On board with American domiciled British driver Ian Jams who came from Formula Vauxhall Junior and has been racing for 30+ years. The useful life on these sets of tires might be coming to an end as Mattia Drudi is in the lane witn the #7 Aston Martin and I think Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim, who's dad Kurt Thiim raced yesterday in the Historic Touring Car races. Drudi out and Sorensen in aboard the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin. There's more residue on the windscreen. They aren't going for a tear off I guess, saving them. Full tank of fuel, clean screen, new tires. Max Hofer in the lane from third in the overall.
When you get into the car you wear fresh overalls, and the worst part is getting your whole racing overalls all wet. It is very uncomfortable. The Aston Martin is running well. Meanwhile, we see a right rear puncture on one of the McLaren's or not. Weerts and Rossi at BMW chasing each other and Alessio Rovera must be tired of looking at the Aston Matin or vice versa. This is quite the rivalry we have see between Alessio Rovera and now, Marco Sorensen.
338 laps now completed, 1,471 miles. McLaren #188 in the garage with emchanical issues. No injuries after his accident for Joel Sturm! Wonderful news! Max Hesse says going from wet to dry without pushing the limit is hard to do. He was stuck behind the Team WRT BMW. Friend head-to-head competition between Team WRT and Rowe Racing. Augusto Farfus is now battling with Henrique Chaves for the overall. Chaves in the Aston Martin is on a totally different sequence. Sitting and being patient is one thing but now, Farfus is chasing the Aston Martin's.
The traffic is going against Farfus currently from the lead of the race. Will Henrique Chaves challenge? He has a great opportunity for making that happen. Five laps to go, stay ahead of the BMW. That is what Aston Martin want for Henrique Chaves while through Blanchimont, the driving of that car as James Kell is being harried by Maxime Robin. Augusto Farfus is only a second and a half up. Roin climbs the hill on the Kemmel straightaway. The gap between Farfus and Chaves is just under a second.
Jann Mardenborough still leading the Pro-Am class but he could run out of drive time. Chris Buncombe and Josh Caygill could be used in the daylight hours, but Alex Buncombe and Jann Mardenborough are both going to run out of time and they are in a battle with the #4 CrowdfStrike Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Ian James. Once Farfus is released from behind Sorensen, can he start putting in the performance numbers? Marco Sorensen is really coming along well as Henrqiue Chaves pits sharing with David Pittard and Ross Gunn.
Walkenhorst won this race for BMW in 2018. Keep that in mind. It eas a completely unexpected and yet very popular success. Max Hofer is the best Audi, former Audi TT Cup racer racing in regional GT championships, and he had the experience and the ability. Mattia Michelotti is about to move up to second in class in the Bronze Cup, who has come out of the Italian GT Championship.
Tenth overall, the Al Manar Racing Mercedes is the best one. The Porsche's too have been coaniderably weaker than i would have thought. The diffuser of that specific Mercedes should be removed as the #25 Sainteloc Junior Team Audi has moved all the way down to 18th place. Ugo de Wilde is very much a Belgian and his sister is looking after WRT's hopsitality. Five and a half hours remaining. It has been incredibly dramatic. Agajn, James Kell leads the Silver class right now.
Farfus needs to clear the Mercedes as Marco Sorensen is closing in and fast. Farfus cannot reach the battle with the Mercedes here, with Sorensen. He is heading for a pass through La Source. Could Rowe Racing have two GTWC Eurppe Endurance races back-to-back in 2024? Alessio Rover is a constant shadow, 3.7 seconds behind. But, he has not been drawn from the Aston to go forward. This battle can simmer for another half an hour before coming to the pit lane. 348 laps completed, 1,514 miles. #998 leads with Farfus and he has 15 laps to go in his stint. Sorensen is closing in on Farfus very well.
The Balance of Performance makes cars so incredibly equal. Weerts and Rossi are not at the pace as the others. Sorensen reeling in Farfus. 4.10ths of a second apart. So, the Aston takes less curb than the BMW. Farfus is slower than Sorensen and Rovera. Sorensen needs to pass the BMW as sunshine breaks out over the Piff Paff and we should not see any more rain! Thank heavens for that! We need to pikjc up the pace of this race.
Farfus and Sore sen now 8/10ths of a second apart. Sorensen still has a change here, but Rovera is closing on the #7 Aston Martin. Rovera the young gun with titles in Italian GT racing and the GTE Am World Endurance Championship crown. Patric Niederhauser and Matthieu Jaminet in an internecine Porsche battle but it has been disappointing to their fans to see Porsche flounder and the same for their brass at Stuttgart and the racing development people at the factory team. Patrick Niederhauser and Matthieu Jameinet battle for position, at Spa.
Jaminet's car might just be handling better in the corners. Niederhauser slams the door in Matthieu Jaminet's face. Further back we have quick cars laps down. Everyone settling into a rhythm and no wore interruptions. Niederhauser being harried by Jaminet. Alessio Rovera akes the pass on Ian James in the #4 Riley motorsports Corwdstrike Mercedes. The lead gap is now 11/10ths of a second. Rovera has lost some distance to Sorensen it seems like. What can Jaminet do to pass the 2019 Germam GT championsho[p, and he has won a lot of driverd
Niederhauser needs a gap if he wants to stay ahead. Balance of performance is a big deal but this little race seems fair. Preparation for a challenge is starting to be put together. The #46 BMW M4 GT3 is in the pit lane again for Valentino Rossi. New tires are the best things ypu can apply in a race car/ A gentle summer breeze with little to no wind as the #46 Team WRT BMW has pitted. BMW #998 Augusto Farfus leads as Valentino Rossi is on his out lap after his pit stop. Nose to nose between Jaminet and Niederhauser and Jaminet knew he had to remmeber discretion being the better part ofmvalor to mitigate damage.
Yikes! Side by side out of La Source! That's wild! Jaminet did liftthrough Eau Rouge. Oh my goodness. Now, the two porsche's continue their fight before in about 15 minutes, they need to pit. The gap has grown to 1.2 seconds as Charles Weerts does a single stint in the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 pits and hands off to Sheldon van der Linde as we listen to the sonorous but screaming and unmistakable tones of a Porsche naturally aspirated flat six motor. Niederhauser bails for the pit lane. That flat six Porsche revs to 9,000-9,500 RPM these days. That is what it sounds like to me.
Niederhauser did a 48 minute stint which is pretty short. Max Hofer is the leading Bronze Cup contender in the Audi, the #66 Tresor Attempto Audi has gone like clockwork and has run incredibly well, but 22 seconds behind Alessio Rovera who is catching up fast to Marco Sorensen. Chris Buncombe is in the #100 McLaren and the #4 CrowdStrike Mercedes has reclaimed the lead. We see the #72 Barwell Motorsports Lamboerghini, which has Mattia Michelotto driving, the Italian driver.
Getting on with the job and keeping your noses clean, there are many entries here to finish or to lead the race but victory in a race like this asks a lot. Full Course Yellow in ten seconds as we end another hour. 5, 4, 3, 2 1. Full Course Yellow, now.
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