TOTAL Spa 24 Hours - Hours 13, 14 & 15
Enge Running Hard Hour 13 Just what you need—it’s oh-dark-hundred and the race is in complete stalemate. One needs to note that the two G3 cars are on the same lap as are the contestants for 9th place in GT2—definite cures for insomnia. Actually, the most interesting thing is watching Tomas Enge. Who else would you expect to put in the best laps for a given car in the dead of night? That it is quite dry helps. His Lamborghini is gaining on Philipp Peter by about three seconds per lap, albeit that the Aston Martin is two laps ahead. The No. 75 Oz-mobile has spun, gone off, and continued, but is in for a long stop. Another indication that conditions have improved is that Xavier Pompidou has just set the fast time for the No. 59 Trackspeed Porsche (2:24.424). We’ve lost another Porsche. The gearbox is frozen on the No. 108 Ice Pol Racing Team entry. Wolfgang’s stops are taking a long time as whenever the golden arches car pulls into the pits it first has to stop at small speaker and order up the proper set of tires and load of fuel. Francois Jakubowski is another to set a fast time for his car. He does it twice, ending at a 2:29.523 with the No. 112 AS Events Ferrari. That is meaningful, as he is about 90 seconds behind the G3 leader. The fifth in GT2 car is worthy of note. It is the No. 57 Kessel Racing Ferrari currently being driven by Andrea Palma. They’ve never exactly shown any fireworks, but thanks to attrition and a good run by the team they’ve climbed up the order.
Positions after 13 hours:
1 1 GT1 Bertolini/Bartels/Sarrazin/Van De Poele Maserati MC 12 13:01:31.980 308 165.61
2 2 GT1 Negrao/Ramos/Lemeret/Pierguidi Maserati MC 12 13:01:55.292 308 23.312 165.53
3 10 GT1 Turner/Simonsen/Peter/Thompson Aston Martin DB9 13:03:26.722 305 3 LAPS 163.60
4 8 GT1 Kox/Rusinov/Lammers/Enge Lamborghini Murcielago 13:02:52.065 303 5 LAPS 162.64
5 6 GT1 Fassler/Hezemans/Deletraz/Gollin Corvette Z06 13:02:58.243 302 6 LAPS 162.09
6 15 GT1 Ferte/Aucott/Daoudi Maserati MC 12 13:01:32.562 297 11 LAPS 159.69
7 77 GT2 Malucelli/Ruberti/Camathias/Rigon Ferrari F430 13:03:02.143 296 12 LAPS 158.85
8 61 GT2 Collard/Westbrook/Lieb Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 13:03:24.280 295 13 LAPS 158.24
9 50 GT2 Bruni/Vilander/Melo/Salo Ferrari F430 13:02:57.690 293 15 LAPS 157.26
10 55 GT2 Mullen/Niarchos/Piccini/Shedden Ferrari F430 13:02:11.495 289 19 LAPS 155.26
11 57 GT2 Moser/Del Monte/Vannelet/Palma Ferrari F430 13:03:19.139 288 20 LAPS 154.50
12 62 GT2 Davies/Babini/Monfardini Ferrari F430 13:02:55.822 283 25 LAPS 151.90
13 160 G3 Heylen/Dermont/Lamot/Loix Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 13:03:18.915 282 26 LAPS 151.29
14 123 G3 Thomas/Bermes/Basseng/Hemroulle Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 13:02:01.486 281 27 LAPS 151.00
15 59 GT2 Pompidou/Williams/Sugden/Ashburn Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 13:02:09.461 281 27 LAPS 150.97
16 112 G3 Campbell/Jakubowski/Barde/Zangarelli Ferrari 430 GT3 13:02:43.804 280 28 LAPS 150.32
17 56 GT2 Kirkaldy/Bell/Mueller/Sutton Ferrari F430 13:03:18.187 279 29 LAPS 149.68
