We have reached the halfway point of the Gulf 12h, the last seasonal event of the Intercontinental GT Challenge 2023 which takes place in Abu Dhabi, and Mercedes commands operations at the end of the sixth hour.
Penalties continue to arrive for track limits not respected: +5″ to Ferrari #11, #26 and #51, to McLaren #27 and #93, to Audi #2 and to Porsche #33, the latter also punished with + 15″ for an infringement committed at the pit stop.
The first important twist occurred during the fourth, when the BMW #32 of Team WRT had to return to the pits to resolve an exhaust problem. A very bad blow for Philipp Eng’s title hopes, given that the M4 then re-entered the race, but after having lost 7 laps to the leader and is now traveling at the rear.
The Mercedes #14 of 2 Seas Motorsport then took advantage of this and during the 5th hour took the overall lead and the PRO Class of the IGTC members, thanks to the overtaking completed by Maxi Götz against the Porsche #21 of Car Collection, now down to third, but still leader of the AM category after leading for several laps.
A great coup considering that Jules Gounon is trying to defend his lead in the championship drivers’ standings with the blue AMG and now has a clear path ahead of him.
Photo by: SRO
#46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3: Valentino Rossi, Dries Vanthoor, Nick Yelloly
The rise of the PROs also sees the BMW #46 of WRT put its wheels on the overall podium, with Valentino Rossi and Nick Yelloly who will now have to work overtime to give their teammate Dries Vanthoor the last hope of the title, even if at the moment they are about twenty seconds from the summit.
Fourth is still firmly the McLaren #88 of Garage59, first in the PRO/AM Class. After some problems at a pit stop, the Mercedes #99 of GruppeM Racing regains sixth position and the PRO podium, passing the Porsche #7 of Herberth Motorsport (second AM) and pulling behind its sister #77, even though the latter has a lap late. Mikael Grenier’s move was noteworthy, as he overtook Fabian Schiller in braking to split with the #99 and came into contact with the leader #14.
The Mercedes #3 of 2 Seas (third AM), the Ferrari #11 of Kessel Racing and the McLaren #27 of Optimum Motorsport complete the overall Top10, the latter with a different strategy from the others, always remaining on the PRO/AM podium behind to the 296 GT3 of the Swiss team.
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