As it happened: 24 Hours of Spa | the world famous endurance race

SKY might want to review its sponsorship of this Tempesta Mercedes after it is involved in another face-palming incident involving the #93 car

Having been the culprit in the accident that led to the #159 Garage 59 McLaren to smash into the Blanchimont barriers at high-speed - prompting a hour-long FCY to fix it and recover the battered 720S - the car has just spun victory contenders #88 AKKODIS AMG Mercedes.

A misunderstanding as the SKY Tempesta tries to cross over to the pit lane entry, it instead just finds a similar silver car across its bow and pointing the wrong way at the Bus Stop. Jules Gounon is back underway but lost crucial seconds.

GREEN GREEN GREEN... GO GO GO!

After an hour of repairs, the 24 Hours of Spa gets back underway with 4hrs 53mins left on the clock... cue some manic post-FCY jostling.

A few pit-stops under FCY conditions means the #55 GruppeM Mercedes leads, closely followed by the #51 Iron Lynx Ferrari and - popping up into the top three for the first time - the #38 Jota McLaren.

While all this has been going on, one of the frontrunners from a couple of hours ago - the EMA Porsche - is effectively out of the race after being struck from behind in the concertina effect of a FCY restart.

The car had been one of the quieter stars of the race, slowly rising to a peak of third position at one stage with the driver power of ex-F1 man Felipe Nasr, Matt Campbell and Matthieu Jaminet.

However, in a race that has seen Porsche suffer a torrid time with several of its anticipated front runners, EMA Porsche are out.

On the plus side for Porsche, the KCMG car is still going strong in third place

Still FCY and probably for some time too as an army of people work on the area where the #188 McLaren rearranged both the 702S' front-end and the crash barrier.

FCY and almost certain Safety Car after a huge crash on the run to Blanchimont for the #188 Garage 59 McLaren after it is tapped into the barriers at high-speed by the #93 SKY-Tempesta Mercedes.

Miguel Ramos was at the wheel at the time - medical crews tend to him as marshals attempt to fix the barriers and clear the debris

FCY: It's a big one for Ramos.

LIVE https://t.co/bexLp6gjoP#IGTC | #Spa24Hpic.twitter.com/md0p5V8q1v

— Intercontinental GT Challenge (@IntercontGTC) July 31, 2022

The #24 isn't having the best last half hour - Leutwiler minus one wheel on his wagon!

https://t.co/sQzrNpDWQ0#Spa24h#FanatecGT#GTWorldChEu#IGTC@TotalEnergies@fanatec@AWS@Pirelli@CrowdStrikepic.twitter.com/7CcD4t1quC

— TotalEnergies 24Hours of Spa (@24HoursofSpa) July 31, 2022

Who is your winner?

We are off again and thanks to that safety car it remains all to play for with less than 30secs covering the entire top ten, while around 12secs covers the Top 5.

Spicy!

While we're having a breather, time for some 24 Hours of Spa factoids. You'll thank me later when these come up in a pub quiz... maybe if that pub happens to be in the town of Francorchamps. Anyway...

- The Spa 24 Hours was held for the first time in 1924

- Unlike the Le Mans 24 Hours, it is an event that isn't specifically associated with being a sportscar race - In fact, it's a title applied to different disciplines over the years, including the European Touring Car Championship

- Race moved towards sportscars format in the early-90s but wasn't apportioned to any one championship, attracting different categories of car

- For Belgians, the race is rather notorious for the death of Baudouin of Belgium - otherwise known as King Baudouin or King of the Belgians - who died in an accident while competing in 1993

- A return of touring cars to the end of the 90s saw some curious additions to the grid, our favourite being the Peugeot 806 people-carrier turned Procar oddity [pictured below]. I mean, you thought the Valve 850 Estate BTCC car was weird…

- The event settled on a sportscars format from 2001 with some iconic machines tasting victory including the 2001 Chrysler Viper [top], 2005 Maserati MC12 [left], 2007 Corvette [middle], 2011 Audi R8 (centre and first of four]

- The most successful racer at the Spa 24 Hours is local hero and ex-F1 driver Eric van de Poele with five successes to his name

- BMW is the dominant winner among the manufacturers - largely thanks to the ubiquitously dominant touring car era - with 24 wins

We are GREEN again... and in no time at all we have another FCY. But it is a significant one...

The #24 Herberth Porsche - which has led the Pro-Am class for the majority of this race - is in the gravel trap at Stavelot and looking a bit beached.

A collision with the Emil Frey Lambo is the cause, though replays suggest driver Niki Leutwiler wasn't expecting the Huracan to be there at the time as it ricocheted off it into the gravel. It means the #188 Garage 59 McLaren [pictured] has just taken over the lead of the class. 

Up at the front, the top three is: 1st #98 ROWE BMW | 2nd #88 AKKODIS AMG Mercedes | 3rd #47 KCMG Porsche

It's time for another FCY!

The #34 Walkenhorst BMW has plowed into the barriers head-on with what looks like a brake failure. A firm thump but not a catastrophic one, it nonetheless might take a bit of time to remove the M4 from the kitty litter

Completed: 17 Hours / To go: 7 Hours [09:45 CET)

Another hour clicks by as the weary wake from their slumber with the final quarter of this gruelling race now looming.

The KCMG Porsche has now firmly established itself as the car to beat, with British driver Nick Tandy proving once again why he is regarded as one of - if not THE - best sportscar driver out there right now.

Having only taken the lead for the first time a couple of hours ago, KCMG are now a good 40secs clear of the #51 Iron Lynx Ferrari in second, while the #98 ROWE BMW holds onto its podium position in third.

If Iron Dames are breaking barriers - thankfully on track - then pioneering racer Reema Juffali is truly smashing them.

Hailing from Saudi Arabia, a nation that where it was illegal for a women to drive until 2019 (!!), Juffali made history as the first woman from her Kingdom to hold an racing licence.

Not only that, she is rapid having already landed several top ten results in British F4, while she is sat inside the overall top five in the 2022 International GT Open competing for the Theema Motorsport team she also founded.

Making her 24 Hours of Spa debut this weekend, Juffali is paired with Tim Muller and George Kurtz in the SPS Automotive AMG-Mercedes, which is still running and running well - 40th overall and leading the Bronze Cup category.

#Spa24h – SPS automotive performance driver @ReemaJuffali is full of excitement ahead of her first appearance at the @24hoursofspa.#WeLivePerformance#MercedesAMGMotorsport#24hAMG#AMGGT3#WorldsFastestFamilypic.twitter.com/n1CKcDWNpF

— Mercedes-AMG Motorsport (@amgmotorsport) July 30, 2022

We've mentioned Iron Lynx a few times, but there is also a third Ferrari entry from the Italian team named 'Iron Dames'... though a Google translate job did originally identify it as the 'Iron Ladies' team.

Either way, they have not been for turning (around into the gravel trap) because the trio of very fast women - Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting and Doriane Pin - have been getting their heads down and worked their way up the order in a very pink Ferrari 488.

The trio are running in 20th overall and are the runaway leaders in the Gold Cup category

A drivers perspective…

We grabbed @SarahBovy for a little chat about the @24HoursofSpa so far #Motorsport#BeAnIronDamepic.twitter.com/714jjH9bcb

— Iron Dames (@IronDames_) July 31, 2022

Completed: 16 Hours / To go: 8 Hours [08:45 CET)

A fairly quiet hour following the drama that caught out the #46 VR46 Audi and one of the pre-race favourites, the #32 WRT Audi.

Pit-stops are (the 16th/17th for the leading contenders), which has a few minutes into the 17th hour promoted the #98 ROWE BMW back into the lead, but by our reckoning, this is a race that - at the moment - is between the top six here

You'll notice there that it has been a difficult race to date for both Lamborghini and Audi.

Over at the four-rings, Audi's challenge is led by two of its Silver class entries right now, with VR46 currently circulating as its top PRO representatives, in 18th.

