1500: At the top of the second hour, 20 seconds covers the top seven runners, who are having to deal with a constant stream of traffic as they lap. Unseen by the TV cameras, this catches out Ragginger, who drops to third behind Buurman and Pastorelli.
1501: Heyer spins the #9 Hofor Mercedes from eighth and hits the wall head-on while trying to dodge traffic. It’s not too heavy an impact, though, and Heyer manages to limp back to the pits at reduced speed.
1504: Code 60 activated for the second time to facilitate the clear-up of debris from Heyer’s smash – coming at a very convenient time for scheduled stops. Bernd Schneider takes over the #3 Black Falcon Mercedes from Bleekemolen and the #30 Ram Mercedes comes in, too.
1508: Heyer reports: “A shame for me as I haven’t had a crash for a long time and am used to dealing with traffic in VLN. The blue SEAT didn’t see me so I had to go right fast. Next time I will be more patient. It’s part of the game, but we did it really bad and now we’re sitting here.”
1511: The Code 60 remains in place as fluid dropped on track by the Mercedes is dealt with by the marshals.
1516: Green flag conditions resumed. Ragginger in the #12 Fac Auto Tech Porsche leads once again after pit stops for the #2 Mercedes and #19 Corvette. Mucke is second in the KPM Aston, having also opted to stay out of the pits during the Code 60. Florian Strauss in the GT Acaedemy Nissan meanwhile is second in the A6-Am class, in what we believe is sixth overall behind the Ram Racing Mercedes, which has once again disappeared from the official timing.
1529: The #2 Black Falcon Mercedes with Hubert Haupt aboard in third is the leading car to have made a pit stop ahead of Vincent Radermacker in the #6 Gravity Racing Mercedes (an A6-Am runner). Meanwhile Peter Kox has got up to 18th overall in the Scuderia Praha Ferrari, having started from the pits.
1538: Mucke pits from second to take on fuel. Elsewhere, the #96 Mike Racing Mercedes is also in its garage after minor contact with another car.
1542: At the end of lap 39, Ragginger pits from the lead at last, allowing the Ram Racing Mercedes in the hands of Thomas Jaeger, who’s already pitted once, into second behind new leader Hubert Haupt in the #2 Black Falcon Mercedes.
1549: It’s now all-A6-Pro top six as we head towards the two-hour mark. Haupt leads Jaeger by just under 18 seconds, with Schneider 7.3 seconds further back.
1555: A spin for the #930 Japanese-entered Porsche, but it gets going again.
Stephen Errity
