For the twentieth hour of the race the Corvettes continued to battle for the lead. The no 4 took the lead on lap 445 soon after 11am when the no 3 pitted. When Soulet took the wheel he was soon reducing the gap by at least a second a lap.
The no 61 Porsche was pushed straight into its garage, the no 172 Barwell Aston Martin received a new oil radiator and the no 160 Porsche came into the pits to have its radiator checked.
The no 4 Corvette pitted just before midday for fuel and tyres and driver change, this handed the lead back to Soulet.
With four hours to go Soulet leads but is soon to pit again. Mike Hezemans is second having just pitted is now 1:30 behind Soulet. In third in GT1 the no 33 Maserati is lying fourth with Alessandro Pier Guidi having taken over the driving but the car is 15 laps behind the leader.
In GT2 the no 50 Ferrari leads ahead of the 97 Brixia Porsche, with no 59 Porsche third. The no 56 Ferrari is four laps behind after a long stop to change the starter motor.
The G2 leader is third overall, the Audi R8 driven by Marcel Fassler. Second in class is the no 116 Jetalliance porsche.
The no 121 Matech Ford GT leads G3 followed by the no 123 Muhlner Motorsport Porsche with the Prospeed Porsche third.
hour 21 report
On lap 471 the no 3 Corvette came into the pits and Soulet handed over to Oliver Gavin. The pit stop put Hezemans back in the lead. At the same time the no 3 car was reported to be smoking and losing fluid, it then spun at turn 19 but was able to continue.
A lap later the no 160 Porsche was pushed out of the garage and prepared to rejoin the race after its radiator change.
Only three laps after its last pit stop the no 3 Corvette was forced to return to the pits. The car was pushed into the garage where the engine cover was removed to reveal an engine bay covered in oil. It was necessary for the team to remove the air intakes and the under-tray in an effort to find the oil leak, even the windscreen was removed. The car was able to rejoin but was now 14 laps off the lead. Less than three laps later the Corvette was once again in the garage.
Regardless of all the bad luck suffered by the Vitaphone cars, the team once again had a car running in the top three. On lap 480 Pier Guidi in the no 33 Maserati overtook the leading G2 car, the no 111 Phoenix Audi R8. The Audi moved to third after the Maserati pit stop.
The no 70 Matmut Porsche had to retire with a broken engine and the no 55 Ferrari had an extended stop while the team tried to cure a misfire which dropped them back to 11th overall and sixth in GT2.
hour 22 report
During this hour the Corvette's run of bad luck continued and the car slipped further down the order, by the end of the hour the car was running seventh.
Due to the stops made by the no 3 Corvette the Phoenic Audi was able to rise to second overall with the no 33 Maserati chasing close behind. The Maserati went past while the Audi pitted but it remianed dominant in its G2 class, 55 laps ahead of the Jetalliance Porsche.
On lap 504 the Trackspeed Porsche was pushed into the garage suffering a slipping clutch, it was running in in third in GT2. Five laps later the car was back on track but now in forth position. The no 50 Ferrari continues to lead three laps clear of the no 97 Brixia Porsche.
The no 121 Matech Ford GT spun at the Bus Stop chicane and then came into the pits. The team found an electronic problem and sent the car out again and so it is still leading the G3 class.
The no 4 Corvette now has a comfortable 14 lap lead but it also seems to have the same oil alarm that the no 3 had earlier. To aid the car Kumpen slowed the pace by ten seconds a lap.
hour 23 report
On lap 517 the no 121 Matech Ford GT was pushed back into the garage to have a loose under-tray fixed and a new rear wing fitted. It still leads G3 but its lead has been cut to just two laps over the no 123 Muhlner Porsche.
The Phoenix Audi had an extended stop to clear grass from the radiator and steam was coming from the engine bay but the car remains in third place overall and well clear in G2.
The clutch problems for no 59 Porsche are so bad that it has had to return to the garage, the team intend sending out the car to complete the last few laps.
As the no 3 Corvette sat in the pits the no 35 Nissan moved up to third in GT1. The no 160 Porsche had to stop to have an accelator problem fixed, the car is sixth in G3.
The no 56 Ferrari came in on lap 533 to add oil to the gearbox, the car is difficult to start and the mechanics rocked the car back and firth to help the starter motor engage. The car still holds third in GT2, three lapos ahead of the no 61 Prospeed Porsche.
At the end of the hour the race leader, the no 4 PK Racing Corvette made a routine pit stop and Kurt Mollekens took the wheel.
