WRT Encounters Exhaust Issue Approaching Four Hours

Philipp Eng’s Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli drivers’ championship bid suffered a significant setback in the Lenovo Gulf 12 Hours after his No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 encountered an exhaust issue.

Eng and co-drivers Charles Weerts and Sheldon van der Linde ran in seventh place overall and third in the Pro category when the car was pushed into the garage with just under eight and a half hours remaining.

Team personnel then got to work on the exhaust system on the right hand side on the car, which spent 12 minutes in the pits before rejoining.

It now runs in 22nd place overall, seven laps down on the race-leading No. 21 Car Collection Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R in the hands of Dustin Blattner.

It has put Eng on the back foot in the drivers’ championship fight, which he entered eight points adrift of Mercedes-AMG driver Jules Gounon.

Blattner led the No. 88 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Marvin Kirchhoefer, while Gounon ran in third aboard the No. 14 Mercedes-AMG Team 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo as the leading Pro runner.

The Pro entries have been crawling up the order after dropping back in the opening hours, when they elected to take the first of their Imposed Pit Stops in the early stages of the race.

Gounon leads the No. 7 Herberth Motorsport Porsche of Ralf Bohn and the No. 46 Team WRT BMW, which rounded out the overall top five with Nick Yelloly at the wheel.

GruppeM Racing, meanwhile sits outside the top ten with both of its cars. The No. 99 Mercedes-AMG, currently with Luca Stolz at the wheel, has completed more Imposed Pit Stops than any other Pro contender, but is two laps down after a wheel issue led to a delay in an earlier stop.

The safety car made a second appearance early in the second hour when Stephen Grove crashed the No. 4 Grove Racing Porsche at Turn 1, requiring barrier repairs.

Herberth Motorsport’s No. 33 Porsche, meanwhile, also suffered setbacks battling transponder issues and a left-rear puncture.

Both Grove and Herberth driver Antares Au are contenders for the Independent Cup title, along with tenth-placed Jonathan Hui in the No. 93 Sky Tempesta Racing McLaren and SunEnergy 1 Racing’s Kenny Habul in 11th place.