Provisional finish positions at lap 166 at 15:30 are 35,3,6,1,27,88,83,32,56,55,106,90,52,93,105 ,77,107,2,65,100,73,75,69,101,89,14,16,26,96,23,60,21,95,85,50,78
A flawless Porsche-perfect run by Boutsen and Stuck to win by a country mile. From the Harrods McLaren and the No6 Gulf McLaren. The Gulf team snatched third place when the West McLaren ran out of fuel on the last lap. The Konrad Porsche No88 took GT2 honours with Bob Wollek, Franz Konrad and Stephane Ortelli at the wheel ahead of the No83 Marcos of Cor Euser, Thomas Erdos and Ferdinand de Lesseps. Marcos Racing had the GT2 fastest lap executed by Cor Euser who vainly chased down Bob Wollek in the final stages, giving us the best entertainment of the day.
Top positions after lap 153 at 15:12 are 35,3,1,6,27,88,83,56,32,2,55,106,107,90,52
The Corvette is now being pushed back into the pit garage. The chase is on for GT2 though, with Cor Euser catching Bob Wollek in the Konrad Porsche GT2 by about a second a lap. With a 17 second deficit to make up, there may not be enough time left to catch and pass. Justin Bell may make up a place for the Viper if he can catch the 56 Roock Porsche ( currently 20 seconds gap ).
Top positions after lap 144 at 15:00 are 35,3,1,2,6,27,88,83,56,32,55,52,106,52,107,90
Callaway watchers note that the Corvette is looking troubled and is now limping back to the pits, possibly in fuel problems. The No2 Gulf Mclaren has had an engine blow up in the hands of James Weaver and is now parked up at paddock hill bend. A tragedy for James and Ray Bellm who have been chasing the Stuck/Boutsen Porsche so energetically.
Top positions after lap 104 at 14:00 are 35,2,3,1,6,27,88,56,83,32,55,65,75,106,52
The Lister has now sadly disappeared off the timing screen; full story to follow. The 23rd place Morgan has just pitted after spending quite some time circulating with no front bodywork at all. The No22 Lotus has been striken by electrical problems and is now in 30th spot. At the front the Stuck/Boutsen Porsche continues a faultless run with the Bellm/Weaver Gulf McLaren and Harrods McLaren scurrying after. Sadly for British fans, the No83 Marcos is now a lap down on the No 88 Konrad Porsche.
Top positions after lap 80 at 13:25 are 35,2,3,1,26,6,27,88,56,96,75,32,83,23,65
The clouds are really gathering now over Brands Hatch but no sign of rain yet. Other retirements not previously advised: 66 Steve O'Rourke Porsche spun int a barrier at 11:46 and shortly after that the No87 Brun car suffred the same fate.
The Parr/New Hardware No92 Porsche GT2 retired at 12:02 due to damage sustained in a contact with the No 32 Viper at 11:56.
We are about to experience another flurry of pit stops, so I will update again at 14:00 .
Top positions after lap 50 at 12:43 are 35,2,26,3,6,1,27,21,83,88,16,56, 55,106,75,96,32,65,60,101,23,93,90,52,85,105,107
The first bout of pitstops is over with very little change in positions. The sun has now popped back behind some grey looking clouds. The No88 Marcos was circulating slowly around lap 45 but seems to have recovered now, and has regained the top GT2 spot. The Konrad Porsche is 7.7 seconds behind.
The Stuck/Boutsen Porsche continues to pile on the advantage and is leaving the Gulf McLaren, Lister and Harrods McLaren to sort out 2nd and 3rd places.
It appears that the Lister was also involved in the first lap action, but managed to avoid contact. The Callaway Corvette had a spin at about 12:20 and rejoined. The Parr/New Hardware No92 Porsche GT2 has retired ( reason yet unknown but I will find out later). There was contact between the 95 Viper and the 17 Viper at 12:10 but both are still on the track.
Top positions after lap 12 at 11:45 are 35,2,26,3,6,22,17,32,14
First lap action at druids put the Ferrari and the West McLaren into the gravel. The West car suffered minor rear body damage and is now circulating with parts flapping. This does not seem to have stopped John Nielsen from dragging it back from 33rd position on lap 1 to 15th at lap 12. The Ferrari has climbed back to 18th. As I write this, the West car has come up through the ranks of GT2 but still 40 seconds behind the leaders.
GT2 action has the No83 Marcos just ahead of the No88 Konrad Porsche.
The Porsche GT1 in the hands of Hans Stuck leads by 9 seconds with James Weaver in 2nd in the Gulf McLaren Geoff Lees in the Lister only 1 second apart.
The first session of qualifying yesterday was marked by a off piste excursion by the Beretta/Bell Viper that caused a fifteen minute delay, but did not stop the Oreca team making the eleventh fastest time of the session. The French team Yellow Racing took an early bath when Francois O'Born had a moment while scrubbing in tyres. They have been forced to withdraw from the race on Sunday due to lack of parts to effect repairs. The second session saw few significant improvements due to the increase in track temperature.
In GT2 the Marcos benefitted from the problems of Porsche No88 of Konrad Motorsport to post yet another GT2 pole position. The Konrad entry did not take part in the second session due to a problem that developed in the first session. The car appeared for the warm up this morning and set 12th fastest time, one can assume that the problem has been sorted.
A crisp morning at Brands Hatch today greets the remaining 43 GT challenge entrants. The qualifying yesterday confirmed the dominance of the first BPR outing for the Porsche GT1 directed by the capable hands of Hans Joachim Stuck and Thierry Boutsen. The ungracious would suggest that Porsche are unfairly driving up the ante for GT racing, and will force smaller teams into GT2 for 1997. In the meanwhile the new car is certainly rocking the boat.
The Lister team have high hopes today with a 1.22.435 good enough for a third fastest over the two sessions yesterday. The GT2 Marcos managed a 1:26.432 in the hands of Tommy Erdos, despite gearbox problems, ahead of the Porsche GT2 of Franz Konrad and Bob Wollek on 1.26.467 .
The Ray Bellm/James Weaver McLaren is giving the Porsche GT1 the best challenge setting a 1:22.110 only .325 ahead of the Lees/Needell Lister that was quickest in the warmup with a 1.24.572.
Well, Tiff was right they were sand-bagging the 911 GT1, as Stuck and Boutsen put the No35 car nearly 1.8 seconds ahead of the rest with a 1:22.921 in the second free test session today. A creditable performance in the No32 Oreca Viper in the hands of Justin Bell and Olivier Beretta with a 6th fastest 1:26.528 . The third session saw Bellm and Weaver pushing hard, and the Lees/Needell Lister into the 1:24 bracket. The Stuck/Boutsen 911 GT1 improved slightly to 1:22.169 .
Porsche have started well this morning, posting a 1:24.567 in the first session with the 911 GT1 in the hands of Hans Stuck and Thierry Boutsen, with the West Competition McLaren No1 just under 0.4 of a second behind. Mind you, I just overheard Tiff Needell saying "only a 24, they are not going very well are they".
I have just come back from a wander around the pits and paddock area. The ranks of classic and modern sportscar hardware are quite outstanding. We are certainly in for a rare treat this weekend. If you can make it to the circuit, you just have to!