18 145 G3 Kelders/Duval/Greisch/Kerkhove Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 13:03:41.944 274 34 LAPS 146.92
19 124 G3 Huisman/Khan/Voerman/Van Splunteren Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 13:01:42.480 273 35 LAPS 146.76
20 70 GT2 Baguette/Basso/Tenchini/Plati Ferrari F430 13:03:39.604 273 35 LAPS 146.39
21 75 GT2 Baird/Twigg/Juniper/Forbes Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 13:03:22.176 272 36 LAPS 145.91
22 108 G3 Duez/Sougnez/Wauters/Muytjens Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 12:35:10.099 267 41 LAPS 148.58
23 106 G3 Coens/Fumal/Schroyen/Faggionato Ferrari 430 GT3 13:02:06.620 263 45 LAPS 141.31
24 76 GT2 Lietz/Narac/Long Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 13:03:00.528 262 46 LAPS 140.61
25 4 GT1 Longin/Kumpen/Mollekens/Bouvy Saleen S7 11:21:51.922 255 53 LAPS 157.15
26 141 G3 Noziere/Brouard/Stepec/Samon Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 13:03:13.696 245 63 LAPS 131.45
27 122 G3 Jones/Jones/Jordan Ascari KZ1R 13:03:10.912 243 65 LAPS 130.38
28 116 G3 Geofroy/Chaillet/Galand/Rosoux Dodge Viper CC 11:04:12.328 229 79 LAPS 144.88
29 51 GT2 Biagi/Montanari/Farnbacher/Russo Ferrari F430 9:53:52.223 225 83 LAPS 159.21
30 174 G3 Brandela/Lesoudier/Peyroles/Lester Ferrari 430 GT3 12:40:52.252 206 102 LAPS 113.77
31 115 G3 Rich/Knauss/Kraihamer/Kuzminykh Lamborghini Gallardo 11:59:15.418 196 112 LAPS 114.51
32 182 CdR Scheier/Ballay/Kuteman/Garbagnati/Comar/Rambeaud Ferrari 430 GT3 9:25:59.205 188 120 LAPS 139.58
33 60 GT2 Henzler/Palttala/Forsten/Horion Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 7:53:13.529 183 125 LAPS 162.51
34 102 G2 Kaufmann/Talkanitsa/Ullmann/Heyer Porsche 996 Bi-Turbo (GT2-R) 13:01:50.550 179 129 LAPS 96.21
35 33 GT1 Wendlinger/Sharp/Muller/Lichtner-Hoyer Aston Martin DB9 6:15:17.975 151 157 LAPS 169.08
36 101 G2 Leinders/Kuppens/Martin Gillet Vertigo 7:18:34.615 145 163 LAPS 138.93
37 5 GT1 Menten/Margaritis/Schlunssen/Alzen Corvette Z06 5:35:23.106 140 168 LAPS 175.42
38 175 G3 Renard/Hissom/Lacroix Wasover/Thirion Ferrari 430 GT3 5:49:06.330 122 186 LAPS 146.85
39 140 G3 Fournet/Baron/Corbel/Ferreira Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 4:15:20.727 92 216 LAPS 151.41
40 121 G3 Helary/Desbrueres/Desbrueres/Radermecker Ferrari 430 GT3 2:21:10.236 31 277 LAPS 92.28
41 3 GT1 Maassen/Soulet/Pillon/Bouchut Corvette Z06 55:40.024 12 296 LAPS 90.59 Hour 14 Bruni posts the fastest GT2 lap of the race so far at 05:30, a 2:22.776, the #50 car though still 2 - 3 laps astray of the second in GT2 #61 Prospeed Porsche. Hezemans finally unlaps himself from the Lamborghini as Enge pits to hand over the car to Roman rusinov. the Russian rejoins with hezemans still closing but the Murcielago is back in almost immediately for a long stop - Hezemans up to fourth an about to grab back one of the two laps he has in arrears to the 3rd placed Gigawave Aston Martin next. Rusinov's stop drops him behind the #15 JMB Maserati too, the Murcielago now back in 6th position. Worse still he spins at the pit entry on his second out lap, entirely blocking the pit entrance and falling now behind the