Kobe Pauwels, the Belgian is chasing the sole Ford Mustang GT3 in the field. No rain expected before the end of the race. That is wonderful news! We got thrashed by the rain last night! It was unbelievable! That being said, everyone was still in the grandstands in the wee hours last night. Alessandro Pier Guidi is still the leader of the motor race by five seconds over Nicki Thiim. Just under three hours remaining now. Thiim is having issues with ABS as the brakes are locking and he has turned off the traction control. The GT3 cars have power steering but so is the antilock braking system. Antilock brakes are a part of what GT3 cars are all about. But if you become reliant on too much of it, it can be a detriment. Alessio Rovera has pitted and had a tearoff taken off the windscreen for clear vision.
Alessio Rovera has taken over the #51 Ferrari. Thiim and Harper now run 1-2. I don't know if the #998 BMW has enough left in the locker to keep up with the Aston Martin or the Ferrari. Sheldon van der Linde is having issues trying to get on terms with Ross Gunn in the Walkenhorst Motorsports Aston Martin, the #34 car. Christopher Haase in the pit lane for service in the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS Evo II. Nikki Thiim and Dan Harper are both coming to the pit lane for scheduled service. The competition is Alessio Rovera at the wheel of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3. Rowe Racing BMW and Comtoyou Aston Martin are going to have trouble getting in touch with the Ferrari.
Max Hesse now gets into the #998 BMW M4 GT3 and we have just over two hours and 45 minutes to go. Ferrari #51 is now in the lead of this motor race. BMW are down and away off the air jacks down the pit lane and the Ferrari just gobbles them up like Pac Man gobbling marbles. Porsche #92 will suffer the pain of a drive through penalty and Jaminet had missed his driver stint length time and he went one lap too long. We speculated there was a communication issue and now, the BMW has dropped back into traffic, as the #32 BMW M4 GT3 has just pitted and the #998 has just given 10-12 seconds away. Well, well, well.
Al Manar Racing checking the air intakes on their Mercedes, and Mikael Grenier, the Canadian, takes over the car and is back on track in the heritage pit lane near pit exit. Up in the F1 pits with the rolling resistance on both pit lanes, the tires will be stone cold. Being closer to pit out is better. If I were a team boss, well, the old pits don't have the space, but, they would be easier to get out of. Formula 1 and sports cars used those pits. The #92 of Matt Campbell, he did serve the penalty we were wondering about and I think it might drop him only into the clutches of Christopher Haase and Ross Gunn.
Marco Sorensen says that things are very tight, and it will come down to strategy or a good overtake and that Comtoyou Racing are hoping for the best and maybe playing out the ideas of what could happen from a possible Full Course Yellow situation. British racer Darren Turner and Danish racer Christoffer Nygaard were part of the "Dane Train" Aston Martin team in FIA WEC and in GT3 alike as I recall. Ross Gunn has brought in the #21 Aston Martin to the lane, excuse me, that is Charles Clark at the wheel of it. This is not the Walkenhorst entry.
A nasty accident during the night took the #12 Comtoyou Aston Martin out of the race, the Nicolas Baert, Sebastian Ogaard, Esteban Muth, and Erwan Bastard entry. Leading the Bronze Cup is the #72 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Gabriel Rindone, Mattia Michelotto, Patrick Kujala, and Casper Stevenson. The GT3 cars are so incredibly evenly matched thanks to Balance of Performance, but, it could be mitigating overtaking, possibly, as controversial as that sounds. Max Hesse is struggling to find a way by Patrick Kujala in the Lamborghini.
Speaking of Lamborghini, well, han on a minute. There was a pass between Alessio Rovera and Patric Niederhauser in the Porsche. We've got a smoky Lamborghini with oil residue burning on the hot exhaust system. That car has led this race on and off and that is Jordan Pepper, the South African, taking over from Frenchman Franck Perera. The humidity isn't great but it creates denser air for aerodynamics mostly. I think that smoke was just residue. It isn't venting anymore. Thank you, Ben Constanduros for your contribution to this coverage of the race. Hello to Ryan Myrehn before we hand off to David Addison to bring it home.
Jordan Pepper, the South African, he is really showing his skills as an endurance sports car driver during his stint. Hello, to Ryan Myrehn, and to our guest, Dan Harper, the Ulsterman. There is a slight steering wheel issue where it is getting light randomly, and they are looking at it. It is happening through Eau Rouge or Raidillon, and could be very disconcerting, but the car is still in one piece and Dan could not keep up with the Ferrari or the Aston Martin. Max Hesse at the wheel of the BMW now. Max Hesse will take it to the finish in a triple stint.
BMW #46 in the lane and of course last night with the heavy rain was very difficult and a lot of standing water. The new tarmac was far slipperier, but it is very grippy in the dry. The grip in the surface is coming back now that the rain has moved on. If we were to see a safety car again, the BMW team could be right in the mix again except if there is traffic ahead that could get in the way, things would add up too quick. But now, under green things could still get interesting. Harper says he has not thought about how to improve BoP to equalize the cars.
We can see the size difference of the GT3 cars and their shapes and sizes but you lose momentum and lose lap time unless you have an extternal force involved so it is down to the drivers and the #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 is in while the BMW has the speed but the Audi or the Lamborghini are better under braking. Great to hear from Dan Harper this morning. Just over two hours as we are getting to the nitty gritty with Alessio Rovera at the top of the shop. Rovera leads Thiim by 7.3 seconds.
Two hours and 15 minutes to go. This has been a really tought race from the very start. Max Hesse has lost 22 or so seconds and behind him is the #32 BMW M4 GT3 of Charles Weerts, Dries Vanthoor, and Sheldon van der Linde. I think BMW were unhappy with their qualifying efforts, trying to mitigate errorsmandnso on. The BMW has strengths in high-speed corners but not as efficient in the braking zones. The top three look fairly solidified. However, safety cars can breed safety cars. Bob Neville's #100 McLaren is back out as Joel Eriksen blows a right rear tire, or cuts it down.
Fortunately, it happened close to the final chicane and the pit lane entrance at the top, the Formula 1 pit lane as opposed to the heritage pit lane, they are 27th in the overall and 14th in the Pro class, the #23 Phantom Global entry which will also be at the Indianapolis 8 Hours at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the fall, in October. Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles is here at Spa before the IGTC and GT World Challenge come to Indianapolis in October.
James Kell leads in the #3 Silver leading car with Cesar Gazeau second in Silver. That is the Mettler, Kell, Bartone, Walker car. The Bob Neville Team RJN McLaren has had troubles but could earn a class podium as Alessio Rovera leads the race overall approaching two hours to go. Ferrari won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and scored a win in IMSA at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in GT Daytona Pro. Ferrari has the one victory in Formula 1, but the AF Corse chaps with the prototypes and the GT3 cars have been very successful and the drivers who have the privilege love the 296 GT3 is built by the Oreca firm in France. The silhouette of the 296 GT3 is very much similar to the 250P prototype that won Le Mans in 1965 which was the last time Ferrari won Le Mans before their wins last year and this year.
It was the first rear engine GT race car that won with Masten Gregory, and Jochen Rindt. Mikael Grenier leads the Gold class with Jordan Pepper right on his six. Julien Andlauer has passed Jusuf Owega Porsche on Mercedes. The gap between first and third has grown. Rovera, Thiim, Hesse, the top three. Our race leader might hit the lane within the next 10-15 minutes. The WRT BMW's have had a massively tough race especially in last night's rainstorms. Dries Vanthoor had no grip available whatsoever.
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