Audi In Control At Spa With Two Hours Remaining

With just two hours to go in the 2014 edition of the Total 24 Hours Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has taken control, after electronic problems hit the No. 77 BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS BMW Z4 GT3.

The problems on the BMW meant Lucas Luhr drove without ABS, making it impossible for him to do anything against a fast René Rast in the No. 1 Audi R8 LMS ultra. Rast closed in rapidly and when he finally made the pass, Luhr didn’t even defend his position, knowing it was futile.

Luhr eventually came into the pit to hand over the BMW to Markus Palttala, which allowed René Rast to catch up and the Audi soon passed the BMW, putting the entire field at least a lap down with two hours and 38 minutes left in the race.

The next pit stop put the BMW back onto the lead lap, but after 22 hours the gap between first and second was already over half a minute.

Sixth overall and first in Pro-Am at the 22-hour mark was the No. 53 AF Corse Ferrari of Andrea Bertolini, Marco Cioci, Louis Machiels and Niek Hommerson. The Ferrari drivers were 16 seconds up on the Ecurie Ecosse BMW and a further nine seconds on the No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari.