Full Course Yellows dominate first 4 hours

The first four hours of the 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps in Belgium were dominated by Full Course Yellows, due to a series of accidents. After the torrid heat of recent days, the skies opened immediately before the green light, forcing the cars to start behind the Safety Car. The rain then eased off before finally stopping, and the asphalt dried very quickly so that at the end of the first stint almost all crews switched to slicks. During lap 26, the 488 GT3 of HubAuto Corsa with Nick Foster at the wheel, went off the track at the Jacky Ickx bend damaging the car, which was towed back to the pits. The accident provoked another Full Course Yellow phase, which was followed by a further neutralisation after the BMW 3Y Technology no. 37 crashed at Les Combes. The race resumed more than an hour later, but only for a few laps as a new accident, this time to Ryan Ratcliffe's Bentley, brought the safety car out again. Between the two phases, the 488 GT3 no. 51 of AF Corse with Alessandro Pier Guidi at the wheel had to pull into the pits for a technical stop due to problems with an ABS sensor that was replaced during the last Full Course Yellow. At the start of the fourth hour, with pit stops in progress, AF Corse no. 52 with Bertolini, Hommerson, Machiels, and Vilander is the first of the Ferraris, in second place in the Pro-Am, and 31st overall. The no. 72 of SMP Racing is 35th, while the no. 14 of Scuderia Praha is 38th, followed by the 488 GT3 no. 93 of Tempesta Racing, all within one lap of the race leaders, the Audi of Frijns, Müller, and Rast.