TOTAL Spa 24 Hours - Hours 2 & 3
Phoenix Consolidates

The Carsport stop is quick, made that much faster by Marcel Fässler remaining aboard. Thus No. 6 retains the lead. The others on the lead lap have all swapped drivers. Alex Müller is in the 2nd place Aston Martin (No. 33), then Miguel Ramos in the No. 2 Maserati, Michael Bartels in the No. 1 Maserati, and Philipp Peter in the Gigawave Maserati.

The CR Scuderia Ferraris early stops to check damage hurt No. 55 most, with Dirk Müller now in No. 56 fighting a momentarily losing battle with Paolo Ruberti, who has taken the wheel of the No. 77 BMS Ferrari. Richard Lietz is another to double stint, and holds onto third in GT2 with the No. 76 IMSA Porsche.  Another second back is Christian Montanari in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari, just a tad ahead of teammate Jaime Melo, who took over No. 50 from Bruni. The remaining GT2 cars on the lead lap include a double-stinting Jamie Davies in Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari No. 62, then Markus Palttala, relieving Wolf Henzler in the No. 60 Prospeed Porsche. The other Prospeed entry lost 50 seconds in the pits when the refueler forgot to swap the valve over from the filler that had serviced the other team car.

Collard is double-stinting. Others to remain out in the second hour are Jos Menten, Craig Baird, Richard Lietz, Jan Heylen and Mark Thomas. The last named was also the very last car in the field to pit. The No. 160 Prospeed Porsche and No. 108 Ice Pole entry remained out the longest in G3 and moved into a commanding lead in this quite interesting class.

The No. 121 Ferrari emerged from the gravel trap at about the 90-minute mark. That time also marked the official retirement of the SRT Corvette—sad indeed for the valiant effort. Also at that time, Ruberti grabbed the lead from Lietz in the compelling GT fight.

At the 1:50-hour mark we have a distinct drizzle—not heavy, but it is noticeable. Thus far, there is no scramble for tire changes—umbrellas needed more than grooved rubber. All have been ordered to turn on their lights.

Two GT1 runners do make stops. The Lamborghini is given over to Roman Rusinov and Kumpen has made stop—staying aboard. The No. 55 CR Scuderia Ferrari is looked at again and Gordon Shedden is now driving. Richard Lietz regains the GT lead over Paolo Ruberti, just before the two-hour mark. Jos Menten is the first to slide in the wet, a light miscue for the No. 5 Corvette at La Source.

Paolo Ruberti makes the No. 77 Ferrari’s second stop and Collard moves into second in GT2. Overall, Fässler leads by a lap while in the GT2 the gap has grown to 50 seconds. In G3 it is the AS Events Ferrari of Christopher Campbell in the lead. He’s yet to make a second stop and has been at the wheel since the start. Back in GT2 the Juniper Racing Porsche now as Rodney Forbes driving.

Mike Jordan is about to take over the Preci Spark Ascari from David Jones and this will be his first ever time racing a KZ1R.

Peter Kox - "We had a tyre pressure problem in the first stint but we sorted that out at the first stop and the car is way more consistent now and running very well."

Kox is just back in the saddle after a nasty accident in the ADAC GT Masters at the Norisring where his car was shunted from behind by another competitor at over 100mph. The impact "Threw me forward like a crash test dummy and made my feet go between the pedals and impact on the bulkhead, I have had my right foot in plaster until recently and whilst it wasn't broken it was very painful.  I am beginning to feel it now, not so much from the driving but from getting in and out of the car."

Patrick Selleslagh: "We know what was wrong with the brakes and we can fix it but we are out of useable spare for the bodywork damage.  The spares we have left would need wiring for lighting and in truth, with that looking like taking at least 2 hours, it would not be fair to the team after a very hard weekend so far."

Richard Lietz - "I took it relatively easily at the start but some of the Ferrari drivers were driving as if they had no intention of finishing a 24 Hour race.  I was down to fifth or sixth before the first corner but then the (#5) Corvette had spun after La Source and I had to avoid him by going over way on the left hand side so I finished lap one in tenth place.

"As it turned out though that was quite a good thing, I had no pressure from behind and I was able to get into a very good rhythm, look after the tyres and make a lot of progress quite easily.  The double stint was good for me too, I got the best out of the tyres because the Michelins need the correct heat cycle, not hot, cold, hot , cold."

Marcel Fassler - "That was a good stint,apart from a spin at Radillon right at the end, it was getting wet and caught me out.  I lost a big chunk of time but the car is fine.  It is running well, absolutely no other problems."

Chris Niarchos - "I'm pleased to have got my first stint done, it's a confidence boost but the weather changing like this might catch us out - (as a shower started soon after Gordon Sheddedn had come back in to change his inters for slicks).  

