Slick tires for the Pro-Am class leading #4 CrowdStrike by Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 pf Nicky Catsburg. New tires can transform a car in terms of the handling. Tom Gamble maneuvers and tries to pass in the McLaren over the Mercedes which one of these cars, has a loose piece of trim on it and we don't know which one or what's gojng on. Maybe it is a movable aerodynamic device, it is on the hood of the Mercedes, the #4 with Colin Braun now at the wheel of it through Campus and Paul Frere corner and Jordan Pepper has pitted the #163 Lamborghini and Dan Harper is now leading in the #998 Row Racing BMW M4 GT3 but Harper is out of sequence.
Pier Guidi sails past Jordan Pepper and Dan Harper leads the way now. So, we have a four-way battle for position here. Harper, Pepper, Sturm, Pier Guidi. I take that back. Sturn second, and Maxime Martin now third with Alessandro Pier Guidi in fourth spot. I need to correct myself. Raffaele Marciello is in the #46 BMW M4 GT3. Fifth is now Jordan Pepper. The #30 Oman Racing Team BMW M4 GT3 is slowing with a mechanical problem having to pull over at the inside of Pouhon, Callan Williams at the controls. I don't know why the car is coming to a grinding halt and we should perhaps have either at local or a Full Course Yellow to retrieve the car.
He is on the radio with the engineers. He'll have to do a reset. For the time being, Dan Harper is the erstwhile leader. Throttle response, a lack thereof is Williams' dilemma. Now, Dan Harper, through Fangnes is really driving like a man possessed and we'll have a Full Course Yellow in 20 seconds, 10 seconds, Full Course Yellow right now. OK. Vanthoor and Pier Guidi have done stint reserts. I was downstairs grabbing a snack and an Arnold Palmer energy boost. Splash and dash at WRT. Rowe BMW and Dan Harper came in. Dries Vanthoor did a fuel stop and that was a short stop. I also saw the #163 Lamborghini come in but not for a techical pit stop. Safety Car procedure. Wave by procedure ready.
Max Hesse is the race leader. Cars from the other classes will get back on the lead alp. Calan Williams reported a loss of power and total throttle response trouble, maybe something electrical. Game over. Eddie Cheever will unlap himself on the wave by. Eligible cars for the wave by will move to another row. Watch out for the patch of water at La Source. 300 laps now in the bag. 1,306 miles. Most cars are on slick tires and these dry conditions will destroy the wet Pirelli tires and make them as bald as an egg. Rowe Racing lead the race and so, we have two WRT and one Rowe BMW. We saw BMW with a Balance of Performance ride height change and the rear wing was changed. But now maybe those reg changes might not matter.
Lorcan Hanafin now in the #35 Walkenhorst Racing Aston Martin and giving it a good run. Walkenhorst won the 24 Hours of Spa with BMW in 2018. Mattia Drudi is still in contention. Hanafin leads the Silver Cup class. Max Hofer leads Bronze in the Tresor Attmepto Audi. Safety Car move left, eligible cars move right for the wave by. Start the wave by procedure. Those cars doing the ave by will be able to get more heat into their tires. Max Hofer leads Bronze. Wave By completed, pit lane open. How hard will Max Hesse being able to push? Drivers weaving to get warmth into their tires.
Max Hesse told to expect light rain in ten minutes and the whole field hears that and the message goes down like a broken lift, a broken elevator. The rain is here. 99% humidity in the air. Colin Braun has the #4 CrowdStrike Mercedes AMG GT3 in 32nd spot now. They are slowing down big time into La Source. Drivers working to get heat in the tires and the #64 Ford Mustang GT3 is in the pit lane, it has gone out and stuck to a plan, a program. It has a high center of gravity but likes the speed of the Hemmel straightaway. The Mustang is known as a Pony Car. It is very similar to the big Bentley Continental GT3 we saw years ago. A GT3 car is a silhouette of the production sports car it is based on. The #98 BMW M4 GT3 has officially been retired, so the defending champions will not repeat this year in 2024.
Dennis Olsen has taken over the #64 Ford Mustang GT3 from Christopher Mies. There is no indication that the rain is an issue at this moment. If there is rain, it isn't at the racetrack. Safety Car displayed on the marshal boards. The #2 Mercedes-AMG GT3 is out and retired during the night. Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller, and Jules Gounon, headed for the house. Of the 66 cars that started, 43 remain on the road, 23 have officially retired. Keep a good eye on Jordan Pepper, the South African, and see what he will do. A hot Pepper! Ha! I just had to do that! Jaxon Evans is doing very well in the #13 Phantom Global Porsche, and he will be pushing. Joel Eriksen and Thomas Preining also on that team.
