[woodcote]

The leaders hit 500 laps - half distance - at 2 hours, 3 minutes and 58 seconds. So the race would probably continue a little further than the scheduled four hours. Clouds appeared again a few minutes later, with the track not officially declared 'Damp' until halfway through the next stint. There were no early tyre changes this time and it was Ash and Alex who were setting the pace for Gearzilla in second and AST One, who were closing in on fourth place...

   

Ollie was back driving for Slimline, Isaac for Écurie Escargot and Simon for Smooth Ops. The Slimline Porsche received a few hard knocks in this stint and required repairs that straddled the entire driver change window, dropping them 16 laps back from Gearzilla and 22 laps ahead of the Escargots - although it was the hard charging AST One that was their biggest threat. Alex had hauled the Audi back to within 3 laps of fourth.

None of the teams went for Intermediates at the driver change, although by the end of the stint, everyone had. The change in traction over the twenty minutes was a challenge - and a tribute to the complexity of the RCS64 software. At the front, Kev delivered a great drive, giving away only one lap to Jean in the lead car. The gap between first and second was now 14 laps. Mike steadied the ship for Slimline, despite having lost time in the pits at the start of his stint. Andy had cut the gap to 11 laps, with Rob seven laps behind in the rejuvenated Audi. It looked like a tasty battle was developing for third...

   

The final stint of the hour saw very little movement on the leader board - the leaders reaching 719 laps at 3 hours. Everyone on Intermediates, Ryan added two laps to Smooth Ops lead, Ash driving a good stint for Gearzilla. Rob lost a couple of laps to the cars in front, but extended Slimline's lead over Écurie Escargot, John finishing his stint with Jeremy's Audi on the same lap.

Into the fourth hour and Alex ramped up the pace a notch. The AST One Audi was blisteringly fast, clocking up 84 laps in the twenty minutes. That was enough to leave Isaac in his wake and set about catching Ollie. At the end of the stint, the Audi sat just two laps behind the Slimline Porsche. At the front, Kev was back again with another solid Bronze driver run, Simon managing to stretch the lead by just a single lap.

   

The clouds continued to sit over Suzuka and the track conditions remained constantly damp. Intermediates - or an occasional experiment with Softs - remained the tyres of choice. Oliver was back for a double stint to see Gearzilla to the end of the race. His was soon taking laps out of Smooth Ops' lead, but surely Jean and Simon could defend a 17 lap lead in the remaining 45-50 minutes? The fight for third had huge significance for the championship - Slimline needed those points to win the trophy. Fourth place and a win for Smooth Ops would hand the silverware to Ryan's team. Mike took some laps out Rob in the Audi - but it was only three laps, not what he'd hope from a Gold-Bronze match-up...

   

So we hit the start of the twelfth stint with 873 laps on the board for Smooth Ops - we would be going into around ten minutes of overtime. Simon was handed a twelve lap lead, with Oliver already up to pace and in pursuit. The fight for third saw Rob take over the Slimline Porsche, chased by Jeremy in the Audi and a 5 lap gap between them. Andy took over the Écurie Escargot Porsche, but was nineteen laps behind and focused on getting to the finish.

This final half hour was super-exciting. Oliver certainly put pressure on Simon and reduced the deficit to seven laps after twenty minutes - enough for Ryan to jump back in to the Smooth Ops Mercedes at the four-hour driver change. The other four teams kept their drivers in, but team captains Alex and Mike carefully coached Jeremy and Rob through the final ten minutes. Jeremy had cut the deficit to the Porsche to just 3 laps after 20 minutes. But he'd have to make that up and overtake Rob to change the outcome of the Championship. And it wouldn't be his team who would lift the trophy.

A pit stop with 50 laps to go was enough to halt Oliver's charge for the win. The gap went back out to ten laps - and Ryan had no problems holding it there until the end. But would he be taking home the championship trophy as well as a race winner's medal? All eyes were on Jeremy and Rob in the closing stages. Rob was running a sensible pace and keeping the Porsche on the track, or at least off the floor. The gap came down to two laps, but that's where it stayed. RCS64 finished the race on 997 laps and that was it - delight for Smooths Ops and Mike, Rob and Ollie, plus five very bashed-up GT cars...

   

Here are the overall results for the race...

   

And the stint data for the second two hours...

   

Congratulations to our race winners and to all our racers...

         

         

         

The championship ramifications will follow.