Godfrey Jones - "We're just taking it steady, not rushing anything; taking our time at the stops. It's the first 24 hours for an Ascari, so we're not pushing. It was a bit wet out there for David; we didn't know what to do on tyres, so we stayed on slicks."

Positions after two hours:

1 33  GT1 Wendlinger/Sharp/Muller/Lichtner-Hoyer Aston Martin DB9 2:02:41.316 52  178.11
2 6   GT1 Fassler/Hezemans/Deletraz/Gollin Corvette Z06 2:02:54.245 52 12.929 177.80
3 2   GT1 Negrao/Ramos/Lemeret/Pierguidi Maserati MC 12 2:03:04.089 52 22.773 177.56
4 5   GT1 Menten/Margaritis/Schlunssen/Alzen Corvette Z06 2:03:25.534 52 44.218 177.05
5 1   GT1 Bertolini/Bartels/Sarrazin/Van De Poele Maserati MC 12 2:03:27.148 52 45.832 177.01
6 10  GT1 Turner/Simonsen/Peter/Thompson Aston Martin DB9 2:04:43.131 52 2:01.815 175.21
7 4   GT1 Longin/Kumpen/Mollekens/Bouvy Saleen S7 2:03:01.892 51 1 LAP 174.20
8 8   GT1 Kox/Rusinov/Lammers/Enge Lamborghini Murcielago 2:04:02.281 51 1 LAP 172.78
9 76  GT2 Lietz/Narac/Long Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 2:03:22.808 50 2 LAPS 170.30
10 61 GT2 Collard/Westbrook/Lieb Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 2:04:17.059 50 2 LAPS 169.06
11 60 GT2 Henzler/Palttala/Forsten/Horion Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 2:04:17.646 50 2 LAPS 169.05
12 77 GT2 Malucelli/Ruberti/Camathias/Rigon Ferrari F430 2:04:43.268 50 2 LAPS 168.47
13 56 GT2 Kirkaldy/Bell/Mueller/Sutton Ferrari F430 2:02:33.692 49 3 LAPS 168.01
14 50 GT2 Bruni/Vilander/Melo/Salo Ferrari F430 2:02:40.963 49 3 LAPS 167.84
15 51 GT2 Biagi/Montanari/Farnbacher/Russo Ferrari F430 2:02:48.403 49 3 LAPS 167.67
16 62 GT2 Davies/Babini/Monfardini Ferrari F430 2:03:01.199 49 3 LAPS 167.38
17 15 GT1 Ferte/Aucott/Daoudi Maserati MC 12 2:03:16.618 49 3 LAPS 167.03
18 59 GT2 Pompidou/Williams/Sugden/Ashburn Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 2:03:22.246 49 3 LAPS 166.91
19 57 GT2 Moser/Del Monte/Vannelet/Palma Ferrari F430 2:04:49.848 49 3 LAPS 164.95
20 55 GT2 Mullen/Niarchos/Piccini/Shedden Ferrari F430 2:03:19.982 48 4 LAPS 163.55
21 75 GT2 Baird/Twigg/Juniper/Forbes Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 2:03:27.228 48 4 LAPS 163.39
22 122 G3 Jones/Jones/Jordan Ascari KZ1R 2:04:37.132 48 4 LAPS 161.86
23 70 GT2 Baguette/Basso/Tenchini/Plati Ferrari F430 2:04:39.098 48 4 LAPS 161.82
24 123 G3 Thomas/Bermes/Basseng/Hemroulle Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 2:04:39.492 48 4 LAPS 161.81
25 160 G3 Heylen/Dermont/Lamot/Loix Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 2:04:56.034 48 4 LAPS 161.45
26 145 G3 Kelders/Duval/Greisch/Kerkhove Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 2:02:45.744 47 5 LAPS 160.89
27 101 G2 Leinders/Kuppens/Martin Gillet Vertigo 2:03:04.490 47 5 LAPS 160.48
28 106 G3 Coens/Fumal/Schroyen/Faggionato Ferrari 430 GT3 2:03:29.008 47 5 LAPS 159.95
29 112 G3 Campbell/Jakubowski/Barde/Zangarelli Ferrari 430 GT3 2:04:04.933 47 5 LAPS 159.17
30 108 G3 Duez/Sougnez/Wauters/Muytjens Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 2:04:19.534 47 5 LAPS 158.86
31 124 G3 Huisman/Khan/Voerman/Van Splunteren Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 2:02:50.725 46 6 LAPS 157.36
32 102 G2 Kaufmann/Talkanitsa/Ullmann/Heyer Porsche 996 Bi-Turbo (GT2-R) 2:03:19.075 46 6 LAPS 156.75
33 140 G3 Fournet/Baron/Corbel/Ferreira Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 2:04:37.052 46 6 LAPS 155.12
34 182 CdR Scheier/Ballay/Kuteman/Garbagnati/Comar/Rambeaud Ferrari 430 GT3 2:04:43.292 46 6 LAPS 154.99
35 116 G3 Geofroy/Chaillet/Galand/Rosoux Dodge Viper CC 2:02:24.107 45 7 LAPS 154.49
36 141 G3 Noziere/Brouard/Stepec/Samon Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 2:02:59.344 45 7 LAPS 153.76
37 175 G3 Renard/Hissom/Lacroix Wasover/Thirion Ferrari 430 GT3 2:03:59.111 44 8 LAPS 149.13
38 174 G3 Brandela/Lesoudier/Peyroles/Lester Ferrari 430 GT3 2:04:12.538 41 11 LAPS 138.71
39 115 G3 Rich/Knauss/Kraihamer/Kuzminykh Lamborghini Gallardo 1:42:23.800 38 14 LAPS 155.95
40 121 G3 Helary/Desbrueres/Desbrueres/Radermecker Ferrari 430 GT3 2:02:50.051 24 28 LAPS 82.10
41 3   GT1 Maassen/Soulet/Pillon/Bouchut Corvette Z06 55:40.024 12 40 LAPS 90.59

