RACE 2 - GT4 European Series - SPA FRANCORCHAMPS 2021 - ENGLISH

[Music] it wouldn't be spar without mixed weather would it we've had rain the sun is shining at least at certain parts of the circuit and the drivers and the teams face a real quandary over what to do for tyres as we get set for the second gt4 european series race of the weekend welcome to one of the best circuits in the world and welcome to a race that has an awful lot to offer with a really jumbled grid after dramas yesterday after one or two penalties have been applied and the cars have formed up ready for one hour of racing mandatory pit stops driver changes for most cars but not all and the race has been declared wet david anderson and ryan marine trackside gemma scott down on the grid and it's a very busy grid with engineers trying to work out whether or not it is going to be slicks or it is going to be wet and i suspect ryan it's going to be slicked because it's just not that wet all the way around is it well we see the cars on the grid at the moment and it seems like everyone is making that switch they rolled the cars out on the groove tires on the wet tires making the switch now to the slicks it appears by and large so and we don't know what to expect and it could change between now and then we shall see absolutely right it is going to be certainly slippery out there for the first few laps of the race that is for sure pole position for this race is the car of tom canning and ruben del sarte ruben with gemma scott reuben pole position a fantastic result for you guys you were i think surprised yourselves to be this far up yeah i mean uh it's a great way to start a race uh great job from tom i mean he did an amazing journey qualifying we knew we had a strong pace with a good setup even though we struggled a bit yesterday during the race we made a few changes in order to anticipate and get a good base for this race i assume you're starting on slicks the weather's really up and down isn't it yeah i mean it's quite tricky conditions obviously first pull for us doesn't make it easy to to get rain and then dry but i mean the track's drying really quick up with this weather so we'll see have a great race thank you very much so second generation racer ruben delsart his father raphael rael delsart racing single seaters in the uk in the late 1980s got as far as number three and uh ruben came out of the ginetta junior championship in the uk like this man charlie [ __ ] and his co-driver bailey boise i think slicks is gonna be the way to go look at the tarmac though you can see all of those grooves in that section of the circuit that's all to try and help with the drainage that patterned road if you like and that united auto sports mclaren the bailey boys and charlie [ __ ] won yesterday's race and ron yesterday it was just mighty it was and charlie was the star because he put in an excellent second stint he'll be starting today for race number two took over more or less in the lead was able to make that switch coming around they pitted a little bit earlier than the competition charlie behind the wheel was able to make the pass for the lead into lake home and held on the rest of the way despite a restart but bayley voice and i thought was equally impressive for different reasons he was under attack for much of the race it was his first time starting on pole and he looked very very comfortable fending off numerous challenges from behind the first time he'd raced at spa which again another reason to get excited about him uh so we'll see how he goes today and in fact bailey voicing is down on the grid with gemma he can reflect on that great win yesterday and look forward to race two only after a win yesterday riding on a high and starting on the front row today yeah brilliant lap by charlie and uh the second qualifying session to put us on the front row uh rained a few minutes ago so he might sort of change strategy a little bit um it'll definitely the tires like tire trucks will come into play uh but it looks like it's dried up or it's starting to dry up a bit so yeah maybe i think the sharp end of the field is definitely on the slicks the majority are anyway so that will uh make it a bit more interesting uh so charlie's chinese in the car for the first half and then uh about halfway through i'll i'll hop in and hopefully come home in a good place but uh we'll see i mean obviously it's very high in quality field a lot can happen and especially with the weather changing yeah so constantly it's going to be difficult because it really falls doesn't it sorry when that rain falls it seems to really fall yeah yeah it seems to really fall like it rains only for a short period of time but the track got quite wet but um it stopped raining about 10 minutes ago so it does dry up quite quickly here so we'll see what happens but uh i'm looking forward to it thanks a lot thank you and behind of the grid you've seen number 22 porsche joel sturm and nikolai muller-madsen's car that qualified fourth with a nikolai muller madsen time but we never really saw the best out of that car yesterday around well to begin with and then it seemed to be some electrical drama that stopped it it did there was a moment where it lost speed entirely this was with a storm behind the wheel and then was able to get back to speed but then ultimately came to a stop and we saw them trying to recycle the electronics on that car couldn't get it going i think that's the biggest what if from yesterday that car was exceptionally fast we never got to see what nikolai madsen could do he's incredibly rapid behind the wheel and i think this opening stand is going to be interesting starting from the outside of the second row what kind of positions he can make up and then turn it over to his co-driver who had a great qualifying effort for race one yesterday that should be appearing to keep an eye on and extra motivated given the frustrations from yesterday the alpines were quit yesterday and their number 36 is the arcadia racing entry that antoine leclerc will start and he shares that car with stefan guerra and slicks is the way to go it's stopped raining and although it isn't exactly sunny over here it um it's giving the impression that it's gonna dry out reasonably quickly assuming that we don't have another big shower before the very end and this is spa so it could happen i'm a spa neophyte and i i think what i've learned is you shouldn't assume anything as far as the weather goes around this place so we'll just have to adjust on the fly just like these teams but again it is worth noting that it is declared a wet race based on the fact that we did have quite a bit of rain prior to this race it affected the tcr race immediately preceding this one and i think all of these teams were watching anxiously how that race unfolded to try and make the best strategy call they could as far as tires were concerned for this race it's not so much the track because that is an issue in itself and the state of it but it's the kerbs this thing get onto a wet painted curb suddenly what you thought was traction becomes a whole different world of pain yeah any driver will tell you that a slick set of painted asphalt has just no grip whatsoever might as well be driving on ice and you can see what has been done to the track surface here to continue with the drainage and to help with some of the grip in the event of rain which is almost a certainty around here but with that said it doesn't help you at all when you get up on the painted stuff so you have to adjust your line accordingly however the painted stuff in the dry you want to get out there to to go faster that's where the speed is found and as the circuit starts to dry out assuming it does then you do need to slowly cautiously venture out a little bit and and see what kind of grip is available to you there but there are real rewards for those who are brave enough to try it early but the risk is real as well absolutely so now the grid is formed just looking to the back of it because it has lined up slightly differently from what was published and the rain is falling again now as well so just as the teams get set to go safety car will lead them around it is going to be the rolling start rather than a safety car start so it's the normal start procedure at least as far as we are are aware for now but yeah just as they've committed just as the teams go to the pit lane then it starts to rain once more this is going to make it very very tricky indeed because by the end of this lap circuit could be a washer it could be bone dryer it puts them the teams the drivers in a very difficult situation the drivers on this lap will be basically doing reconnaissance figuring out what kind of grip will be there when the green comes out do they need to make an early call to the pit lane for a change of tires to the wets did anybody gamble and stick with the wets maybe a little bit further back in the hopes that perhaps this exact eventuality would take place we'll soon find out well pole position is tom canning charlie [ __ ] with him at the front of the grid ahead of timothy and nikolai mother mads jim clara and greg gilbert on the third row headed on to one leclair and dean mcdonald on row four ugo chevalier shares row five with valson beltways the sixth row stefan lemare man to watch and maximum soul his fellow countryman the two belgians then 11th and 12th on the grid 13th and 14th ralph keller there's another hugely experienced driver lining up alongside tymon nabors and then you've got xavier jovaris and roma yaneta in his team four motorsport audi number 77 at the ninth row max bosnelli and then jody bullo row 10 of the grade is constantine lucknow one at zamboart but had a suspension drama yesterday the car sat down low and was a retirement raphael villanueva lining up alongside on the 11th row akil rabindra and pierre corroy so that's aston martin and audi respectively the 12th round the grid anthony hodson's toyota poor tyson's lining up alongside with the street art aston the thirteenth row should be yanish gadick and andrea benezette in another of the toyota gr supras row 14 gel camera fields and going solo today for jerichi he had a partner yesterday but he's a soloist today max tresoldi and greg facil another solo driver come next ahead of bob herbert and then uh eric hare they share the sixteenth row of the grid the seventeenth row should be four jeremy larice and jamie caroline uh the eighteenth row of the grid sebastian bowd and michelle longshaman the 19th row last darman and chamberlain and then the last card was meant to be that of roy milhaus but he has seen off that graphic has moved forward somewhat so although the grid sheet has him at the very back there's been a change there and that was obviously mandated grid anyway so that's moved him a little bit further forward because he did actually set a qualifying time yesterday he's been put ahead of those that have dropped to the back because of penalties penalties were a switch dropping to a single driver after running with two yesterday we saw tim bullock bazi further back in the field he's running as a solo here this weekend that was not the plan coming in but that was forced upon him yesterday continuing today i thought he was one of the stars the winner in the am class yesterday mixing it up inside the overall top five for much of the race curious what he can do in that bmw from further back in the pack today now pick a winner out of all of this it's going to be very very hard isn't it because with these track conditions such as they are it's pretty much wide open now you would think so however when conditions get bad porsches come to the front at least that's the conventional wisdom right so i've got an eye on that 22 car that should have been strong yesterday it appeared to be strong in the early going before the electrical grim wins nikolai bowler manson starting that porsche in the fourth spot that's the car i've got my eyes on if that holds together if they got rid of the problems of yesterday we ought to as well mention the chevrolet ship with the v8 chevrolet camaro struggled a little bit yesterday but you were saying that's largely down to the fact that it's got a huge amount of grip and down force but that compromises the top speed it does because of balance and performance you're trying to fit all these different cars with different performance windows into something comparable so they can compete on a relatively even playing field this camaro you think of the the american muscle car as this high horsepower car it's actually had to be neutered a little bit because it is so good in the corners if you give it the horsepower in addition it proves to be a world beater we saw that a lot in the states and as a consequence sectors one and three here in spa probably not the strongest place for the camaro but very very good in the twisty high downforce requiring corners well there the cars now making their way up towards the right hander of blockchama normally we'd say flat out through blanchima in these conditions they're going to be very very careful on the first lap of the race but the safety car will peel in the race director if he's happy with everybody's formation we'll give the signal to get the race underway and so now as they make the run up towards the bus stop then you've got on the inside of the front row tom canning in that red white and blue aston martin you've got charlie [ __ ] alongside so the two british drivers set to go toe to toe here at the uh aston martin that's on pole struggled a little bit in yesterday's race one to watch also i suspect up from the back of the grid he's going to be jamie caroline starting there on the 17th row but he was in good form yesterday the car didn't get out in qualifying because it was crashed in q1 but jamie will be one two watch so up we can then out of the chicane heading towards the timing line and race two of the weekend in the gt4 european series gets underway and a good start being made there look from further back on the grid as greg gilbert the blue white audi goes one way to the inside line dives timity beret the mercedes gets the lead gilbert goes straight on up the escape road at the source also at wide goes timothy beret we've got the team donald mclaren running out of road and out of all of that it is going to be charlie [ __ ] who survives he found the grip and you can see how wet he doesn't become because there's a lot of spray being generated already of these drivers by and large we believe on slick tires the rain came basically just before the formation lap it has ceased since then but plenty of moisture on the track look at them slipping and sliding through oh rouge up the hill to radio so charlie fact leads the way timidity very second tom canning third in fourth base in the little lp uh is uh bouncing bell twice he's made a very good start hasn't eaten drama already because a spin there uh compromises number 21 greg faisal's audi coming up radio and i suspect he won't be the last driver that we see in strive for their jim clark getting it all wrong at the breaking for they calm just surviving the first few laps he's not easy that was stefan lemare going straight on anything jim clark can do i can do and the toyota should emerge and that's another of the astons that's been in strive as well there are cars everywhere yeah another one rejoined coming out of lycol that's only what taking us to turn six now i'll be not even halfway through the first lap of this one-hour race these are treacherous conditions indeed i know where we're situated it looks like the rain has stopped that might not be true elsewhere around this massive circuit look at them slipping wide using some of that wet painted area we talked about is treacherous earlier drivers throughout this grid have their hands full with changing track conditions wet on the asphalt dry tires on the race cars downhill they turn that and this part of the circuit doesn't look quite as bad as he did over at rouge there is still a bit of spray offline but charlie [ __ ] the race leader timothy beret dean mcdonald is six greg gilbert recovering in seventh base and then uh eight got the next of the mirage aston martins uh as they turn their way through he's also trying to be part of that leading gang as the field then now comes down towards the right of campus for the first time at all of the drivers yes they're trying to get position on this first lap but they're also trying to find out exactly where the grip levels might or might not be 7 18 with snelly behind the wheel at the moment if i remember correctly that was your pro amp winner yesterday that's one of the porsches i've got my eyes on the caymans ought to be pretty strong in these conditions we've seen that so far from older mansion a little bit further up the grid one of the silver class runners so heading towards the end of the opening lap but what was really dropped back on this first tour is tom canning because uh he's fallen down the pack so a cautious start but not being able to translate that pole position into a race lead he was up only by hundreds of a second in qualifying now this section looks a lot drier than it did when they set off so in the space of two and a half minutes the pit straight much much faster over the line charlie [ __ ] leads with one lap in the book timothy beret he's two seconds behind him already nikolai mother madsen he's running third fourth is bouncing bell twills fifth is jim clark 16 but donald there seven is greg gilbert eighth is tom canning in ninth place one to one leclaire and tenth is hugo chevalier under attack from maxim suleia and max personally and stefan elaborate and still they come pouring over the line this monster grid i think when we saw the first run through lake home we saw a number of cars that had to go straight and then rejoin one of them i think was tom canning in the poll sitting car and i suspect that's where he lost a lot of the ground early on in this lap here we've got a nice battle for the second position timothy beret who was very aggressive into a source at the start of this race now very much in on the defensive trying to hold off nikolai muller madsen's porsche a drama there because jody volo has got it wrong coming out of radio that's going to be a safety car and he's about to be a major obstacle as those that think they can dive past at the last moment see the mercedes are no wonder jd builder gets out and runs for it because that is not where you want to park but we're going to have to neutralize the race to get that out of the way and there just before we get to it side by side for second elbows out timothy fury says nikolai motherboard so no you don't forces him out wide but the porsche finds the grip on the outside line molo madsen goes through just as we go yellow safety car deployed well i'm sure the team communication was telling both drivers we expect a safety car any moment that's why we saw the elbows out from beret we saw the urgency there from moeller madsen and it appeared to my eyes that that move was made before we got the call for the safety car so move nikolai muller-manson up into the second spot and now with the safety car everyone will slow down we'll see everyone bunch back up once again and charlie [ __ ] will have to be on the defensive as he was yesterday there was a restart in the middle of his stint in race one and he handled it with the plum well the sun's shining on the pit straight um he's not shining on jody bullock sadly so that uh mercedes out of the race he was 18th when it came over the line and the squad that operates that car you've got a very miners had a pretty uh checkered weekend because they had to rebuild number 70 and uh now the trivial toe racing by the overcoaster squad has got another badly damaged mercedes to cope with as well but we saw joe divolo out of the car running away that's the good news that is absolutely you saw when he got onto the grass just how much that car continued to slide sometimes they actually speed up when you get onto the grass because you lose all the friction that you get from the tarmac so always a dangerous proposition in the rain getting on to the grassy areas let's take a look at the start of this race here in just a moment it was wild no one knew what to expect as far as the conditions were concerned some a bit more aggressive than others and timothevari in particular very aggressive here into a source for the first time i look at gilbert as well from the third row in the out he got a bit of a squeeze but he went the right way in a sense because he had a line but then as he got to the source all of that speed he just couldn't slow the car down and he sailed up the escape road also you see valstrom belch was in the lp going with gilbert and yeah tom canning being a little bit cautious burrow realizing that there's got to be another way through here so he ducked to the inside line canning tried to cover that off but he was oh so careful on the inside really slow through the corner so those that were braver on the outside line managed to bug him you see how many ran off the road there beret was one of them beltwhile's also in the background dean mcdonald and they're not the only drivers to have gone the wrong side of the curb stephan lemare was another and here all that spray being generated so drivers coping with not only a wet road at that point but also limited visibility as well we talk about the importance of qualifying and for situations like this you can see exactly why it's so important to start up front if you have the mixed conditions if you have that spray visibility is so crucial and the guys starting in the first couple of rows had a major advantage as far as that's concerned we've seen a couple shots of the run through the source this is that first treacherous climb up the hill through radion amazing that it was as clean as it was a little spin here for the 21 but able to recover i think you've got a tap in all of that did he not so fair laughing to be fair to him had an assist he was on the limits of traction and then we lost also of course jody bullo with that moment uh a lap later climbing up the hill so safety car is on track and this is jody volo all on his own got it sideways as you say onto that friction free grass bang bang and bang again and then it bounced onto the road and this was the scary bit as they all had to try and find a way past the mercedes on what was half the width of a racetrack now i thought that might have been a very scary moment there and luckily everyone behind either got the radio called or they were able to see the stricken mercedes there and get back single file and prevent anything more catastrophic from happening always a scary proposition when the car comes sliding back across the track in front of the majority of the field as was the case there and right at the end of a blind corner it's worth noting the good thing was that it stopped where he did he didn't go back any further and keep drifting across the uh the pack of cars anyway the safety cars you see is deployed you can't overtake while the safety car is out it's to keep the race going or being under control conditions so uh charlie [ __ ] had nikolaj moderman's second timothy for a third and their safety mcdonald's that that car had to start yesterday's race at