Boutsen VDS entries.  They scream down the Mistral straight for the first time and the battle is well and truly afoot between BMW and Ferrari!  McLaren are also in that fight.  So, we see Mirko Bortolotti leading Ayhancan Guven and Jules Gounon.  Wow!  The rapid Brazilian, Augusto Farfus in the BMW on the inside goes to third spot!  

Farfus in the #998 Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3 making his bid early doors.  Farfus sharing the car with Dan Harper from England and with Germany's Max Hesse.  A fabulous move alongside the #2 Mercedes-AMG GT3 into Signes corner!  Bortolotti leads Guven, Gounon, and Farfus as well as Engelhart.  Christian Engelhart being harried by the BMW through Virage du Pont.  Settle down, lads.  Settle down.  Mirko Bortolotti extending his lead over the Porsche.  Bortolotti, Guven, Farfus, Gounon.  Into the pit lane at the end of lap one is Mark Radcliffe with the Optimum Motorsports McLaren.  We have now seen Christian Engelhart spin, and plummet from fourth to 46th place.  

So, he is definitely in catch up mode.  A bad start for Christian Engelhart.  Michele Berretta is also into the lane early.  He is now in a Mercedes-AMG GT3.  Beretta, the Italian, is driving the #77 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo sharing with Indian driver Arjun Maini and Germany's Jusuf Owega.  Two teams in toruble already.  Front left corner damage on the #77.  Five different brands in the top five places as we get underway.  Lamborghini leading with Mirko Bortolotti.  Second place belongs to Ayhancan Guven in the Porsche.  In third spot, Augusto Farfus in the BMW.  Fourth is Jules Gounon in the Mercedes.  Rounding out the top five, Alessio Rovera in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.

Rovera sets fastest sector time in sector one.  Maxime Martin calls in on the radio to WRT saying "I got hit in turn two and in turn ten."  So, he was hit twice.  Martin's car might not be handling well and the sister BMW of Charles Weerts is right behind.  Jules Gounon is being monstered by Alessio Rovera with the Ferrari right on his six.  Jules Gounon was passed by Augusto Farfus in the #998 BMW.  Any car Gounon is in you know it will be fast.  Gounon defending from Rovera.  Rovera has cut the fastest flying lap of the race as we get start and the BMW is bearing down on both him and the Mercedes.  Gounon runs wide.  Jules' father Jean Marc is here to cheer on his son, and he will be pouring on the steam because right now, Alessio Rovera in the Ferrari is all over him like a cheap suit.

Gounon knows how to drive a Mercedes and he is blocking the Ferrari from diving to the inside.  Mirko Bortolotti is your leader, in the Lamborghini.  Ayhancan Guven second in the Porsche.  Farfus third in the BMW.  Maxime Martin in sixth place in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 has uncorked fastest lap of the race.  Rovera and Gounon, Ferrari and Mercedes are glued together as we look down on Paul Ricard from the drone shot.  Martin is closing on Rovera despite the contact and Jules Gounon in the Mercedes, right now he is the cork in the bottle.

Martin closing in and fast.  Running 12th are our pals at Proton Competition in the new Ford Mustang GT3 and they have overtaken the McLaren.  It looks great, sounds great, and is running competitively.  We have seen the car in IMSA, in FIA World Endurance, and now in SRO competition.  Fredric Vervisch has moved ahead of Louis Prette and Louis Prette is no slouch.  So, this will be a battle royal to watch throughout the afternoon.  Vervisch moves past Prette.  The Mustang GT3 looks great and that Coyote V8 roars like a lion.  It sounds great.  

Fred Vervisch is about to have his hands full with David "Pitbull" Pittard because Pittard is right ahead in the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT3.  They have three cars, entered each in Pro, Silver, and Bronze.  Pittard sharing the #34 with fellow Englishman and Aston Martin factory ace Ross Gunn and with Portuguese driver Henrique Chaves.  Benjamin Goethe is running well in the McLaren, and we have the safety car quickly scrambled for a Full Course Yellow.  Someone is off course.  The incident from lap one means that the bollards have been totally destroyed.  There's a lot of rubbish, a lot of junk on the road.   This is another factor.  Running over shrapnel on the road will cut down a tire.

This closes the battle pack right up to Mirko Bortolotti and of course, safety cars breed safety cars with 52 cars still on the road.  The marshal is removing a huge chunk of debris.  Most of these parts are made of carbon fiber.  Extremely durable but as sharp as a razorblade.  There's gravel all over the track as well that will eventually get cleared up.  Gravel can also cut a tire.  Mirko Bortolotti is stymied and cannot build his lead.  Safety cars will breed safety cars as we have 52 cars still in this race.  These parts on the GT3 cars are so expensive and can be reconstructed.  One of the ones that came off a car, is junk.  Bin it.  

Maxime Martin and company have no place to go.  Augusto Farfus clonks into Christian Engelhart.  Engelhart has no place to go save for cannoning across the road and losing control of the car.  Maxime Martin came through unscatched.  Engelhart in the Lamborghini and spins.  He ran wide and was jolly lucky to not get T boned.  He lifted and lost it under braking.  Fred Vervisch was definitely muddled into that mess and made it through.  At Virage du Camp, Paul Evrard blew the corner in the #25 Sainteloc Audi.  One of the BMW's came completely to a stop.  Evrard in the #25 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 and that is the car he shares with fellow Frenchman Jim Pla and with the Belgian Gilles Magnus.  

The sister Sainteloc Audi, the #26 car, incidentally, has Alban Varutti of France sharing with Ukrainian driver Ivan Klymenko, and Belgian Ugo de Wilde.  Engelhatt snapped sideways facing the traffic and rolled back to the inside.  Engelhart must have tagged Maxime Martin's BMW M4 GT3.  Safety Car in this lap and we will be back to green flag conditions according to Race Director Alain Adam.  Mark Radcliffe rejoins the race but now is four laps down to the field in the #27 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo for Optimum Motorsport, sharing in the all-British lineup with Ollie Milroy and Rob Bell.

Safety Car lights off.  Mirko Bortolotti controls the field.  He wants to outfox and break away Ayhancan Guven.  Do not overtake until you are over the start/finish line.  Green flag.  Go!  Alright.  The cars are stacked together in single file.  Bortolotti makes the break.  Maxime Martin makes the break and now, Fred Vervisch is all over David Pittard in this battle of Mustang GT3 vs. Aston Martin like a cheap suit!  Oh man!  Have you ever?  No, I've never!  From Virage du l'Hotel to Virage du Camp they go.  From the hotel to the campground.  Although, from seeing this circuit on camera, it is very hard, save for the frontstretch, to see if the Paul Ricard track has any stellar vantage points from which to see the cars in action.

Through Virage de San Boem they go.  Many of the corners here at Paul Ricard are named for neighboring towns or landmarks although I have not seen many of these names on the actual track map which makes it harder to follow which corner the cars are actually in.  The Ford Mustang GT3 has had the legs on everyone else down the Mistral straight all weekend. The McLaren 720S GT3 is in hot pursuit but just does not have the speed.  They fly down the Mistral straight.  Ignore the chicanes for Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe.  We drive GT3 cars!  We don't need any chicanes!  When we cover GT2 and GT4 later on, you will see the chicanes being in service.

Up to Signes they go as we look at the overall top speeds on AWS Race Vision.  Now, it is hard to see who has the top speed.  This print on the graphic looks small.  /The Mustang and the Ferrari are the ones with the most top speed at 288 kilometers an hour, so that is 180 miles an hour, even.  Vervisch tries to pass David "Pitbull" Pittard.  Pittard comes back around the Ford driver and says, "oh no you don't, sunbeam."  Turn up the volume and listen to that V8.  It sounds like an older NASCAR Cup car or an older Trans Am car, or maybe even an Aussie Supercar.  At the top of the shop, Mirko Bortolotti leads by 7/10ths of a second from Ayhancan Guven.  

Augusto Farfus holds third in the BMW M4 GT3.  The fellow BMW of Maxime Martin in sixth still holds the fastest lap of the motor race to this point.  There is a local yellow flag on course and the one retirement we have had from this race is the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Michele Beretta which is stranded in the pit lane.  That is the #77 Haupt Racing Team car.  So, for Beretta and co-drivers Arjun Maini and Jusuf Owega, it is game over.  We have a battle between the Sky Tempesta Ferrari 296 GT3 #93, Chris Froggatt, and the Frenchman, Vincent Abril in the #71 AF Corse - Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3 that he is sharing with countryman Thomas Neubauer and with David Vidales of Spain.

We have Alban Varutti in one of the Audi's and he was the dominant Am driver in GT4 Europe last year.  Again, we should be able to bring you GT4 and GT2 races from Paul Ricard and other places, soon.  I think my schedule might just allow it if I can find the time.  Bortolotti making a break from the rest of the field ahead by 3/4 of a second, to one second.  The Porsche trying to hang onto the Lamborghini and Augusto Farfus in the BMW M4 GT3 is chasing Guven.  Guven is keeping Bortolotti honest.  Nut look in your picture and there's the Brazilian, Augusto Farfus.  He is lurking.  He is probing.  He wants a bite of the cherry.

Farfus in the Rowe Racing BMW but in a different paint scheme compared to the team car of Marco Wittmann.  So, he is the best of the BMWs with the Rowe Racing team outpacing the WRT team at this moment.  Before we resume the racing action, let's have a Captain Cook at the top ten.

1. #63 Bortolotti/Cairoli/Caldarelli Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2

2. #22 Guven/Heinrich/Boccalacci Schumacher CLRT Porsche 911 GT3R (992)

3. #998 Farfus/Harper/Hesse          Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3

4. #88 Patrese/Moncini/Ferrari       Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS EVO 2

5. #51 Rovera/Rigon/Pier Guidi     AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3

6. #46 Martin/Marciello/Rossi       Team WRT BMW M4 GT3

7. #32 Vanthoor/van der Linde/Weerts Team WRT BMW M4 GT3

8. #96 Andlauer/Niederhauser/Muller Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3R (992)

9. #159 MacDonald/Goethe/Gamble Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo

10. #98 Eng/Wittmann/Yelloly  Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3

Rowe outpacing WRT.  Bortolotti leads now by 7/10ths of a second, but Guven is quicker clawing back tenths of seconds.  Louis Prette continues chasing the Ford Mustang.  Louis Prette is the Bronze leader over Loek Hartog, and Chris Froggatt.  Loek Hartog at the wheel of the #97 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3R in the Bronze Cup.  Hartog, the Dutchman, sharing with American driver Dustin Blattner, and Dennis Marschall from Germany, moving over from Audi to Porsche for 2024.  The power onto the Mistral straight.  

