1245: Basseng slips to ninth behind Mark Asmer in the GT Russian team Mercedes, then comes under attack from Andreas Simonsen in the #19 Black Falcon SLS. The pit stops begin as the #1000 Race Experience Audi comes in for fuel. The #8 Bentley also comes in with a very second-hand looking right rear corner. After fuelling, the car is pushed back into the garage.
1247: Verdonck is the first of the leading group to stop. The #99 McLaren and #1 Audi pit at the same time.
1251: After the stops, Cesar Ramos in the #1 Audi has taken over from Mies and leads from Buhk, who stayed behind the wheel of the #85 Mercedes. Buncombe is third in the #80 Nissan ahead of Verdonck in the #84 and Kevin Korjus in the #99 McLaren, which had a long stop to change tyres. Johnny Laursen has taken over the #52 Ferrari from Seefried.
1256: Buncombe on the attack still, diving down the inside of second-place Buhk but having to back out of it. Meanwhile the Pro-Am title advantage has swung the way of Rizzoli and Gai in the #90 Villorba Corse Ferrari, currently running seventh overall and third in class beind the MP Aston Martin. Castellacci’s co-driver Johnny Laursen has dropped to 11th overall after taking over from Seefried at the stops.
1300: Buncombe gets second from Buhk on the run-up to the T11 chicane. And it’s not long before the #80 Nissan is in the lead from Ramos as they cross the line to complete lap 32.
1303: A spin for the #888 BMW of Hughes, and a request from race control to check its lights. Another spin, too, for the beleagured #26 Sainteloc Audi of Sandstrom, currently the last classified runner.
1307: Team Parker Racing Audi goes off at T12, and Ramos runs wide at T1, losing positions to Buhk and Verdonck. Conditions seem to be deteriorating, but Buncombe is loving it, lapping four-tenths quicker than the next cars and building up a seven-second lead on Buhk.
1314: A heavy off for Rahel Frey in the #1000 Race Experience Audi at the first corner after she lost it under braking. Car is recovered under waved yellows, so no safety car.
1327: Verdonck gets ahead of Buhk as the HTP Mercs swap places, while the #888 BMW gets a black-and-orange flag for running without working lights.
1331: The race has settled in to a rhythm now as we approach the two-hour point. The weather is reported to remain the same for the duration. Pro-Am and overall leader Buncombe is now 12 seconds up the road from Verdonck and Buhk, who are 19 seconds ahead of fourth-place Ramos. The Brazilian is another 19 seconds or so clear of Simonsen’s Black Falcon Mercedes, but Korjus in the #99 McLaren is just 1.6 seconds behind him in sixth.
1333: Rizzoli is second in the Pro-Am class and seventh overall in the #90 Ferrari – he and co-driver Gai will take the title if things stay like that. Guy Smith in the #7 Bentley is eighth, ahead of Joe Osborne in the #38 MP Motorsport Aston Martin, who’s ninth overall and third in Pro-Am. Completing the top 10 is Marko Asmer in the #82 GT Russian Team Mercedes.
SE
