Aston Martin wins Spa 24 Hrs after pit lane drama

SROSPA24

Jun 30

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours.

24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps first time win for Aston Martin since 1948 with Mattia Drudi, Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen in #007 Comtoyou Vantage AMR GT3 Evo ahead of AF Corse #51 Ferrari who lost THE RACE in a dramatic and unbilievable fashion.

Nicki Thiim, #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin: “Finally! First off, I want to say sorry to those boys there [the #51 Ferrari drivers]. We have a long history with them, and I really feel for them, but for me it’s about time. I’ve finished P3 two times here and this year we reunited the Dane Train and added the Italian Stallion, and this is the result. I’m just happy and proud. It was a chaotic race, but we came through it and I’m so happy.” Source: Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS

First win for Aston Martin - Comtoyou

The Centenary edition of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa ended with a victory for Comtoyou Racing with its #007 Aston Martin driven by Mattia Drudi, Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen who were in the top 3 since early Sunday morning. The “Danish Train” and their Italian teammate drove the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo faultless through terrible weather conditions during the night heritating the lead after, the then second, Rowe Racing #998 BMW had to pit and #51 AF Corse was robbed a win in the most odd situation.

#51 Ferrari lost race at pit entrance

Alessandro Pier Guidi was leading the race over 20 seconds ahead of the #007 Aston Martin until he went into pit for refuelling. Unexpectedly, Pier Guidi was blocked by #19 Lamborghini at the pit entry more than 40 seconds. Would race control have closed the pit lane entrance, the Ferrari #51 could have easily run one more lap until the pit lane entrance was cleared. With 35 minutes to go, Pier Guidi staged a remarkable comeback, recovering six places and securing a spot on the podium.

Antonello Coletta (Global Head of Ferrari Endurance E Corse client): “Today, a dream was taken from us. The victory at the Centenary editions of both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Spa was within our grasp, and what unfolded is truly unbelievable. There are no words to describe the bitterness of seeing such a surreal episode erase a success we had rightfully earned on the track, both through the way the crew of car number 51 led the race and through the team's outstanding work. The podium finishes in both the Pro and Bronze classes are scant consolation.” Source: Ferrari

Team WRT third.

The #32 crew moved from 23rd on the grid to the front with strong driving and good strategy amid the numerous difficult tyre choices and a 30-second time penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement in Hour 14. In the final sprint, van der Linde, Vanthoor, and Weerts were in fifth place, but after the #998 pit stop and a time penalty for a competitor the trio was able to secure third place. It was the first podium for BMW M Team WRT at their home race in Belgium with the BMW M4 GT3.

Dries Vanthoor (#32 BMW M4 GT3, BMW M Team WRT, 3rd place): “It was a tough race for us. We weren't the fastest, but we drove a clean race and made few mistakes. We can be very happy about that. Unfortunately, the #998 had a puncture, which brought us back into the fight for the podium. In the end, I gave it my all. Nothing more was possible. I'm glad to be on the podium – especially after the tough month with the races at the Nürburgring and Le Mans. It's a well-deserved third place for our team.”

Sheldon van der Linde (#32 BMW M4 GT3, BMW M Team WRT, 3rd place): “I'm very happy about the unexpected podium at the end. We were in fourth and fifth place in the last hour and didn't expect to make it to the podium. Unfortunately, the ROWE Racing car had a small problem at the end which is why we slipped onto the podium. But we drove a very clean race. I'm very happy that we're back on track for success. The past two years have been very difficult for our car with retirements and some problems. But I'm glad we made it to the podium. We're on the leaderboard in the championship, which is important for the rest of the year. I'm happy for the whole team because they've worked very hard over the past two years. They deserve it.”

Charles Weerts (#32 BMW M4 GT3, BMW M Team WRT, 3rd place): “It was a very special and difficult weekend for us. In terms of performance, we had some problems compared to the other manufacturers but we worked very hard with the team and BMW M Motorsport to optimise the package we had. We drove an almost perfect race. It was very difficult to get to the podium here, but we made it, and I'm very happy about that. I feel sorry for the #998. They drove a great race and deserved a podium as well.” Source: BMW Group

Aston Martin Vantage fourth

The second Aston Martin works drivers squad #34 driven by David Pittard, Ross Gunn and Elio Chaves end fourth confirming the reliability and speed of the new generation of Aston Martin GT3.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours. David Pittard crossed checkered flag third with Walkenhorst Motorsport’s #34 Aston Martin but was classified fourth after a ten-second penalty for contact with the #51 Ferrari.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours. Pole sitter Frank Perrera, Marco Mapelli and Jordan Pepper in #163 GRT Grasser Racing Lamborghini end fifth.

P6 for win fighting ROWE BMW

Augusto Farfus, Dan Harper, and Max Hesse in #998 BMW M4 GT3 led the race despite a drive-through penalty during the night and fought for the win, however a slow puncture forced the ROWE Racing team to bring forward the last planned pit stop. Since the final driver Hesse would have exceeded the maximum allowed duration of a stint by about a minute, he had to enter the pit lane shortly before the finish, dropping from second to sixth place.

Augusto Farfus (#998 BMW M4 GT3, ROWE Racing, 6th place): “This is a bitter pill. It was a tough race, but we executed it well. In the end, we were on course for the podium but suffered a puncture 64 minutes before the end. If it had come one lap later, we would have made it to the end. Due to the regulations, we had to make another pit stop. Sometimes this sport can be brutal.” Source: BMW Group

P7 and GOLD honours for #777 Mercedes-AMG

The #777 AlManar Racing by GetSpeed crew of Al Faisal Al Zubair, Mikaël Grenier, Dominik Baumann and Philip Ellis ends seventh overall and clinch Gold Cup win after a clean performance.

Al Faisal Al Zubair, #777 AlManar Racing Mercedes-AMG: “It was a great race today. The weather definitely made it unpredictable and difficult to decide what was right, but at the end of it I think it made it even better for us. I am very happy with the job all my teammates did and I’m delighted to bring this win home.” Source: Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS

Two Porsche finish in the top 10

Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet and Frédéric Makowiecki brought the #92 SSR Herberth’s 911 GT3 R over the line in eighth place. The Porsche works drivers – part of the regular crew of the 963 hybrid prototype in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the North American IMSA series – had taken the lead for a while in the early morning hours. However, unexpected heavy rain shortly after switching to slicks relegated them back behind the safety car.

The two former Porsche Juniors Sven Müller and Julien Andlauer as well as Patric Niederhauser had worked their way up the order from 27th on the grid to temporarily lead the field. Thanks to their team Rutronik Racing’s favourable tyre choices, the three ultimately finished in ninth place.

Mathieu Jaminet (F, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92): “I'm super exhausted after this gruelling race. The changeable conditions were tricky, but I still enjoyed my triple stint at night, and managed to get us in the lead. Towards the end I was still in contention for seventh place, but there was no point risking too much. We did our absolute utmost and reached the flag as the best-placed Porsche. In the end, we lacked a bit of performance and a time penalty cost us valuable time, otherwise we could’ve made it into the top four or five. We couldn’t do much more than that, but I enjoyed driving a modern-generation GT3 racing car again with good friends in a team like SSR Herberth.“

Patric Niederhauser (CH, Porsche 911 GT3 R #96): “That was a particularly tough version of the 24 Hours of Spa! The race went quite well for us. A shunt in the early stages put us a lap down, but we fought our way back. Unfortunately, we lacked the ultimate performance to be right up there with the frontrunners.” Source: Porsche