Results: 2009 Round 4 - Spa-Francorchamps
Race Result
Pos Car Class Drivers Car Time Laps Gap Avg
speed
1 4 GT1 Hezemans/Kumpen/Menten/Mollekens Corvette Z06 24:00:03.458 559 163.12
2 33 GT1 Guidi/Lemeret/Rosenblad/Vosse Maserati MC 12 24:00:05.169 548 11 LAPS 159.91
3 111 G2 Fassler/Moser/Margaritis/Basseng Audi R8 LMS 24:00:29.126 544 15 LAPS 158.69
4 50 GT2 Bruni/Vilander/Melo/Companc Ferrari F430 24:01:07.257 540 19 LAPS 157.46
5 97 GT2 Ragginger/Lucchini/Holzer/Miller Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 24:00:07.054 535 24 LAPS 156.11
6 56 GT2 Kirkaldy/Bell/Kox/Garcia Ferrari F430 24:01:19.896 528 31 LAPS 153.94
7 61 GT2 Van Splunteren/Coronel/Hommerson/MacHiels Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 24:02:07.898 527 32 LAPS 153.56
8 60 GT2 Collard/Westbrook/O'Young/Edwards Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 24:01:34.825 526 33 LAPS 153.33
9 55 GT2 Mullen/Niarchos/Quaife/Goodwin Ferrari F430 24:00:38.450 525 34 LAPS 153.13
10 121 G3 Mutsch/Martin/Wyss/Hennerici Ford GT 24:00:04.006 519 40 LAPS 151.44
11 123 G3 Lefort/Verbist/Forbes Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 24:00:05.949 518 41 LAPS 151.15
12 161 G3 Lanik/Loix/Palttala/Slingerland Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 24:00:51.439 517 42 LAPS 150.78
13 35 GT1 Krumm/Turner/Davidson Nissan GT-R 24:01:49.690 513 46 LAPS 149.51
14 172 G3 Renard/Wauters/Van Hooydonck/Schroyen Aston Martin DBRS9 24:00:26.237 503 56 LAPS 146.74
15 145 G3 Kelders/Greisch/Desbrueres/Helary Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 24:01:52.307 497 62 LAPS 144.84
16 1 GT1 Bertolini/Bartels/Sarrazin/Negrao Maserati MC 12 24:00:05.877 489 70 LAPS 142.69
17 116 G2 Lichtner-Hoyer/Eckert/Rich/Sharp Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 24:00:04.550 487 72 LAPS 142.11
18 59 GT2 Ashburn/Sugden/Ortelli/Bergmeister Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 24:03:08.229 486 73 LAPS 141.51
19 3 GT1 Gavin/Ruffier/Soulet/Longin Corvette Z06 24:00:03.511 485 74 LAPS 141.52
20 160 G3 Kerkhove/Havette/Noziere/Brouard Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 24:00:04.438 484 75 LAPS 141.23
21 120 G3 Cullen/Shovlin/Patterson/Ludwig Ferrari 430 GT3 24:00:42.873 476 83 LAPS 138.83
22 70 GT2 Pilet/Narac/Long Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 20:27:26.979 425 134 LAPS 145.50
23 2 GT1 Muller/Ramos/Lamy/Van De Poele Maserati MC 12 18:03:09.269 419 140 LAPS 162.55
24 99 GT2 Kuteman/Basso/Hartshorne/Daoudi Ferrari F430 19:55:57.328 406 153 LAPS 142.65
25 110 G2 Schuybroeck/Kenis/Smets/Dekeersmaecker Mosler MT900 24:01:16.058 403 156 LAPS 117.50
26 77 GT2 Malucelli/Ruberti/Heyer/Romanini Ferrari F430 16:07:35.051 329 230 LAPS 142.88
27 40 GT1 Leinders/Kuppens/Doncker Ford GT (001 PT GT1) 24:00:04.327 318 241 LAPS 92.79
28 51 GT2 Kaffer/Cadei/Russo/Barba Lopez Ferrari F430 14:31:09.658 316 243 LAPS 152.42
29 174 G3 Lesoudier/Prignaud/Brandela/Corbel BMW Alpina B6 GT3 14:19:14.521 288 271 LAPS 140.84
30 122 G3 Oliveira Jr/Negrao/Mattheis/Lunardi Ford GT 13:05:49.408 272 287 LAPS 145.45
31 124 G3 Haring/Konstantinou/Durr/Bourdeaux Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 11:49:53.254 234 325 LAPS 138.51
32 117 G2 Kaufmann/Ullmann/Vannelet/Hirschi Porsche 996 Bi-Turbo (GT2-R) 8:17:52.164 159 400 LAPS 134.19
33 11 GT1 Van Dam/Dierick/Van Der Zwaan/Van Der Zwaan Saleen S7 Twin Turbo 6:13:58.466 128 431 LAPS 143.81
34 118 G2 Radermeker/Ho-Pin/De Sordi/Villeneuve Mosler MT900 2:55:57.744 65 494 LAPS 155.19
35 8 GT1 Bernoldi/Streit/Maassen Corvette Z06 2:13:28.926 55 504 LAPS 173.10
36 115 G2 Lapierre/Nury/Tremblay/Perrin Porsche 996 Bi-Turbo (GT2-R) 1:33:05.666 26 533 LAPS 117.28
37 175 G3 Hummel/Petit/Paillard/Fumal BMW Alpina B6 GT3 7:47.414 3 556 LAPS 160.88
38 78 GT2 Pescatori/Babini/Zani Ferrari F430 8:36.680 3 556 LAPS 145.54
39 95 GT2 Case/Sbirrazuoli Ferrari F430 8:48.322 3 556 LAPS 142.33 by Melissa Warren
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