Klaus Bachler leads the Centenary Edition of the 24 Hours of Spa after 15 Hours, in the #911 Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 GT3.R (992)
Bachler passed Franck Perera (#163 Grasser Racing) for the lead into Turn 12 twenty minutes before the end of the hour, and has since established a five-second advantage.
Team WRT sit third and fourth with Maxime Martin and Dries Vanthoor currently behind the wheel. Vanthoor’s #32 BMW lost the lead when it served a 30-second time penalty at its most recent pitstop, for speeding under Full Course Yellow overnight.
WRT believe they led the race after 12 Hours with the #32 M4 GT3 when championship points are awarded, but the official results have listed #99 Tresor Attempto Racing as the leaders at the halfway mark.
The most significant incident of the night occurred in the thirteenth hour, when David Vidales (#71 AF Corse-Francorchamps Motors) made contact with both Lucas Auer (#48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) and Lilou Wadoux (#93 Sky-Tempesta Racing) at La Source. Auer was unable to return to the pits, and the #71 Ferrari has also since retired. The Sky-Tempesta 296 GT3 is still running strongly, with Chris Froggart currently second in the Bronze Cup, which is being led by Attempto Racing’s #66 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II that runs ninth overall.
WHOOPS! Three cars collide at La Source! 💥
The #48 Mercedes-AMG is left stopped by the side of the road at the first corner after a three-car incident sees Auer take a big hit in the side.
The incident is under investigation 🕵️♂️#Spa24H #FanatecGT | #GTWorldChEU pic.twitter.com/SFcPCuMZ4a
— Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS (@GTWorldChEu) June 30, 2024
It’s been a difficult night for Mercedes-AMG, with the retirement of the #48 AMG GT3 Evo joined by delays for three further cars. The #130 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing entry has lost 10 laps after picking up floor damage following a spin with Frederik Vesti behind the wheel, and #60 2 Seas Motorsport and #90 Madpanda Motorsport have both also been in to the garage for repairs.
Barwell Motorsport’s #78 Lamborghini has fallen out of contention in the Bronze Cup, after a long pit stop for repairs after an oil pressure warning cost them over 20 minutes, and Kessel Racing’s #74 entry has had further delays after contact between Chandler Hull and the #55 Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3.R (992).
Mikael Grenier (#777 AlManar Racing by GetSpeed) currently leads the Gold Cup, with Romain Leroux (#35 Walkenhorst Motorsport) at the front in the Silver Cup.
In Pro-Am, CrowdStrike Racing by Riley has taken the lead overnight after Team RJN lost time through the Wave-By process and by briefly switching to slicks, necessitating an extra stop to return to Wet tyres when the rain picked up again.
