The Lamborghini does not want to go a lap down. Weerts is going to make a pass as Yannick Metler is now in the pit lane for service. Undoubtedly, they will remain on the wet weather tires. The field is closing up and then spreading out again. Weerts leads Perera, Haase, Mosca, Hanfin, Stevenson, Sathienthirakul, Cheever, Kell, and Blom, the top ten. Audi #99 apart from the rain light, their race has been whistling clean. It is properly dark here at Spa Francorchamps just past 3:30 A.M. James Kell, Aaron Walker, Yannick Mettler, and Anthony Bartone are staying on the wet tires. Jordan Pepper is now 20th having passed by Dominik Baumann followed by Mattia Drudi and Ross Gunn, cars that have fallen down the order, playing another game of snakes and ladders. Fortune favors the brave in these conditions and in this race.
Drivers and teams can do their technical stop and so Team WRT are preparing for that, to do the brake change and other bits of service. Charles Weerts should be in soon. People fall off the road, falling asleep, or we could see another Full Course Yellow. Be ready to do it for the next time there is a Full Course Yellow or a safety car. Luca Stolz passes by Yannick Mettler. Charles Weerts now leads the motor race here over Dylan Pereira, Christopher Haase, Tomaso Mosca, and Lorcan Hanafin. The it is Casper Stevenson, Tanart Sathienthirakul, Eddie Cheever III., Chriistopher Mies, and Axel Blom.
It is as wet as we've seen all day and all night. 3:40 A.M. in Belgium, it is wet, dark, and slippery as Charles Weerts leads by 17 seconds over Dylan Pereira. He has been in traffic and we wonder about the life of his Pirelli tires and his fuel load. Weerts is flying. We are working the 200th lap, 48 minutes away from the next points pie slice. 200 laps, 870 miles. A Bronze class driver in a Bronze rated car has to do four hours within six hours I think. Maybe I am stumped on those rules.
A Bronze driver will not lose as much time under safety car conditions. Dylan Pereira, Tomaso Mosca, Eddie Cheever III., and Casper Stevenson are all Bronze graded drivers. You can't keep the Bronze driver until Sunday morning. That is not the way the cookie crumbles. Charles Weerts leads and the gap has ballooned to 17 seconds plus over Dylan Pereira. Make that 26 seconds! Holy smokes! Dylan Pereira, a racing driver from Luxembourg. We'll need to see if there are others. Luxembourg is small, Lichtenstein is even smaller. A couple of tiny, tiny countries.
Christopher Mies, in the sole Ford Mustang GT3 in this race which had a new nose section put on the front end three or so hours ago. It is running in eighth place in the overall. At AF Corse, we are going to talk to their team strategist and technical director Andrea Locatelli. They need to do the technical pit stop. They will know to get to the technical pit stop for changing brakes to go to the end, but with the safety cars and the rain, they are fine with brakes and so, they are going to find the right window to make that happen.
Are you allowed to do it under Full Course Yellow? Yes. Minimize the time loss. Wait and see. Given the rain, they don't anticipate doing a brake change at AF Corse. Someone has shot up the escape road at Les Combes and it is wet. That was the #159 Garage 59 McLaren. That is the Dean MacDonald, Benjamin Goethe, and Tom Gamble. Colin Braun, Ian James, George Kurtz, and Ian James are the Pro-Am leaders ahead of Josh Caygill, Jann Mardenborough, and the Buncombe brothers. With the technical pit stop, if it is under 4:55, you need to do it all over again! Oh man! That's going to hurt!
You get pinged with a stop and go penalty if you don't make it. The Lamborghini is in the garage for service. More pit action as we close in on the witching hour, the halfway mark. Porsche #92 could be in the race leader. I don't think so. Now it is Max Hofer, the Austrian, at the wheel of the #66 Tresor Attempto Audi. In 17 minutes, we are going to award points again and that is half of a stint. Now you are in trouble if you haven't just sopped and since we went back to fgreen you will have to surrender and fly Plummet Airways down the order.
Indy Dontje is way down in 50th spot, 12 laps behind the leader. Third in class. It is running again but is 12 laps down. We see a battle for sixth between Christopher Haase and Max Hofer. Audi vs. Audi. At what point will we see a crossover to slick tires? We'll need to see who is going to gamble. #66 stopped and Dylan Pereira handed the car to Max Hofer. Tomaso Mosca is in second but owes us a place. Matty Jaminet leads followed by Sheldon van der Linde who has taken over from Charles Weerts. It is very tricky in Spa with the rain and drying conditions, but they stayed on wet tires for a wee while longer.
Weerts said that he got clonked by a competitor in the darkness in La Source but there was no damage. They have stayed on the wet tires even when others were going to the slicks. Weerts will take a rest and then drive again in four hours or so. He drove over three hours in very tricky conditions on fading wet Pirelli tires. Don't make mistakes because all you will do is damage the car and lose shedloads of time. Luca Stolz told he has a track limits warning with four laps to go in his stint, and ten minutes left before the points being earned. Luca Stolz. Don't stop because you will burn yourself on the points allocation. Alessio Rovera has moved back up to second and Mathieu Jaminet leads the motor race for the whole box of points. He will get all the sweets, all the cookies, if he stays where he is.
Ten second time penalty for an unsafe release for the #90 Mad Panda Motorsports Mercedes. Where will that time be added in? Maybe at the next pit stop. So, matthieu Jaminet leads the race over Alessio Rovera, Sheldon van der Linde, Luca Stolz, Joel Sturm, Luca Stolz, Joel Sturm, Christopher Haaase, Jordan Pepper, Max Hofer, Tomaso Mosca, and Mattia Drudi. Jaminet pits early so he won't get the points! Oh dear! It is like a stage on the Tour de France. This is four race weekends all in one shot. Six minutes until the points pie is served.
Will Ferrari hang on? Will BMW and WRT get the slice? Now, the #51 Ferrari is in the pit lane too! Everyone seems to be throwing this away! WRT have had wretched luck in some of their races as Chandler Hull is off the road an plumeting from 48rh place going down, down, down. Alessandro Pier Guidi into the car and many other drivers who are pitting. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow. Hull is stuck in Fangnes in the gravel trap and we will do another wave by. We are inside four minutes until points and Sheldon van der Linde is back at the top of the pile.
In replay, oof. Chandler Hull got tagged by one of the Dinamic GT Porsche's. That is Chandler Hull for Kessel Racing in the #74 as Pure Racing and Joel Sturm pits and then comes the #46 Team WRT BMW of Valentino Rossi and van der Linde in the sister car will get the points as we are in the 14th Full Course Yellow transferring to the 11th Full Course Yellow as Aurelien Panis leaves the lane and Augusto Farfus, the Brazilian, is now into the #998 BMW M4 GT3. The #23 Phantom Global Racing Porsche hit with a penalty for track limits for 30 seconds.
Chandler Hull is off the road in the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari that he shares with John Hartshorne, Matt Bell, and Ben Tuck. Sheldon van der Linde has pitted but may still be in front. 216 laps completed. 940 miles. Halfway home. Ding, ding, ding, ding. OK. Now we enter the second half but van der Linde was on wets coming back out of the lane! Half a tank of gas? No.
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