As dawn approaches and after a night of heavy rain, TMC’s remaining Ferrari 360 N/GT (number 89) is running in seventh place in class at the mid-way point of the race.  The car’s drivers (Jamie Davies, Guy Smith and Darren Turner) now earn a further point each in line with round six’s regulations.  This means that Jamie Davies now inherits third place in the Championship with 32 points from fellow TMC driver, Tim Mullen.  Mullen moves to fourth place with 31.5 points after his car, race number 88, retired shortly after quarter distance last night with electrical problems.   TMC remain in second place in the Team Championship and a further quota of full race points is now available for drivers (and teams) who cross the finishing line at the end of the race in 12 hours time.  

Car 89 has run well throughout the majority of the night session with nothing more serious than a loose gear lever which troubled recent Le Mans winner Guy Smith at around 0140 hrs this morning.  Having stopped to rectify the problem during a safety car incident, Darren Turner, with the car changing to intermediate tyres as the heavy rain abated, took over and returned the car to the race.  Shortly after, Turner reported gear selection difficulties which necessitated a gearbox cluster change.  This was completed in a remarkably quick 10 minutes which enabled the car to maintain its race position.  As a result, the car crossed the line at the 12 hour point in seventh position but with Turner still reporting gear selection problems.  The decision was then taken to call the Ferrari to the pit for a second cluster change and Turner took the opportunity to hand the car to his colleague, Jamie Davies.  He is expected to rejoin the race shortly with wet tyres fitted due to the return of heavy rain.

6 HOURS REPORT

After claiming pole position and second place in class on the grid for the start of today’s Proximus 24 Hours of Spa race, both of TMC’s scarlet and ‘Cambridge Blue’ Ferraris raced steadily through the first six hours in persistent heavy rain.  Championship leader Tim Mullen started the race in car number 88 and joint leader Jamie Davies in car 89.  All three drivers in each car have now completed their initial stints.  

Unfortunately, seconds before the six hour point of the race, car 88 stopped at turn eight on the circuit with suspected electrical problems.  Running in third place before encountering difficulties, the team attempted to assist driver Kelvin Burt via radio communication in an attempt to return the car to the race, unfortunately, to no avail.  The car was classified at the six hour point in sixth place with car 89 in seventh position. 

As dictated by the Championship regulations, each car now earns 50% of the points normally awarded to drivers and teams after a typical three-hour GT Championship race.  Therefore, car 88’s drivers earn 1.5 points each and car 89’s, 1 point.  This means that Tim Mullen secures third place in the Drivers’ Championship with 31.5 points and Jamie Davies fourth position with 31 points.  A combination of the two cars’ positions at the six hour point in the race results in TMC holding second place in the Team Championship with 39.5 points, 7.5 behind the leaders.  The next marker for the teams and drivers to score is the half-way point of the race i.e. 12 hours.