Cinch down those belts. Green flag! Strike while the iron is hot! Max Hesse has Jaxon Evans, a determined, angry Kiwi behind him. There, look, Pier Guidi dives past Marciello for third spot and Pier Guidi is leaving Marciello in his dust! But, Marciello is right on his six up through Les Combes and I will pay you back with interest. Jaxon Evans fell prey to Max Hesse and Jordan Pepper is stymied behind Joel Sturm. Raffaele Marciello is not used to getting the rough end of the pineapple like that. Pier Guidi is on Joel Sturm's case as we speak. Sturm is quicker that poor old Jaxon Evans and he is in the pit lane.
Pepper wants to unlap himself from Sturm! Oy yoy yoy! Drudi to the inside of Marciello and goes through and now the McLaren is making inroads, but that car is not in the correct position as Sven Mueller and company have rattled on and gotten their car onto the lead lap. The McLaren here is a real cork in the bottle. Don't go offline or you will compromise yourself. Drive through penalty to car #99 Christopher Haase at the wheel of it, driving stint violation. Damage to the right rear of the #96 Porsche 911 GT3R and the #13 car has done their technical pit stop, the Phantom Global Porsche as Sven Mueller has lost out to the Aston Martin with Henrique Chaves at the wheel of it.
Sven Mueller still pushing but Tom Gamble, a class winner in this race last year, moves ahead. Incident between #32 and #7 Vanthoor and Drudi at the chicane, noted. Henrique Chaves is all over Dries Vanthoor's BMW like a fat pigeon on a chip and I think that BMW is really beginning to fade. Max Hofer's Audi is coming and poor old Dries Vanthoor's BMW M4 GT3 is truly the cork in the bottle this time. Bavaria is in trouble, and oh my God, Joel Sturm has gone off the road, big! Hesse, Pier Guidi, Marciello. Full Course Yellow in ten Seconds.
No wave by. We just had one. The pit lane will remain open and it is getting misty at the top of the track. The mist and the moisture hanging in the air. Rain is actually falling. I take it back. Cars on cold tires, will be slithering all over. Joel Sturm is walking away but we'll have to see what happened. He went right in the corner, Joel Sturm was a passenger, hit the wall, dug in, and had a massive barrel roll over on it's top and back onto it's wheels. Oh, my heavens! It hurts. Joel Sturm walked to the medical car but his bell has to have been rung pretty good. Tire barriers will need repair as Max Hesse tells his team, asks them, what is the forecast? He is told to wait for 15-30 minutes to see what develops and how the tire strategy is going to work out.
Max Hesse might be pondering slick tires. The car will be craned away and maybe put on the flatbed. Yes. The flatbed truck is there, and we'll have to wait for 10-15 minutes to clear up the accident. The track staff here at Spa are very good, along with the SRO team. Free pit stops once again as the #77 Al Manar Racing Mercedes-AMG is doing their technical stop, a brake disc and pad change and Toby Sowery is now in the #991 Century Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 he shares with British GT champion Darren Leung, Pedro Ebrahim, and BMW factory GTP IMSA driver Connor De Philippi.
If the car goes ont a flatbed, the race is over for it. Joel Sturm walked away from that roll. Alessandro Pier Guidi in the lane for fuel, tires, and a driver change. Slick Pirelli P Zero tires onto the car and we need to double check and see who is now driving. At the #998 BMW camp, no rain in sector one, little drizzle in sector two, no rain in sector three. The rain was briefly at the top of the Kemmel straightaway, just light drizzle. I don't know what caught out Joel Sturm. Sturm has not been racing for too long but he knows how to drive. That roll was not a rookie mistake. Alessio Rovera has taken over the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.
The weather is so incredibly changeable. Everyone trying to favorably roll the dice. The fans are loving this, a real event not just a race, with the fireworks, the concerts, food, you name it. I think the Aston Martin team are reacting to the Full Course Yellow and Dries Vanthoor and Sven Mueller are both in the pit lane early. Mattia Drudi drops down the order and both WRT BMW's are in, the #32 and the #46. Regular pit service underway.
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