The Kyalami 9 Hour, final round of the 2020 Intercontinental GT Challenge, wasn’t exactly full of entries with only 12 cars competing, but the tight fights and the late downpour gave the spectacle expected of an international race, with the No. 34 Walkenhorst BMW M6 GT3 of Augusto Farfus, Nicky Catsburg and Sheldon van der Linde prevailing at the end, beating a dominant Honda NSX GT3 Evo from Team Honda Racing, which fell at the final moments.
The start was rather peaceful despite the frantic action, but the No. 31 WRT Audi and the No. 8 M-SPORT Bentley found themselves after a few corners of green flag, with both returning to action with some damage at distinct moments, which called a Safety Car with 3 minutes of racing. The intervention was quick so the action was back, led by the No. 30 Honda with the rest of the field just behind.
While the fights were close, the drivers weren’t making any concessions in regard to give room to pass, and the different strategies used by the top-3 at the end of the first hour would prove this race was set to be marked by contrasting strategies, given the rest of the field opted for early pit stops at the time.
Around the third hour what was a particular fight between the No. 30 Honda and the No. 7 M-SPORT Bentley, but other cars started to come close and have a nice view of the battle for the lead, with the No. 34 Walkenhorst BMW having the best view of it from third place and also having a chance to jump to attack if possible. The game changer was an engine problem for the No. 7 M-SPORT Bentley, which not only got them out of second place, but also out of contention.
With the No. 7 out of the way and Sheldon van der Linde pushing hard, the No. 30’s lead was in danger, but as the No. 30 countered it on track later, and with the top two contenders settling in their positions around the fourth hour, the No. 54 Dinamic Porsche was the one with more things to worry as its driver trio could lose the title if going down the third place, and with the No. 44 Car Collection Audi just behind, Patrick Pilet needed to push hard to avoid the risk.
The chase for positions for the No. 44 continued at a steady pace, eventually passing the No. 34 Walkenhorst BMW for second place, although it still had the 9 seconds of deficit to the leader. As for the No. 54 Dinamic Porsche, the car fell to fifth as pressure from the No. 32 WRT Audi eventually left and opening for Mirko Bortolotti to go past the Porsche and get away with the fourth place. Moments after it a stop in the garage for repairs in the splitter sent the No. 54 to eighth place.
Around the seventh hour the No. 30 Honda started losing pace in comparison to the No. 44 Car Collection Audi, but to hold things as they are for a while not only the rain came but also an off road excursion for the No. 8 M-SPORT Bentley, bring a full course yellow with 20 minutes remaining to the final hour.
Near the final hour not only the rain got heavier but the competitors had to be more careful with their driving as anything, and the spin of the No. 44 Car Collection Audi was the trigger to confirm that there was too much standing water to keep the green flag, then calling another full course yellow. With the No. 44 spinning and the No. 30 Honda pitting for fresher rain tires and driver change, the No. 32 WRT Audi took the lead and the No. 34 Walkenhorst BMW became second.
With 20 minutes of yellow flag another shuffle happened as the No. 32 WRT Audi was given a drive through penalty, which promoted the No. 34 Walkenhorst BMW to the lead, and although the rain ceased for a moment, it wasn’t long enough for the standing water to be drained out. In the final minutes, the rain came back with intensity, the Safety Car came in and no positions were changed, meaning that the win fell in the hands of the No. 34 Walkenhorst BMW, with the No. 32 WRT Audi coming in second and the No. 12 GPX Porsche completing the podium.
Kyalami 9 Hours - Race results
The 2 wins that Augusto Farfus and Nicky Catsburg had at Indianapolis and Kyalami were the only occasions they scored points, and were more than enough to secure the drivers title, with 50 points against 45 of Mathieu Jaminet, Patrick Pilet and Matt Campbell. Consequently it was the lack of points in the other races that took the Manufacturers title away from BMW, with Porsche having 100 points against 76 of the Bavarian OEM.
The 2021 IGTC season is set to start at the 24 Hours of Spa on 31 July and 1 August, given the fact that the Bathurst 12 Hour won’t be held next year.
PHOTO: SRO/Dirk Bogaerts
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