the back of the grid because they never got a lap in but he's having much much a better run today behind bounce on beltway's you've got the pro-am leading mercedes of jim clark that was another car that was in the wars yesterday retired with the mechanical vote it was had to start further down in the order after a struggle in qualifying q1 but q2 jim was very very fast and he was fast in his state yesterday before the issues so this is a car to keep an eye on certainly here in the first tent leading in pro-am but the pro-am battle will really hinge on the am half of that pairing when the pit stop window opens when the driver change occurs which of the m drivers can consolidate the games made by their pros in the opening stint that's what makes the the second race of the weekend captivating so there is jim clark and the am class incidentally being laid in 19th overall by paul tyson's number seven with his asthma martin so the mercedes is being recovered and the pro drivers here the faster drivers in most cases are unable for the moment to do what they need to do for their co-drivers which is to go absolutely flat out and try and build a gap help them to a good result in this race jamie caroline incidentally 33rd so he made a bit of progress before the hiatus came before this interruption came and down towards the chicane at the end of lap number three comes charlie [ __ ] then he leads the pack how much rain running have we seen in gt4 european series so far this year this is round eight we've had seven so far i know it was dry yesterday but how about the six previous just trying to think whether we had a wet race at stanford they had a practice session rained off because it was torrential weather wet races i don't think we've had any from memory that's the uh amp cap car i was talking about a moment ago or thai skins but yes they've had rain affected sessions but i can't instantly think of a wet race but you can just yes well we talked about it yesterday we couldn't believe it the the clouds broke right before the start of the first race of the weekend we had beautiful sunshine overhead but that was always hovering over us the prospect that rain was in the forecast for today and again the touring car race just before this one was heavily affected by the rain we had the rain just as the formation lab began and since then it appears to have been dry at least in our little corner of circulation so uh but you never know and it looks like uh the cloud cover is not going anywhere anytime soon you're definitely looking at paul ty's guns in the aston martin leading the ams well chamberlain who was the young winner yesterday is second in class and not that far behind him so uh the number seven or as it says on the door double oh seven aston martin they're just coming up the brow at radio uh he's gonna be under attack i think when we go racing and that can't be far away because the circuit is now clear of car at least there's a bit of dirt on the road and they're the recovery vehicle parked off the circuit that will go through one of the access gaps and that should mean that we can go racing pretty soon as i say the accident is is numbered double 07. this has become a a good marketing thing for aston martin but whispers if you read the flaming goblins james bond drove eventually rather than asking but it's not support the party is where the car is yeah don't let uh facts get in the way of a good story right david but but bullock bazi i we talked about him a little bit early on he was the winner in am yesterday he started at the back because if i'm remembering this right did he did not take part in q2 he was supposed to be running as a tandem here this weekend but for various reasons that was not possible so had a great qualifying effort inside the top 10 overall yesterday and kept the car there running inside the top five for a great deal of it it really was not challenged as far as am honors were concerned but had to start way way back in the 19th road today and has made great progress in a limited amount of green flag running to get to up to 21st overall in second in class yeah to an extent because he's the quicker of the two he's always better once again in this lap safety car in this lane safety car in this time says the race director steve burns the british official who is then off to be one of the team of stewards for the 24 hours a little bit later on so as if this wasn't busy enough you then follow that up by having to go through all the judicial aspects which could be track limits pit lane speeding too many people working on the car you name it during 24 hours so uh good luck with that but we're going to go racing this time and it's going to be interesting isn't it now to see what nikolai muller madsen can do on the restart against charlie [ __ ] well that is the car that i mentioned at the top i thought might have a chance to charge forward so far up a couple of positions to second after starting fourth but the mclaren has been at the front of the field basically throughout all of the running thus far going back to yesterday and today as it dries out i think that's going to favor the mclaren even further we saw it excellent in a straight line yesterday that's where it seemed to have its biggest advantage but these conditions might be a bit of an equalizer and bring the porsche bring the alpine perhaps some of the other cars into the mix i wonder if they might not be doing a little rain dance hoping we might see some more precipitation before it's all said and done because at least with charlie [ __ ] behind the wheel yesterday i don't know if anyone was going to touch this united auto sports mclaren double winners at monza can they be double winners at spa down towards the chica look really good restart by charlie [ __ ] because he's gap nikolai mother madison by at least three lengths as they get towards the breaking zone but now of course charlie has got to remind himself what the grip level is like because this will be the first time he's had a racing lap for a good few minutes the road to the eye looks drier charlie fans sprints away then over the timing line nikolai mother mountain is behind him but the gaps nine tenths of a second timothy is third and vancouver is in that very very rapid alpe runs fourth fifth is jim clark sixth is dean mcdonald and greg gilbert seventh but the audis have not sparkled this weekend so gilbert struggling at the moment to make up more ground well he lost some ground early on with that wide exit to the source on the opening lap he's been in recovery mode ever since beltons was really putting the pressure on beret there and that continues but further back in the top ten this is a great scrap the sister mclaren very much in the wars a little bit further back it's a great day for dean mcdonald and company not having to come from the very back of the grid they managed a solid result yesterday a lot less work out in front of them thanks to a much better qualifying effort more representative in q2 for today's race so there you've got the cars up towards the calm jim clark having to defend against greg gilbert now and those remember are the top two winning pro hammers maxim sulay there gets up the inside of um trying to consolidate 10th place chevalier run off the road a little bit the two mercedes the green one from the seller's luck racing team and that also now brings max bus nelly into the mix in his cayman as they head into brazil to the inside line there goes chevalier couldn't find a way past maxine souly it's great to see maxim sulei in a gt4 race but you can't help but wish that he was on the 24 hours grid and in a front-running gt3 car this weekend yeah the thoughts crossed my mind as well we've had some changes to driver lineups due to some covet issues throughout the build-up to the race and that's a name you would have thought might have popped up to to fill in on short notice but great to see him in the gt4 car changing position there on entry to pujon that's beret slipping back behind beltons who's been the biggest mover so far a little hairy there for beret slipping out wide at the exit to pujon but beltons now up seven positions since the start of this race so now dean mcdonald getting himself onto the back of that group and looking to try to wriggle past we could be on for a one-two for ua at this rate because that mclaren is looking very rapid as the road dries so yeah dean mcdonald comes now down through the right-hander of campus he's on the back of the mercedes as you see and now that vancouver beltways has gone through the lp charges on in pursuit of the porsche but for dean macdonald the door is open and there's nothing that beret can do to defend that mclaren was coming by no matter what it looked surprisingly easy beret really had no recourse but to give way and that puts mcdonald up one more spot it's been a great charge for them much as we saw yesterday and perhaps in talking about the rain being an equalizer for the other manufacturers relative to the mclaren i was doing a disservice for the mclaren's capabilities in mixed conditions although it does seem like we're drying out quite rapidly don't see any of that spray that was so prevalent at the start of the race well charlie [ __ ] leads the pack he's gone through and he's just done the fastest lap of the race proof that he's drying out nikolai muller madison is a second and a half give or take behind him beltwells goes third fourth now dean mcdonald it's not going to be a surprise if mcdonald isn't posting quicker laps before much longer when the raid is clear ahead of him whereas it's not clear here because this gaggle of cars has got an awful lot of company around it over the timing line there goes the number five audi which she's one of the speed lever team cars pierre corroy he's got shotgun atheists in the mixes one of the porsche on the outside line and camatheus breaks as late as he dares and the allied racing entry goes around the outside plunges downhill behind all of them you've got uh akira bindra in the other mirage aston martin and there anthony hudson comes up to try and keep his place but sebastian bowed in the blue nose that mercedes goes by and at the back of all of that was andre benezei and his toyota side by side here this is for third but donald is on the attack against belle twills but he couldn't do it hell twice has been the big mover in the alpine but it looks like he might have topped out the potential of that car in these conditions he's not been able to make any inroads on the top two and now coming under attack for the final podium position in silver as well as overall there aren't really a there's not an overall running order but just to give a point of reference these are third and fourth on the road and mcdonald would very much like to make this move as soon as possible because mueller manson and [ __ ] up ahead are starting to pull away that's right so nikolai mala madsen is slightly faster in the first sector this time around but deep mcdonald right there on the back of valencia and he's absolutely gobbling up the real estate he's not taking him any time at all to get through the pack to get through the trapping and there he is right on the back of the alpine as they swoop through pawn but look at that lead gap at charlie [ __ ] mclaren squirming a little bit underbreaking so one might lose a place but the other united auto sports mclaren looks like he's about to gain a place he's putting the pressure on is mcdonald belton is very stout in his defense at this point but you bring up a great point here at the front of the field charlie [ __ ] was leading by 1.4 seconds the last time by to my eye that