Spa Francorchamps Proximus 05/08/2001   The 24 Hours Part 9   © Janos Tiredpen Hour 21 It is a dark and rainy day, less light than there was at 0700. The no. 17 Larbre car had earlier lost time with a brake caliper change and although it was on target to chase down the Carsport car for second place, this does not seem to be the case. It was running several seconds per lap slower than its teammate and was soon placed another tour down. The Carsport Viper seems to be making no headway against the leading Viper. The no. 12 Belmondo car is in the pits with the crew checking under the hood and looking at brake problems. The other Belmondo car (no. 10) was the fastest on the track for a spell while being driven by Paul Belmondo. The son-of-an-actor was quite upset about being balked by the GL PK car and when he ended his stint he had a few words with the no. 21 car managers. The irony here is that Belmondo’s co-driver, Anthony Kumpen, is the son of the GL PK car owner. The rain intensified to the extent that a full-course caution was called upon. But this being Spa-Francorchamps, as soon as the pace car went out the skies lifted just a tad. The concern now is about some fog that is visible over the hills. The green flies as do the rooster tails. The Lotus Elises are ducking out of the way of the Viper spray and the field gets safely around. It begins to dry again as the no. 3 Viper begins an all-out assault against the no. 7 French entry, while the no. 17 Larbre Chrysler is rapidly falling off the pace, spun and stopped briefly at Poste 17. The lead Lamborghini’s tire problems were enough to cause them to lose the Category 3 lead they had held almost from the beginning. The Renstal Trommelke Porsche of Wauters / Scheurs / Vanierschot / van Roey takes over the lead, but by a very narrow margin. Tassin is gaining about two second per lap in his quest to unlap himself from the Larbre car. The problems of no. 17 bring hope to the no. 26 Silver Racing Chrysler that could still make up the deficit from fourth place and make the podium. Class standings at 12:00, 20:00 ET GT and overall; #7, 442 laps; #3, -134 sec; #17, -5 laps N-GT; #77, 427 laps; #57, -4 laps; #55, -6 laps Cat .2; #78, 418 laps; #87, -20 laps; #84, -25 laps Cat. 3; #94, 395 laps; #95, -4.3 s; #96, -51 laps The Cat. 3 race is now quite close with the Porsche gradually pulling away. The N-GT Ferrari is finally out with a blown engine. They had had a difficult early period in the race, followed by a long and strong comeback that has now come to nought. Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport