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AF Corse In Control At Two-Thirds Distance In Gulf 12 Hours
AF Corse Ferraris were well set to claim all three podium positions as the second running of the Gulf 12 Hours passed the eight-hour point.
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Mid-race leaders Kessel Racing had a disastrous start to the second half of the race. After the No4 car was forced to make an unscheduled stop, the main thrust of the team's challenge, the No3 458 driven by Philipp Peter also came into the pits requiring attention to loose front bodywork, dropping it four laps behind the race lead on resumption.
That left AF Corse's No 1 Ferrari driven by Gianmaria Bruni in a clear lead, which the former Minardi F1 driver had extended to 26s over the Italian-American AF Waltrip entry driven by Ryan Dalziel as the race passed the eight-hour stage.
The second all-Italian AF Corse works car with Stephane Sarrazin at the wheel was a further 22s in arrears, with the Autorlando Porsche the only other car on the lead lap.
Having taken the second start fifth on the grid a lap down, Jeroen Bleekemolen did a heroic job to dispense with the four Ferrari 458s ahead of him, setting a new fastest race lap of 1:11.462 and unlapping the 997 in the process. He then handed over to his brother Sebastiaan, who had a tenuous 4s margin over the lead AF Corse machine in his bid to stay on the lead lap.
The Ebimotors Porsche continues to lead the GTX class with the Nova Race Ginetta still setting the pace among the GT4 machinery, followed by the Yas Marina Circuit Aston Martin (2 laps adrift) and by the Barwell Motorsport V8 Vantage.
There were further problems for the United Autosports Audi, back into the pits after 21 minutes, and the ASM McLaren, which peeled into the pitlane six laps later.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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