Ferrari continues to head the Hypercar category two-thirds of the way through the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, following a brace of lengthy safety car interruptions to recover gravel trap-stricken McLarens.
Alpine moved into the lead in the third hour after jumping Ferrari in the pits, with Jules Gounon taking over from Frédéric Makowiecki and capably keeping the #50 Ferrari driven by Miguel Molina at bay.
The #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P of Antonio Giovinazzi held third, but then slipped behind the #93 Peugeot as Paul di Resta completed a sensational triple stint on elderly tyres.
But a second safety car of the race came just before the halfway stage, after Sean Gelael was pitched into the barriers on the exit of Les Combes after contact with the #60 Iron Lynx Mercedes driven by Matteo Cairoli. Gelael vacated the car unaided, with the incident placed under investigation.
That saw the #93 Peugeot elect to stay out while others pitted to inherit the lead, which was held by Jean-Éric Vergne until the Frenchman pitted and relinquished the advantage to the #50 Ferrari, now driven by Antonio Fuoco.
But Fuoco was placed under investigation for a pit-lane infraction, which appeared to see the two Ferrari AF Corse prototypes swap position in the pits under the second safety car.
Toyota come back into the equation with the #7 GR010 Hypercar, as Kamui Kobayashi engaged in an entertaining battle with the #20 BMW and #51 Ferrari.
A third safety car was called just before the fifth hour arrived, due to a clash between the #10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin driven by Eduardo Barrichello and the #59 United Autosports McLaren of Sébastien Baud at Stavelot.
That resulted in further pit-stops, with Ferrari electing not to take tyres while the #36 Alpine did bolt on fresh rubber, meaning Ferrari emerged first and second – although still awaiting judgement on the earlier pit-lane incident.
The order at four hours read: 1st #51 Ferrari; 2nd #50 Ferrari; 3rd #36 Alpine; 4th #7 Toyota; 5th #94 Peugeot; 6th #20 BMW.
The #92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche cycled through to the lead, with Riccardo Pera completing a trouble-free and consistent few stints after an earlier penalty for Ryan Hardwick was overcome.
But the Proton Competition Ford Mustangs were in a strong strategic position, with Ben Tuck also starring in the mid-phase of the race to place the #88 entry in second place after leading for a time.
The #46 Team WRT BMW snatched third, with Valentino Rossi able to make progress after a solid foundation was built by Ahmad Al Harthy in the opening two hours.
Fourth was the #54 VISTA AF Corse entry, as Francesco Castellacci hauled the Ferrari 296 LMGT3 up the order before handing over to team-mate Davide Rigon under the third safety car period.
Completing the top five amid close and exciting battles throughout the field were the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG and #81 TF Sport Corvette.
Click HERE for the positions after four hours.
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