Up2Race Extends 24H Barcelona Lead in Final Stages

Up2Race extended its race lead overnight in the Michelin 24H Barcelona, edging out a gap of over two laps as the race entered its final stages.

With three hours remaining, Tim Heinemann exited a brief Code 60 caution period with an advantage of nearly four minutes to the No. 11 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Hofor Racing.

The Pro class No. 88 Up2Race Porsche 911 GT3 R led over 200 laps overnight, only conceding its place at the head of the field when the car was in the pits.

The overnight portion of the 24-hour race saw little change in the overall race order, with the bulk of the GT3 field retaining the position it held at the halfway point of the event.

As the sun rose over the endurance spectacle, a caution was brought out for a stranded No. 902 Holmgaard Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup which stopped with a broken driveshaft.

The caution saw most of the GT3 contingent jump into the pit lane for fuel, but this made little change to the overall racing order.

The Hofor Mercedes-AMG held the GT3-Am class lead in second place overall, ahead of Nicolas Guelinckx and the No. 21 HAAS RT BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

Sainteloc Junior Team was the highest placed GT3 Pro-Am entry in the field. Stephane Tribaudini made a daring overtake on class rival Ajith Kumar to claim fourth place overall.

Tamil acting superstar Kumar took over driving duties in his No. 93 Ajith RedAnt Racing machine after the Belgian squad fought back up the field during the second half of the race.

Dwight Merriman was in the Era Motorsport’s Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo in sixth following a near-miss with a spinning E2P Racing car.

Malaysian squad Viper Niza Racing occupied seventh place.

GetSpeed Team PCX Racing continued to mount a superb recovery drive after a wheel bearing issue dropped the No. 28 Mercedes-AMG to the back of the field as the race neared mid-distance.

Team PCX driver Cesar Gazeau entered the closing hours of the event in eighth place.

It sister car – the GetSpeed Team JR286 entry which had led the championship coming into the weekend – sat in 18th place after a gearbox change.

Gamota Racing’s No. 500 was ninth despite showing impressive pace in the early hours of the race.

E2P’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo rounded out the top ten after the small spin for Antonio Sainero.

The night stints were also remarkably clean, with only a pair of brief Code 60 periods and just a handful penalties handed out since the race reached its midpoint.

The most notable caution was brought out by the No. 928 HRT Performance Porsche 911 GT3 Cup which stopped on track with a technical issue. The 992-Am-entered car had topped the 992 class for much of the race, but dropped down the order after multiple trips to the pits for repairs.

HRT suffered yet more heartbreak when it was forced to retire its No. 930 Porsche following its own mechanical woes.

It was not the only team to lose its 992 entrant, as points leaders Red Camel-Jordans.nl also retired.

Sainteloc picked up a ten second penalty for making contact with the No. 28 Mercedes-AMG during the night.

RPM Racing led the 992 class ahead of Mühlner Motorsport.

In TCE-TCX, CP Motorsport continued to lead with its No. 142 Cupra TCR DSG as the only car in its class to have a trouble-free run of form.

The CP Motorsport crew also headed the GT4 class with an advantage of nearly 15 laps.

Of note, Vortex returned to the track after the car stopped abruptly on pit lane inside the last four hours. The French team is the only car entered in the GTX field this weekend.