LM GTE @ 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps 2018
Teams getting ready for qualifications.
The 3 first laps. Ford, Porsche, Ford, Porsche, Ferrari, Ferrari, BMW, Aston Martin. BMW #82 and Aston Martin #95 are already left off at the end of lap 1.
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Team UK dominated the weekend and secured victory in LMGTE Pro, confirming their impressive achievements throughout practice and qualifying. The #66 car of Olivier Pla, Stefan Mücke and Billy Johnson was victorious ahead of the #92 Porsche 911 RSR, after the Frenchman Pla had caught and passed the Porsche with just an hour of the race remaining.
Porsche grabs the highest score in the championship thanks to P2 for #92 and P4 for #91.
The #92 Porsche 911 RSR of Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre lost the leadership one hour before the end of the race after battling with the Ford #66.
Thanks to a strong finish of Davide Rigon, AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTB #71 with teammate Sam Bird ended 3rd in GTE Pro. The #71 crew battled against the Porsches and took over the 3rd position in the final fifteen minutes after an overtake by Rigon on the #91 Porsche 911 RSR at “La Chicane”.
Despite starting in 3rd position from the grid, being 4/10 faster than sister car during qualifications, G. Bruni and R. Lietz running the #91 Porsche 911 RSR ended 4th, after losing P3 to Ferrari #71 in the last minutes of the race.
#51 finished last of LMGTE PRO.
On their WEC debut, the pair of BMWs languished at the back of the field, some 3 seconds down on the fastest Ford.
T. Blomqvist, A. Felix Da Costa with their BMW Team MTEK #82 ended 5th, 2 laps behind the winner.
BMW Team MTEK #81 M. Tomczyk, N. Catsburg end 8th, 3 laps behind the winner.
Not a great weekend for the 2 new Aston Martin Vantage at Spa-Francorchamps, ending 6th and 7th.
The trio A. Lynn, M. Martin, J. Adam driving the #97 Vantage, ended 6th, 11.763 behind the BMW.
The trio M. Sorensen, N. Thiim, D. Turner driving the #95 Vantage ended 7th, +49.225 behind the sister Vantage #97.
The Chip Ganassi Racing Team UK Ford GT # 67 of Harry Tincknell, Andy Priaulx and Tony Kanaan was not fortunate, despite fighting for the leading positions in the early stages of the race. Harry Tincknell lost control of his Ford in the Raidillon, careering straight on into the tyre wall.
And the winners of the LMGTE AM class are… P. Dalla Lana, P. Lamy and M. Lauda, with their Aston Martin Racing Vantage #98, winning the LMGTE AM class just 0.221 sec. in front of TF Sport sister #90 with S. Yoluc, E. Alers-Hankey and C. Eastwood.
Although leading the class during many laps, the Clearwater Racing Ferrari 488 GTE #61 ended one lap behind the 2 Aston Martin.
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Team UK dominated the weekend. FORD GT #66 won.
Porsche grabs the highest point in the championship, thanks to P2 for #92 and P4 for #91.
Thanks to a strong finish of Davide Rigon, AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTB #71 ended 3rd. #51 finished last.
The pair of BMWs languished at the back of the field, some 3 seconds down on the fastest Ford, finishing 5th and 8th.
Group shot for both Aston Martin Racing Team Vantage. #97 ended 6th, #95 7th.
