Total Spa 24 Hours - 19 hour update: Vitaphone continue to dominate
Posted 3rd August 2008 by Simon Melluish
The German Vitaphone Maserati squad continue to dominate the Total 24 Hours of Spa after increasing their 1-2 lead of the race during the night. With five and a half hours remaining the battle is still on between the two teammates but they are now four laps clear of their neareast competitor, the Phillip Peter driven Gigawave Aston Martin DBR9.
The signs are good in terms of the two Vitaphone cars being allowed to fight for the win as currently the #1 leads #2 by less than 15 seconds so there is still a lot to get excited about as the race moves in to its latter stages.
Following last nights accident, the #6 Phoenix Carsport Corvette continues on its road to recovery and now lies in an impressive fourth overall although it is largely due to the attrition rate of the GT1 field. Only five GT1 cars run at the head of the timesheets although the Spartak Lamborghini continues in 12th following an off during the night for Peter Kox.
BMS Scuderia still lead the way in GT2 but the Prospeed Porsche, currently being driven by Emmanual Collard, is on the same lap and in contention. A few problems for the lead AF Corse Ferrari put them three laps down but Jamie Melo is currently heading their recovery although unless problems occur for those in front it seems that third will be the teams best hope.
It should be remembered that there is still a near 1000km race remaining here and that these endurance tests often throw up some drama in the last few hours so what may seem like stalemate at the moment can quickly be turned into a thriller.
For those of you at home, enjoy the race (remember it can also be seen live online at www.gt1live.tv).
