Just over ten seconds separate top 4 after eight hours of racing

Just over ten seconds separate top 4 after eight hours of racing

Four different manufacturers occupied the top 4 after eight hours of racing in the 2022 TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa. The #98 ROWE Racing BMW was still leading.

Just before the 7-hour mark a crash of 16-year-old Lorenzo Patrese in the #11 Tresor by Car Collection Audi in Turn 10 caused a Full Course Yellow. A flurry of pitstops soon followed, which reset the stint times of most of the leading cars.

Only one car in the top 10 kept its alternative strategy, the #46 Audi Sport Team WRT car, with Nico Müller at the wheel. It was fifth overall at a certain point, but when it took its next scheduled pitstop, and Müller passed the wheel to Valentino Rossi, the car dropped to 17th. For Rossi, it was the start of his first ever night stint in the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa.

In front, four cars of four different manufacturers werd separated by just over ten seconds: the #98 ROWE Racing BMW, the #88 AMG Team Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG, the #221 GPX Martini Racing Porsche and the #71 Iron Lynx Ferrari. In fifth, some 35 seconds behind the leaders, was the #47 KCMG Porsche. Remarkable, for the car had started the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa in 65th position, after brake problems during Thursday’s qualifying session.

Meanwhile, the first leader of the race, the #54 Dinamic Motorsport Porsche joined the list of retired cars, with a steering issue. The #10 Boutsen Racing Audi suffered an identical fate.

In Silver Cup the #14 Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini was now in front (and 14th overall), closely followed by the #4 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes-AMG and the #30 Team WRT Audi.  The Gold Cup lead was still in the hands of the #5 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes-AMG, but the Ferrari of the Iron Dames was edging closer. In Pro-Am the #24 Herberth Motorsport Porsche slightly extended its lead, while the #35 Walkenhorst BMW had everything under control in the Bronze Cup.