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Intercontinental GT Challenge

Bentley Chasing BMW With 2 Hours to Go at Spa

Bentley chases BMW for 24H Spa win…

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

Maxime Soulet’s No. 8 M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3 is hot on the heels of Maxime Martin in the leading No. 99 ROWE Racing BMW M6 GT3 with two hours to go in the Total 24 Hours of Spa.

Following the fire that caught out the No. 6 Audi Sport Team Phoenix Audi R8 LMS, the battle for the lead now boils down to a straight up two-way fight.

Two rain showers made for some new developments at the head of the field, as the No. 99 ROWE BMW made use of the tenth Full Course Yellow the change its front brakes, a move which cost it around half a minute on track.

This handed Andy Soucek in the No. 8 Bentley a 52-second lead, which was cut in half as a heavy rain shower hit the track.

Once the rain eased up, the Spaniard was able to keep the gap at around 20 seconds, however, the Bentley made an early visit to the pits because Soucek was close to reaching his maximum drive time.

The BMW gained even more time switching over to slicks before the Bentley did, although Maxime Soulet put in a strong stint to reduce the Bentley’s deficit from 40 to 20 seconds.

The battle for the final podium position is currently between the No. 28 Belgian Audi Sport Team WRT Audi, No. 86 AMG-Team HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 and No. 88 AMG-Team AKKA ASP Mercedes, these three cars are only separated by less than half a minute.

Vincent Wouters (@VinceWouters) is a Belgium-based sports car racing reporter, providing coverage primarily of the Blancpain GT Series.

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