has come down quite a bit there's no more than a car length or two between the top two same story here through kurpal freyr also had a change for the emily chen balor kapowsi is up to 16 for us they're right on the edges the alpine but there's nothing it could do because look that mclaren is just in a different league and beltwells effectively has to let it let him go slot in behind but dean mcdonald is on a mission no question about it well some of that has to do with the straightaway speed of the mclaren his belt twice tries to come back to the inside oh this is actually the battle for the lead excuse me this is mueller manson on the attack now charlie [ __ ] is gonna have to try and do what his teammate bailey voice and did his entire first stint that was wide on the exit for manson that's going to be a track limit look isn't it from race control but interesting that the mcdonald mclaren is charging charlie [ __ ] car is losing pace mother madsen has done the fastest lap now and he's right there on the tail so after the car was retired from the race yesterday nikolai malo madsen is absolutely determined to find a way by he's a previous silver cup champion in the gt4 european series when he drove an audi now part of the porsche fabric for allied racing and he and joel stern making a good combination as the road drives here through the porsche he's pushing harder and charlie [ __ ] advantage has dwindled away there is dean mcdonald he's five seconds and a bit back from muller manson but if the two leaders hold each other up by squabbling he'll be with them shortly he would love to see these two engaged in a duel maybe maybe not because it is a team car up ahead and he wouldn't want to see something necessarily to the detriment of a team car but if it does put him in a position to gain a couple of spots and challenge for the win i'm sure he would take it dropping back i think we got a couple of astons here doing battle and a charging audi just behind yeah that was paul tyson's in number seven and i think he's lost out now to loch now there is uh valley number two you've got chambo bows he's bmw in the middle of all of this as well so volatiles he's about to go eleventh he's looking wetter up here again but political as he goes by that bmw is being driven very very well indeed up from the 19th row of the grid amazing so he was 12th at the line give him 11th with that pass we saw a moment ago as far as the overall running order is concerned easily the leader once again in the am cup but still pushing very very hard despite the fact he has a nice cushion over tysons who runs second in them but 18th overall so maxim sulay comes under attack chamberlain vows here the am leader is looking to the inside line of pawn the door is open has he got the drive off the corner let's see because for the moment maxim sulei is able to defend maxine's massively experienced driver but there you can see chamber look well as he tries the inside line into the pif back breaks later is he going to commit to it yes he is going to commit sulei on the outside line but he has to give way bonafides he goes through and that puts him into the top 10 now well that's going to stick in maxim's craw just a little bit knowing he got passed by a car from the am class albeit with an asterisk here you mentioned earlier very accomplished really running in the m class by default because he was left without a teammate last minute so it does have a slight asterisk to that story here's a look at one of the alphee's beautiful looking car love to see these in person here for the very first time as far as i'm concerned and looking pretty good we got beltway's running up in fourth and another one i think this is leclair correct running in ninth overall and in podium contention as far as pro-am is concerned a very pretty little cars but chamberlain bowser is not admiring but he's overtaking them he's got past leclair coming into the chicane so chambora bars it really is another of the stars of the weekend here he's doing the two races solo the leaders have gone by and the gap was opened up a little bit now to nine tenths of a second so charlie [ __ ] trying to respond but uh chamber of files don't forget can run at this pace all day long because he doesn't have a co-driver he's gonna make a longer pit stop so he will drop back within the pit window but the pace of the car is good and it will continue at that pace it's been very strong best bmw yesterday as far as the overall was concerned and of course to get the winner in and here's subai now who's falling back a little bit and chevalier right behind is going to be threatening him for that position that would be for 11th on in the overall order just off of the class podium so the leaders go through le corp their third is dean mcdonald in fourth place bounce on bell toilets that last lap by chad bob farsi was a two minutes 43 which means that he's lapping on the same sort of pace as mother madsen at the moment impressive enjoying it further up the order yeah yeah really impressive stuff because he was making passes on that lap and still put in that kind of lap time that m4 looking very very strong this is the alpine of leclaire that struck back to 10th after bulacans he got by bonifazi still charging and he's just done the absolute best in the first sector of that lap up the climb to lick home i'm surprised canning has not been heard from moore he's back at eighth at the the great starting position of course and was a factor in the race yesterday's bullock bazi is looking for another scout trying to find his way up yet another position so now he's looking to get past the pro in the pro audi there is tom canning in the background down now in ninth place but yeah jeff olivasi doing a great job here and also under the vop you can see how strong the bmw is it's well suited to this circuit isn't that it is we've seen that to some extent in its gt3 version of course that's the m6 model at least for one more year but that car has been rapid in a straight line over in the states and probably gt4 america we've seen the m4 very good in the straight line i think the bop very similar between the two championships it's it varies by track type but uh that has been one consistent aspect so you would think a track like this could potentially benefit that bmw so there is greg gilbert hustling on now gilbert is no dummy he is a very accomplished french gt racer but there's nothing he can do in this race nor indeed yesterday against the traffic ahead he'll be absolutely flat out make no mistake about it but this is not a kind circuit to the audi's under the balance of performance the race leading mclaren however still strong and about to complete lap eight the bmw of chamberlain falls into the outside line as they head into the braking zone now for the chicane volatiles goes wide in then swings across the road but is he going to be able to get the undercut coming out of the chicane the answer there is no so the audi hangs on lead gap eight tenths and dean mcdonald third has just done the fastest left of the race gilbert very savvy in his defense through the chicane but no recourse here bullock bazi so fast as we see the first taker with the pit lane open it didn't even look like he got a jump out of the hairpin or the chicane rather and and still was able to make that great run into the source and get the pass done in the breaking zone and the first pick caller stefan lemare who had an off early on that the supra again mysteriously just hasn't really been as quick as anticipated this weekend it was there or thereabouts yesterday but never really hung on to the leading gaggle whether it was with lemere or antoine potty at the wheel potty will take it over uh joel camatheus is in as well now that's quirky isn't it you think that somebody that's done racing up to champ car level would be the gun would stay in it for as much of his stint as possible and get camouflaged in early it is one that makes you scratch your head a little bit but the team clearly has an understanding of what its drivers are capable of they've got their strategy planned out it's worth noting we're starting to see a little bit of sunshine here so track conditions are changing and maybe they want to do something as bulabazi moves to the inside of pla he cannot be resisted jim bullock bazi so impressive young turkish driver able to make up yet another spot and from the 19th row on the grid against the pros and the pro-am classes it's worth noting he's been able to charge up just outside the top five overall you have to get up early in the morning to beat jim clark underrated driver under funded driver but very very quick and yet boba farzi has just breezed after that mercedes that has a wobble of pull past him and look pulled away already what a gap you can see that bmw is just gobbling up spa it is so well sorted and just there gilbert onto the back of plan now means that the pro am leaders are nose to tail into the pit lane uh we've got to monsters rafael villanueva also in pierre courroy and the number four portion of uh audi so that means now that robert kossini and thomas odier will be the drivers of greg faisal that stays behind the wheel because he's a soloist one of the quirks of the pit window is that no longer at least for a time in the states perhaps that was true here the leader had to get the first chance to come in and they changed that rule in the u.s clearly it's not that way here as we see the porsche motor mansion starting to apply pressure and so sometimes with the twists of fate you can have a car mid-pack that actually gets the first opportunity to come in play the undercut and it's really beneficial that did happen i'm not sure these cars would have made the early call anyway but they did not get the first chance at it here's [ __ ] very defensive moeller madsen swings wide into a source trying to get the good run out by the laid the bumper to the rear of that mclaren he's putting on a show here is mueller manson trying to get that pass done before his stint comes to an end so the gap at the flat at the line was three tenths of a second new files is lapped up by champa and baozi not a great surprise really now that he's got clear real estate ahead of him also of course these leaders are now about to encounter traffic you can see the cars coming out of the pit lane including alexander harvick's uh porsche now that jealous has handed over and hartvig is going to get out of the way of the race leaders he'll get his lap back when they pit but look at the way that dean mcdonald is going he is almost up with the leaders but the last time we looked it was about six seconds it's now two and a half and he's just done the absolute best within the first sector so dean mcdonald has been one of the standout drivers of this opening stint took the words out of my mouth started inside the top 10 but a little bit further back still much better than they started yesterday but has been steadily making his way forward and has been making some inroads on the top two in the last few laps having the deficit and that car should be in a position to challenge in the second half of this race after that pit stop is completed so race leaders plunge downhill we're on lap ten we're heading towards poor valentine bell twills has been in incidentally to give way to uh loris caviaroo in number 30 lp there's the laptop alexander hartfig so for the moment he's slightly in the way of dean mcdonald but he's been very good so far heartbreak of getting out of the way the trafficking will do so now as muller manson is right there on the back of charlie [ __ ] dean mcdonald goes through on the inside of pif path say