GT2 leading #77 BMS Ferrari. It's a bad hour for Lamborghini all round as the #115 Lamborghini Gallardo is the latest confirmed retirement after a string of problems. Xavier Pompidou takes the Trackspeed Porsche by the leading two G3 cars before pitting to hand the #59 car over to Tim Sugden who immediately sets about repeating the task. He passes the #160 Prospeed Porsche on track and the class leader Basseng as he pits. Trackspeed up to 13th overall, 8th in GT2. There's a change in leader, Lemeret now leads the race in the #2 Maserati with Van de Poele less than half a second behind. We believe simply as a result of a routine stop. The skies are getting rapidly light, revealing largely overcast conditions. Temperatures are typically cool for this time of day, but it feels like it will be similarly well into the 20s by midday. There is good news and bad news regarding the Coupe du Roi. The good news is that the JMB team crashed two of the three relay cars. The No. 182 is definitely hors boredom, while the No. 180 was declared near DOA upon arrival back at the pits. The bad news is that the third Ferrari, No. 181, is just fine and will probably go back out towards the end of the race in a desperate attempt to grab the coveted trophy from the depths of irrelevance. Another team worthy of mention is the No. 70 Easy Race Ferrari. They too have been plugging along steadily and are up to 20th overall, 9th in the GT2 class. The recent stops and travails of No. 123 have left the Prospeed Porsche, No. 160, in the G3 class lead, with David Dermont now driving. We have some drama late in the hour when Roman Rusinov, on perhaps his second flyer, suffers a broken gearbox and tries to come home. Instead the No. 8 Lamborghini stops directly at the entrance to the boxes. The pit entry is closed and it takes several minutes for the Russian driver to move the car out of harm’s way. Roman Rusinov: "There was a problem with the gearbox as soon as I got into the car, I brought the car back in but it happened again when I went out for a second time. Eventually the car wouldn't select anyt gear anbd I couldn't restart it either." Positions after 14 hours:
1 2 GT1 Negrao/Ramos/Lemeret/Pierguidi Maserati MC 12 14:01:51.036 333 166.22
2 1 GT1 Bertolini/Bartels/Sarrazin/Van De Poele Maserati MC 12 14:01:53.123 333 2.087 166.22
3 10 GT1 Turner/Simonsen/Peter/Thompson Aston Martin DB9 14:03:48.970 330 3 LAPS 164.34
4 6 GT1 Fassler/Hezemans/Deletraz/Gollin Corvette Z06 14:02:20.384 327 6 LAPS 163.13
5 15 GT1 Ferte/Aucott/Daoudi Maserati MC 12 14:03:41.829 322 11 LAPS 160.38
6 77 GT2 Malucelli/Ruberti/Camathias/Rigon Ferrari F430 14:03:01.685 320 13 LAPS 159.51
7 61 GT2 Collard/Westbrook/Lieb Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 14:02:01.065 318 15 LAPS 158.71
8 50 GT2 Bruni/Vilander/Melo/Salo Ferrari F430 14:02:20.245 317 16 LAPS 158.15
9 55 GT2 Mullen/Niarchos/Piccini/Shedden Ferrari F430 14:02:29.414 313 20 LAPS 156.12
10 8 GT1 Kox/Rusinov/Lammers/Enge Lamborghini Murcielago 13:42:09.017 312 21 LAPS 159.47
11 57 GT2 Moser/Del Monte/Vannelet/Palma Ferrari F430 14:01:51.644 311 22 LAPS 155.24
