Race: 20-hour Viper battle

The race remains very close, with just 2 minutes separating the leading two cars, and they are heading into a battle royale over the closing stages as the Dutch Car slowly closes in on Larbre.

No single car has been able to pull out a significant advantage all through the race, although Bouchut's car, co-driven by Jean-Philippe Belloc and Marc Duez, has led the lion's share. When the Rafanelli Ferrari 550 retired with engine failure at 11pm last night, and early leader Hezemans had more problems with his exhaust system, the FIAGT Championship leaders was left with a healthy two-lap lead.

But just after midnight Bouchut lost a wheel, which lost the car enough time for it to become embroiled in a see-saw battle throughout the hours of darkness with Hezemans and the sister Larbre car - brought back into contention thanks mainly to consistently rapid driving from Sebastien Bourdais.

All three took turns to lead, with less than a minute covering them for much of the time. In the 14th hour Bouchut and Hezemans fell back following brake pad changes, but just as the second Larbre car looked set fair at the front it suffered major brake problems just after 6am, losing eight minutes.

This left Bouchut and Hezemans to battle it out at the front, but the Dutch car - having just taken the lead - mistakenly chose slick tyres for Jeroen Bleekemolen just as heavy rain started at 8am. It fell back to three minutes behind the Larbre car, but is clawing its way back through the spray.

The second Larbre car holds third, but only one lap on the Viper of local Belgian team Silver Racing, which has enjoyed a remarkable run of consistency and speed to stay in touch with the big teams. The lead Belmondo GTS-R of Eric Helary/Vincent Vosse/Emmanuel Clerico had risen to as high as second in the early hours after the former put in a storming double stint, but a loose wheel and bonnet caused it serious delay and it remains a distant fifth.

The predicted challenge for overall victory of the N-GT class Porsche 911 GT3-Rs has failed to materialise, but the RWS Red Bull car led by Luca Riccitelli and three-times Spa 24 Hours winner Dieter Quester now holds a strong three-lap advantage over the long-time leading Freisinger Porsche of Stephane Ortelli. Disaster struck the Frenchman's car in the early hours when it hit an errant wheel from another car and damaged the radiator.

Positions after 20 hours

Duez/Bouchut/Belloc Larbre Viper 449 laps
Hezemans/Tassin/Bleekemolen J Carsport Viper + 2m00s
Bourdais/Dumez/Goueslard Larbre Viper + 5 laps
Dierick/Dupont/de Doncker Silver Viper + 6 laps
Helary/Vosse/Clerico Belmondo Viper + 9 laps
Riccitelli/Simon/Garcia/Quester RWS Porsche + 14 laps
Ortelli/Sauvage/Chiesa Freisinger Porsche + 18 laps
Perrier/Thiers/Neugarten Perspective Porsche + 21 laps
De Groodt/Palttala/Tollenaire PSI Porsche + 24 laps
Belmondo/Kumpen/Gosselin Belmondo Viper + 27 laps