it again one of the stars of the opening stint has been dean mcdonald it looked to me like charlie [ __ ] ran wide in the second left of the dublin ghost the pujong corner there and that let more madsen get right back into the picture so yeah this this mclaren it's been fast but maybe a bit inconsistent we saw this yesterday too they'd build a lead and it would go away mostly in boyce's opening stint but to some degree later on maybe that's moeller manson playing the strategy saving the tires a little bit to mount a challenge and the challenge is certainly on here david into blossom all right there in the slipstream can he make a move into the chicane it's now or never you get the feeling don't you because he's never had as good a chance charlie [ __ ] covers off the inside line nikolai muller madsen to the outside look at mcdonald's reeling them in and is anybody gonna bail for the pits this time yes muller manson gets out of the way and instantly that brings mcdonald onto the tail of charlie [ __ ] so still 32 mclaren looking quick at the 23. goods did by mueller manson though to take the fight to the mclarens now what can joel sturm do because he was a front runner yesterday this is still a race that is up for grabs but will mcdonald be the leader by the time the mclaren's pit he's right there on the back of [ __ ] now it's very possible and it's interesting to see the difference in performance between the two sister cars from the same team and i'm going to put forward a theory that with a variable forecast ahead of this race perhaps united elected to split their strategy to a degree and put more of a hybrid rain dry set up on one car and favor more of a dry setup on the other that way they're covered in any eventuality and that could go away towards explaining the difference between the two but it also could come down to the talent behind the wheel absolutely right so dean mcdonald on the back of charlie fang but two united auto sports mclarens and there is a driving standards flag being prepared for dean mcdonald for not respecting track limits which might have something else to do with why he's been catching up because he's been using a little bit more of the road and therefore maintaining momentum a little bit more easily than charlie [ __ ] but that battle is going to rage on i think the other side of the stops when uh gas bowers will take our bailey poison so bottom out giving way to joel stern and out on track there is 87. so jim plath has fallen a long way down the class all of a sudden greg gilbert leading in pro-am from antoine leclair and then maximum souly jim clara has fallen back as you see in fact on this next lap he has dropped back behind hugo chevalier and ralph calendar so what's going on for jim flowers he got a problem or he had it off it's very curious he was running quite strong maybe not with the challenge for the win but certainly in contention to run inside the top five overall look at this block of cars all mixed up together right there in the very middle of it is one of the astons number 55. you know that's tom canning isn't it he's got traffic all around him canning dropping in this but he's also got that markers to try and wriggle through as well as le claire and sulei come up behind him the back marker terrorized onto the curb leclair at the inside goes through yep just about does it there is joel sternberg set to rejoin the race remember a pit stop is 136 seconds so it is a long long stop and 146 if you were by yourself right 166 if you're changing tyres from slicks to wets all the other way around don't think we'll need to worry about that at least as the conditions are right now if they stay constant that's probably not a smart thing to say when you're at spa but should that be the case is this a smart thing to do both of them in at the same time they're going to double stack so united auto sports both mclaren z at the same time and now we need to see where they rejoin relative to joel sturm in the number 22 porsche cayman that's a good question storm will be aggressive no doubt about it we heard from nikolai muller mats in pre-race yesterday and he really praised his teammate's aggression and we're going to see some of that on display i think he knows exactly what he needs to do right now it's all about putting down fast laps to hopefully come out in front of these mclarens when the pit stops cycle through looks like a pretty clean entry all things considered for the second place mclaren the 32 so i don't think the double stack hurt them too much but we'll see on exit if perhaps there could be a hold up and this is joel stern who has got to treat this out that like his one shot at qualify to go absolutely flat out bearing in mind that when the car pitted it was right on the back of number 23 so in theory it should still be with the mclaren the pit stop time that came from the uh 22 porsche was two minutes 16.1 so that's going to be the gut the gauge if you like as to who's gonna win or lose on the pit stops depending on what the time from these cars uh is charlie kemp and jody hemings overseeing everything for the united auto sports aspect it's a very busy team these days in all sorts of races no question all over the world they are heavily involved sturm just came through pift path and now making his way through kurt paul freyr to give you a point of reference relative to these mclarens they leave in the same order in which they came in you see them leaving the pit lane but it's not really leaving the pit lane that is leaving the new pits but with this endurance pit lane they have to go all the way around that corner very tight there atlas source even tighter than it is on the circuit itself and then the long trundle down the old f1 pits and before they can finally release that pit limiter and head up the hill so that's really where we'll see who came out on top on strategy this is the car we're keeping an eye on the 22 of joel sturm who's having to get up to speed in track conditions he has not seen yet he's pushing as hard as can be heavy into the brakes here into the source well he's done the cars best uh middle sector loris caberu has just done the fastest lap of the race in the lp right mclaren's in the pits and here comes a stern warning because joel sturm hustles down the hill and over the white line the mclarens can accelerate but joel sturm is going to get the lead of the race is he not in the porsche yes he is joel stern picks up the advantage so the allied racing cayman takes over the lead beautiful strategy to come in early get out of that fight they knew they had the pace in that car they were just being held up by at the time charlie [ __ ] in the what was then the race-leading car so the strategy call get that car in get you some clean track get out there run fast laps and then pay dividends now bear in mind that the road is getting drier all the time so those sectors of stern were quick because the the road allows for it his pit stop was a tenth of a second faster lying to line the number 23 of charlie fagg but the reason he's been able to gain the time is because the road is so much drier and he's been able to push much harder on that out lap uh the number 32 mclaren two minutes 17.3 so that's lost the second against 23 in the pits even though it's the same team operating it but only a tenth the difference in the pits but look at the gap on the track right and the amazing thing about what sturm has done i made mention to this earlier is he's having to assess the grip levels in real time he's heard from his teammate i'm sure what to expect but you don't know until you get there and you're you're trying to judge what kind of grip is going to be there when you arrive with no real frame of reference but also knowing these are the crucial lamps you have to push push push and he was right on the ragged edge and got everything out of that car the result a commanding lead and it looks as though it's growing doesn't it right now joel sturm is charging he did a 43-7 in the first sector we can't really compare that yet against the mclarens because their first sector includes the pit stop so it's only really a middle sector that we can gauge and it's personal bests from [ __ ] and gus powers but it's an absolute best of the race for joel sturm and he is very nearly two seconds quicker than both of the mclarens within that middle sector alone unbelievable he is on it and that's the aggression that we talked about nikolai more manson talked about him pre-race yesterday really expected to see joel come through the field they thought they could have had more in qualifying for race one we saw glimpses of it before the electronic gremlins cost them a good result but today knock on wood everything has been nice and clean for that car no gremlins to speak of and the car has been very very fast in these conditions joel stern faster snap of the race now two minutes 32.815 lap time to tumbling the timing screen looks like a patchwork quilt there are so many different greens and purples on it now as people go faster in their uh own cars or for the absolute race best there is another car you can't rule out lori's cabaret and it does seem that as the road dries the mclaren's perhaps not quite so good their setup seems to be for the damp or the greasy conditions but track conditions may be now turning the tide against them i'm surprised by that because they were so strong in the dry yesterday but you might be onto something where the team might have set up anticipating more wet conditions here is voison on the defensive as he was much of the race during his stint yesterday this time though trying to hold off gus bowers his teammate forcing him the long way around into lake home bowers has to bail out of it that was very nearly contact between the two and that opens the door for cavalry in the alpine making his way to the outside and he also nearly did it there so they're about to drop down into the right-hander of brasel and there you can see laura's cabaret inching up onto the back of the mclaren so there are certain parts of the circuit where the mclaren still do have the advantage but kabiru great opportunities yesterday to try and get up through the pack and he's doing it again here he's going to be way way way out wide there coming through turn nine that'll go ping and somewhere in raise control and that'll be looked at as the notional race leader comes in that's ralph calendar's massively experienced driver ralph giveaway to christian kisi and kamiru has fallen back hasn't he now against the mclarens wonder if some of that is just giving up the time that potentially would have been gained by running out that y just to say yep i understand i did it we do have black and white flags to cars 4 15 and 36 and is not kangaroos so perhaps they just haven't taken a look at that yet as long as you don't make a habit of it you probably can get away but here he comes back on the attack once again this has given some respite to voice and and bowers but it's not going to last long the alpine is coming with a nice head of steam it is looking very very strong [Music] so the car is now accelerating into the right sorry the left the launch cannon as i say has given up that notional race lead by pitting more and more of them are being shown driving standards flags now because the road dries they're pushing harder they're taking more chances well you can use that part of the road that's painted we talked about it earlier the painted area in the wet is very dangerous but slowly that's starting to dry we're seeing drivers much more aggressive pit stops cars 77 88 126 and 718 under investigation short pit stop so he says the race director steve burns so are those cars that we need to fear about well one of them is 886 on the road in fact paul evra fifth next time over the line so for being under the regulation pit stop time you're allowed what's called a joker pit stop across the two races you can use it once out of the two races and that basically is a second tolerance but if you're ending more than a second under then the timing data is there from the the beams that pit in and pit out it gets referred to the stewards and they will have a look so penalties could be coming another one of note 718 of course the dracoma porsche cavern now what about this the second third and fourth two cars to slip stream off of for cabaret in behind takes a look to the inside notionally but not really the opportunity to go by i think to some degree balor's was helped by the slipstream he's able to take off the voice and there's another big lunge at the inside and that sends the 32 around was there contact between the two gus bowers goes for a spin i don't think there was contact i think that was just gus bowers trying to get the power down a bit too early and he ran out onto the damper part of the road let's see it was certainly close the lp to the inside no i don't i think there was personally i think that was just the mclaren offline and lost traction offline and therefore in the wet online it is quite dry but if the car is not cars aren't running over that particular set of spot of asphalt there's still a bit of moisture there on these slick tires and that did seem to be the case where he got out a little bit wide put the tire in the wet spot and then send him around so you apply the pressure and eventually something will happen so lawrence cabarru gets up in a third place and joel sturm taking full advantage of all of these dramas behind him because he is now well over eight seconds to the good now it's been dominant from him ever since he took over that car the condition suited him great strategy from the team and for the first time able to run unencumbered by cars ahead that have taken away some of the aerodynamic effects of these gt4 cars and the consequence has been stellar lap times that's allowed him to build this gap it's also helped that the cars behind him have been fighting amongst themselves and that gives him that chance just to sail away to a sizeable lead but all of that could go away in the blink of an eye should there be an incident as we've seen throughout the weekend and there's still something a bit wrong as you might say in the uk about what's going on with that number 23 mclaren because i don't think it must be down to the setup and how they have done it for the conditions it does not seem to be as rapid as yesterday the evidence that is that joel sturm is away in god he's nearly in the next round of the championship so far ahead is he and you can see the way that bailey boys and he's having to really fight the position now as christian keys he loses out he gets forced out wide in number nine audi the chevrolet goes through governor of mars chasing eric clement there up towards blockchain so these cars now are what 13th and 14th we talked about the strong aerodynamic aspects of this camaro so these are good conditions for the car where the straight line speed is less important i think it's probably going away for them to some degree but great to see that car running sadly none of them in the us gt4 championship that i cover and i equipped yesterday it is quite fun one second stop go penalty for cars 77 one two six and seven one eight for short pit stop one second stop go penalty so that's that's steve burns passing on news from race control and at the top of the screen while that was all going on you saw the rotating audi that's the clement zyler at roy mayo house car that was at the back of the grid and a big big spin it started off on one side of the road and ended up on the other so uh cleveland real stride there right indeed so here's the challenge four position toyota trying to make a pass and zeiler right there in the way there might be something i missed with that car the way he just pulled off it does appear to have some suspension damage doesn't it a bit crab like that my eye as the cars come through was it contact that did it it definitely was that was jean-luc daria who got into the side of him bang around he went so that's not going to do much good for your suspension is it no i think that explains a great deal of what we saw there so very unfortunate i've seen that a couple of times there was one incident of that in the race yesterday that i believe brought out full course yellow and ultimately a safety car so it's just a tough corner everything gets condensed when the speeds come down it's a great place to try and make a pass it certainly looks tempting but it does end in tears every once in a while and that was the case there so here you've got number 33 which is the uh piotr hudson toyota and he's coming under attack from a charging michael blanchard matt in the highlight of penalty through on the inside line but is he going to go deep into the corner no blossom man survives that so that moves in that one spot 27th place overall now because they've also jumped ahead of climax either troubled audi on this lap here is the fight for second i say fight advisedly because actually now it does look as though bailey boys in has kind of got into his rhythm and kangaroo has fallen away and he's not clawing back that time poison with a personal best in the first sector this is the number 88 car that we expect will have one of those penalties that we heard handed down a few moments ago that's the car that was started by timothevari and was running very much in contention but that goes out the window here with this costly penalty a spin as well for the 27 aston so that the zambot winning car constantine lafa now remember it had his broken suspension issue yesterday it was 20th and uh that car falls down uh paul evra by the way has just pitted 88 out of fourth place for that one second stop go now one second doesn't sound a lot but bearing in mind that the drive type through the pit lane is about a week it soon mounts up because it is the f1 pits here and it's the endurance pits the other side of la source it's not the stop that kills you in this case it's definitely the the trip yeah and the limited speed on that trip through a very long pit lane i'm not sure there's any quite as long as that this is your leader in am by the way bulabazi still getting it done despite the fact he had to sit stationary longer than the rest of his competitors in the class and the charge back through the field resumes so he was 18th over the line and he's now 15 to the bottom of the hill i mean he's absolutely flying really really impressive the way that he has gone here and uh were it not for the fact that you do cough extra time in the pits it's almost an argument to say go sailor in the future but uh chamberlain passing he was impressive last year in the remodeled gt4 calendar after the season had to be rejigged for obvious reasons uh he has looked very very good and he's well clear now of uh the wilfried cassava andrea ben is a toyota that runs second in the app class i do have to wonder what the rest of the m class thought when the word came down that he was going to be effectively demoted or placed into the m class instead of pro-am i'm not sure this is exactly what they were bargaining for no and of course he's taking points away yes the regular scorers and it hurts him presumably in the pro-am championship no points paid there so really it's it's not great for anyone except he might get some trophies at the end of the weekend and i suppose those will look nice on the shelf somewhere this is very true and it's also been good to watch consistently quick all the way through now this is fabian michelle who in the blue and white audi is the leading pro am at the moment but ruben del sarte in the aston martin started on pole position that car coming good as the road drives i think maybe again talk about set up whereas ua has got it right for the start of the race and maybe mirage with the aston martin hadn't pendulum swings the other way in the background though look is the recovering gas bowers after his spin up at leecon and we've only got 12 minutes to go time has flown it has indeed i'm surprised tom canning wasn't hurt from more in his stint but they'll start looking pretty strong looks like he has a potential to move up the spot a little bit wide there the stewards i'm sure we'll take a nice peek here's michelle on the defensive a whole lot he can do i don't think give that spot to the aston martin up one position more overall for the uh number 55 car put him up to sixth so that brings then ruben del sarte up the order uh 50 is now because of the uh stop go penalty for paul evra dropping him down the order as well so things are getting better for number 55 but the trouble is he's 35 nearly 36 seconds off the leader joel sturm leads by 12 and a half seconds of fabian michelle what's that place back he wants the class win of course the class opposition is the green cellars like mercedes in the background as they go diving through a rouge now strong up the hill it appears from the aston it's able to create a bit of a gap and here comes the 32 mclaren that we've been calling the recovering mclaren seemingly all weekend long that was true yesterday it really wasn't all that true today until the spin but right back in that familiar role coming from the back to the front and they've proven to be adept at it i'm not sure this is the way that they drew up their weekend but it has been fun for us it illustrates racecraft as much as the pace of the car doesn't it so there you've got 32 which is gas bows that's the scene of his spin and do i see wipers coming on again as though it's getting a bit wet out there because there both delsart and michelle have the wipers on it looks to have gone grayer at our side of the circuit is there a sting in the tail to this the last 10 minutes approach and it might be that it's going to get slippery once more out on track joel stubbs delete by 12 and a half seconds down the hill they come we're on lap number 17 in this race and yet the wipers are clearly on certainly for fabian michelle in the audi right behind this battle is bosco and that green mercedes and he's a very interested spectator further back a purple first sector for chimpazi who continues to fly around spa in his bmw this is not a fight for a class position right here with the audi and the mclaren but it is crucial for michelle in the audi to try and keep that buffer between himself and the hard charging bosco and the pro amber said he's just behind that's the one that was started by maximum souly so there is rain falling in the pits and the circuit is starting to get wet but it is also in good old traditional spa fashion inconsistence in the weather and therefore the grip level but right now gas powers is going to make a move on fabian michelle nine and a half minutes from the clock as the umbrellas go up and way out wide goes michelle that was at blanchima you can put that down to the conditions perhaps but equally it was way way over the track limits and spots of rain on the camera lens as well here so all of a sudden the drivers thought they knew what the grip was like but here look at the shine on the road it is very greasy indeed and out the window i can see some light rain it's not as heavy as we saw at the very start of the race but it is significant the good news is unlike the start these tires are up to temperature that should help there's a bold move up the inside pass