GT 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 2010
Exit the Maserati and GT1 category for the 63rd edition of the 24 hours of Spa-Francorchamps as 2010 saw the GT1-category switch its focus to the sprint races of the FIA GT1 World Championship.
The 2010 Total 24 Hours of Spa became part of the FIA GT2 European Cup, with GT3, GT4, and national-level GT categories (GTN) also being allowed to participate.
GT3 was the largest group that year, with 26 entries. Among them
8 Audi R8 LMS (2 with, then new, United Autosport owned by Zack Brown and Richard Dean also driving #67) and WRT Belgian Audi Club (3 Audi: #72, 73 & 74)
3 Ford GT with Marc VDS Racing team (2 Ford GT #98 & 99).
Despite being admitted by ACO rules at the 24 hours of Le Mans in GT2, the BMW M3 run by Schnitzer for BMW Motorsport were bot homologated by FIA in that class due to a transaxle gearbox! So the two cars were running in the invitation GTN class.
More arguments came as BMW was the only team using Dunlop “confidential” tires versus Michelin standard customer tires for everyone except the Trackspeed Porsche (Avons). Those "confidential" tires were worth around 2 seconds a lap advantage that BMW had on the 911s following some voices.
Nevertheless the 2010 Total 24 Hours of Spa could start at 4 pm Saturday 31st July, 2010 on dry sky.
Leading the pack and Pole position holder was the #2 AF Corse Ferrari with Ferrari drivers Gianmaria Bruni and Tony Vilander joined by Belgians, Bert Longin and five time winner at the Spa 24, Eric van de Poele.
The race became quickly a 3-class car battle with the GT2 #2 AF Corse Ferrari F430 GTE, the GT3 #50 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS and the GTN #79 BMW Motorsport.
The #2 Ferrari did build up a sizeable gap over the rest of the field until small problems threw them back to 2nd position.
Just after 5:30 am, the 2nd place Eric van de Poele with #2 Ferrari and the 3rd place Anthony Kumpen with #50 Audi collided and both cars were retired.
The #79 BMW was confortably leading the race until, around 35 minutes to go, it got a suspension problem and went straight into Pouhon, allowing two Porsches to take the lead.
The race was won by the BMS Scuderia Italia Porsche, the second 24 Hours of Spa victory for the team and fifth for the manufacturer. Romain Dumas, Jorg Bergmeister, Martin Ragginer and Wolf Henzler celebrated on the podium. Dumas was the first man to win at both Spa 24 and Le Mans 24 in the same year since Luigi Chinetti in 1949.
2nd #16 Porsche 997 GT3-RSR by IMSA Performance Matmut driven by Patrick Pilet, Richard Lietz, Patrick Long and Raymond Narac.
3rd #79 BMW M3 GT2 by BMW Motorsport driven by the 3 Dirk: Dirk Werner, Dirk Müller and Dirk Adorf.
4th #78 BMW M3 GT2 by BMW Motorsport driven by Jörg Müller, Uwe Alzen and Pedro Lamy.
5th Ferrari F439 GTE #1 by AF Corse and ALD Team Vitaphone driven by Michael Waltrip, Robert Kauffman, Nick Cadei and Marco Cioci.
6th #53 Porsche 997 GT3-RSR by Mülner Motorsport driven by Jürgen Häring, Dimitrios Konstantin, Gilles Vannelet and Arnaud Peyroles.
Local team Mühlner Motorsport also earned Porsche the GT3 category win after all the leading Audis and Ford retired.
7th #4 Porsche 997 GT3-RSR by Prospeed Competition driven by Paul van Spluteren, Niek Hommerson, Phil Bastiaans, Louis Machiels.
8th Ford GT #99 by Marc VDS Racing Team driven by Bas Leinders, Maxime Martin and Marc Duez.
9th #68 Audi R8 LMS by United Autosports driven by Stefan Johansson, Mark Patterson, Alain Li and Emil Assentato.
10th #67 Audi R8 LMS by United Autosports driven by Eddie Ceever, Mark Blundel associated to the team’s co-owners Zak Brown and Richard Dean.
Aston Martin's Jota Sport won the GT4 category. Sam Hancock, Simon Dolan, Roger Wills and Joe Twynan brought their Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 to the 21st place overall.
