Estre, Stolz in Lead Battle as Darkness Falls; 3 Hours to Go

Photo: Dirk Bogaerts/SRO

Kevin Estre and Luca Stolz are running first and second in the Kyalami 9 Hour at two-thirds distance, with darkness falling and the threat of rain looming.

Estre’s GPX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R cycled back into the lead after dropping back from its lead position earlier in the race, while Stolz is also running well in the SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Porsche still has the upper hand with both its Frikadelli Racing and Dinamic Motorsport cars also running in the top ten, while the SPS car is Mercedes-AMG’s sole remaining Pro class contender.

Mercedes-AMG will likely have to rely on Black Falcon’s Pro-Am car scoring points in the overall standings to help it with the manufacturers’ title hunt. 

Other cars running highly include both Walkenhorst Motorsport and Team Schnitzer’s BMW M6 GT3s and the No. 18 KCMG Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.

The Walkenhorst car, currently being driven by Mikkel Jensen, looks like the most likely contender to pose a threat to Engel and Stolz in the lead battle.

Frederic Vervisch has just brought the WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo into the pits with a puncture, meanwhile.

No rain has arrived yet but lightning storms are visible in the distance and wet conditions are forecast to come in from Johannesburg at around 8 p.m. local time, when two hours will be left on the clock.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.