Al Faisal Al Zubair leads the Gold Cup for Al Manar Racing in the #777 Mercedes-AMG GT3.  He is 16th ahead of Paul Evrard in the #25 Sainteloc Audi and Martin Kodric in the #60 2 Seas Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3.  Kodric, the Croatian driver, sharing alongside Lewis Williamson from England and Isa Al Khalifa, the driver from Bahrain.  We have yet another safety car scramble!  Oh dear!  We have lighting issues on the starting gantry, and they've changed colors, somehow.  Like Jimi Hendrix's line in his song "The Wind Cries Mary", "the traffic lights, they turn blue, tomorrow."  

This is why we started the race with the green flag instead of the lighting gantry.  This is a circuit electrical issue as we are only 20 minutes into this three-hour event.  A stint maximum time this year is 63 minutes.  It used to be 65 minutes.  The new biofuel and the balance of performance has been adjusted.  Safety Car in this lap and then we will go back to green flag racing.  The teams calculate their pit stops 68 minutes maximum into the race.  You must be connected to the refueling hose for a minimum of 43 seconds.  Safety car lights out.  So, the lighting issue is sorted out after only a lap behind the safety car.

Everyone is bunched up and ready to roll again.  The lighting gantry troubles are now fixed.  Green flag!  Green flag!  Through Virage de la Tour they come, towards the control line.  Mirko Bortolotti wants to get the jump over Ayhancan Guven.  The gap is only 4/10ths of a second.  The gap has opened slightly more.  Augusto Farfus is behind in third.  Benjamin Goethe in the McLaren is now ahead of this battle for 11th place which is between the Aston Martin of David Pittard and the Ford Mustang of Fred Vervisch.  Jules Gounon, Alessio Rovera, and Maxime Martin are right together.  This is a scrap between Mercedes, Ferrari, and BMW.  

Bortolotti is moving ahead of Guven.  Joel Sturm, coming onto the Mistral straightaway, he is on the wrong side of the bollards.  That could draw a penalty from the stewards if he isn't careful.  Maxime Martin on the outside of Alessio Rovera.  Martin is going for the pass.  Towards Signe corner, he makes it stick!  Now he is hung out to dry in the next turn at Double Droite de Beauseilles!  The Ferrari regains the place over the BMW.  Rovera made a fair move and did not try pinching Martin.  Bortolotti leading Guven and the rest.  Fred Vervisch has passed David Pittard for 11th place.  

Having a power advantage or a straight line speed advantage is a big deal.  Mattia Drudi and Al Faisal Al Zubair are right behind the McLaren of Louis Prette.  We have had a busy start with Mirko Bortolotti in the race lead.  Augusto Farfus is catching Ayhancan Guven.  As far as manufacturers, it is a good mix among the top ten.  We have several flavors in the candy dish.  Lamborghini, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari, two more BMW's, another Porsche, another BMW, and a McLaren, with the Ford Mustang in 11th for additional spice.

Mirko Bortolotti has stretched his lead over Guven.  In the back half of the top ten it is BMW on Porsche as we see Marco Wittmann chasing down Patric Niederhauser.  We have seen the former open wheel racer in Audi's for the past few seasons and now he is at the wheel of a Porsche.  He is driving for Rutronik Racing managed by Klaus Graf, former driver.  Marco Wittmann is one of the defending champions along with Rowe Racing at BMW of the next race on the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup calendar, in late June, the classic 24 Hours of Spa, the gold standard, the crown jewel.  June will be an amazingly busy month for endurance sports car racing.

So, stay tuned to the blog.  There will be boatloads to talk about and of course, yours truly seemingly never runs out of things to say.  Rovera has shaken off Martin but now he is right in the wheel tracks of the reigning champion, Monsieur Jules Gounon himself.  Gounon is defending against a quicker Ferrari.  Patric Niederhauser in an Audi was very impressive as we have another yellow flag.  Rovera and Gounon go side by side as we come back onto the Mistral straight and look at top speeds through turn seven which range anywhere from 186-188 kilometers an hour so that is a range of 116 and a quarter to 117 and a half miles an hour.

Wittmann is quickest.  Now, here comes Maxime Martin!  The grunt out of that turbocharged inline six BMW M4 GT3 makes the massive 6.2-liter V8 with no turbocharging, the normally aspirated engine, look absolutely breathless! Poor old Jules Gounon is in a locomotive that is running out of steam!  Martin just pops his nose out and both BMW's sweep right by.  Charles Weerts got a mega tow, too!  Gounon is not done yet!  He is finding speed in the old girl after all.  I was wrong when I said the Mercedes was low on steam.  

Courageous driving by both of them through Signes where you do not take any prisoners whatsoever.  Rovera should be hot and bothered but Gounon decides discretion is the better part of valor.  Charles Weerts, driving defensively, trying to keep Rovera behind him.  Jule Gounon now his Niederhauser right behind him and he is dragging Wittmann, Goethe, Vervisch, and more bandits from this freight train, right behind him.  Loek Hartog is there, too.  Louis Prette, meanwhile, in 14th place has uncorked the fastest lap of the motor race so far.

We watch now, the battle for fifth between Weerts, Rovera, and Gounon.  This is why GT3 racing all across the world, delivers, ladies and gentlemen.  This is one reason, along with the new prototypes we are seeing, why sports car racing is such a hot commodity in the racing world right now.  Attention, Formula 1.  Are you listening?  My gosh, as we go back to the Mistral straight again, we have two and a half more hours of this sweetly delicious motor racing ahead of us.  This is better than an assorted box of chocolates!  GT3 racing is, good for your soul!  

Bortolotti, Guven, and more.  Fred Vervisch is now making a pass on Benjamin Goethe in the McLaren.  The BMW #98 also passes Patric Niederhauser in the Porsche.  Niederhauser slowing down into Signes and accelerating again.  Be circumspect through traffic.  Matteo Llarena, the Italian licensed Guatemalan driver is handed a ten second penalty by the stewards for causing a collision.  He is in the #19 GRT - Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini along with British racer Hugo Cook and Haytham Quarajouli from Kuwait.

Half an hour of racing gone.  Bortolotti is not getting away.  Cars #7 and #13 under investigation, and Ayhacan Guven has gone straight on at turn two in the Porsche!  Oh boy.  David Pittard is off the pace in the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports Aston Martin!  Oh la la la la la!  I think he has a problem.  Pittard, an experienced driver who was part of the winning Ferrari team at the Nurburgring 24 Hours last year.  He has some pace but not enough.  Marco Wittmann breezes past Jules Gounon who is powerless to repel the pass because it is all done and dusted before the turn, at the end of the Mistral straight!  

Are there Balance of Performance adjustments?  I wonder.  Many of the Mercedes-AMG GT3's are struggling including Al Faisal Al Zubair and Adam Christodoulou.  #159, the Garage 59 McLaren is off the road as well.  Benjamin Goethe with some trouble.  Oh dear.  Left rear suspension broken on that automobile.  Deary me!  The car is crabbing.  Did he run over a curb or hit another car?  It is game over.  That suspension system is busted.  Garage 59's lead car and of course, Goethe is frustrated.  You can hear it on the in-car microphone.  Arrrrgh!, he yells.  You yelled?  Yes.  My car is broken!  Did the McLaren's suspension break on it's own or was there contact between Goethe and the Ford Mustang of Fred Vervisch.  Discuss.  

Oof! There's a BMW in trouble down the Mistral straight as well!  Charles Weerts in the #32 BMW M4 GT3 has a left reat tire cut down and it let's go!  He's lost the whole left side of that BMW M4 GT3!  When you run quickly with a deflated tire, it is like a sawblade and slices the carbon fiber bodywork.  Somehow Weerts came into contact with Alessio Rovera in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari.  The tire is shredded and has taken the whole left rear fender with it.  That was not intentional.  But Weerts cops a massive whack.  Bortolotti in the race lead will soon be in lapped traffic including Till Bechtolsheimer who is the new owner of Lola race cars.

Bechtolsheimer, the British driver and as we said, new owner of Lola cars, spun off the road at the wheel of the Barwell Motorsports Lamborghini just a wee while ago.  We are going Full Course Yellow and for good reason.  So, reviewing the top ten it is Mirko Bortolotti in the Lamborghini followed by the Porsche of Ayhancan Guven, Farfus, Martin, and Wittmann in three of the BMW's completing the top five.  In sixth through tenth, it is Jules Gounon in the Mercedes, the two Porsche's of Patric Niederhauser and Loek Hartog, and then the Ferrari of Alessio Rovera and the Aston Martin of Mattia Drudi.  

That fender from the #32 BMW will need to be cleared.  We are only 17 laps into the race as we are under Full Course Yellow for debris removal.  17 laps, 57 miles.  How much spare bodywork will WRT have at their disposal?    A ton of damage has been done and I don't think it is worth it repairing that car.  I think the amount of time it would take and the number of laps it would be behind, there is just no sense in trying to get back on track.  I think it is day done for the #32 team and the focus just needs to be at WRT on the #46 car still running.  I would probably throw in the towel for this race and then load up, go back to the workshop and get ready for the home race at the 24 Hours of Spa at the end of June.  Weerts made a mistake over the curbs and Weerts slides towards Rovera and clonks him.

Not the start of the year that WRT wanted.  You would be hard pressed to get points.  Testing during the rest of the race would be pointless, as a corner marshal throws away the carcass of the spent tire off the #32.  If a car were to hit that, it would do shedloads of damage.  The delta speed for the Full Course Yellow that everyone is running to now, is 80 kilometers an hour, 50 miles an hour.  The safety car can go quicker than that.  We could go to green sans the safety car but after losing temperature the drivers will have to turn on the tires again.