12 62 GT2 Davies/Babini/Monfardini Ferrari F430 14:03:09.378 307 26 LAPS 153.01
13 59 GT2 Pompidou/Williams/Sugden/Ashburn Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 14:02:55.563 305 28 LAPS 152.05
14 160 G3 Heylen/Dermont/Lamot/Loix Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 14:03:44.186 305 28 LAPS 151.91
15 123 G3 Thomas/Bermes/Basseng/Hemroulle Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 14:01:57.777 304 29 LAPS 151.73
16 112 G3 Campbell/Jakubowski/Barde/Zangarelli Ferrari 430 GT3 14:02:35.943 303 30 LAPS 151.11
17 56 GT2 Kirkaldy/Bell/Mueller/Sutton Ferrari F430 14:03:20.468 303 30 LAPS 150.98
18 124 G3 Huisman/Khan/Voerman/Van Splunteren Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 14:02:30.813 296 37 LAPS 147.64
19 145 G3 Kelders/Duval/Greisch/Kerkhove Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 14:02:50.085 296 37 LAPS 147.58
20 75 GT2 Baird/Twigg/Juniper/Forbes Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 14:02:39.851 295 38 LAPS 147.11
21 70 GT2 Baguette/Basso/Tenchini/Plati Ferrari F430 14:03:18.741 295 38 LAPS 147.00
22 76 GT2 Lietz/Narac/Long Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 14:03:16.417 286 47 LAPS 142.52
23 106 G3 Coens/Fumal/Schroyen/Faggionato Ferrari 430 GT3 14:02:57.518 285 48 LAPS 142.08
24 108 G3 Duez/Sougnez/Wauters/Muytjens Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 12:35:10.099 267 66 LAPS 148.58
25 141 G3 Noziere/Brouard/Stepec/Samon Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 14:02:45.445 267 66 LAPS 133.13
26 122 G3 Jones/Jones/Jordan Ascari KZ1R 14:03:29.415 266 67 LAPS 132.52
27 4 GT1 Longin/Kumpen/Mollekens/Bouvy Saleen S7 11:21:51.922 255 78 LAPS 157.15
28 116 G3 Geofroy/Chaillet/Galand/Rosoux Dodge Viper CC 11:04:12.328 229 104 LAPS 144.88
29 174 G3 Brandela/Lesoudier/Peyroles/Lester Ferrari 430 GT3 14:02:55.296 229 104 LAPS 114.16
30 51 GT2 Biagi/Montanari/Farnbacher/Russo Ferrari F430 9:53:52.223 225 108 LAPS 159.21
31 102 G2 Kaufmann/Talkanitsa/Ullmann/Heyer Porsche 996 Bi-Turbo (GT2-R) 14:01:30.313 201 132 LAPS 100.37
32 115 G3 Rich/Knauss/Kraihamer/Kuzminykh Lamborghini Gallardo 11:59:15.418 196 137 LAPS 114.51
33 182 CdR Scheier/Ballay/Kuteman/Garbagnati/Comar/Rambeaud Ferrari 430 GT3 9:25:59.205 188 145 LAPS 139.58
34 60 GT2 Henzler/Palttala/Forsten/Horion Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 7:53:13.529 183 150 LAPS 162.51
35 33 GT1 Wendlinger/Sharp/Muller/Lichtner-Hoyer Aston Martin DB9 6:15:17.975 151 182 LAPS 169.08
36 101 G2 Leinders/Kuppens/Martin Gillet Vertigo 7:18:34.615 145 188 LAPS 138.93
37 5 GT1 Menten/Margaritis/Schlunssen/Alzen Corvette Z06 5:35:23.106 140 193 LAPS 175.42
38 175 G3 Renard/Hissom/Lacroix Wasover/Thirion Ferrari 430 GT3 5:49:06.330 122 211 LAPS 146.85
39 140 G3 Fournet/Baron/Corbel/Ferreira Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 4:15:20.727 92 241 LAPS 151.41
40 121 G3 Helary/Desbrueres/Desbrueres/Radermecker Ferrari 430 GT3 2:21:10.236 31 302 LAPS 92.28
41 3 GT1 Maassen/Soulet/Pillon/Bouchut Corvette Z06 55:40.024 12 321 LAPS 90.59
