With seven cars still on the lead lap, the first points of the 2016 Total 24 Hours of Spa have been awarded. It was the #99 Rowe Racing BMW that took the full points, leading from the #6 Audi Sport Team Phoenix and the #1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT R8. The polesitter, the #28 Audi Sport Team WRT R8, lost time after contact with the #114 Emil Frey Racing Jaguar.
The 2016 Total 24 Hours of Spa turns out to be a very unpredictable race. The gaps at the front continue to be very small and different tactics have led to seven different brands leading the race at a certain point of the race. Leading at the six-hour mark was the important bit, though, since the first points of the 2016 Total 24 Hours of Spa were distributed at that point.
It was the #99 Rowe Racing BMW taking the 12 points, with Alexander Sims at the wheel at the time. Christopher Mies took the points for second with the #6 Audi Sport Team Phoenix and Will Stevens had the third step on the virtual podium.
Since our last update at the two-hour mark, the Spa circuit had been hit by a brief rain shower, but the main interruption of events came after a crash of the #15 BMW Team Italia went off at the top of the Raidillon corner. A second Safety Car intervention reduced the gaps of the leading pack, but it was the restart that led to what could turn out to be one of the major events of this race. The #28 Audi Sport Team WRT R8 made the contact with the #114 Emil Frey Jaguar when battling for fifth, which caused a three lap loss for René Rast, Laurens Vanthoor and Nico Müller and a lengthy pitlane for the Jag.
In Pro-Am Cup it was the #44 Oman Racing Team Aston Martin who took the full points, from the #100 Attempto Racing Lamborghini and the #89 AKKA-ASP Mercedes-AMG. In Am Cup the #30 Team Parker Racing Bentley lost the lead when hitting the tyre barrier at Les Combes, leaving the lead to the #49 Kaspersky Motorsport Ferrari.
The Intercontinental GT Challenge lead - there are only points at the end of the race in the global GT3 competition - was in the hands of the #6 Audi Sport Team Phoenix, from the #1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT R8 and the #8 Bentley Team M-Sport Continental. Of the Am drivers it was Ahmad Al Harthy in the #44 Oman Racing Team Aston Martin leading the race.