6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps: LMGTE race

WECLMGTELM GTE

Apr 30

The 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps LMGTE race saw 6 different leaders with 18 leader changes during the first 96 laps until the Richard Mille AF Corse-run Ferrari 488 GTE Evo #83 driven by Alessio Rovera, Lilou Wadoux and Luis Perez Companc took the lead almost for the remaining 44 laps just contested by #25 ORT by TF Aston Martin Vantage during 3 laps.

5 of the 6 LMGTE race leaders are in the top 5

Surprisingly it was not the #25 Aston Martin Vantage who lead most of the first hour of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, but well the #777 D’Station Racing of S. Hoshino, C. Stevenson and T. Fujii who ended 10th which is more like the usual position of the team in the class.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps. #777 D’Station Racing of S. Hoshino, C. Stevenson and T. Fujii.

After that anecdotic lead from #777 Aston Martin, the LMGTE race came in its traditional format with Ferrari #83, Porsches #85 and 88, Corvette #33 and Aston Martin Vantage #25 constantly taking over the leadership from each other from lap 45 onwards.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps

From lap 52 till 96, Ferrari #83, Porsche #88 and Iron Dames #85 were the leading trio. Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari #83 and Proton Competition Porsche #88 swapped regularly as leaders with ORT by TF Aston Martin Vantage #25 also leading 3 times.

From lap 97 (out of 140) Wadoux, Rovera and Perez Companc with #83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo took the lead almost to the end (except 3 laps by #25 ORT by TF) and won a thrilling race.

📷 © Courtesy of Ferrari Competizioni GT. Lilou Wadoux is the first female driver to climb onto the top step of the podium in the FIA WEC.

Wadoux took a critical role in this success by climbing the order to eventually end her stint in P1. Lilou Wadoux get thereby the honour of becoming the first female driver to climb onto the top step of the podium in the FIA WEC since the championship was established in 2012.

Lilou Wadoux: “We started on Slicks, it was quite dangerous and we saw it from the warm-up laps. Luis (Perez Companc) did a great job. During his two stints, he was one of the best and he gave me the car in a good position and that's really nice (...) When I came in first and gave way to Alessio (Rovera), I knew he was going to do the job and that we had a gap. I had no doubt that it was going to do it. When we see the checkered flag, we are a little relieved!” Source: FIA WEC

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps. Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg and Varonne ended second of LMGTE race with Corvette #33.

NICKY CATSBURG: “Somehow we managed to find ourselves in the top-five or top-six before I jumped in the car. The Corvette Racing guys did great work again in the pitlane. We were in the mix with the front-runners, and I was able to pass some on the out-lap. I knew we didn’t have the pace to challenge for the lead, and I was never expecting to keep P2. But it worked out. It was déjà vu back to Portimão! I was struggling a lot to keep the Aston Martin behind. Charlie did a great job. He didn’t make any crazy moves and it was super-nice racing. An awesome feeling of two races in a row getting a good result. Great job to Ben doing the start in insanely difficult conditions. Nico… what people don’t know is that Nico had to drive on the worst tire compound we had available because we used him as a guinea pig to test! So it was very difficult for him, and hats off to him for keeping the car on the track and keeping it in contention. I’m super happy with the work they are doing and the team is doing. It’s super nice to have these big points.”

BEN KEATING: "This is another team win. Even though we came home second, with 45 extra kilograms this feels like it's better than a win. I came into Sebring with the idea that maybe we could win. I came into Portimao with the idea that a podium would be a success. I came into this race thinking a top-five would be good. I never dreamed we would be second. It's an unbelievable finish, especially given how we started.

“Normally in these races, you don't get the opportunity to make up lost time. We had three different times where we got a pass-around around the safety car. We were a lap down a couple of times because I made the choice to go out on rain tires at the start because I thought it was the conservative, safe choice. It turned out to be the wrong choice and had to come in for an early stop. Because of that, we were off-sequence with everyone and kept going a lap down. The safety cars came out exactly when we needed them to and we were able to get our laps back. It was a crazy race. It's hard to think that it was even crazier than Portimao! I'm just glad I have a good heart! This has been unbelievable to watch. The whole team was fantastic. Nico did a great job. I don't know how Nicky stayed in front of the Aston Martin because they were so fast all weekend. It's just an incredible job by Nicky two weekends in a row. I'm ready to go to Le Mans!" Source: Corvette Racing.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps. Ahmad Al Harthy with #25 Aston Martin Vantage ORT by TF ended third of LMGTE class.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps. Ryan Harwick, Zacharie Robichon and Harry Tincknell with Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR -19 #88 are fourth.

Zacharie Robichon (Porsche 911 RSR #88): “It was an exciting race – as always at Spa. The weather in the Ardennes always plays a major role. At the start, Ryan drove clean stints. Because we were able to get our Porsche’s tyres up to temperature faster than some of our rivals, I even managed to take the lead in the GTE-Am class. But on the flip side, we struggled with deteriorating tyres at the end of our stints and lost time again as a result. We made the most out of it. Still, fourth place in motor racing is an extremely painful result.” Source: Porsche

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps. Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey and Michele Gatting in the Iron Dames #85 Porsche 911.

Sarah Bovy was able to held off two Aston Martin at the head of there stint until she was pushed onto the grass on the run down to Eau Rouge.

At the end of an unfortunately timed Safety Car Rahel Frey took over the reins re-joining in sixth. Frey began her comeback drive, eventually joining a four-car battle for the lead of the GTE class handing over to Gatting within touching distance of the podium place.

Michelle Gatting would take the wheel for the final two hours but struggled to get heat into her tyres and was relegated to sixth early in her stint to end P5.

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