Hour 15 The race-bred Bertrand Baguette isn’t exactly loafing around this morning as he butters the Francorchamps circuit with a 2:27.080, easily the fastest lap of the race for the No. 70 Ferrari. We have a potential battle for second in GT2 brewing. Gimmy Bruni is lapping the No. 50 Ferrari at about 1.5-2.0 seconds per lap quicker than Manu Collard in the No. 61 Porsche ahead of him. The chase starts with the AF Corse team car one lap plus 15 seconds down, so there is a long way to, but well over 9 hours in which to do it. The rear bumper comes off track at speed on the No. 59 Porsche and Tim Sugden has to make an early stop. Allan Simonsen was being caught up by Marcel Fässler for a brief period while the No. 10 Gigawave Aston Martin’s tires were near the end of their life span. However, the No. 6 Carsport Corvette was nearly two laps down and in a difficult position to chase. The futility of that became clear when after a stop and a fresh set of tires, Simonsen soon got into the 2:20 range again. On nay given lap Fässler could be two seconds quicker, but even with this much time left, it becomes a daunting task for the Swiss driver to move up to the last overall podium spot. In any case, this is a positional fight worth watching over the course of the next few hours. Henri Moser is another to set a fast lap in these early hours. He pedals the No. 57 Kessel Racing Ferrari to a 2:23.741. It is currently fourth in GT2, two laps behind the last podium holder, the No. 55 CR Scuderia entry. We’ve had another swap around for the overall lead between the Maserati pair. No. 1 made its 14th stop while Ramos is still out and puts the No. 2 MC 12 into a temporary hold on 1st place. It’s Michael Bartels in No. 1 and it is clear that he is not too energetically fighting back, just waiting for the next exchange of stops, which indeed occurs about 15 minutes later. Collard is continuing to attack in GT2. He’s unleaded a 2:24.479 and is gaining on Camathias by 3-4 seconds per lap. There are various fast laps being set as we head well into the morning. Jan Heylen records a 2:27.964 in the G3 leading No. 160 Porsche, as does Chris Campbell in that class’ No. 112 Ferrari +(2:29.06). Others are having problems as the No. 122 Ascari once again comes to a halt, this time at Raidillon. Another troubled one, the No. 102 McPorsche has set up a stand at the Bus Stop. Positions after 15 hours: 1 2 GT1 Negrao/Ramos/Lemeret/Pierguidi Maserati MC 12 15:01:34.380 358 166.87
2 1 GT1 Bertolini/Bartels/Sarrazin/Van De Poele Maserati MC 12 15:01:40.696 358 6.316 166.85
3 10 GT1 Turner/Simonsen/Peter/Thompson Aston Martin DB9 15:03:37.043 355 3 LAPS 165.09
4 6 GT1 Fassler/Hezemans/Deletraz/Gollin Corvette Z06 15:03:25.471 353 5 LAPS 164.20
5 15 GT1 Ferte/Aucott/Daoudi Maserati MC 12 15:03:16.540 346 12 LAPS 160.97
6 77 GT2 Malucelli/Ruberti/Camathias/Rigon Ferrari F430 15:03:08.211 344 14 LAPS 160.06
7 61 GT2 Collard/Westbrook/Lieb Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 15:02:01.532 342 16 LAPS 159.33
8 50 GT2 Bruni/Vilander/Melo/Salo Ferrari F430 15:01:36.954 341 17 LAPS 158.93
9 55 GT2 Mullen/Niarchos/Piccini/Shedden Ferrari F430 15:03:21.501 337 21 LAPS 156.77
10 57 GT2 Moser/Del Monte/Vannelet/Palma Ferrari F430 15:03:22.654 335 23 LAPS 155.83
