Nicki Thiim lost the lead early in the second hour, losing 15 seconds with a spin and handing the lead to Kevin Estre in the #1 Manthey Porsche – from 36th to the lead in around 75 minutes!
The #44 Falken Porsche had a replacement rear bumper fitted at its next stop after the moment for Patrick Pilet.
Major trouble for the #26 Octane 126 Ferrari though, a hit from the rear causing a left rear puncture for the pole setter, a very slow lap dropping the 488 well down the order.
And major trouble too for the Dan Harper in the #72 BMW Junior Team M4 GT3 – Front left damage after contact with a back marker, the #331 BMW at Tiergarten, repairs would cost 34 minutes!
AND! Major trouble for the #116 KTM, having run in the top 10 the SPX machine had an agonisingly slow lap with a rear puncture, dropping well out of contention and almost unwittingly causing a major incident when an SP9 Audi checked up to a stand, apparently a flagging error leading the driver to believe they should not pass the new stationary XBow – mercifully the following traffic managed to avoid the road block!
With two battling groups on differing pit strategies the new lead battle saw the #99 ROWE BMW of Augusto Farfus leading the #7 Lamborghini of Jordan Pepper with Matt Campbell in the #27 Toksport WRT Porsche in the train.
That battle was settled in four of Jordan Pepper as he jumped the BMW, Farfus reacting a little early to a waved yellow at Tiergarten for a big off from the #255 cayman (having lost a tyre at the end of the Döttinger Hoe). There was though a
The next pit stops would see the first of two incidents involving the #99 and the #27 as the Porsche was released into the side of the BMW – things would get somewhat worse a little later!
All of that left the Manthey Porsche in the hands of Fred Mako fending off Maxime Martin and John Edwards for the lead, the Aston though would once again sweep by on the Dottinger Hoe with 2 hours 30 minutes elapsed.
A little further back there was real drama with Andlauer, Stolz, Yelloly and Jeffries battling for 7th
Ahead the #5 and 15 Phoenix Audis were dragging by Adam Christodolou on the Döttinger Hoe, 4th and 5th as all three closed in on the leading group
The pitlane dramas for Toksport and ROWE were under investigation meanwhile but would explode into irrelevance after a significant hit between the same two at the Veedol Chicane, the impact pitching the Porsche into the gravel with a broken wheel, and putting both into the pits, the BMW under its own steam, the Porsche on the end of a tow rope.
The #99 would be pushed back into the paddock – either into retirement or for a more significant ‘fix’. The #27 was later confirmed by Matt Campbell to be out of the race.
Upfront the Phoenix Audis were closing in on second place pair
Edwards passed Makowiecki for second with kelvin van der Linde nipping up the inside at T1 for 2nd.
Luca Stolz meanwhile was the latest to literally hit trouble from 7th, the #16 HRT AMG hitting a Cayman early in the Nordschleife lap causing very significant front right hand damage, the car in for a lengthy repair.
