Bachler Passes Perera for Lead With Nine Hours to Go

Photo: JEP/SRO

Klaus Bachler held command of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa with nine hours to go, after getting around the No. 163 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Franck Perera.

Bachler, in the No. 911 Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R, passed Perera with with nine hours and 21 minutes to go, while still in wet-weather conditions. He held a 5.566-second lead at the 16th hour mark.

It came as the No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, which had been leading in the hands of Sheldon van der Linde, was forced to serve a 30-second time penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement in the previous hour, which has dropped co-driver Dries Vanthoor to fourth.

The sister No. 46 WRT BMW of Maxime Martin ran third, while the No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Ross Gunn completed the top-five.

A number of teams elected to take their mandatory five-minute technical pit stop just past the halfway mark, while under FCY, prior to a race-ending incident involving the No. 48 Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Lucas Auer, who was forced to retire.

Both the No. 55 Dinamic GT Porsche and No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 were handed drive-through penalties for causing collisions in the incident that collected Auer.

The race’s 16th FCY was called in the 14th hour for a heavy crash by the No. 36 Walkenhorst Aston of Mex Jansen at Eau Rouge, who walked away uninjured.

It was followed by drama for the No. 130 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG of Ralf Aron, who was wheeled into the garage with floor damage to the car.

Miguel Ramos, meanwhile, stopped at pit-in with a missing left-rear tire on his No. 188 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, requiring a push and a tow from marshals.

The No. 66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Dylan Pereira led the Bronze class in ninth overall, while Mikael Grenier paced the Gold class in his No. 777 AlManar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG.

Silver was led by the No. 35 Walkenhorst Aston of Romain Leroux, while CrowdStrike by Riley’s Nicky Catsburg was out front in Pro-Am.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John