11 62 GT2 Davies/Babini/Monfardini Ferrari F430 15:03:17.116 331 27 LAPS 153.99
12 59 GT2 Pompidou/Williams/Sugden/Ashburn Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 15:03:39.915 329 29 LAPS 152.99
13 123 G3 Thomas/Bermes/Basseng/Hemroulle Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 15:02:20.981 328 30 LAPS 152.75
14 8 GT1 Kox/Rusinov/Lammers/Enge Lamborghini Murcielago 15:02:31.252 327 31 LAPS 152.26
15 56 GT2 Kirkaldy/Bell/Mueller/Sutton Ferrari F430 15:03:02.894 327 31 LAPS 152.17
16 160 G3 Heylen/Dermont/Lamot/Loix Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 15:03:27.049 326 32 LAPS 151.63
17 124 G3 Huisman/Khan/Voerman/Van Splunteren Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 15:03:15.467 320 38 LAPS 148.88
18 70 GT2 Baguette/Basso/Tenchini/Plati Ferrari F430 15:03:13.228 319 39 LAPS 148.42
19 75 GT2 Baird/Twigg/Juniper/Forbes Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 15:01:49.497 318 40 LAPS 148.18
20 145 G3 Kelders/Duval/Greisch/Kerkhove Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 15:02:53.309 317 41 LAPS 147.54
21 112 G3 Campbell/Jakubowski/Barde/Zangarelli Ferrari 430 GT3 15:03:35.317 315 43 LAPS 146.50
22 76 GT2 Lietz/Narac/Long Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 15:03:11.817 310 48 LAPS 144.23
23 106 G3 Coens/Fumal/Schroyen/Faggionato Ferrari 430 GT3 15:02:01.235 308 50 LAPS 143.49
24 122 G3 Jones/Jones/Jordan Ascari KZ1R 15:02:16.772 288 70 LAPS 134.13
25 141 G3 Noziere/Brouard/Stepec/Samon Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 15:03:07.997 286 72 LAPS 133.08
26 108 G3 Duez/Sougnez/Wauters/Muytjens Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 12:35:10.099 267 91 LAPS 148.58
27 4 GT1 Longin/Kumpen/Mollekens/Bouvy Saleen S7 11:21:51.922 255 103 LAPS 157.15
28 174 G3 Brandela/Lesoudier/Peyroles/Lester Ferrari 430 GT3 15:01:22.396 249 109 LAPS 116.08
29 116 G3 Geofroy/Chaillet/Galand/Rosoux Dodge Viper CC 11:04:12.328 229 129 LAPS 144.88
30 51 GT2 Biagi/Montanari/Farnbacher/Russo Ferrari F430 9:53:52.223 225 133 LAPS 159.21
31 102 G2 Kaufmann/Talkanitsa/Ullmann/Heyer Porsche 996 Bi-Turbo (GT2-R) 15:02:00.326 222 136 LAPS 103.42
32 115 G3 Rich/Knauss/Kraihamer/Kuzminykh Lamborghini Gallardo 11:59:15.418 196 162 LAPS 114.51
33 182 CdR Scheier/Ballay/Kuteman/Garbagnati/Comar/Rambeaud Ferrari 430 GT3 9:25:59.205 188 170 LAPS 139.58
34 60 GT2 Henzler/Palttala/Forsten/Horion Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 7:53:13.529 183 175 LAPS 162.51
35 33 GT1 Wendlinger/Sharp/Muller/Lichtner-Hoyer Aston Martin DB9 6:15:17.975 151 207 LAPS 169.08
36 101 G2 Leinders/Kuppens/Martin Gillet Vertigo 7:18:34.615 145 213 LAPS 138.93
37 5 GT1 Menten/Margaritis/Schlunssen/Alzen Corvette Z06 5:35:23.106 140 218 LAPS 175.42
38 175 G3 Renard/Hissom/Lacroix Wasover/Thirion Ferrari 430 GT3 5:49:06.330 122 236 LAPS 146.85
39 140 G3 Fournet/Baron/Corbel/Ferreira Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 4:15:20.727 92 266 LAPS 151.41
40 121 G3 Helary/Desbrueres/Desbrueres/Radermecker Ferrari 430 GT3 2:21:10.236 31 327 LAPS 92.28
41 3 GT1 Maassen/Soulet/Pillon/Bouchut Corvette Z06 55:40.024 12 346 LAPS 90.59 | 
