More drama at Spa!

The gap between first and second place had gone down to just seven seconds after 21 hours of racing (see previous story), when the safety car came out during a heavy rain shower.

But when the race went green (at around 1330 local time) Frenchman Bouchut immediately proved to be faster than Jeroen Bleekemolen in the Carsport car and opened up a 45-second gap.

However, just seven minutes later, Bleekemolen's Viper came to a halt at the Bus Stop - water had got into the electrical system of his car. When the team tried to get a new battery to the stricken Viper, officials disqualified the team from the race.

That means Bouchut, who now is in line collect the FIA GT title if he finishes first, has a 15 minute lead of the sister Labre driven by Sebastien Bourdais with less than two hours of the 24 to go.