4-Hour Update: Mapelli leads the way in Orange1 FFF Lamborghini

4-Hour Update: Mapelli leads the way in Orange1 FFF Lamborghini

With four hours complete at the 2020 Total 24 Hours of Spa, Marco Mapelli held a lead of 3.7 seconds in the #63 Orange1 FFF Lamborghini. Under darkness and light rain, five different brands occupied the top-five positions.

The #63 Lamborghini took over top spot during the second round of pit stops, which occurred just after the two-hour mark. Marco Mapelli took over from Dennis Lind, while erstwhile leader Raffaele Marciello remained at the wheel of the #88 Mercedes-AMG and spent the majority of the third hour chasing down his fellow countryman.

Shortly before the three-hour mark the #32 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT machine of Charles Weerts spun at Bruxelles after making contact with the #34 Walkenhorst BMW. This required a full-course yellow, which eventually became a safety car. Racing resumed shortly before 19.20 CEST with the front-runners separated by just a few seconds.

Mapelli was able to edge away from Felipe Fraga, who had taken over from Marciello in the #88 Mercedes-AMG. Michael Christensen ran third in the #47 KCMG Porsche, just 0.8s shy of Fraga, while Dries Vanthoor (#31 Audi Sport Team WRT) was a further 1.6s in arrears. At four hours, just over six seconds separated the top-four overall contenders.

The #78 Barwell Lamborghini continued to lead the Silver Cup. Patrick Kujala, who took the wheel at the three-hour mark, held an advantage of eight seconds over the #5 HRT Mercedes-AMG. The same squad also topped Pro-Am with its #77 machine, which had Ricky Collard at the wheel after four hours. In the Am Cup classification, the #918 Herberth Porsche held the advantage despite a drive-through penalty for abusing track limits.

The #55 Attempto Audi became the race's first retirement during the third hour. The car emerged from the pits after its early incident but managed only a handful of laps before pulling back into the garage for good, while the #19 FFF Lamborghini was also retired following its earlier accident. The #32 WRT Audi was eliminated by its collision with the #34 BMW, for which the Walkenhorst-run M6 was handed a drive-through.

Watch the race live on the Total 24 Hours of Spa website, the event's official Facebook page and the GT World YouTube channel.