The #51 Ferrari AF Corse with Alessio Rovera leads at the end of hour three, as the race is prepped to go to green after an incident 20 minutes ago. Following Rovera is the #2 GetSpeed Mercedes of Fabian Schiller, while Jim Pla in the #25 Sainteloc Racing Audi runs third, and leading Gold Cup.
The #7 Comtoyou Aston Martin of Mattia Drudi is next, followed by another Aston Martin, the #34 Walkenhorst car of Ross Gunn. The next Gold-Class car is in 6th – the #88 Tresor Attempto Audi of Lorenzo Patrese – while third in Gold Cup rounds out the top 10 overall, the #777 AlManar Racing by Getspeed Mercedes, with Al Faisal Al Zubair at the wheel.
The field has been under Safety Car for the last 10 minutes, after a Full Course Yellow to recover the #38 Haas RT Audi which was in the gravel at Bruxelles.
The major story of the second hour was a puncture for the race-leading #48 Mann-Filter Mercedes AMG. Lucas Auer picked up a puncture from carbon fibre debris at the final chicane, with the left rear tyre blowing at Campus corner the following lap. Alessandro Pier Guido took the lead in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, while Auer nursed the car into the pit lane, dropping down to 14th before getting into the lane. Maro Engel was handed the car, down in 59th place, but crucially, the last car on the lead lap.
At the end of the second hour, the #51 AF Corse Ferrari lead the race from the #2 Team GetSpeed Mercedes, followed by the #25 Sainteloc Audi, who was leading Gold class. Just behind the #25 was the #88 Tresor Attempto Audi, second in Gold class, with the #34 Walkinhorst Aston Martin rounding out the top 5. The recovering #992 Hub Auto Corse Porsche and #130 Gruppe M Mercedes were in 31st and 32nd respectively. Bronze Class was lead by the #188 Garage 59 McLaren, while Silver was lead by the #10 Bousten VDS Mercedes, and Pro-Am by the #16 Uno Racing with Landgraf Mercedes.
As the pit sequence for the rest of the field cycled through, the #48 GetSpeed Mercedes recovered to 12th, and engaged in battle with Caldarelli in the #163 Iron Lynx Lamborghini. A hip-and-shoulder moment at La Source saw the Lamborghini skate through the gravel, and the Mercedes slow onto the straight, and both lost a few positions.
The #163 has had further problems, with a fuel rig issue the reason for their earlier long pit stop. A fix has been attempted, but that car currently sits in 51st position overall.
There was a short Full Course Yellow at two-and-half hour mark to replace a bollard at pit exit, lasting less than a minute, before the incident for Adomavicius brought out the current Full Course Yellow turned Safety Car less than 10 minutes later.
In the Bronze Cup, Garage 59 continue to lead the way with their #188 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, which currently has Miguel Ramos behind the wheel. Eddie Cheever has moved Sky-Tempesta Racing’s #93 Ferrari up into second place, with Till Bechtolsteiner running third for Barwell Motorsport.
Kessel Racing’s #74 Ferrari 296 GT3 has lost ground after a promising start, after a power steering issue required them to make a five-minute pitstop.
The #97 Rutronik Racing has become the first official retirement of the race, following exhaust and gearbox damage after contact with the #52 AF Corse Ferrari in the opening hour. The 296 GT3 was assessed a drive through penalty for the incident, undoing the hard work of a charging Andrea Bertolini, who had climbed as high as fifth in Bronze.
The Silver Cup is being led by Daan Arrow in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, after Arrow passed Roee Meyuhas (#10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG) at the start of the third hour. Steady progress has seen Walkenhorst Motorsport’s #35 Aston Martin enter the top three, with all 10 cars in the Silver Cup still on the lead lap.
In the Pro-Am Cup, the #100 Team RJN McLaren has been on a charge – with Jann Mardenborough and then Alex Buncombe setting new fastest laps in class as they closed in on the leading #18 Uno Racing with Landgraf Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Indy Dontje before the Safety Car bunched the cars together.
These are the only entries left on the lead lap in Pro-Am, after offs for EBM’s Kerong Li and Haas RT’s Julius Adomavicius, and contact between the Mercedes-AMG’s of CrowdStrike Racing by Riley and Triple Eight JMR.
