GT 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 2014: the race
The race
The fight for the lead was intense throughout the race. René Rast swooped down on the then-leading BMW Z4 GT3 Team Marc VDS #77 and passed it within 20 minutes from the finish.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
The two favorite teams were MarcVDS with two BMW Z4s, against the three Audi R8s of the WRT team bearing the same colors and race numbers as the R18s at Le Mans, with the winners of the Sarthoise classic Fässler-Lotterer-Tréluyer on # 2. Mercedes was represented by HTP and Black Falcon. ART Grand Prix, which was counting with the support of Nicolas Lapierre, could hope to play hare with its two McLarens.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
After two qualifying sessions contested day and night, the 20 fastest gathered for the Superpole session. Audi took the lead, with Laurens Vanthoor in the # 1 WRT car, and the Ferrari ProAm # 50 AF Corse of Alessandro Pier Guidi was second, only 4 hundredths behind.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
The first quarter of the race was quite chaotic, with 3 Safety Cars and 1 red flag due to several accidents where some cars were completely destroyed and many others got damaged. The Audi led the way, after a brief interlude by the # 66 BMW of MarcVDS Racing. The team’s second car, # 77, started a crossover in the lead with the Audi cars in the third part of the race, which lasted until the end.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
The three WRT team Audi and the French # 26 R8 LMS of Saintéloc Racing swapped places in the top 5. The WRT team cars all could have finished in the top quartet if only the then-second-Le Mans winners car had not been harpooned by a laggard. The Audi R8 LMS # 1 of Laurens Vanthoor, Markus Winkelhock and René Rast won.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
The fight for the lead was intense throughout the race, with the # 77 BMW steadily regaining in the pits what it lost on the track. At the very end of the race, the MarcVDS team tried a game of poker skipping a tire change, but it was not enough. René Rast swooped down on the then-leading BMW Z4 GT3 Team Marc VDS driven by Lucas Luhr, Markus Palttala and Dirk Werner and passed it within 20 minutes from the finish ending 2nd.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
Team WRT had a second car on the podium (3rd) with #3 Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by Frank Stippler, Christopher Mies and James Nash. one lap behind the winners.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
The # 26 Audi Saintéloc of Stéphane Ortelli associated to Gregory Gulvert and Edward Sandström finished at the foot of the podium (4th), 2 laps behind the winning Audi.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
The first Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 ended 5th. Maximilian Buhk, Maximilian Götz and Jazeman Jaafar where the drivers of this #86 HTP Motorsport car.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
The first Pro-Am team was the AF Corse Ferrari Italia GT3 driven by Nick Hommerson, Louis Machiels, Marco Cioci and Andrea Bertolini. They ended 6th overall, 7 laps behind the winners.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
Ecurie Corse BMW Z4 GT3 #79 driven by Oliver Bryant, Andrew Smith, Alasdair Mc Caig and Alexander Sims ended 7th, 7 laps behind the winning Audi.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
Steve Wyatt, Craig Lowndes, Michele Rugolo and Andrea Pichini with their AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 ended 8th overall, 8 laps behind the winners.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
HTP Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 #84 driven by Harold Primat, Nico Verdonck and Bernd Schneider ended 9th overall.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
MP Motorsport AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 #38 driven by Richard Abra, Mark Pole, Joe Osborne and Darren Turner ended 10th.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans winning trio, André Lotterer, Maarcel Fässler and Benoît Treluyer were second until the car was harpooned by a laggard. As a result they finished in 12th place.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Spa 2014.
The # 66 BMW of MarcVDS Racing led the way briefly but was irreparably delayed after Jörg Muller's contact with another competitor, followed by a close encounter of Maxime Martin with a hare, which put # 66 permanently out of play.
