01/08/2010: Drama for leading BMW and BMS Porsche wins Total 24 Hours of Spa With 40 minutes to go indicated on the timing screens the leading BMW looked set to win the Total 24 Hours of Spa when Dirk Werner went off at Les Fagnes and what looked as a certain victory became a nightmare in sight of the finish line. The drama for BMW meant joy for Porsche as the #23 BMS Scuderia Italia Spa Porsche 911 GT3 RSR took the overall victory in the 63rd edition of the 24 Hours of Spa after 541 laps, winning the FIA GT2 European Cup in the process. Romain Dumas is now a double Spa winner, while Jorg Bergmeister, Martin Ragginger and Wolf Henzler took their maiden win in the Ardennes. Romain Dumas is also the first man to win Spa and Le Mans in the same year of the modern era of endurance racing and has also won the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.     read more

01/08/2010: HOUR 23: Spa 24 Hour holy grail in sight for BMW #79

Hour 23 of the 24 Hours of Spa and there was a change in the pecking order in the top six with the #1 AF Corse Ferrari getting the jump over the #53 Mühlner Porsche 911 for fifth place.

Ahead of them, there was a familiar look with the long-time leader the  #79 BMW Motorsport BMW M3 beginning to scent victory with over 512 laps on the clock.

The #23 BMS Scuderia Italia Porsche 911 was second overall and best of the GT2 European Cup runners from the IMSA MatMut Porsche #16 third. The #1 was the third placed GT2 car.

In fourth was the stablemate of the overall leader the #78 BMW Motorsport M3 which was second to the #79 in GTN. Third in GTN was #81 Gravity Mosler.

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01/08/2010: HOUR 22: BMW #79 M3 marches on

Two hours remaining in the 24 Hours of Spa and for the #79 BMW Motorsport BMW M3, with Dirk Andorf at the wheel, overall victory comes into view.

The #23 BMS Scuderia Italia Porsche 911 was hanging tough in second place and the lead of the GT2 European Cup. The gap to the lead car remained at just over a lap with the fellow Porsche 911, the #16 IMSA MatMut entry, a lap further back.

In the GT3 squabble, the #53 Mühlner Porsche 911 continued to lead from the #99 Marc VDS Ford GT and the ill-fated #68 United Autosports Audi R8.

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01/08/2010: HOUR 21: BMW #79 cruises as #68 nurses bruises

While the #79 BMW Motorsport continued its relentless progress at the head of the field in the 21st hour of the 24 Hours of Spa, there was plenty of shuffling of the order – particularly in GT3.

The one-time leader of GT3, the #68 United Autosports Audi R8, continued its slide down the order – holed up in the pits with what was reported to be a power steering problem by veteran American driver Eddie Cheever.

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01/08/2010: HOUR 20: New leader in GT3 – Again! The 20th Hour of the 63rd edition of the 24 Hours of Spa was a relatively calm one. The only major fact was the #53 Mühlner Porsche 911 GT3-R taking over the lead in GT3. The #68 United Autosport Audi earlier took over first place after the #73 WRT Audi and the #99 Marc VDS Ford GT hit trouble, but a minor electronical problem related to the gearbox made them drop into to second. The gap between the Porsche and the Audi is less than half a minute, so the battle in GT3 is far from over. Third in GT3 is the Marc VDS Ford GT.   read more

01/08/2010: HOUR 19: All Change at the Top in GT3 The battle for overall victory is of course still open, but the major fact of the 19th hours was without any doubt that twice leading GT3 cars hit trouble. The WRT Audi’s windscreen was of course an issue since the beginning the race, but now severe electronic problems pushed the best Belgian car of the podium in GT3. Ortelli, Mollekens, Verbist and Lémeret are stuck in the pitlane and victory in GT3 seems to be gone.
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01/08/2010: HOUR 18: Does Porsche need the rain? As Jorg Bergmeister (#23 BMS Porsche 911) stated in an interview right after his morning stint, the leading #79 BMW M3 might be hard to catch for the two chasing Porsches, the #23 and the #16 MatMut. The BMW seems to be a little bit quicker in dry conditions than the Porsche, so could rain be a possible ally  of Porsche?   read more

01/08/2010: HOUR 17: 26 runners remain as BMW powers on The Total 24 Hours of Spa completed its 17th hour with the BMW MOTORSPORT #79 still holding a comfortable lead over the #23 BMS Scuderia Italia Porsche 911 who was in a private battle for GT2 honours with the third-placed car overall – the #16 IMSA MatMut Porsche.   read more

01/08/2010: HOUR 16: Remaining Phoenix Racing Audi Crashes at Eau Rouge The nr51 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS became the latest casualty in the 2010 Total 24 Hours of Spa when the car, driven by Andrea Piccini, went off the track at the top of Eau Rouge and hit the tyre wall, destroying the front end of the car and bringing out the safety car.   read more

01/08/2010: HOUR 15: BMW M3 Continues to Hold the Upper Hand After the drama of the 14th hour of the Total 24 Hours of Spa, things were more settled in hour 15 as the nr79 BMW Motorsport M3 continued to hold the upper hand as Dirk Muller maintained a healthy lead of over one minute ahead of the nr23 BMS Scuderia Italia Spa Porsche of Romain Dumas, who is the current GT2 leader.  The third placed car is the second placed GT2 car, the nr16 IMSA Performance MATMUT Porsche.  The GT3 leader is still the nr73 WRT Belgian Audi Club Audi R8 LMS of Kurt Mollekens and the GT4 leading car is still nr59 Jota Sport Aston Martin.   read more

01/08/2010: HOUR 14: GT2 and GT3 Leaders Collide and Retire The story of the hour was the collision between the #2 AF Corse – ALD Team Vitaphone Ferrari of Eric Van De Poele and the #50 Phoenix Racing Audi of Anthony Kumpen.  Both cars suffered heavy damage when the Ferrari, which had pitted, was coming up to the Audi and a slower GT4 Porsche.  Contact between the GT4 and GT3 cars spun the Audi across in front of the Ferrari.  A safety car period was called to recover both cars from the track, which lasted 25-minutes before racing resumed.   read more

01/08/2010: HOUR 13: No Changes at Top as Night Stints Continue The nr79 BMW Motorsport BMW M3 is still leading the Total 24 Hours of Spa as the teams and drivers completed the 13th hour.  Dirk Werner continued to hold 1 lap lead over the nr2 AF Corse – AFD Team Vitaphone Ferrari and the nr16 IMSA Performance MATMUT Porsche, the leading GT2 entries.  The leading GT3 entry, the nr50 Phoenix Racing Audi, moved up to 4th and the nr59 Jota Sport Aston Martin is still the leading GT4 entry in 29th overall.   read more

01/08/2010: HOURS 10-11-12: BMW Continues to Lead Spa 24 The nr79 BMW Motorsport BMW M3 continues to lead as the Total 24 Hours of Spa enters the second half.  Dirk Werner is taking the driving duties in the small hours of Sunday morning, setting the fastest lap of the race so far on lap 264 with a time of 2:22.710.  The nr2 AF Corse – AFD Team Vitaphone Ferrari 430 of Eric van de Poele is currently second and the leading GT2 entry one lap behind the leader and just ahead of the nr16 IMSA Performance Competition of Patrick Pilet.   read more