FIA GT Championship

FIA GT Spa 24: Race Hour 1

© Planetlemans - Marcel ten Caat

Welcome to the Planetlemans.com live coverage of Spa-Francorchamps! We are already 30 minutes into the race but a powercut took down the internet connection here in the new F1 paddock at Spa. So far the weather is great but a few shower are forecasted later this day
16:00- Green flag…the Carsport Holland in the hands of Marcel Fässler takes off. Behind him the nr 3 Alphand Aventures takes second place. All cars safely through Eau Rouge and Les Combes.

16:02- Fässler leads after one lap. He has got nearly eight tenths of a second advantage over the nr 3 Corvette and two seconds over Wendlinger. Bertolini in the nr 11 Playteam Maserati takes a close look at the Jetalliance.

16:04- Oliver Gavin takes the lead! Turning into the new Bus Stop chicane he puts the Corvette on the inside of Fässlers Corvette and passes him.

16:05- Mullen in the nr 62 has already been in the pit lane. A bad start for the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari team.

16:06- Jos Menten in the nr 28 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini is being pushed through the pit lane entry by some marshals. An early end for the Dutch Lamborghini?

16:10- The gap between the two Corvettes is exactly one second. Gianmaria Bruni in the AF Corse Motorola Ferrari is leading the GT2 category, only half a second ahead of the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche of Patrick Long.

16:16- Wendlinger has closed the gap to the Corvettes and is trailing behind them, just seven tenths behind the nr 5 Carsport car. Behind him Bertolini runs wide coming out of La Source, losing ground to the top three.

16:18- Fässler retakes the lead as the GT1 cars keep on overtaking the slower GT3 cars. The Luc Alphand Corvette of Gavin nearly clips the rear of a backmarker.

16:19- The fifth car in the race, the nr 4 PK Carsport is already 10 seconds behind the leader. Enrico Toccacelo takes the nr 22 Aston Martin Racing BMS DBR9 through the grass at Les Combes, no damage to the car.

16:23- The Reiter Engineering crew is working hard on the nr 28 Lamborghini.

16:25- The Carsport Corvette C6-R is out of the traffic and is flying. The gap to the Alphand C6-R is now 3.5 seconds while the Jetalliance DBR9 is already 5.7 behind.

16:28- Going into Les Combes the nr 4 Corvette and the Vitaphone Maserati MC12s battle for position. Longin stays on his line and the Maserati goes through the grass.

16:29- Busnelli hits one of the GT3 Ferrari 430s. Both cars go off into the gravel and are stuck. The nr 12 Maserati has suffered damage.

16:30- Bouchut in the All-Inkl.com has also gone off. Unclear how and where.

16:33- Toccacelo in the nr 22 stalls on his way to the Bus Stop. The car is pushed behind the barriers by the marshalls.

16:35- Montanari has finally overtaken Longin. The nr 12 Playteam Maserati is back on track, after a lengthy stop at Les Combes.

16:38- Busnelli has made it into the box. The car is refuelled and the damage is assessed. There is a huge part of bodywork gone from the left rear and some damage at the right front.

16:40- Pedro Lamy has also managed to get ahead of the Corvette C5-R of Bert Longin. Maserati is now fourth, fifth and sixth.

16:42- Patrick Long in the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 997 GT3 RSR is now ahead of the AF Corse Motorola Ferrari 430 GT2s.

16:45- Marcel Fässler is trying to overtake the AF Corse Ferrari 430s but his attempts are hampered by even slower GT3 cas. He eventually manages to find his way through and goes after Long in the Porsche.

16:46- Fässler has now passed all the GT2 cars. Only 10 cars are in the same lap now, all of them GT1.

16:48- The nr 12 Maserati is still in the box, undergoing the necessary repairs.

16:54- Philipp Peter in the nr 16 JMB Racing Maserati MC12 has come into the pitlane. Is this the first regular stop?

16:56- The S-Berg Lamborghini Gallardo nr 215 has been given a 12-second stop & go penalty. Marino Franchitti has taken over the wheel from Philipp Peter and has gone out on the track in the JMB Maserati.

16:58- Pit stop time at the end of the first hour. Gavin, Montanari, Longin, Babini, Soulet have come in for their pitstops.