The 6h of Spa-Francorchamps has already reached the halfway point and there are 120 minutes left until the checkered flag of this third round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship, currently the best race of the year.
The sun continues to warm the huge crowd of people who have flocked to the Ardennes, not at all disappointed by the spectacle we are enjoying on the track, with many battles and twists continuing after the restart from the Safety Car which had grouped the cars together in the second hour.
The safety car came out with 3h35′ on the clock to deal with, just as the LMGT3s had opted to stop for the third time, shuffling the cards again.
In the meantime, a Drive Through penalty was imposed on the BMW #20 for having triggered the carambola which in the second hour knocked out the Porsche-Jota #38 and the BMW M4 LMGT3 #46.
The same sanction was also given to Toyota #7 and McLaren #95 for an infringement committed under the Virtual Safety Car regime, while BMW #15 and Aston Martin #27 received 10″ for pit stop infringements.
Among the Hypercars, failure of the left rear suspension for Andrea Caldarelli, forced to complete an entire lap to bring the Lamborghini SC63 back to the Iron Lynx pits and retire.
Fortuitous contact between the Aston Martin #777 and the Corvette-TF Sport #82 at the ‘Raidillon’ which caused the left rear puncture of Sebastian Baud’s Z06, with the #81 twin forced into the pits due to damage to the diffuser.
But another sensational episode took place at the end of the 3rd Hour, when at ‘Blanchimont’ a bad mistake by Michael Christensen saw the Porsche #5 skid and end up against the left wall due to a disastrous retirement.
Also in this situation a Full Course Yellow was decreed and shortly after the new green light, a great move by James Calado at the top of the ‘Raidillon’, very good at taking advantage of a slight hesitation by Neel Jani – with a lapped in front – to take the lead wake of the Porsche #99 and overtake the Proton Competition driver, taking the lead with the Ferrari #51, which subsequently passed to Alessandro Pier Guidi.
A lively Miguel Molina recovered a couple of positions, and then left the Ferrari #50 to Antonio Fuoco in third position; the Calabrian first closed the door on a furiously climbing Cadillac, and then went to catch up with Jan’s 963, overtaking it at the end of the hour on the ‘Kemmel’ straight after taking a couple of risks in lapped traffic.
#99 Proton Competition Porsche 963: Harry Tincknell, Neel Jani, Julien Andlauer
Photo by: Paul Foster
Meanwhile, Earl Bamber’s Cadillac remains fourth and lurking, while the Porsche-Penske #6 has lost ground and is fighting for the Top5 against Jota’s #12, as well as the Ferrari #83 of AF Corse which is seventh attacked by Toyota #8.
In the Top 10 we also have the two Alpines, separated by the Toyota #7 in ninth, while the BMW #15 is eleventh, behind which are the Peugeots #93 and #94. The Isotta Fraschini took 15th place, overtaking the #20 BMW, which in the meantime received a further 5″ penalty for overtaking a rival by going beyond the track limits.
In the LMGT3 Class everything is wide open because now in front we find the McLaren #59 of United Autosports and the Porsche #91 of Manthey EMA, but at 5″ there is still the Lamborghini #85 of the Iron Dames which is trying to regain the lead after having lost in the last round of stops.
The BMW #31 of WRT and the Porsche #92 of Manthey Pure Rxcing are a little further behind and in the Top 5 of the category, with the Ford Mustang #88 of Proton Competition and the Ferraris #54 and #55 of AF Corse behind, in competing with the Lexus #78 of Akkodis ASP for seventh place.
Also in the top 10 is the Aston Martin #777 of D’station Racing.
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