Hour 3

The No. 112 Ferrari lost the G3 lead when Christopher Campbell stopped and handed over to Ange Barde. The No. 145 First Motorsport Porsche briefly held top spot in the class before it too stopped and the Ferrari again led.

In the overall battle the No. 33 Aston Martin briefly led. It is now in the hands of Ryan Sharp but the No. 6 Corvette retook top spot when Fabrizio Gollin relieved Marcel Fässler. Sharp then spun briefly at the Bus Stop, while behind him the other Aston Martin, now with Allan Simonsen driving, is rapidly closing the gap.

The times are slowing by about 8 seconds in the drizzle-dry-drizzle conditions. Nevertheless, there are two GT1 cars shining in the rain. These are Uwe Alzen, now in the No. 5 Corvette and Stephane Sarrazin in the No. 1 Maserati.

In GT2 Patrick Long ended Lietz’ long stint. He’s holding the class lied over Marc Lieb in the No. 61 Prospeed car with the similar 4.0-liter motor. Malucelli is back aboard the best placed Ferrari, No. 77 of BMS. He is being chased by Jaime Melo in the No. 50 AF Corse entry.

Alessandro Pier Guidi is on a bit of tear in the No. 2 Maserati, nearly catching the already quick Simonsen. However, it seems to have been the product of a short-lived effort and remains in fourth, now under a slight threat from Alzen. Sarrazin is the last on this lead lap, with Kurt Mollekens next, taking his first stint in the No. 4 Corvette.

The No. 115 G3 class Lamborghini Gallardo is in the pits with its engine firing on something fewer than 10 cylinders. First in class is again First, Porsche No. 145 that is, with Francois Duval now aboard. Another car in that class, the No. 174 Sport Garage Ferrari, slowed on course and stopped at Raidillon. After a minute or two stationary, Gael Lesoudier manages to return very slowly to the track and then stalls right at the pit entrance. The Ascari has slowed to a modest mid-race pace. At the 2:45-mark most of the cars have their wipers in operation.

Wolfgang Kaufmann has been given a two-minute penalty. We suspect that it maybe because he gave the DSC staff a one-finger salute when they tried to photograph him. The two-car G2 class now has the Vertigo leading (Maxime Martin driving).

The hour ends with the formerly first in G3 First suffering a puncture, ceding the class to the AS Events Ferrari, now with Ange Barde driving. Overall, Pier Guidi took Alzen for fourth and is setting off after Simonsen.

Positions after three hours:

1 6   GT1 Fassler/Hezemans/Deletraz/Gollin Corvette Z06 3:02:13.236 77  177.57
2 33  GT1 Wendlinger/Sharp/Muller/Lichtner-Hoyer Aston Martin DB9 3:03:09.201 77 55.965 176.67
3 10  GT1 Turner/Simonsen/Peter/Thompson Aston Martin DB9 3:03:14.770 77 1:01.534 176.58
4 5   GT1 Menten/Margaritis/Schlunssen/Alzen Corvette Z06 3:03:15.151 77 1:01.915 176.57
5 2   GT1 Negrao/Ramos/Lemeret/Pierguidi Maserati MC 12 3:03:15.645 77 1:02.409 176.57
6 1   GT1 Bertolini/Bartels/Sarrazin/Van De Poele Maserati MC 12 3:03:23.403 77 1:10.167 176.44
7 8   GT1 Kox/Rusinov/Lammers/Enge Lamborghini Murcielago 3:02:11.786 74 3 LAPS 170.68
8 76  GT2 Lietz/Narac/Long Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 3:04:14.344 74 3 LAPS 168.79
9 61  GT2 Collard/Westbrook/Lieb Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 3:04:27.548 74 3 LAPS 168.58
10 50 GT2 Bruni/Vilander/Melo/Salo Ferrari F430 3:04:32.186 74 3 LAPS 168.51
11 77 GT2 Malucelli/Ruberti/Camathias/Rigon Ferrari F430 3:02:11.468 73 4 LAPS 168.38
12 60 GT2 Henzler/Palttala/Forsten/Horion Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 3:02:48.474 73 4 LAPS 167.81
13 15 GT1 Ferte/Aucott/Daoudi Maserati MC 12 3:02:49.746 73 4 LAPS 167.79
14 56 GT2 Kirkaldy/Bell/Mueller/Sutton Ferrari F430 3:02:51.712 73 4 LAPS 167.76
15 51 GT2 Biagi/Montanari/Farnbacher/Russo Ferrari F430 3:03:12.054 73 4 LAPS 167.45
16 62 GT2 Davies/Babini/Monfardini Ferrari F430 3:03:44.823 73 4 LAPS 166.95
17 59 GT2 Pompidou/Williams/Sugden/Ashburn Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 3:04:24.964 73 4 LAPS 166.35
18 4  GT1 Longin/Kumpen/Mollekens/Bouvy Saleen S7 3:02:37.889 72 5 LAPS 165.67
19 57 GT2 Moser/Del Monte/Vannelet/Palma Ferrari F430 3:03:27.623 72 5 LAPS 164.92
20 55 GT2 Mullen/Niarchos/Piccini/Shedden Ferrari F430 3:03:36.721 71 6 LAPS 162.50
21 75 GT2 Baird/Twigg/Juniper/Forbes Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 3:03:56.478 71 6 LAPS 162.21
22 112 G3 Campbell/Jakubowski/Barde/Zangarelli Ferrari 430 GT3 3:03:00.626 70 7 LAPS 160.73
23 122 G3 Jones/Jones/Jordan Ascari KZ1R 3:03:09.895 70 7 LAPS 160.60
24 123 G3 Thomas/Bermes/Basseng/Hemroulle Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 3:04:15.012 70 7 LAPS 159.65
25 160 G3 Heylen/Dermont/Lamot/Loix Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 3:04:15.529 70 7 LAPS 159.64
26 70 GT2 Baguette/Basso/Tenchini/Plati Ferrari F430 3:04:30.236 70 7 LAPS 159.43
27 101 G2 Leinders/Kuppens/Martin Gillet Vertigo 3:01:14.105 69 8 LAPS 159.99
28 145 G3 Kelders/Duval/Greisch/Kerkhove Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 3:01:42.738 69 8 LAPS 159.57
29 106 G3 Coens/Fumal/Schroyen/Faggionato Ferrari 430 GT3 3:02:34.684 69 8 LAPS 158.81
30 108 G3 Duez/Sougnez/Wauters/Muytjens Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 3:03:08.953 69 8 LAPS 158.32
31 124 G3 Huisman/Khan/Voerman/Van Splunteren Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 3:04:21.343 69 8 LAPS 157.28
32 140 G3 Fournet/Baron/Corbel/Ferreira Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 3:04:25.010 67 10 LAPS 152.67
33 141 G3 Noziere/Brouard/Stepec/Samon Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 3:02:15.853 66 11 LAPS 152.17
34 102 G2 Kaufmann/Talkanitsa/Ullmann/Heyer Porsche 996 Bi-Turbo (GT2-R) 2:55:57.535 65 12 LAPS 155.23
35 175 G3 Renard/Hissom/Lacroix Wasover/Thirion Ferrari 430 GT3 3:02:20.891 65 12 LAPS 149.79
36 116 G3 Geofroy/Chaillet/Galand/Rosoux Dodge Viper CC 3:02:51.415 65 12 LAPS 149.38
37 182 CdR Scheier/Ballay/Kuteman/Garbagnati/Comar/Rambeaud Ferrari 430 GT3 3:02:13.412 64 13 LAPS 147.59
38 174 G3 Brandela/Lesoudier/Peyroles/Lester Ferrari 430 GT3 2:48:56.171 57 20 LAPS 141.79
39 115 G3 Rich/Knauss/Kraihamer/Kuzminykh Lamborghini Gallardo 3:02:43.762 57 20 LAPS 131.08
40 121 G3 Helary/Desbrueres/Desbrueres/Radermecker Ferrari 430 GT3 2:21:10.236 31 46 LAPS 92.28
41 3   GT1 Maassen/Soulet/Pillon/Bouchut Corvette Z06 55:40.024 12 65 LAPS 90.59