01.08.2004 At the half distance point, the titanic battle between the no 2 BMS and the no 11 GPC Ferraris shows no signs of abating with the pair still neck and neck: FIA GT race report after 12 hours from Spa

The first half of the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa was completed during a safety car period. Ferrari continue to maintain their dominance both overall and in the GT class.

The nr 2 BMS Ferrari 550 Maranello took the lead from the nr 11 GPC Ferrari to claim the maximum points at the 12-hour mark. A technical problem on the third-placed nr 143 BMW a few minutes before the end of the 12th hour promoted the nr 77 Freisinger Yukos Porsche, which continued to lead in N-GT, up to third and its sister car, the nr 50, to fourth position.

Meanwhile yesterday afternoon the 24 hour race had kicked off with a thrilling first hour that saw the nr 5 Vitaphone Saleen of Uwe Alzen take an early lead, overtaking the pole setting nr 2 BMS Ferrari and immediately pulling away from the pack of followers, led by the second BMS car, which also passed its sister car at the start.

On lap 8, the nr 62 Ferrari, which had lost the N-GT lead at the start to the nr 50 Freisinger Porsche with Collard at the wheel, hit the barriers at Les Combes. The crash damaged Pescatori's car badly and put an end to the race of the N-GT Championship leaders.

"It's really terrible for the race and the Championship. We were very well prepared. But the car is almost destroyed, so it's finished," Fabrizio De Simone said right after the shunt.

The safety car was brought out while the wreck of the Ferrari was moved away, an opportunity plenty of drivers used to pit. When the safety car pulled off again in lap 11, the two BMS Ferraris were leading the race with the nr 7 Saleen of Graham Nash Motorsport in third position, neither of them having pitted during the safety car period.

It was only in lap 24 that the leading nr 1 Ferrari and its sister car came into the pits. Livio took over from Bobbi, who explained: "Before the race we thought to do a double stint for me and the tyres. But the track is very dirty, it's a long race, so we didn't want to take any risks, and we're changing both."

With all the front-runners having been refuelled, the nr 5 Saleen retook the lead, staying in front up to its second stop in lap 32 when Bartels took the wheel. The leader's pit stop briefly saw the nr 2 Ferrari taking over again, but they went on to pit a couple of laps later. Behind the once again leading nr 5 car and the Ferrari, the G2 nr 143 BMW with Antonio Garcia behind the wheel was in third position overall, while its sister car, the nr 142, was in trouble.

Within a few laps, the BMW stopped at the garage four times after Jörg Müller had reported a problem with vibrations, and later with an air pressure pipe problem. On lap 76, they finally rejoined the race after a 34-minute pit-stop. Meanwhile, fortunes had turned for the second BMW as well, as it lost a wheel along the main straight after the Radillon and slowly maneuvered back to the pits.

On lap 78, drama struck race leader Michael Bartels. His nr 5 Vitaphone Saleen S7 slowed down dramatically and finally stopped at the side of the track, apparently suffering from a fuel pump problem, which buried their hopes of seeing the chequered flag and gaining as many points as possible from the race.

The incident left BMS with a double lead, the nr 2 ahead of its sister car, with the nr 11 GPC Ferrari third and the leading N-GT car nr 50 in fourth position. But the nr 2 couldn't hold on to its lead for long, a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane demoting them to third. The nr 50 lost its position as well, after a technical problem forced them into the garage on lap 91. They rejoined the race shortly after, but lost positions and found themselves back in eighth overall and second in N-GT behind their sister car within Freisinger Yukos Motorsport, the nr 77 Porsche of Vasiliev, Bergmeister and Bernhard.

The nr 1 Ferrari 550 Maranello, which was leading at the four-hour point, had to pit with frontal damage on lap 105, having grass removed from the car. This promoted the nr 11 GPC Ferrari into the lead. The three leading cars, all on the same lap, were fighting hard. The nr 2 Ferrari had a spin at La Source on lap 122. Pit stops promoted the nr 1 back into the lead by lap 125, but on lap 131, the nr 11 retook the front spot as the nr 1 pitted in its turn. From this point onwards, the nr 11 remained dominant.

After six hours, the first points were allocated, with Babini, Peter, Salo and Vosse of the nr 11 GPC Ferrari taking 5 points each, while car nr 1 was given four points for second place and its sister car nr 2 got three points, helping BMS increase its lead in the Teams' classification.

In N-GT, the five points for the leading car went to Vasiliev, Bernhard and Bergmeister of the nr 77 Freisinger Porsche. Four points were awarded to car nr 50, which saw Ortelli and Collard increase their points lead in the Championship to Maassen and Luhr, who only took 0.5 points for coming eighth in their class after having struggled with various problems.

Lucas Luhr said: "First one of the tyre nuts came lose and we lost two laps because of that. Then we were just catching up again and regained third position, when I caught some oil on the double left-hand corner going down hill and I lost the car. We lost about ten laps in the pits. Right now, things are not going so well, but the race is still very long." The three points for third place were given to nr 77 Gruppe M Porsche.After eight hours of racing, night had fallen over Spa-Francorchamps.

As the fireworks lit up the night sky, the fight between the three Ferrari cars - the nr 11 GPC Giesse Squadra Corse Ferrari 575 M Maranello and the two BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello cars - continued.

Shortly before midnight, the nr 1 car, driven by Bobbi, Gardel, Livio and De Castro, was pushed into the garage, with damage at the front of the car, after hitting debris and going off into the barriers. Livio was at the wheel at the time. This promoted the leading G2 car, the nr 143 BMW M3 GTR of Lamy, Garcia, Mollekens and Priaulx, into third place overall, while the nr 11 GPC Ferrari remained in the lead, ahead of the nr 2 BMS Ferrari.

Just after midnight, the leading nr 11 GPC Ferrari pitted, Philipp Peter taking the wheel. The nr 2 BMS Ferrari took the lead and did not relinquish it again, despite coming in to refuel shortly afterwards. The second BMS car meanwhile pulled into the pits again to replace the car's front bumper. They rejoined the race on lap 204 with Gabriele Gardel driving, but the car had dropped back to position 16 by then.

Further on, BMW's nr 142 was engaged in a thrilling battle for eighth position with the nr 71 JWR Porsche for several laps, while its sister car nr 143 held on to third place overall and continued to lead in the G2 class. Antonio Garcia took the wheel in lap 258, but the pit stop didn't go smoothly, as they lost time changing the left front tyre. They lost a position, briefly dropping down to fourth, but were back on three within just a few laps when the N-GT leading car nr 77 pulled into the pits.

Problems hit the nr 142 BMW in lap 268. The car pitted from position seven with starter problems. Both the break discs and pads were replaced. The crew worked on the car for more than thirty minutes before it eventually rejoined the race.

The two leading Ferraris swapped positions several times due to pit stops. Ten minutes to the end of the 12th hour of racing, the nr 2 BMS Ferrari 550 Maranello had the upper hand in their fight, when the safety car came out. The Saleen nr 7 had stopped at MP22, leaving a trace of oil on the track. The nr 70 Graham Nash Porsche hit the Arnco and retired.

Meanwhile, drama struck nr 143 BMW with Antonio Garcia behind the wheel. The leading G2 car was in an excellent third position overall when it suddenly retired, stopping with technical problems at Stavelot. The safety car was brought out to clean the track and take the opportunity to remove the cars that were stranded at the trackside.