Lambo, meanwhile, was supposed to start on pole with the Orange1 KPAX machine, only for it to be stripped of its times through a technical irregularity.

Still, it's faring better this year than it did last year when its two leading contenders in the Emil Frey Racing camp were involved in this MONSTER shunt!

So let's take a look at the top runners and riders representing the 9 manufacturers:

1st - Porsche | #47 KCMG

2nd - Ferrari | #51 Iron Lynx

4th - AMG-Mercedes | #2 GetSpeed

5th - Aston Martin | #95 Beechdean

6th - BMW | #38 ROWE Racing

11th - McLaren | #38 Jota

12th - Lamborghini | #6 Orange1 KPAX [pictured]

14th - Audi | #99 Attempto Racing

OUT - Bentley | #107 CMR

WAKEY WAKEY!

The fastest lap of the race has just been set... on Lap 285. Better still, it wasn't even achieved by one of the leading contenders.

Nevertheless, Alessio Rovera in the #52 AF Corse Ferrari - a car we have to admit we forgot was even in the race - lights up the screens at 8am (CET) with a 2m 17.480s.

Perhaps it will inspire the squad on for a late charge at victory... from a current position of 21st.

Completed: 15 Hours / To go: 9 Hours [07:45 CET)

Just 16secs cover the top five with nine hours on the clock remaining.

The #55 GruppeM AMG-Mercedes led at the turn of the hour but its schedule stop elevates the KCMG Porsche back to the front, where it holds an 8secs advantage over the long-time leading #98 ROWE BMW.

The #88 AKKODIS AMG-Mercedes - which has barely strayed outside the top five - remains up there in third, ahead of the #51 Iron Lynx Ferrari and the #38 Jota McLaren [pictured], which has made very slow, steady and stealthy progress up the order in the race and is now in a new peak of fifth.

As for the #46 VR46 Audi, that earlier prang keeps it down in 21st, with Valentino Rossi now back at the wheel.

Drama up at the front as the #71 Iron Lynx Ferrari in second position is hit with a drive-through penalty for not respecting FCY regulations.

It's a particularly frustrating penalty here when you consider we are using both pit-lanes, meaning it starts at the Bus Stop final corner and slowly works its way down towards Eau Rouge, popping out at the top on the way to Les Combes.

It releases the KCMG Porsche for a short while before Nick Tandy pits himself anyway, promoting the other Iron Lynx Ferrari - this time the #51 car - into the lead for the first time.

Just under 10 hours of the 2022 24 Hours of Spa remain and if you're just waking up, we've just returned to green flag conditions and that means there is very little to choose between the leaders after a lengthy Safety Car to clear the #32 after it was involved in a collision with the #46 VR46 Audi.

A few strategic pit-stops have changed things up again with the #71 Iron Lynx Ferrari leading at the flag, only to be overtaken by Nick Tandy, which has completed its back-to-front charge in the KCMG Porsche to move into 1st having started 64th.

The long-time leading ROWE BMW is looking good in terms of stops and is just behind in third still, while a stealthy rise up the order has seen the EMA Porsche - currently in the hands of Felipe Nasr - come into play in fourth.

While TV crews appear to have missed the incident, Nico Muller explains he was running closely behind the sister #32 Sainteloc WRT Audi when it came across the slow-moving Jota McLaren on the exit of La Source.

On come the brakes, but not in time for Muller to avoid ramming the back of the Audi, punting the #32 out of the race. 

#46 Audi is still going after a bit of classic gaffer tape remodelling at the front, with Valentino Rossi back at the wheel and back in the race with Valentino Rossi at the wheel.

However, haven been up inside the top five for much of this race, the car is now 21st and - crucially - two laps off the lead.

The #46 @audisport Team WRT has made it back to the pits. Sadly, the #32 @followWRT Audi's race is over and the car is being recovered. #Spa24h#FanatecGT#GTWorldChEu#IGTC@TotalEnergies@fanatec@AWS@Pirelli@CrowdStrikepic.twitter.com/fhvJyC826G

— TotalEnergies 24Hours of Spa (@24HoursofSpa) July 31, 2022