The 20th hour of the race saw another major development, when the nr 6 Phoenix Carsport Corvette C6R stopped in the pit lane, with flames coming out of the dashboard into the car. Gollin got out of the car quickly, before the car was engulfed in flames, which were quickly extinguished.

The pit lane entrance was briefly closed, until the car could be removed. Phoenix Carsport, which had claimed such a fantastic win in 2007, has suffered fires in both cars. However, the team is working hard to get going again.

This promoted the nr 15 JMB Racing Maserati to fourth place overall. Only five GT1 cars are now running, including the nr 8 IPB Spartak Lamborghini Murciélago, which is 33 laps behind the leading Maserati.

On lead lap 478, the nr 182 JMB Racing Ferrari F430, competing in the Coupe du Roi, got back underway, with Nicolas Comar at the wheel.

The leading GT2 car, the nr 77 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 430 GT2, moved up to fifth position overall on lap 474. During this hour, the nr 62 Scuderia Ecosse car came in with a trailing rear bumper, which was repaired to allow the car to rejoin.

As for G3, Mühlner Motorsport continues to dominate – a frequent theme at Spa – with the nr 123 car 13th overall, and the nr 124 close behind in 14th.

At the end of the 20th hour, with just four hours remaining, the lead car had completed 482 laps, meaning a total distance of 3375 km.

The 19th hour of the race was relatively quiet, with the nr 1 Vitaphone Maserati, Andrea Bertolini at the wheel, managing the car’s lead over the nr 2 Vitaphone car, where Miguel Ramos took over from Stéphane Lemeret.

The top five in both GT1 and GT2 rema-ined stable, despite some scares. The nr 10 Aston Martin DBR9 came into the pits with the start of a fire in the front left wheel arch, quickly extinguished and the car rejoined. Shortly, on lap 449, the nr 2 Maserati returned to the pits unexpectedly after only six laps, to remove rubber from the front tyres and replace it.

The nr 59 Trackspeed Porsche was announced as having retired.

The nr 75 car fixed the wing during a standard pit stop, while the nr 8 Lamborghini came in to remove the debris from under their front left tyre.

In G3, despite electronic problems the nr 123 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche was leading ahead of the team’s second Porsche nr 124, with the nr 112 AS Events Ferrari third.

JMB Racing were working hard on getting their Coupe du Roi car back out.

HOUR EIGHTEEN

There were no real changes as the Total 24 Hours of Spa reached the three-quarters mark, with teams and drivers settled into a routine of consistent laps and routine pit-stops.

The leading cars are putting in around 25 laps an hour; if that pace is maintained through to the 4pm finish, the race distance will come very close to the outright record, established in 2006.  

The two Vitaphone Maserati MC12 cars continue to run like clockwork, the nr 1 car now established in the lead ahead of the sister nr 2 car. In fact, those two are the only cars in GT1 which are close to each other; the nr 10 Gigawave Aston Martin is four laps back, and in turn three laps clear of the nr 6 Phoenix Corvette.

 The nr 15 JMB Racing Maserati is fifth overall, fourteen laps off the lead, while the nr 8 IPB Spartak Lamborghini is eleventh overall, another 19 laps back.

Having mentioned the reliability of the GT2 entries in the previous bulletin, this was the cue for the nr 70 Easy Race Ferrari to retire from the race after going off course at the final chicane.

While the positions at the front of the class have not changed, the two cars at the front cannot afford to let up; the nr 77 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari is less than a minute ahead of the nr 61 Prospeed Porsche, with the nr 50 AF Corse Ferrari two laps behind in third place.  

Repairs to the nr 160 Prospeed Porsche dropped the car off the G3 podium; the nr 112 AS Events Ferrari took the place while the Prospeed car was in the garage. Soon after, the AS Events car also needed attention because of overheating, but it was a relatively short stop, and the car remained in third.

The two Mühlner Motorsport Porsches continue to lead the class, the nr 123 car having regained the class lead ahead of the nr 124 car, although the lead switches around depending on pit-stops.

The fine race of the nr 122 Team Eurotech Ascari KZ1R came to an end with engine failure. "A radiator split during the night, and the engine overheated a bit; we think that might have led to this failure, which looks like a head gasket has gone," said a disappointed Mike Jordan.

Stéphane Sarrazin continued to set a scorching pace at the head of the Total 24 Hours of Spa, to the point where he set the nr 1 Vitaphone Maserati MC12’s fastest lap of the race shortly before 9am. His pace has stretched the lead over the sister nr 2 car to the point where they stayed in front even after a pit-stop.

The two Maseratis continue to enjoy a four-lap advantage over the nr 10 Gigawave Aston Martin; while there is still a daunting seven hours of racing remaining, it will take an incident or technical problem to prevent Vitaphone from claiming maximum points in this race. The 400-lap mark was reached at 8:41am, a distance of a little over 2,800 kilometres.

The top five in GT2 remained the same through the seventeenth hour, filling positions six to ten in the overall standings; the nr 77 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari heads the class, with the nr 61 Prospeed Porsche second and the nr 50 AF Corse Ferrari third.

Further down the field the nr 70 Easy Race Ferrari pitted with damage to the front left corner; it was pushed into the garage where the team set about replacing a broken radiator and broken left front suspension.

In contrast to the static positions in the other classes, the nr 124 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche assumed the class lead after the sister nr 123 car and the nr 160 Prospeed Porsche both lost time with pit-stops to replace drive shafts.

 At 9am the nr 160 was still in its garage, and looked set to lose third place to the nr 112 AS Events Ferrari. Meanwhile the nr 106 Delahaye Racing Ferrari came in for a pit-stop with the radiator crushed; it was pushed into the garage so the team could replace it.

There are now six cars remaining of the eleven GT1 entries; the Saleen which qualified on pole crashed out during the morning warm-up, the other Saleen retired during the night with mechanical problems, one Corvette went out due to accident damage while another caught fire, and an Aston Martin crashed.

By contrast all but two of the 13 GT2 entries are still running; one Ferrari crashed out at Blanchimont, while a Porsche was left stranded out on the circuit by a broken driveshaft.

- SRO -

Photos on automobilsport.com under PHOTOS - 24h Races .. more to follow