Ross Gunn explains that the Aston Martin has a loss of power steering.  David Pittard could not keep the car on track.  They tried a reset, and it didn't work.  The team is working incredibly hard trying to fix the Aston Martin, but we could potentially see yet another retirement and another team that will need to wait until the 24 Hours of Spa to find the magic again.  Walkenhorst, when they were a BMW team, half a dozen years ago, they found magic at the 24 Hours of Spa and won it.  This is the first European GT World Challenge race for the car, in GTWC Europe on the Pirelli tire.  Ross Gunn's father Ian Gunn was a good racing driver himself, especially in the British Mini Miglia Challenge.

The pwoer steering pump is an Achilles heel on the car.  power steering is a feature of any race car.  Did something break on Charles Weerts' BMW before the wreck?  It hopped as though something failed as he did not hit the curb.  Rovera was the innocent bystander.  Something broke on the BMW.  It had to.  It was totally out of Charles Weerts' hands.  Massive damage on the left rear.  Charles Weerts confirms he lost drive.  Something broke while in the entrance of the corner.  We are under safety car conditions.  We have had a Full Course Yellow and two safety car scrambles.  Safety car in this lap and we will be going back to green.

Try and get temperature back into the tires.  Mirko Bortolotti leads Pro.  Loek Hartog in Bronze.  Al Faisal Al Zubair in Gold.  Alban Varutti in Silver.  Charles Weerts, and Benjamin Goethe have retired.  Mark Radcliffe and company could also find themselves out of the race.  An update on the Mustang GT3, 11th in the overall.  Fred Vervisch still in the car.  He is starting behind Mattia Drudi.  The level of quality of drivers is incredibly high in GTWC Europe.  Green flag.  We are back to green with 19 laps now in the bag.  69 miles behind us.  

Jules Gounon is hanging onto the top six but it will be a long afternoon for Gounon and co-drivers Luca Stolz and Fabian Schiller.  Everyone using the curb as part of the racetrack as Mirko Bortolotti extends his gap.  In 22nd overall it is Ezequiel Perez-Companc in the #90 Mad Panda Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3.  Perez-Companc is one of just two drivers listed in the car this weekend, alongside Germany's Patrick Assenheimer.  That car is second in the Silver division chasing after the aforementioned #26 Audi in the hands of Alban Varutti.  

Ferrari vs. Mercedes.  Al Faisal Al Zubair vs. Vincent Abril.  The Monegasque driver cannot make his move.  Fred Vervisch in the Ford Mustang is now reeling in Mattia Drudi in the Aston Martin.  This will be a tasty battle to watch.  Louis Prette in the McLaren is right there, and he passes by Vervisch into Double Droite de Beauseilles!  That was too easy.  Like taking candy from a baby.  Bortolotti in the lead of the motor race as going way wide in the background is the Tresor Attempto Audi of Christopher Haase, Alex Aka, and Ricardo Feller.  That is the #99 car, the Audi R8 LMS Evo II.  Alex Aka at the wheel of it.

Mirko Bortolotti's gap is 9/10ths of a second over Ayhancan Guven and Guven, the Turkish driver, is still fighting Augusto Farfus, the Brazilian, in the #998 Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3.  Guven ahead of Farfus and the longer Farfus is stuck behund the Porsche, Martin and Wittmann in the other BMW's will be reeling him in hand over fist.  Jules Gounon runs ahead of Patric Niederhauser.  The BMW's are bringing themselves together but for some odd reason the Mercedes just seems recalcitrant and does not want to behave on the straightaways.  It does not want to put all the power down from the 6.2 liter V8 engine.  It is an odd character for that car.  I am surprised.  

WRT and Rowe positioning themselves for who can be top dog in Munich.  The race is beginning to settle down with 45 minutes now on the board.  French Olympian Frederic Dagee has been invited by Boutsen VDS to come and watch the GT World Challenge Europe race today at Paul Ricard.  He is happy to be here.  He is a racing fan, so it is great to have him here and he is rooting for the Boutsen VDS team.  Thierry Boutsen is here, too.  Their cars are down the order.  There are three or four BMW's in one cluster of cars as they head to Signes corner again.  

The gap first to second is fractional.  Now then, Fred Vervisch is really pushing and now, Ralf Bohn in the Herberth Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (992) is moving backwards.  Christian Engelhart is back in the race having made it to 33rd place from 46th spot.  He will conclude his stint in 15 minutes or so.  #163 is now 32nd.  The battle is on here, look, between the Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessio Rovera and the Porsche 911 GT3R of Loek Hartog.  Checking top speeds, V Max top speeds (maximum terminal velocity), the top running cars are somewhere between 285 and 288 kilometers an hour (178-180 miles an hour, give or take).

Rovera eighth, Hartog ninth, Drudi in tenth. Here are the drivers with those aforementioned top speeds.  Fred Vervisch in the Ford Mustang GT3 is fastest followed by the Ferrari 296 GT3 of Christian Hook, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Thai driver Tanart Sathirenthirikul, Christian Engelhart in the #163 GRT - Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini, and Alban Varutti in the #26 Sainteloc Audi.  The Mustang has a head of steam and makes a pass on Mattia Drudi in the Aston Martin.  There is a local yellow in turn 15 for the stopped Audi in the hands of Russian racer Andrey Mukovoz.  He is aboard the #66 Audi R8 LMS EVO II for Tresor Attempto Racing sharing with Max Hofer from Austria and Dylan Pereira from Luxembourg.

They are coming to the yellow flag zone.  Drudi has caught Vervisch as the field wriggles towards Virage du Pont.  Vervisch chasing Porsche Carrera Cup star Loek Hartog.  Drudi is getting more comfortable with the Aston Martin.  Vervisch has moved to 11th place over Louis Prette.  The Mustang GT3, that is a fast car!  Drudi goes deep and tries catching the Mustang.  Working lap 23 as the field wriggles to Virage de la Tour and Virage du Pont.  Bortolotti has uncorked the fastest lap of the race and leads over Ayhancan Guven.  Farfus, Martin, and Wittmann in the three BMW's are beginning to close in.  Is this the new version of the three musketeers?

We are approaching the end of the first hour.  Ayhancan Guven, best absolute lap in sector one.  Guven is turning it on, but there's more trouble for Aston Martin.  The #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin of David Pittard has made it back on track, but the car is on fire!  It is literally on FiYah!, to use the colloquial spelling.  Hopefully the fire goes out before poor old David Pittard makes it back to the pit lane.  Ayhancan Guven is beginning to push before we end the first stint.  Bortolotti led by 1.3 seconds and in this battle, we'll see.  David Pittard out of the car and something is burning on that Aston Martin, trying to get a marshal with a fire extinguisher.

We're going Full Course Yellow because of Pittard's Aston Martin being on fire.  The flame was coming directly from beneath the drivers' compartment where the driver sits.  So, I wonder and hope that David Pittard did not suffer any burns.  He was literally on the hot seat in that situation.  Oof!  Full Course Yellow to retrieve the Aston Martin and for the flames being extinguished.  The teams now working out their stint strategy.  After his lap one dramas, Christian Engelhart has made his way back up to 32nd place at the wheel of the #163 GRT - Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini.  

Another safety car would help him.  He has passed 14 cars after dropping down the order.  He is a good racing driver.  The driver is OK after the fire.  It is easy to make passes on cars in the bottom third of the field, but as he moves to the middle it becomes harder and harder and he must rely on teamwork, Full Course Yellows, and safety car scrambles.  Grasser Racing has a team, in that car of Christian Engelhart, the German driver, along with Franck Perera of France and Marco Mapelli of Italy.  Ayhancan Guven set fastest lap of the race before the Full Course Yellow.  Guven is in the lane and I think the Lamborghini of Bortolotti is in too.  This is at the end of lap 25.  So, we have gone 25 laps, almost 91 miles.  

Matteo Cairoli will do the middle stint and Andrea Caldarelli will do the final stint of the race.  It could be Matteo Cairoli actually getting in the car, or rather, Caldarelli, and then Cairoli.  So, Marco Wittmann and BMW are the erstwhile leaders while we circulate under Full Course Yellow.  BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari, the top three on track.  About a third of the field has come in.  Alban Varutti is now leading the Silver Cup ahead of a struggling Lucas Auer.  So, on the pit stops, the Porsche for CLRT has gone ahead of the Grasser Racing Lambo!  Well, well, well.  

The advantage, based on th epit stops has swung to the Porche with almost an hour of racing in the books.  Andrea Caldarelli will do the second stint.  Dan Harper is now aboard the #998 Rowe Racing BMW and in the #46 Team WRT BMW it is now Valentino Rossi.  So, they are keeping their powder dry at WRT and are saving Raffaele Marciello to go for it at the end of the motor race, in the final hour.  We are under Full Course Yellow currently and they must stay at 80 kilometers an hour.  A regular and unsettling feature of the Ford Mustang GT3 is that the car sheds the decklid, the boot lid is gone once again.  

The factory cars that race in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship went through this malady at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.  We did not see it necessarily at the 12 Hours of Sebring, but we have seen it in the FIA World Endurance Championship and are now seeing it in GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup as well.  They also lost it at the 12 Hours of Sebring in IMSA.  Hopefully it is not breaching regulations.  We are under Full Course Yellow attending to the Aston Martin that was on fire and it is being retirived and will be retired.  

Pittard earlier was on the radio to the team.  "Something is burning.  Something is on fire."  He wasn't wrong.  Pittard has been a regular at Walkenhorst Motorsports.  He is also an Aston Martin junior driver and he has been with the Walkenhorst team for many years.  Now, we have the Rowe BMW and the GetSpeed Mercedes in the lane along with the #51 AF Corse Ferrari of Alessio Rovera.  Some pit boxes are before the timing line and others come after it, so the race order can be jumbled when you least expect it.  The erstwhile leader of the motor race while we are under Full Course Yellow becomes the #22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche 911 GT3R with Dorian Boccolacci at the controls.  The reigning Porsche Carrera Cup France champion has already pitted.

He was teammate to Alex Albon in Formula 3 as well, Dorian Boccolacci was.  The top nine cars are in the pit lane.  The Rowe BMW will fall down the order.  Porsche leads after the pit stops.  Back into fourth place will be the Rowe Racing BMW of Nick Yelloly.  Fabian Schiller now driving the #2 GetSpeed Mercedes.  Dennis Olsen has now taken over the #64 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 from Fred Vervisch.  So, the Norwegian driver steps in for the Belgian.  Valentino Rossi is once again ready to go racing.  Everyone is about to bunch up behind the safety car.

We have now completed 27 laps, 91 miles.  Davide Rigon is now at the wheel of the #51 AF Corse - Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3.  Maro Engel is now at the wheel of the #48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann Filter Mercedes-AMG GT3 he shares with Lucas Auer and Daniel Morad.  That tells me Morad, the rapid Canadian, will take over for the final stint of the motor race.  Let's have another top ten review.  Dorian Boccolacci leads the motor race ahead of Andrea Caldarelli, Dan Harper, Nick Yelloly, Julien Andlauer, Fabian Schiller, Davide Rigon, Valentino Rossi, Dustin Blattner, and Dennis Olsen.  

So, that is Porsche, Lamborghini, BMW, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Ferrari, BMW, Porsche, and Ford.  Boccalacci is under investigation for short refueling.  Car #78 may have contravened SRO regulations for short pit stops.  Antoine Doquin at the controls of the Barwell Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 at this moment, sharing with Till Bechtolsheimer and Sandy Mitchell.  Something is hanging off the back of the Porsche and it looks like the earthing cable that is connected to the car when it is being refueled in the pit lane.

That is strange.  The scrutineers, the marshals, want that car into the lane.  Andrea Caldarelli points this out on his team radio and now, the marshals are going to call Boccalacci to the pit lane, to the penalty box, because they have given him the mechanical black flag, the "meatball" flag, the black flag with the big orange dot in the middle of it.  This is an unmitigated disaster for CLRT, Come Ledogar Racing Team, because they are going to fly Plummet Airways pretty much from first to last in the running order.  Is that why the car got ahead of the Lamborghini?  It is very possible.  The cable maybe could not be pulled away after the pit stop.  

We go to safety car procedure.  Miro Bortolotti says everything is going to plan in his interview with Antonia Rankin in the pit lane.  They lost a bit of time.  Just under two hours to go.  Iron Lynx will get a reprieve.  It is a double whammy for the Porsche team.  The cable is flailing around, and it is connected to the car.  It is stuck.  It is rooted in.  Maro Engel is about to gain a place in the #48 Mercedes.  Dorian Boccalacci gets the cable disconnected but he will hemmorhage places left, right, and center!  Andrea Caldarelli now leads the motor race.  So, the new top ten looks like this.

It is Andrea Caldarelli now leading Dan Harper, Nick Yelloly, Julien Andlauer, Fabian Schiller, Davide Rigon, Valentino Rossi, Dustin Blattner, Dennis Olsen, and Dorian Boccalacci.  Lamborghini, BMW, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Ferrari, BMW, Porsche, Ford, and Porsche.  James Cottingham is racing for the first time in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS.  It is his second, he was with Mercedes at the 24 Hours of Spa last year.  He made his name in historic racing.  We are going to the green flag and into the second of three hours in this race.

What will Dan Harper do to take on Andrea Caldarelli?  Remember the #163 Lamborghini of Marco Mapelli is up to 28th place.  Dan Harper won the 2023 British GT Championship with Darren Leung.  Leung is in this race in the #991 Century Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 sharing with fellow British racers Toby Sowery and Jake Dennis.  Sowery at the wheel of that car, currently.  Green flag!  We are back after it here in the Paul Ricard 500 Kilometers!  We have an hour and 48 minutes to go.  The lead battle pack steams to turn one.  Dennis Olsen wants by Dustin Blattner and he has made his move.  No replacement for displacement.

This is the first race in Europe for the Mustang on Pirelli tires.  Dennis Olsen is chasing down Valentino Rossi.  Dan Harper chasing Andrea Caldarelli.  What will the performance level be between the Mustang and the BMW?  Dan Harper is now chasing Andrea Caldarelli for first place.  Into Signes corner they go.  Caldarelli has Dan Harper all over him.  Caldarelli has great race craft and Dan Harper is learning well how to be a racing driver in this situation.  Fabian Schiller is chasing down Julien Andlauer.  Dorian Boccalacci has fallen all the way to 46th place.  

Dennis Olsen moves past Valentino Rossi for seventh spot!  The Mustang charges past the BMW!  Valentino Rossi as compromised.  He will try using the slipstream from the Mustang.  The gap is opening up and I don't know if Rossi has the straight-line speed in the locker chasing the Mustang.  The BMW's have been on an even keel with the Ferrari's and the Mercedes'.  Rossi is dropping away from the Mustang into Signes.  The Porsche's are behind, the cars of Dustin Blattner and Alex Malykhin.  Now, the #99 Audi is coming into the picture as well.  This is the Tresor Attempto entry.  That is Ricardo Feller who has passed both Marco Sorensen and Maro Engel.  

What on earth has happened to the Mercedes'?  They have fallen off a cliff compared to yesterday in Free Practice and this morning in qualifying.  They seem to be nowhere compared to a number of the other cars in this motor race.  Engel passes Sorensen in the #7, the #007 Aston Martin.  In the James Bond novels written by Ian Fleming, Bond begins as a Bentley driver but then subsequently chooses the Aston Martin as his exotic car.  Nicki Thiim still to go as Sorensen has just taken over from Mattia Drudi.  

Fred Vervisch remains the fastest driver, the fastest car on track with the Ford Mustang GT3!  When he was driving that car, he did... gulp... 291 kilometers an hour!  That's 182 miles an hour!  Christian Hook in the #333 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 clocked in at 288 kilometers an hour (180 miles an hour), followed by Alban Varutti in the Sainteloc Audi #26 who ran the same speed.  Fourth and fifth fastest VMAX turned in by Martin Kodric in the #60 2 Seas Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 at 286 kilometers an hour (178 and 3/4 miles an hour) with an identical speed turned in by Marco Wittmann in the #98 Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3. Mega!  Note to Ford, I would like to test drive a Mustang GT3!  Hardy har har.

Dennis Olsen was no slouch in Porsche's and won a championship for them in Porsche Super Cup and was an Intercontinental GT Challenge champion in SRO.  Maro Engel is now right on the tail of the Thomas Neubauer Ferrari and will take Marco Sorensen with him down the Mistral straight.  Thomas Neubauer in the Ferrari going for it as well.  Ricardo Feller in the Audi has gained places and now, he is on the attack, look, on the Bronze rated McLaren 720S GT3 of James Cottingham.  So, currently. Valentino Rossi is stuck between a rock and a hard place, and he has no answer to Dennis Olsen's riddle at this moment.  

The margin is 7/10ths of a second between Caldarelli and Harper.  Ricardo Feller takes a spot away from the Bronze Cup leading Porsche #97, the Rutronik Racing entry of American Dustin Blattner.  This puts Cottingham closer to Blattner.  This is for Bronze Cup honors.  James Cottingham was a late booking at McLaren because Miguel Ramos, the Portuguese driver had surgery and is recuperating.  Dan Harper under investigation from the stewards for overtaking in an illegal manner.  We have even more drivers scrapping for position.  Let's see if we can't sort out this hornet's nest.

Said hornet's nest is in the Silver division.  Ivan Klymenko, the Ukrainian racer, is leading it in the #26 Sainteloc Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.  Then comes the #90 Mad Panda Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Patrick Assenheimer, the German.  Dan Arrow is next in another Mercedes, the #57 Winward Racing car.  Romain Leroux is next up in the #35 Walkenhorst Motorsports Aston Martin and behind him is the #10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes now in the hands of Cesar Gazeau.  Marco Mapelli is also in this battle.  

We have needed to see how much is going on with positional battles in each of the classes.  Yes, I have been reading the graphics for each class.  But there is so much going on that it is hard to get to the individual class order in each one without wasting time.  Dan Harper is under investigation, unless it is something committed by Augusto Farfus in the first stint.  Dan Harper has done nothing wrong.  He is 7/10ths of a second behind Andrea Caldarelli.  Cesar Gazeau has Marco Mapelli ahead of him in the Lamborghini.  That car was fourth on the grid and had a spin in turn one.  Christian Engelhart and Marco Mapelli have been the two drivers to have stints in that car so far and in this 500 kilometer event it has been a tough slog for both of them, to this point.

Dan Arrow was christened with a Dutch surname that nobody can pronounce and hence why he changed his surname before he went racing.  He is a quick driver and drove in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe some years ago.  Jim Pla in the #26 Sainteloc Audi is between them, and Fabian Schiller is the fastest Mercedes in the #2 GetSpeed car.  Andrea Caldarelli still being harried by Dan Harper.  We have now completed 34 laps, 123 and a half miles, with just under an hour and 40 minutes to go.  So, in nine minutes we will have reached the halfway mark in the race on clock time.  On lap one, Augusto Farfus took BMW #998 off the road with all four wheels over the white line.  Clearly, he was out of bounds.  

Jules Gounon looks puzzled.  Luca Stolz his co-driver is also in the pit lane. If there is a penalty for #998 Dan Harper will have to serve it.  In Silver, Ivan Klimenko leads as in Bronze Cup, Dustin Blattner is about to be eaten up by James Cottingham's McLaren, so we are set to see a change for the class lead in the Bronze Cup.  Jim Pla is now making his move as well, on Thomas Neubauer in the Ferrari.  Dominik Baumann in his Mercedes leads the Gold Cup.  Dustin Blattner is doing a very good job, the American driver.  Dominik Baumann defending from many cars.  Patrick Assenheimer is being given hip and shoulder by Cesar Gazeau.  Goodness gracious!  There is so much action here at Paul Ricard, yours truly cannot keep up!  What next in this race?  What next?  

Neubauer splits the Gold lead battle!  Jim Pla will not be happy.  The Ferrari runs defensive against the Audi of Ivan Klymenko.  That is the #26 Sainteloc car if I am right.  Meanwhile, at the top of the shop, Dan Harper is reeling in Andrea Caldarelli as we edge closer to the halfway mark here at Paul Ricard.  Oh boy!  Check this out.  Down the Mistral straight they fly and Harper, oh man.  You know he wants this, and he wants to lead and dispense of the green Lamborghini.  37 laps now in the book and into Signes, Harper wants a bite of the cherry.  The Northern Irishman is determined to make his move on the Italian and stake his claim on the lead of the motor race.

Harper tries again on the inside.  No space.  Harper is running 4/10ths of a second quicker than Caldarelli and I wonder where that 4/10ths of a second came from last time by.  Harper decides discretion for now is the better part of valor.  But through Signes and onto the Mistral straight he might just have another chance.  Nick Yelloly in the other Rowe Racing BMW is lapping quicker than these two blokes.  So, you know he wants a piece of this action as well and will do whatever he can to get it.  Julien Andlauer in the Porsche is in fourth place right now.  

In the other classes, gulp... deep breath.  Justin Blattner leads Dominik Baumann in Gold Cup while in Bronze Cup, James Cottingham is stymied in traffic, and I think it is still Jim Pla in the Audi who is steaming right along in hot pursuit.  Baumann, Blattner, Cottingham, Pla, Neubauer, there are several names here who have a shot at it when the pay window opens in about half an hour.  James Cottingham has to know several of these other drivers are running quicker than he is, presently.  Pla goes ahead of Cottingham who must recover, and he is setting sail after Dominik Baumann as well.  

Dustin Blattner though is the chap everyone else is trying to catch.  Cottingham is taking the pain right now and soon, if this group catches up, Dustin Blattner will be in the same situation.  39 laps in the book and hour and a half into the race.  So, it is true.  We are officially at half distance, ladies and gentlemen.  142 miles covered.  So, lucky guess we may get to just short of the 500-kilometer scheduled distance in the three-hour time allotment.  A battle is now afoot for fourth place between Mercedes, Porsche, and Ferrari.  Fabian Schiller is being harried by both Julien Andlauer and Davide Rigon.  Schiller takes a spot back.  

We thought the Mercedes' performance was falling away.  But Schiller seems to be holding his own with the Porsche with Julien Andlauer at the wheel of it.  Side by side into turn one, and that is a brave move there by Fabian Schiller!  Yikes!  Caldarelli opens the door and Harper needs no second invitation!  Caldarelli Vs off the corner and that was a fake.  That was a mirage.  Harper had to be conscious Caldarelli was going to divebomb him.  With the Lamborghini hovering in the middle of the track, Harper can still go for it.  Rowe Racing BMW's are second and third.  Caldarelli is now being reeled in.

Valentino Rossi is hanging on well in eighth spot but of the three remaining BMW's the sole remaining WRT entry might not have the same speed as the Rowe Racing machines.  Dennis Olsen in seventh in the Ford Mustang GT3 is just up the road.  So, we could see a rematch between those two before long.  Will it be time for chapter two of the Valentino Rossi vs. Dennis Olsen story to be written?  Well, stay with us and we'll find out together.  Rossi is clawing back time is only 6/10ths of a second behind the Mustang.  Jim Pla, in the meantime, has moved through to take over the lead of the Gold Cup and get the best of Dominik Baumann at least briefly.  

This is one of the best drives we have seen from Jim Pla in a competitive GT3 car, and now, we go straight back to the lead scrap, and we find Dan Harper moving in for another shot at Andra Caldarelli, but still, no dice!  Harper crawling all over the back of Caldarelli.  They sweep up into Virage de la Tour.  Dan Harper can use more of the road compared to Caldarelli.  Caldarelli needs speed before committing to the corner.  Dan Harper is jinking left and right trying to force Caldarelli into a mistake.  This is what a good racing driver does.  He is playing mind games with his opponent.  

Caldarelli is wise to Harper's moves, but Harper is not done yet!  Harper tries again going up the curb and guess what?  Caldarelli slams the door in his face.  Harper is now stuck between a rock and a hard place because Nick Yelloly is closing on him all the time.  You can't forget Fabian Schiller in the Mercedes either.  He will not be one to roll over and have his tummy scratched.  Pit stop for the #22 Porsche under investigation for unsafe release.  That is Dorian Bocalacci and things will only get worse for him and the team.  Andrea Caldarelli has Dan Harper right with him.  

I think the BMW is handling better than the Lamborghini right now.  Up to the end of lap 42 they come.  The margin is closing, and Dan Harper's pace is being dictated by what Caldarelli is doing and this is allowing Nick Yelloly to close in as well.  Harper can choose his line and take a tighter line than the Lamborghini.  With Dorian Bocalacci, he is 33rd and is still on the lead lap even though he has a penalty looming.  Into Signes corner, Dan Harper sees his chance, and he takes it!  He's through and takes the lead!  

Caldarelli wants to take it back.  "Oh no you don't, sunbeam" says Dan Harper, and he is the new leader!  Caldarelli is not happy.  He is going to take the lead back come hell or high water.  Dan Harper should be able to pull away from Caldarelli.  Caldarelli did not like it.  Harper will get into a rhythm.  They are coming back to the Mistral straight and the BMW will be able to bring some more power.  Another BMW is well on it's way to giving Caldarelli all he can handle.  Now Nick Yelloly is giving Andrea Caldarelli the same treatment and reeling the Italian driver in the Italian car.  

James Cottingham in the McLaren has dropped back to third place in the Bronze Cup and is under investigation by the stewards for a track limits penalty, specifically, being outside track limits and gaining a position at the same time.  Toby Sowery has made his move past Cottingham.  We'll be concerned about pit stops in another 20 minutes.  But right now, Caldarelli just cannot shake these BMW M4's.  Nick Yelloly is zoning in on the lime green Lamborghini looking to pass.  Yelloly has closed the gap, Yelloly's teammate Philipp Eng looking on.  

Ricardo Feller in the Audi next up followed by Dennis Olsen in the Ford Mustang.  Rigon goes wide over the curb and the Porsche motors ahead.  An hour and 15 minutes to go.  Trouble for the #12 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of the Danish driver Sebastian Ogaard.  I wonder if that motorcar is secondhand and losing bodywork.  No further action from the stewards RE: James Cottingham investigation for track limits.  Ogaard trundling down the pit lane as Dan Harper finds himself on his merry way in the lead, two seconds clear of Andrea Caldarelli.  Now then, Dustin Blattner is about to lose his Bronze Cup class lead because the #8 Ferrari 296 GT3 is steaming up beside him.

30 second penalties to be taken at the next pit stop for track limits violations for three cars.  Car's #55, #60, and #30.  So, #30 is the OQ by Oman Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Ahmad Al Harthy, Jens Klingman, and Sam De Haan, the Omani driver sharing with the German and the Brit.  Car #55 is the Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3R of Jop Rappange, the German, sharing with Norway's Marius Nakken, and fellow German Christopher Zoechling, and the #60 is the 2 Seas Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Martin Kodric, Isa Al Khalifa, and Lewis Williamson.  

If you have six warnings, the 30 second penalty comes.  Now we have the battle of the Benelux drivers, Kobe Pauwels vs. Jef Machiels.  Ferrari #52 looking to pass one of the Aston Martin's, the #7 as Dorian Bocalacci is right behind South African David Perel in another Ferrari.  Jonathan Hui is 34th in the overall and is racing in the Bronze Cup before Eddie Cheever III. finishes the race out.  Hui is trying to pass Ahmad Al Harthy.  Marco Mapelli in another Lamborghini is 15th.  Lorenzo Patrese in one of the Audi's has passed.  Meanwhile, Davide Rigon is chasing Julien Andlauer and they are side by side!  Rigon tries going the long way around, but it will not work.  Dennis Olsen in the Mustang is back there, too.

We could have ten possible winners before this race is over.  The Ferrari can take a tighter entry into the corner.  The #12 Aston Martin of Sebastian Ogaard has lost bodywork.  Ogaard, the Danish driver, sharing the #12 Comtoyou Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo with Germany's Esteban Muth and Belgium's Nicolas Baert, former Audi driver.  No further action taken on James Cottingham's McLaren and the possible penalty.  Now, Dustin Blattner is about to lose a spot to a Ferrari down the Mistral straightaway.  This is car of Niccolo Schiro, one of three Italian drivers entered in it alongside Nicolo Rosi, and David Fumanelli.  I beg your pardon, Rosi is Swiss, or at least racing under a Swiss license.  

Toby Sowery in the #991 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 is right behind.  The Bronze Cup top three is right in your living room, and this is getting spicy!  Schiro makes his move and now, look, Blattner is getting mugged by Sowery!  Sowery passes Blattner.  He has the American covered, and here's another contestant.  Romain Leroux, the Silver graded driver also makes his move.  Leroux at the wheel of the #35 Walkenhorst Motorsports Aston Martin he is sharing with fellow Frenchman Maxime Robin, and British driver Lorcan Hanafin.  Three cars overtaken in the space of two corners.  

We are not too far from the end of the second stint.  Pit stops factored in.  Dan Harper two seconds to the good up the road.  48 laps now in the bag, 174 miles.  Cesar Gazeau now runs ahead of his Boutsen VDS Mercedes teammate Thomas Drouet.  Drouet, the Frenchman is sharing the #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes with German Mercedes veteran Maximilian Gotz and with British AMG factory racer Adam Christodoulou.  We have some of the class leaders.  Niccolo Schiro leads Bronze.  Jim Pla leads Gold.  Dann Arrow leads Silver.  There is a scrap for second heating up in the Gold Cup class.  

This is the #777 Al Manar Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the hands of Dominik Baumann, the German, scrapping with the #111 CSA Racing Audi in the hands of Adam Eteki, part of an all-French trio.  Eteki sharing with Romain Carton and Arthur Rougier.  Dan Arrow behind on the road, leads the Silver class.  Marco Mapelli continues pushing.  Adam Eteki is getting better and better with every season he races in GTWC Europe.  The Silver class battle has been the battle to watch for the entire race thus far.  Adam Eteki swings to the inside and makes his move on Dominik Baumann.  That was a massive commitment, he got his breaking spot on.

The Audi is venerable and has a ton of data, the car well developed and balanced.  It is a solid turnkey race car.  Eteki is weaving halfway down the straightaway.  Would Race Control take an interest in that?  He may be warned.  Fundamentally, you make a single move and stick to the part of the road you are on instead of swishing all over the road trying to distract your competitor.  Ricardo Feller has passed Davide Rigon as Marco Mapelli is now up to 15th and Dorian Boccalacci has made his way up to 27th spot.  Mapelli is 14th in the Pro Cup class.  Franck Perera, the Frenchman, will take over that car for the final hour of the race and of course Perera was the fastest qualifier for this race.  

There is some detached bodywork on the front of that Lamborghini.  Something for the team to look at and grab gaffer tape.  The last thing they need is a meatball flag.  Dan Harper now leads Andrea Caldarelli by 3.2 seconds as Caldarelli has his hands full with Nick Yelloly in the Rowe Racing #98 BMW.  Ricardo Feller is being harried, attacked, by Julien Andlauer and Feller fends him off.  Andlauer eats up the curb, but Feller stays ahead.  Davide Rigon right behind these two.  Ricardo Feller is driving impressively as we close in on another racing hour being completed.  Rigon upholding honors for Ferrari.  Dan Harper is three seconds to the good in the lead.  

The off-course excursion Augusto Farfus had on lap one during his opening stint in the #998 BMW is being examined by the stewards.  They have not come to a decision on it yet.  At Boutsen VDS, we have found Thierry Boutsen.  These are much more sophisticated cars than the Formula 1 cars that Thierry Boutsen drove in the 1980s and early 1990s.  He quit racing after 22 years and is now a team owner.  He enjoys being back around the atmosphere of racing and reminds him of things he has done in the past.  Great to see him.  

I remember Thierry Boutsen driving Porsche 911 GT1's and Toyota GT One's at Daytona and Le Mans in the late 1990s and am aware he was also in Formula 1 for a while.  Boutsen's new job is as a jet aircraft broker.  There is an airfield across from the circuit with many executive jets on it.  Which one is mine?  The biggest one.  Ha!  I wish!  I am just a humble blogger.  I don't get rich by telling you all the stories of these sports car races, unfortunately.  64 minutes of racing left on the board.  Andlauer and Rigon have been scrapping with each other for the bulk of this entire hour.  

Dan Harper leads Andrea Caldarelli.  Let's have another look at the top ten.

1. #998 Harper/Farfus/Hesse                Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3

2. #63 Caldarelli/Cairoli/Bortolotti      Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2

3. #98 Yelloly/Eng/Wittmann               Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3

4. #2 Schiller/Gounon/Stolz                 M-AMG Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO

5. #99 Feller/Haase/Aka                       Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II

6. #96 Andlauer/Niederhauser/Muller  Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3R (992)

7. #51 Rigon/Rover/Pier Guidi             AF Corse - Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3

8. #64 Olsen/Mies/Vervisch                 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3

9. #46 Rossi/Martin/Marciello             Team WRT BMW M4 GT3

10. #48 Engel/Morad/Auer                  Mercedes-AMG Team Mann Filter Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO

Feller has moved ahead of the Porsche in the Audi and Rigon is being stymied by Julien Andlauer.  They fly back onto the Mistral straight, foot flat to the firewall.  The cornering and braking loads in these GT3 cars are unbelievable.  Pit stop time now for Marco Mapelli in the Lamborghini and James Cottingham in the McLaren.  I wonder if he has had a problem because he has fallen way down the order back to 40th place.  Franck Perera has now taken over the Lamborghini for the final hour of the race.  

Everyone will soon go for their final pit stops before we get done and dusted here this afternoon at Paul Ricard.  Julien Andlauer, Dennis Olsen, and Valentino Rossi, all of them are pitting, too.  There are more driver changes happening.  Franck Perera has rejoined just ahead of Dan Harper and is desperately trying to not go a lap down.  Franck Perera fighting Harper on the inside up to Signes corner.  Harper tries the outside and makes it work, so Perera is a lap down.  Team Manager of the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, the Charles Weerts, Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde BMW M4 GT3 is being summoned to race control.

That car retired from the race, expiring because of the massive bodywork damage we saw caused by the blown tire.  I have to wonder why the Race Director is calling the team manager of a car that has long since retired from the motor race.  That, to me, is puzzling.  Christopher Mies will now take the #64 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 to the end of the motor race and so, the race order shuffles again.  #46, now with Raffaele Marciello at the wheel, and he will be battling hard with Christopher Mies.  BMW vs. Ford.  Luca Stolz will take over from Fabian Schiller in the #2 Mercedes and Nick Yelloly hands the #98 Rowe Racing BMW over to Philipp Eng.  

Dan Harper stays out for an extra lap and so does Andrea Caldarelli.  Rowe Racing BMW want to avoid double stacking their cars in the pit lane.  That would be a nightmare.  Sven Mueller has taken over the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3R for the final stint of the race.  Franck Perera has rejoined the race just ahead of the leader, Dan Harper, as they fly once more down the Mistral straight.  Perera is fighting to not go a lap down to Harper.  Harper makes his move.  Perera has the inside and does get lapped.  Harper did not have to make a major effort.  That was like taking candy from a baby.  Harper did not want to have that gap to Caldarelli and Yelloly.  

The car retired 16 laps into this race, but the team manager of the #32 Team WRT BMW is being summoned to the Race Control office.  Hmmm.  No tea and biscuits, or tea and croissant, for you, monsieur.  That was the heavily damaged #32 BMW of Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde, and Charles Weerts.  Christopher Mies has just rejoined the race in the #64 Ford Mustang GT3 with an hour to go and Raffaele Marciello, will finish the race in the #46 Team WRT BMW.  In has come the #2 M-AMG Team GetSpeed Mercedes of Luca Stolz handing off to fellow German co-driver, Fabian Schiller.  

Nick Yelloly is also handing over the #98 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 to Philipp Eng.  New Pirelli tires going onto the car.  This means Rowe are cycling the #98 through the lane first, keeping Dan Harper on track for an extra lap so their pit boxes will be clear.  Again, double stacking would be a nightmare.  Andra Caldarelli has also stayed on track as we are looking now at the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3R (992) which has pitted and rejoined the race with Sven Mueller at the controls.  Luca Stolz roars away in the #2 GetSpeed Mercedes.  Don't clip the demarcation line.  The #99 Tresor Attempto Audi has fallen back behind the Porsche.  

Philipp Eng has dropped down the order considerably.  He has fallen back into the clutches of the Ford Mustang GT3, the #64.  Something went awry on the Rowe Racing pit stop for Eng.  His stop was 20 seconds longer than the competition.  Dan Harper continues to lead and must be cautious around this lapped traffic.  Dan Harper is hoping he won't be affected on his pit stop as he too is in a Rowe Racing BMW.  Three drivers have yet to stop.  Davide Rigon in the Ferrari, Maro Engel in the Al Manar Mercedes, and Marco Sorensen in one of the Aston Martin's.  Dorian Bocalacci is going to fall back down the order again.  Dan Harper looks like he is staying out.  The #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini now has Matteo Cairoli at the wheel to do the final stint.

We need to see when the #998 will pit.  When Harper brings it in, Max Hesse will be racing the final stint.  Ah.  Dan Harper is in the lane now.  We watch Luca Stolz on track.  A line of cars entering and/or exiting.  Dan Harper helping Max Hesse, but they are hung up on the seatbelts for a second.  It is OK.  Hesse will be chasing down Matteo Cairoli.  Cairoli for years was a Porsche specialist.  He has switched to Lamborghini and is racing now for both their GTWC Europe GT3 program and for their Hypercar program in the FIA World Endurance Championship with the SC63 prototype of course.  

Max Hesse is halfway down the pit lane.  He is back on track.  1:27 for his stop.  #998 stays in the lead over Matteo Cairoli, and in third... boom!  It's Luca Stolz.  55 minutes left on the board.  When all of these pit stops come out in the wash, we'll see where the Mercedes is going to end up.  Maro Engel leads on the road in the #48 Mann Filter Mercedes.  But he is due to make a second pit stop in a wee while.  The Dinamic GT Porsche which is the other lime green car in your picture ahead of the Lambo, that car is a lap down.  

We need to have a Captain Cook at sector times.  Cairoli must clear the Porsche ASAP because the longer he is trapped behind it, the bigger the delta will be.  That is the #998 BMW of Max Hesse.  Cairoli does go ahead of the #54 Dinamic GT Porsche.  That is the Philipp Sager, Guillherme de Oliveira, Marvin Dienst Porsche.  Sager, the Austrian, Dienst, the German, sharing with the Portuguese driver.  Dienst is at the wheel of it.  He is no slouch having driven both Mercedes and Porsche GT3 cars and was a star in German Formula 4 open wheel cars, too.  Maxime Martin and Valentino Rossi are looking on, watching their co-driver Raffaele Marciello take the #46 BMW to the checkers.  

Dorian Bocalacci has now brought the #22 Porsche into the pit lane after a frustrating, frazzling stint.  We have a three-way scrap going on for sixth place.  Porsche vs. Audi vs. Ferrari.  Sven Mueller in the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche being pursued by Christopher Haase in the Tresor Attempto Audi and he is within striking range of Alessandro Pier Guidi at the wheel of the #51 AF Corse - Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3.  The BMWs are now seventh and eighth.  Marciello in the #46 WRT car and Eng in eighth in the #98 Rowe Racing car, after his slow pit stop.  

Porsche #22 has made their third stop and of course one was unscheduled when the earthing cable that came loose had to be removed from the tail.  Marciello steaming through traffic.  Marciello clears the #19 Lamborghini.  That is the GRT - Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 being driven by the trio of Hugo Cook, Mateo Llarena, and Haytham Qarajouli.  Cook is at the wheel of it, but he is languishing down in 47th place.  Marciello is homing in now on Alessandro Pier Guidi in the Ferrari.  Maxi Gotz in the #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes is being looked at by the stewards for an unsafe pit release.

Maro Engel staying on track in the #48, on the road race leader.  Nick Yelloly tells us that he is not sure what happened with his pit stop.  Maybe it was a fuel rig problem.  Both of the Rowe BMWs are looking strong.  They struggle in longer corners, but they are doing well at Ricard and are ready for the next race, which is the big kahuna, the crown jewel, the 24 Hours of Spa at Circuit de Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, at the end of June.  Now, if there is a probable issue with the fuel rig, maybe not all the petrol got into the tank.  

Maybe, maybe the hose coupling was defective.  But the scoop in racing, I always say, especially since I am connected with a real race team who competes on a regular basis, you DON'T share that kind of sensitive information, with your competitors, EVER!  Emphasis in uppercase letters and in exclamation points.  In all sports, I don't care if it is racing, or stick and ball stuff, you never, ever, ever share information that your competitors could catch word of.  That is foolishness to the nth degree.  What are you trying to do?  Are you kidding me?  

You might share stuff among your own team... or your own brand associates.  But surely not with the paddock at large.  Don't tell any pit reporters or broadcasters your plans either because if you let something slip out that you don't want broadcast... then, you're really in deep... well, you know.  Hardy har har.  Raffaele Marciello pressing on, passing Alessandro Pier Guidi on the Mistral straight, for sixth place.  The speed carries Marciello forward.  Marciello to seventh and Pier Guidi down to eighth place.  Maro Engel brought the erstwhile leading #48 Mann Filter Mercedes to the lane for regular service and to hand the car over to the Canadian, Daniel Morad, for the final stint before the checkers here on the Cote d'Azur, this afternoon.

Marciello is sixth overall.  His crew is praising him on the radio and his next target is Christopher Haase in the Audi.  Marciello took over from Valentino Rossi of course.  #46 now ahead of the #51 Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi.  Matteo Cairoli is now chasing Max Hesse.  Lamborghni vs. BMW.  The field is spread evenly around the speedway, so you will catch differently rated drivers throughout the length of the track.  Try to mitigate time you might ordinarily lose.  Philipp Eng screams past Alessandro Pier Guidi, and the Ferrari is powerless to do anything about it.  

A penalty announcement from Race Director Alain Adam.  Car #333, ten second time penalty, stop and go, for causing a collision.  That is the #333 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Germany's Felipe Fernandez Laser.  Fernandez Laser, the German licensed driver, he is sharing that car with fellow German Christian Hook and South African David Perel.  Fernandez Laser was a part of last year's winning team for Ferrari at the Nurburgring 24 Hours in a 296 GT3 alongside David Pittard, Earl Bamber, and Nicky Catsburg.  

Philipp Eng has now moved past Alessandro Pier Guidi for seventh place.  Valentino Rossi feels good about the #46 BMW after his pit stop but he did lose places after the safety car scramble.  He is hoping for Raffaele Marciello to make a recovery drive.  The race is still long.  Many more cars have been penalized for track limit offenses.  The team manager of WRT has been summoned to Race Control and now, the #51 Ferrari is also under investigation for the earlier accident with the #32 BMW.  That was in the first handful of laps.  Virage du Camp was the corner where that contretemps happened.  There was slight contact which caused the tire to be cut down.  

Eddie Cheever III. is responsible for moving the #93 Sky Tempesta Ferrari into a higher place in the Bronze Cup as he is in a massive battle with Dennis Marschall and Matt Bell.  Marschall in the #97 Porsche from Rutronik Racing, and Matt Bell is pressing him, hard.  That is the Ferrari #74, the Kessel Racing entry that he shares with John Hartshorne and Ben Tuck, in an all-British trio.  Christopher Mies is now reeling in Daniel Morad hand over fist for ninth place.  This is the first SRO Fanatec GT outing for the Mustang.  It does not have the speed of the BMW but the reliability has been great.  

The Ford nearly breezes past the Mercedes.  The quality of the build of this car is great.  We have seen it now in IMSA and in FIA WEC, and now in SRO GT World Challenge Europe.  Christopher Mies has won GT races in Australia and in many 24-hour races.  Car #72, the second Barwell Motorsports Lamborghini will have a time penalty added to their race time at the very end.  Mies used to driving an Audi with a sharp turn in with it's mid-engine package, now in the Mustang which is a mid-front engine car.  Max Hesse in the lead has uncorked fastest lap of the race.  

The leader Silver ranked driver is the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the hands of Colin Caresani, the Dutch driver, sharing with fellow Dutchman Dann Arrow and with Tanart Sathienthirakul of Thailand.  He is clear in Silver and there is traffic between he and the #90 Mad Panda Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo as well.  We still have 38 minutes of racing on the board yet.  Ezequiel Perez Companc is in the #90 car, the Argentine driver with the team based in Spain.  Aurelien Panis is third in Silver.  Panis in the #10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo as well.  The lead Mercedes is Luca Stolz in third place.  

Mercedes have not had the race they wanted.  David Fumanelli, the Italian, is leading in the Bronze Cup aboard the #8 Ferrari 296 GT3, the Kessel Racing car that he shares with Nicolo Rosi of Italy and Niccolo Schiro of Switzerland.  17 of 19 starters are still in the race in the Bronze category.  Meanwhile, Philipp Eng has moved past Raffaele Marciello!  The two BMW teams are indeed fighting each other.  Nikki Thiim in the best of the Aston Martin's is closing on the Ford Mustang of Christopher Mies hand over fist.  Light the blue touch paper and stand back, because Thiim is on a mission.  Sven Mueller has plateaued by now.  

The ninth-place battle is beginning to steam.  Two V8 monster muscle cars fighting each other.  Mustang vs. Mercedes.  Christopher Mies vs. Daniel Morad.  Mies working hard trying to pass Morad.  Morad slams the door in his face, locks it and bolts it.  You keep on knocking, but you can't come in.  Come back tomorrow and try again.  Christopher Mies was an Audi contracted driver for well over a decade.  Thiim is closing on these two in another front mid-engine V8 coupe, the Aston Martin.  33 minutes to go.  68 laps now completed, 247 miles.  The Mercedes drivers have all had a tough day at the office.  

Jules Gounon says that there was a Balance of Performance adjustment.  They know they are quick in clean air but it is hard to fight on the straightaways.  That is what happens with Balance of Performance.  It is not fair but who said life was going to be fair?  That is how you equate nine brands and different cars with different body shapes and engine configurations.  Mustang ahead of Mercedes.  Mies passes Morad and so does Nikki Thiim.  Half an hour to go.  Would the Mustang look good at Monza or Spa?  We'll have to find out later in the year.

Raffaele Marciello is now reeling in Christopher Haase.  The Audi is squirming through turn seven onto the Mistral straightaway.  Maciello can turn it on and push Haase into driving defensively.  Will Haase make it wide?  Marciello cannot make his move.  The Audi stays ahead for the time being.  We have had wonderful battles through the race and through the field.  This has been great fun to watch.  Marciello covered by Haase.  Think of trying to make the move into turn five.  Haase, sufficiently wily and is still fending off Marciello.  It is not about horsepower, more than it is about the racer's brains.  Marciello cannot make the move work.  

27 and a half minutes of racing left.  71 laps now completed, 258 miles.  Hesse is six seconds clear of Cairoli.  We are focusing now on Sven Mueller in the Porsche vs. Philipp Eng in the BMW.  The irony is that Philipp Eng is a former Porsche Carrera Cup champion.  Max Hesse in the lead of the motor race.  Marciello trying to level with Haase and no dice.  Haase has bucketloads of experience from many, many, many years, using a car that is fundamentally slower.  There are drivers, then there are racers.  Some drivers are definitely racers.  

Marciello still reeling in Haase.  Passing into Double Droite de Beauseille, it is a big commitment.  24 minutes left on the clock as we are at the business end of the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup season opener here at Paul Ricard.  Maybe the Audi is struggling for grip.  The BMW has a touch more pace.  We have seen great battles all day long and this is one of the more intense ones.  The margin is next to nothing.  Muller being caught by Eng too.  Hesse is six seconds clear of Matteo Cairoli.  Muller to the inside and Eng gets stymied.  

But I repeat myself, highlighting this battle another time.  I think I had to rewind to see something else in the race.  71 laps done and dusted.  Marciello is not finding it easy to get by Haase as we talked about.  Raffaele Marciello is new to BMW but has done a lot of miles.  Marciello still chasing Haase who is ahead.  Nothing lost but nothing gained.  Again, passing into Double Droite de Beauseille, it is a commitment deal.  Max Hesse, 8.6 seconds the good.  Eng makes a lunge past Muller in the Porsche but goes off the road in the process and over that tungsten filled paint that covers the lines of the runoff here at Ricard.

Eng does the wise thing, giving the place back.  Again, like I always say, discretion is the better part of valor.  Nikki Thiim in the Aston Martin has passed Christopher Mies in the Mustang and the two of them are not too far away from Alessandro Pier Guidi in the Ferrari.  Thiim taking Mies along for the ride.  Last year's Le Mans winner cannot relax.  BMW and Marciello go ahead of Mies and Audi as Eng passes Muller as well.  Hesse, Cairoli, Stolz, Eng, Marciello, Haase, Pier Guidi, Thiim, Mies, the top ten.  Three BMWs in the top six.  BMW, Lamborghini, Mercedes, BMW, BMW, Audi, Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Ford.  Marciello has Muller in his mirrors almost, but Muller is 4.8 seconds down.  So maybe he does not have to worry about that situation just yet. 

Pier Guidi being caught by Thiim.  Thiim has passed Mies in the Mustang.  Aston Martin gains a place.  Thiim takes Mies along for the ride and Pier Guidi cannot relax.  Marciello passes the Audi and now, Eng passes Muller as well.  Hesse, Cairoli, Stolz, Eng, Muller, Marciello, Haase, Thiim, Mies.  Three BMW's in the top six places.  Has Haase used his stuff up?  Muller at 1:57 and Marciello at 1:55.  Marciello could move to fifth.  Marciello instructed to push Muller ahead in the Porsche.  "Lello" knows that.  He is going to give it everything.  Hesse leads Cairoli by ten seconds at the top of the shop.  No risk.  No risk.  