made give that spot to bowers again not for class position but it now puts him in a position to try and run down antoine potty assuming michelle cooperates and i'm not sure he's going to now the audi is good on this section of the circuit we saw it all ago he tries to make the best of that but i think now the mclaren will get away if it's drier up here that'll play into gaspar's hands as well then it looks drier on this section interesting i'm not sure there's a track in the world that lives up to its reputation as consistently with its inconsistencies exactly as this one really interesting we're going to have a couple of class positions up for grabs here we'll see if if bowers rather can charge forward and run down antoine potty in the toyota just ahead but now michelle is slowly falling into the clutches of bosco right behind it that is for the lead in the pro-am class with just eight minutes in change to go you're only equivalent i guess in terms of the weather just going back to your circuit point is probably the nurburgring which is about an hour and a half away from where we are at spa but that is equally fickle uh luca bosco then is getting much much much closer isn't he now to fabian michelle so with eight minutes to go pro am he's building up nicely and bosco's just about good enough time in which he can make a move here gas bowers is getting away behind bosco you've got the silver cup mercedes of uh which is in ninth place overall but look at moscow the way that he's going suggested he can have a real punt for a class win before the end didn't make up much time in sector one but sector two appears to be a very different story here comes that mercedes beautiful green livery on the 34 car really sharp looking paint scheme for a mercedes amg gt4 and he is slowly but surely running down the race leader in class pro-am leader just up the road the windshield wipers flashing we're starting to see the headlights glaring once again as the cloud cover rolls in i've seen a little bit of everything in the first 53 minutes of this one so the leaders then wriggle their way down to the completion of uh lap 18 joel stern has just gone over the line in fact you're looking lower down at the bmw chamber of bowser still blasting on and the morristown automotive entry closing out of the tail now of the yacht-rap chevrolet number five audi also starting to pick up its pace a little bit as you see that also wrinkle through the traffic number four goes through as well robert konstani in the sister speed car entry number two mercedes falling away now that's jean-luc in the car that was started by hugo chevalier as the race leaders go on to lap number 19. poge tries to go around the outside there are very clement who serves his stop go penalty now he bails for the pits but look at bologna he's about to give the chevrolet a tough time i think so right there behind the rear wing chevrolet going defensive down the pit straight a little bit covering the inside here comes bullock bazi light on the brakes shoves that car up the inside into the source the grip is there slides wide and look at that opens the door for the number four audi contact with a hip check on the exit of the corner constantine robert constantly was the driver of the audi and got rapport is the one that came off worse so bulletproof stays where he was up two places constantly down two places he's got rapage and right there with them as well now alexander hartman looking the camera the porsche good at the hill remember the pace of the leading car so it's no surprise really to see heartbeat going so well and chamber of clouse has got to do this all over again as he makes the run up the hill we know he's got the pace but uh can he find a way by i think he can he's done it before he lost that spot back just a few moments ago in that coming together in the source you can see the damage definitely the chevy came away with the worse of that contact and dropped a couple spots lost some momentum and immediately comes under pressure once again yeah enzo julia in the number 74 mercedes is the man doing the pressuring uh we've also got the ralph keller's christian geezy number nine audi that briefly led on the pit stops being investigated for doing that pit stop the wrong side of the window so after the window had closed it was it fits came in and didn't stop but uh that car is falling a long way down anyway now so we'll worry about that post race as we have got five minutes to go this is the pro am lead battle and it's suddenly come alive fabio michelle in the audi has got luca bosco who's up the curve right there behind him oscar has got the pace and he's got just enough time in which he can make a move for class honors and that gap was five six seconds not so long ago and bosco has tracked down the audi at this point now where can he find a way past he's stalking that's for sure probably the next best passing zone as the audi twitches ever so slightly will be into the chicane coming up in just a few quarters time can he stick behind the rear wing of the audi through black there's the mercedes then as they sprint now with another driving standards flag being shown on the uh light board there out of blochy mall down to the chicane four minutes to go race leaders gonna get two maybe three more laps out of it as now posco goes to the outside line that's brave he's gonna run out of roads surely yes he does has to back out of it and the danger here is that the number fifteen joberas mercedes splits them and denies bosco a chance to challenge look that mistake made look how much time it's costing oh that's absolutely gutting for bosco it looked like that might be his chance to take the lead in class instead he ends up in a fight that is not for class position all that's doing is holding him up yeah and that allows a lit little bit of relief for michelle up the road in the audi this is music to his ears he can't afford to let your ass go but he can't afford to defend from him so he really is now between a rock and a hard place down they come towards the o'rouge sequence that radio all bosco can do is go flat out and try and catch up as now cabrio has caught voicing this is for second place it was quite a big gap when we last looked but now look the alpene tries the outside line of brazil this is game on for second place cavalry getting stronger as the run continues voicing though has plenty of experience defending around this track hadn't run here until yesterday but looked as far as the race is concerned but looked very very good in his first stint leading much of race one of the weekend but was in defense for basically his entire stint so he knows where he needs to position that car based off of yesterday's experience to try and hold on to the spot so down they come towards brucell and the gaps come right down because again you're now the part of the circuit where the mercedes is good it's had the grunt in a straight line uh further back here ruben del sur versus gas bowers and then you can see behind seven eight knife as one and they're gonna have time for at least one more that must be two so luka bosco still attacking but he needs to make this move and try and clearly out he doesn't he needs to do it as well before uh javaris behind him loses patience he's shown to be quite aggressive in his attempts to make his way past these two and bosco can't afford to be separated from the class leader again with just two minutes left he's done a great job to run him back down i wonder if there might be any intra mercedes teamwork given the fact that really jovaris is unlikely to run down the next car in his class which is bowers up the road in the mclaren so does it make sense just to help a fellow mercedes runner try and win his class or do they even care about that at this stage well same brand different teams different classes different points on offer and there is a car with a problem that's the other mirage aston martin is it not no it's the ags cast forgive me hugo conde at the wheel of it that's part heading up the camel straight this is for second place in those details boyz in versus kabiru and the race leader i reckon his last land now so joel stern has less than a lap time left in the race the lap is two and a half minutes we've got 90 seconds to go and here is your pro-am fight about to start the last lap then so yellow flag in the first sector with that parked car over the timing line bay carbon michelle is still just there ahead of bosco but they're now in the sector of the circuit that is really mercedes friendly rivera seems to be a bit more patient now seems content to run behind this though there's no contentedness here we've seen yesterday the mclaren struggles it'll allow the competition to get close but has the oomph out of a corner to try and hold the spot it led to an aggressive move into this corner yesterday as an attempt to make the pass what can kabaru do tries to go the long way around into brucell but very stout in the defense voice and able to hold on for the moment down the hill they will run kabaru is trying every which ways and he goes one side goes the other side he's going to tighten the line coming out of turn nine gets a face full of mclaren then is right there ahead of him he's barely voicing good defense by voicing kabuto to the outside line approaching dublin goes down towards paul they go he's got to try and squeeze up the inside and he can't do it because the line is claimed by the mclaren last lap and half of it remains up the curb they come on exit of paul joel sturm leading by 16 seconds and there caberu is right on the back of the mclaren down into the pit path trying to find a spot by it's gonna be an unconventional lunge to the inside he's able to draw alongside on the flank of the mclaren side by side oh contact between the two and bailey boys hangs onto it but he's in stride for the next quarter he's got a punctured tire the tyre has gone down in the contact so kabaru goes through and bailey boyzen is going to try and drag that mclaren home he's on his last lap but big big drama there is 718 porsche look for the race leader though because this is the 7 18 cayman of joel stern that he's going to win for the first time this year but where will bailey boisean drop to check and flag at the ready for the first time in 2021 nikolai mother mountain and joel sturm win for allied racing in the gt4 european series but then the drama continues behind it won't be a double win for boys in a [ __ ] will they even get to the end does that tire choose itself after that contact it's still going last that means you don't have to worry too much but it's all going hopelessly wrong coming into the braking zone for the bus stop because the tire is completely shredded bayley voicing is brought it home pretty quickly now he's off the racetrack he's trying to pick his way back on you can see the damage that has been done but come on baby boys and get it home he is going to be third just about antoine potty he's gonna be a drag to the line is it gonna be the mclaren or the toyota it is the toyota that comes through for third place then antoine potty credited with third position and look at pro am they're together as well up towards the line it's the audi way way way out wide that's not going to go down well in race control but fabian michelle hangs on them to take the pro and win bailey boys in fourth then that could have been a whole lot worse unbelievable we packed a lot into a short amount of time that final lap there is your am winner bulabazi continues his strong run of form here ultimately just outside of the top 10 overall but handily the winner in the m class wow that contact it could