Spa Francorchamps Proximus 05/08/2001   The 24 Hours Part 4   © Janos Wimpffen Hours 7-9 The race resumed at about 22:30 with the Ferrari now closing slightly on the Larbre Viper, but still some 28 seconds down. Clarification on the earlier clarification--the no. 58 Porsche was hit by the no. 94 car. Ironically, one of the drivers of no. 94 is Pierre-Yves Corthals, who’s ex-girl friend, Vanina Ickx, is on the no. 58 crew. However, neither was at the wheel at the time. The Seikel Porsche is definitely back in action. The no. 95 Lamborghini was briefly off-course but has resumed. It is owned by Switzerland’s Alexander Frei and runs in GTR configuration. It ran in last year’s Zolder 24 Hours. Their main concern so far has been excess fuel consumption. The Vertigo has hit a Porsche. The no. 3 Carsport Holland Viper (Tassin) is in for a five-minute stop. Again there are problems with the exhaust system. After seven hours and some eight lead changes, the Larbre Viper holds a 55 second lead over the Ferrari. However, the Rafanelli car is again experiencing restart problems after pit calls, caused by low fuel pressure. The incredibly steady Silver Racing Viper is third, a mere lap down. A few minutes later the Belgian entry moves into second place when the Ferrari makes a stop. Lap times have not diminished at all under the dry but cloudy skies. The leaders are circulating in the 2:33 range, include no. 26’s Georg Severich, who is in a Viper for the first time. Tassin is even quicker at below 2:30. Joost calculates that a Larbre win will give the team and Christophe Bouchut the FIA GT series title provided that neither the no. 3 Carsport nor the no. 12 Belmondo car of Vosse finish no better than third. This is a result of the fact the race awards double points. Duez is running about one second faster then Dierick, but the high placing of the Silver Racing car is becoming the story as edge towards the one-third mark. There is the prospect of an all-new team threatening to win an FIA GT round. At 23:15 comes another yellow flag period when the no. 79 Seikel again becomes stranded on course. Once the track goes green ago four cars are assessed penalties, the no. 5 Ferrari, no. 57 Porsche, no. 80 Porsche, and no. 98 Lotus. It is moot for the Ferrari as its fine run is over—reason not yet confirmed. The Porsche Speedster’s troubled night is also over with a slight crash. The no. 62 N-GT Ferrari has gone into a gravel trap. It has returned to the pits and is still there with a bad water pump. The problem came about from having been hit by another car. The Ferrari’s retirement and an exchange of stops has propelled the no. 12 Belmondo car into second place. However, the Silver Racing Viper is only about 13 seconds down. The second Larbre car has risen to fourth, having run trouble free for hours and hours. The no. 80 all-Belgian Porsche has been pushed into the garage for a gearbox change. Some pit stop data—as of 22:00 here are the total time in the boxes for some cars: #3, 13 ½ minutes #5, 9 min. #7, 7 ½ min. #12, 9 ½ min. #17, 11 min. #18, 10 min. #21, 9 min. #26, 9 ½ min. Shortest time of all is for no. 84, at 05:04. They have been lapping slow but are moving up the lap charts to 18th overall. Official retirements as of midnight: #4 (radiator damaged in accident), #5 (suspension), #58 (accident), and #79 (stopped on course). More time penalties have been assessed, for numbers 56, 55, 21, 59, 95, and 11. Better pit work has elevated the no. 17 Larbre car Goueslard / Dumez / Bourdais to third overall ahead of the Dierick / Dupont / de Doncker car. The gap between them is a mere 26 seconds. The second through fourth place cars are all on the same lap, two down from the leader. The penalties are getting stiffer. Both numbers 66 and 59 are serving one minute each in the sin bin. Although we’ve a small rash of recent retirements, the overall reliability has been high. One of the outcomes from this is that all but one of the 133 listed drivers has had a turn. The odd one out is Batti Pregliasco, his no. 62 Ferrari stopping before he donned his helmet. This is all the more remarkable given that many teams are using four drivers. The good run of the PSI Porsche turbo is over, gearbox is broken. The Vertigo has crashed. They are half-heartedly working to repair the damage. The forlorn no. 11 Belmondo Viper is finally out after an accident. Frank Kremer has gone off the circuit in the no. 93 Lamborghini. The Marcos is still running but falling apart. The team is searching for spares, spare anything, motors, wheels, drivers, loose change, you name it. The reason for no. 66’s black flag was that it short cut at the Bus Stop and then did not stop for the red light on the escape section. The most important delay of late occurred to the race leading no. 7 Larbre Viper. It lost a wheel and Bouchut nursed it back. The team lost +/- one minute. Meanwhile the other Larbre car has crept into second place and the gap between the two teammates is about 74 seconds. Bourdais is lapping very quickly in the newer Larbre entry as is Hezemans in the delayed no. 3 Carsport Viper. Dierick is running in the 2:25 range. Class leaders as the nine-hour mark is nigh: Overall and GT: no. 7, Bouchut / Belloc / Duez No. 17, Goueslard / Dumez / Bourdais No. 12, Clerico / Vosse / Helary N-GT No. 54, Peter / Collini / Malcharek / Babini [went off at Poste 18 and is returning slowly to the pits, car is not damaged] No. 57, Ortelli / Chiesa / Sauvage No. 77, Riccitelli / Quester / Garcia / Simon Category 2 No. 78, de Groodt / Tollenaire / Palttala No. 84, Dujardyn / A. Herreman / J-P Herreman No. 81, Hardman / Jones / Donaldson / Fisken Category 3 No. 95, Lorent / Frei / Dewinter / Velay No. 94, Corthals / Scharmach / Steckx / Haugg No. 92, “Segolen” / Olivier / Letellier / Schmit Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport