Pressure builds as sun rises over Spa-Francorchamps circuit

Pressure builds as sun rises over Spa-Francorchamps circuit

As the sun rose over the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, the fight for the lead in the biggest GT race in the world raged on. The Top 6 was separated by less than a minute.

At the sharp edge of the leading pack the situation after 14 hours of racing was quite different to the one at the half way point. Because there was a Full Course Yellow at the 14-hour mark, many of the leaders took advantage of the situation to make a pitstop. That meant that the #71 Iron Lynx Ferrari was leading, from the #47 KCMG Porsche and the #98 ROWE BMW.

The Full Course Yellow was caused by a freak incident between two cars of the same team. The #46 Audi Sport Team WRT, with Nico Müller at wheel, could not avoid the #32 sister car driven by Charles Weerts when the latter tried to avoid a slow driving McLaren. For Weerts the race is over, Müller managed to get back to the garage, and after repairs the car could continue with Valentino Rossi at the wheel.

In Pro-Am, there was a change of leadership, with the #188 Garage 59 McLaren passing the #24 Herberth Motorsport. Meanwhile, another Pro-Am driver – Alessio Rovera (#52 AF Corse Ferrari) – set a new fastest lap record for the GT3-era of the event, lapping the 7,004 km circuit in 2m17.480s. It helped the Ferrari stay on the same lap as the leaders.

The Silver Cup lead is still in the hands of the #4 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes-AMG, which is in 12th overall. In the Gold Cup the Iron Dames now enjoy a full lap advantage over the #34 Walkenhorst BMW. The sister car of the latter is still in the lead of the Bronze Cup.