have been completely different but as it turned out it was enough to rub the tire and instantly down it went you saw the way that bayley boise had a big slide he controlled it well and he brought the car back at a reasonably good pace didn't he as now the audis are still at play with uh michelle blanchard man getting up on the inside and making contact with tomorrow julie into the chicane oda will hang on there might be a few things to unravel in race control post race here though no question about that i wonder we saw poison with the lock up going into the chicane on that last lap sometimes when you've got the tire carcass flopping around like that against ever a brake line and caused some braking issues and it looked like maybe that was part of the problem for him really remarkable that he limped around about a third of a lap in this place only lost one spot after the puncture absolutely shows the pace the car had early on and how even though it wasn't the quickest car it builds up the gap but joel stern did a great job didn't he that out lap as the road drive just totally played into their hands here's the replay look kabiru slides a little bit boys in his four-star wide gets back onto the road but nothing intentional from either just a rub but that's enough bang down goes the tyre yeah looks like maybe the contact with one of the sharp carbon fiber edges one of the downforce elements on the alpine and that's easy it's very capable of slicing through a pirelli tire and a great piece of driving to make that save he entered the corner there with a pretty high rate of speed and only three inflated tires and somehow held on to it and again limped at home a career in drifting backing i think for bailey voicing that was a great save it was uh in the end that car fourth and gas power six in the sister car so they both had strike there's bits of the mclaren a bit of tar carcas heading up through blossom off unbelievable they'll be picking that up for the rest of the weekend i think uh sturm you mentioned his lap that outlap is we do have an investigation underway of the contact between the 30 and the 20 cars in contact we saw the replay of a moment ago that outlap from stern was magic and that made every difference in the outcome of the race absolutely right nikolai muller madsen teen him up well pitted at just the right time as well didn't he so it is a race win for joel sturm and nicholai muller madsen and subject to confirmation second will be laurie kabaru and uh third on the line antoine potty and stephan lamere fourth going to bailey boys and charlie bagg ahead of the tom canning gruben del pole sitting aston martin six to guest powers and dean mcdonald ahead of fabian michelle and greg gilbert's seventh who hang on to winning pro am from luca bosco and maxine soulet ninth zabie gioveras and uh luke ivania and 10th robert konstani and unfortunately in another of those cars that started a long way back on madrid that was on the 12th row so it's a good charge up through the field uh enzo juliet 13 through sebastian bowed ahead of the camaro 14th of the yacht report and thailand [Music] and chambal at bowser we've been getting excited about in the bmw another great race from him and gt4 european series delivers the goods once again and it is a very happy joel sturmer delighted allied racing crew nikolai mother madison who's had a bit of a follow period of race wins but it's great to have him back winning races again well i think it's especially meaningful given the frustration from yesterday it's worth rehashing if you're just joining us that this car looked strong yesterday started up front but then had a an electronic issue we believe and it caused the car to stop even before the pit stop window even started so uh nikolai bowler madison didn't get to run at all yesterday was very strong in his first stint here today turned it over to joel sturm and exercising some demons i think it's safe to say with a very clean run and a rapid run as well to the checkered flag well that was quite some race lots happening all the way through and charles stern with nikolai malamads and the winners time ahead from them with gemma scott oh no no i'm gonna drive with you nikolai joe a fantastic result for you and a tough drive you really pushed it in your stick nice life yeah which was pretty like difficult out there with the with the training conditions uh with the slick styles i tried to keep calm in the start because literally everybody thought that it was like like dry so they went off a little bit everywhere got up to p2 could not really get past the mclaren decided to do a little bit earlier pitch stuff to do undercut and the team did a perfect pitch that one turns over until did an amazing outlap and as i said yesterday when you're sharing the car with joel and he's in front you can feel quite calm so it was actually only the last level we got a bit nervous because like we just wanted to finish it but before that you felt quite quite secure and quite safe for joel as a teammate so absolutely the pit stop certainly paid off joel you've pulled out an incredible gap in your sid there yeah it was just uh incredible uh to drive there it was just the perfect car uh it was i don't know really what to say [ __ ] finally they win and uh i'm just so extremely happy now congratulations thank you very much for coming to us thank you okay so joel sterman nicolai while amounts of the race winners and it was a lively race let's have another look at exactly what happened because as the race got underway great getaway by the uh mercedes of timothy bure to the inside line charlie fagg was the driver that in the mclaren lots of places going into turn one but then made them up as others fell off the racetrack basically coping with the wet conditions and the road at its wettest at the very start of the race but not wet consistently all the way around so the drivers on the opening couple of laps having to try and work out what the grip level was like and where they could push where they had to be a little bit more careful i think like molly manson's experience coming into play whereas jody volo lost control of his mercedes and was in the wall damaging the front and the back as it bounced as it rotated and he was lucky that didn't come further across the road as it was it gave people enough of a scare the safety car deployed to get that out of the way it meant that the field all slotted in behind him when we went racing again so charlie [ __ ] was able to build the advantage a little over nicki minaj mother mountain but it wasn't long before the porsche started to be the quicker car and chip away as sliding deep into pujol went 88 very giving up a place two thousand belgium beltwells in turn got the uh people sideways and was caught and passed by dean mcdonald who was charging along in the sister united auto sports mclaren chamberlain basi in the bmw battling his way through the traffic on target to get the lead of the out class and as eventually we have nikolai mother madsen getting onto the tail of the leading mclaren the two ua cars pitted they pitted after the porsche though and it was all to do with a demon out lap from joel stern but even though the pit stop was only a tenth quicker he was able to gain ground through the sectors on a drier road and come out ahead so the mclarens fell for second and third and then we had this spin for gus bowers trying to hang on to his third pace a rather lazy slide up onto the curve and that spat the car around chamberlain making the attack on the inside of the yacht-rap river chevrolet but as he ran wide so at the inside came robert constantly there was a little bit of nudging between them and we had a spin for the piazza hudson toyota supra up at brazil that dropped that down the am class but the real drama was on the last lap here contact between bayley voicing and loris caberu shredding the tire on the mclaren poison was really fortunate to drag that home in fourth place as the checkered flag fluttered for the race-winning porsche of joel sturman nikolai mother madsen first victory of the 2021 season and a really impressive drive by both a really well judged well-executed well-deserved win whereas with bodywork and bits of rubber flailing bailey boys and somehow wrestled the car home and that finished in fourth place so to the podium we go the drivers being rounded up and uh as soon as possible we'll have the winners out ready for the uh overall podium at least which will be the same as the silver podium so outlet will come nikolai muller madsen and uh joel stern taking the right [Music] who was busy in french gt duties here a week ago and so he suffered a puncture on the last lap of one of his races so there's something about the place that can still fight right at the very end i think this is somewhat of an unexpected podium frankly for the super team the car was good maybe not great always seemed to be about fourth right and the misfortune for the mclaren opened up the door at the very last moment to sneak through and get on the podium second there you see lois kevin and vancouver and the winners with the belgian anthem and the flags there are gerald sturm and nicolai walla [Music] madison [Music] allied racing represented on the podium as well if you're thinking how does the german team get the belgian flag and it is because there's a mark of respect for all that the uh country has suffered in the recent appalling weather and the floods uh for most races this weekend all the flags have been belgium the belgian anthem has been played and the championships showing their support to the belgian population so now the pro-am drivers are made ready and out to come on so they tried the hardest but they couldn't quite defeat the audi of fabian michelle and greg gilbert who will make their way on to the top step of the podium is a great battle that we have right to the very end in pro am and the santa lock team takes race honors greg gilbert and fabio michelle [Music] michelle did a great job holding on to that spot bosco was charging he erased a pretty massive deficit to get into contention to challenge but the one ill-fated lunge that cost him a great deal of track position never could quite make up for that could he no you're right it was a real frustration but he tried hard and uh in the end it is a great battle that we enjoyed within the pro-am category so now we're going to have the cap as well the drivers being brought forward christoph hamill and uh michael blanchard come forward to get their trophies uh wilford casabolt and android benezei full second with their toyota supra but it's one of the stars of the weekend is the winning am and that is chan bola baozi great drive by him opened up a lot of eyes i think this weekend driving by himself and showing his pace able to overcome the fact he had to sit stationary in the pits for an additional 10 seconds in each of the races and still was able to get great results so great racing here at spa from the gt4 european series and there is more to come before season's end thanks to the company this weekend from rahm marine and david anderson from a largely dry spa it's goodbye for now you

Channel: GTWorld

Views: 116,876

Keywords: BlancpainGT, Blancpain, GT, GT3, Endurance, Sprint, Series, Cup, Motorsports, watch, FIA, driver, sportscar, racecar, car, events, Spa, 24h, team, europe, pro-am, pro, racetrack, gt4 live, gt4 racing, gt4 european series, gt4 live stream, gt4 live race 2, gt4 spa 2021, gt4 spa, gt4 spa francorchamps, gt4 spa francorchamps 2021, spa 24 hours, 24 hours of spa

Id: AxxbB7wUOvg

Length: 86min 5sec (5165 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 31 2021