Hesse is ten and a half seconds clear.  Car #54, 30 second time penalty added to final race time for track limits.  That is Marvin Dienst's Porsche way down in 37th place.  Laurin Heinrich is now 15th in the #22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche which is about to go a lap down after their earlier troubles today.  It was being investigated for an unsafe release and had the trouble with the earthing cable, too.  Stolz through the traffic. Eng is in the pit lane in the BMW, and so this will promote Sven Muller in the Porsche back to fourth spot.  

Philipp Eng is out of fuel and has to make a splash and a dash, but he is tumbling down the order like a stone, as we speak!  Fuel woes before and it is true.  Their race, as a contender, is over.  17 minutes to go.  An unmitigated disaster!  Maybe the car is not picking up all the fuel in the tank.  The check valve is broken.  The catch tank is not completely full.  Track limits time penalty of 30 seconds for the #36 Walkenhorst Motorsports Aston Martin.  Maybe the #98 had a fueling rig issue.  It takes #98 out of contention.  Nikki Thiim in Aston Martin #7 now eighth having passed Alessandro Pier Guidi.  Sven Muller is now edging closer to Luca Stolz.  

Here's the top 11 places.

1. #998 Farfus/Harper/Hesse                    Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3

2. #63 Cairoli/Caldarelli/Bortolotti          Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2

3. #2 Stolz/Schiller/Gounon                     M-AMG Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO

4. #96 Muller/Niederhauser/Andlauer     Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3R (992)

5. #46 Marciello/Rossi/Martin                 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3

6. #99 Haase/Aka/Feller                           Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II.

7/ #7 Thiim/Sorensen/Drudi                    Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO

8. #51 Pier Guidi/Rigon/Rovera              AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3

9. #64 Mies/Vervisch/Olsen                    Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3

10. #911 Bachler/Malykhin/Sturm         Pure Racing Porsche 911 GT3R (992)

11. #163 Perera/Mapelli/Engelhart        GRT - Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2

15 minutes to go.  Thiim seventh.  Mies ninth.  Pier Guidi is only 6/10ths of a second ahead of Mies.  Dennis Marschall has been pinged for a track limits penalty as Charles Clark has spun the sister #21 Comtoyou Aston Martin.  Andrea Bertolini, second in the Bronze Cup is chasing David Fumanelli for class honors.  Bertolini at the wheel of the #52 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 he shares with Belgian father and son duo Louis and Jef Machiels, does the vastly experienced Italian.  

Bertolini has had success in Maserati's and Ferrari's both.  Third in the Bronze Cup is the Aston Martin of Dutchman Job van Uitert.  His uncle Gerald van Uitert raced Formula Ford in England in the 1980s with a Van Diemen chassis backed by Marlboro cigarettes and Philip Morris.  Of course, tobacco sponsorships are not allowed these days and for good reason.  Cigarettes... blech!  There was mucho dinero in it, in motorsports, way back when though.  Max Hesse still has fastest lap of the motor race having completed 78 laps, 283 miles.  

Fumanelli leading the Bronze Cup.  That is the #8 Ferrari 296 GT3 that he shares, for Kessel Racing with Nicolo Rosi of Switzerland and fellow Italian Niccolo Schiro.  So, the Nicolo and Niccolo show.  One Swiss and one Italian.  That #8 car tricks the eyes with it's blue color scheme but proves Ferrari's do not always have to be red to be quick.  James Kell has been given a track limits penalty aboard the #3 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3.  Kell, the British driver, sharing with Switzerland's Yannick Mettler, and American Anthony Bartone, who we have seen in Fanatec GT World Challenge America before, but who is now racing in the European championship and also raced in the Asian Le Mans Series.  His father Tony Bartone is a legendary drag racer.  

In the Gold Cup, it is Gilles Magnus leading the class in the #25 Sainteloc Racind Audi.  He has taken the car over from Jim Pla.  We should look, before this race ends, at the Gold Cup standings, because I believe there are just half a dozen Gold rated driver combinations in this event.  

1. #25 Magnus/Pla/Evrard                         Sainteloc Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II

2. #777 Grenier/Baumann/Al Zubair        Al Manar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO

3. #111 Rougier/Carton/Eteki                   CSA Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II

4. #88 Ferrari/Moncini/Patrese                 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II

5. #60 Williamson/Al Khalifa/Kodric      2 Seas Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO

6. #77 Maini/Owega/Beretta                    Haupt Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO

Magnus has been passed.  Fumanelli leads Bronze while Caresani leads Silver I believe.  Just 12 minutes remaining now.  Heinrich to 13th and Philipp Eng is now in 15th spot after the dud pit stop.  Colin Caresani leads the Silver Cup and we are going to look at those full standings now before the end of the race.  

1. #57 Caresani/Arrow/Sathienthirakul  Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO

2. #10 Panis/Meyuhas/Gazeau                Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO

3. #90 Perez Companc/Assenheimer      Mad Panda Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO

4. #3 Kell/Bartone/Mettler                     GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO

5. #35 Hanafin/Leroux/Robin                Walkenhorst Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3

                                                                EVO

6. #21 Clark/Lismont/Dejonghe             Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO

7. #55 Zoechling/Nakken/Rappange      Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3R (992)

8. #19 Cook/Quarajouli/Llarena            GRT - Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2

9. #12 Muth/Baert/Ogaard                     Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO

10. #26 De Wilde/Klymenko/Varutti     Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS EVO II

Trouble for the Bronze Cup #188 car.  Luca Stolz is closing on Matteo Cairoli with then minutes remaining.  I wondered if we will be able to get to the Bronze Cup and Pro Cup standings individually.  But I am not so sure.  The battle here as we watch is between Caresani leading Silver and Fumanelli leading in Bronze.  Klaus Bachler has passed Christopher Mies.  Mies yoyoing up and down the order in the Mustang.  Bachler in the Porsche hade the pass.  

A top ten result for Ford in their first SRO Europe race would be a good deal.  Bachler is within striking distance of Pier Guidi and maybe the Mustang could move into the reckoning for the top ten places.  Bachler pressing on running a 1:55.7 and Pier Guidi a 1:56.5.  The Ferrari has not come alive, unfortunately.  Pier Guidi is being caught hand over fist by Bachler and he is a sitting duck.  Bachler is closing in, big time.  A car goes deep, and Bachler is through, and Lucas Auer has a puncture.  Mercedes #48 has a flat right-side tire.  Flat right front, I think.

Mies is closing in fast on Pier Guidi.  Daniel Morad is still going but there's bodywork that was rubbing against the tire.  He has destroyed the front grille and the whole front end of the #48 Mercedes, and he has ht something solid.  Potentially the scrutineers want that car in the lane.  Stay out and persevere because to come in now would be hemorrhaging places.  The right front fender and the splitter on the front are about to fall off.  The Mercedes cars are built like tanks.  Augusto Farfus gaining a spot, no further action.  Hesse can carry on.  Daniel Morad brings the #48 Mercedes to the pit lane to retire.  

Alessandro Pier Guidi, the Ferrari is not giving him the feedback he wants.  This race nears it's conclusion.  Mies will be the target of Franck Perera.  84 laps completed.  One more lap at the end for a total of 85 laps.  306 miles.  Not quite 500 kilometers.  Not quite.  Bertolini, van Uitert, and Cheever, are the top three in the Bronze Cup.  Sainteloc Audi are likely to win Gold Cup honors.  Caresani and company should win Silver.  We are on the last lap of the motor race.  Here's the Bronze Cup order before we finish..  The whole thing.  Including the two retirements.  19 cars in total.

1. #8 Rosi/Schiro/Fumanelli                    Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3

2. #52 Machiels/Machiels/Bertolini        AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3

3. #11 van Uitert/De Wilde/Pauwels      Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Aston Martin Vantage GT3 

                                                                EVO

4. #93 Cheever/Hui/Froggatt                 Sky Tempesta Racing Ferrari 296 GT3

5. #97 Marschall/Hartog/Blattner          Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3R (992)

6. #74 Hartshorne/Tuck/Bell                 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3

7. #78 Doquin/Bechtolsheimer/Mitchell Barwell Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2

8. #30 Klingmann/Al Harthy/De Haan OQ by Oman Racing BMW M4 GT3

9. #91 Bohn/Schuring/Renauer             Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R (992)

10. #54 Sager/De Oliveira/Dienst         Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3R (992)

11. #36 Jansen/Creswick/Green            Walkenhorst Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO

12. #72 Stevenson/Rindone/Kujala       Barwell Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2

13. #13 Spengler/Kolb/Buus                 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3R (992)

14. #333 Hook/Perel/Fernandez Laser Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3

15. #188 Smalley/Cottingham/Prette   Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO

16. #158 Sansom/Proctor/Kjaergaard  Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO

17. #991 Leung/Sowery/Dennis          Century Motorsports BMW M4 GT3

18. #66 Mukovoz/Hofer/Pereira          Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II

30 second time penalty to final race time added for another Comtoyou Aston Martin.  So, Max Hesse comes through alongside Eddie Cheever trying to overtake the Bronze and Silver leaders.  Hesse is frustrated but he does not need to worry.  He is in the final sector.  Bring it home.  This is the maiden win for Max Hesse, Dan Harper, and Augusto Farfus, for BMW!  Brilliant stints by all the drivers.  Here are your winners in the last listing we shall have to do for this race.    

Overall/PRO: #998 Farfus/Harper/Hesse                     Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3

             Gold: #25 Magnus/Pla/Evrard                         Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II

             Silver: #57 Sathienthirakul/Arrow/Caresani    Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO

             Bronze: #8 Rosi/Schiro/Fumnaelli                   Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3

That's a wrap.  Au revoir from Paul Ricard.  Next up is the crown jewel.  The gold cup.  The race everyone wants to win.  The 24 Hours of Spa at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium in late June.  Stay tuned for that.  We'll see you later, for coverage of GT4 Europe and GT2 Europe racing from right here at Paul Ricard, hopefully very soon.  For now, that's it for GTWC Europe Endurance Cup round one.  Au revoir everybody.  Take care.