Hour two of the Blancpain 1000 at the Nürburgring saw the #84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 increasing its lead, despite a safety car period. Schneider leads Rast, which means Maximilian Buhk is our virtual champion.
Kessel Racing is definitely not having its best race of the year after receiving a second drive-through penalty for not slowing down under yellow. As a result the #44 Ferrari dropped further down the order and out of contention for the Drivers and Teams titles.
Pro-Am title contenders AF Corse crashed out of the race in a dramatic way after Fabio Babini steered in too early on the #23 JRM Racing Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3. The Ferrari veered to the left, hit the barriers head-on and Babini was lucky not to flip his car. With debris on track and a transporter required to remove the wrecked Ferrari race control sent out the safety car.
An hour and a half into the race Bernd Schneider was almost half a second clear of the Esta Motorsport Ferrari and the #11 ART Grand Prix McLaren and the Mercedes had not been under any threat throughout that period of time.
The Safety Car came back into the pit some fifteen minutes later and the race was restarted with a charging René Rast now cutting through the field and soon moving into third place. The Gulf Racing McLaren lost a wheel into turn 1 and Adam Carroll stopped the car after completing 52 laps.
Kessel Racing hit more problems as the car nearly went wide, then spun across the track, knocking out one of the Styrofoam signs.
The #35 Nissan GT Academy Team RJN Nissan went through the gravel at the same location and both cars returned to the pits for lengthy checks. They rejoined outside the top 30 – although the Kessel Ferrari quickly returned to the pits for more checks.
At the end of the second hour Schneider was still leading the race, with Rast all over Skryabin in the Esta Motosport Ferrari.
Marcel ten Caat
