Photo Credit: FIA-ACO
The result Saturday in Belgium was the same as when the checkered flag fell last month at Silverstone, except in the case of Audi Sport Team Joest it should be looked at differently for two reasons. One, unless a technical malady is spotted like in England, this overall win should stick. And second, this was race was not won on outright pace, it was won based simply on who was able to survive the six-hour timed distance.
The long straightaway nature of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit wore down a majority of the six cars entered from the LMP1-Hybrid division on Saturday, a race that saw only four of the six make the finish. While Audi was able to pick up the pieces to secure the win by two laps over Team Porsche, questions about reliability for both Porsche and Toyota Gazoo Racing between now and the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month have to be raised. After looking to be on the verge of their first victory since 2014, Toyota saw both of their brand new TS050 Hybrids succumb to engine failure. Porsche saw both its entries make trips to its garage, with the primary No. 1 entry that won the pole position on Friday suffering its second consecutive did not finish to open the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship. Audi’s efforts also were not without issue, as the sister entry to the overall winner also lost several laps due to mechanical ills on Saturday.
The winning Audi R18 e-tron Quattro, driven by Oliver Jarvis, Lucas di Grassi, and Loic Duval, was flanked on the podium by the Porsche 919 Hybrid of the Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, and Mark Lieb, while for the second consecutive event, non-hybrid LMP1 runners Rebellion Racing placed one of their AER-powered R-One coupes in third place at the finish.
In LMP2, Signatech Alpine’s re-badged ORECA 05 coupe guided them to their first class victory in FIA WEC competition. A regular winner in 2013 and 2014 on the European Le Mans Series circuit, the team of Nicolas Lapierre, Stephane Richelmi, and Gustavo Menezes like Audi in LMP1 drove a solid, if not blistering pace and managed to avoided the errors and mechanical woes that also plagued the LMP2 class runners. Signatech took command for good with just two hours to run, after Manor Racing’s own pair of ORECA 05s were both relegated by on track and pit lane problems.
While Signatech claimed the top step of the podium, yet another late surge from 22-year old Brazilian Pipo Derani netted Extreme Speed Motorsports their second straight runner-up finish to open the 2016 campaign, which also includes scores at both the Daytona and Sebring enduros in IMSA WeatherTech Championship action. Despite only qualifying eighth in LMP2 on Friday, the No. 31 Tequila Patron Ligier-Nissan coupe with co-drivers Chris Cumming and Ryan Dalziel in support, the team ran among the top six through the opening four and a half hours, when Derani took over the controls to the finish. Aided also by the problems that hit Manor, Derani surged forward and eventually passed Nicolas Lapierre for the lead, but was unable to hold on to the finish as the Frenchmen returned the favor, taking the lead at Les Combes with under five minutes remaining.
Manor Racing’s surviving entry of Roberto Merhi, Matthew Rao, and Richard Bradley completed the podium, followed by Silverstone winners RGR-Morand’s own Ligier coupe, with G-Drive Racing’s ORECA 05 completing the top five. After winning the pole on Friday, both of G-Drive Racing’s entries encountered mechanical delays during the first three hours of the race and never challenged during the second half.
In GTE-Pro, AF Corse Ferrari’s Sam Bird and Davide Rigon went nearly wire to wire to claim the win on Saturday, with only a late mechanical issue preventing the Ferrari factory squad from matching their 1-2 effort from qualifying on Friday. Chip Ganassi Racing continued its recent string of success as Harry Tincknell, Marino Franchitti, and Andy Priaulx secured runner-up honors, a solid backup to their IMSA-based squad’s victory last Sunday at Laguna Seca. Prodrive Aston Martin Racing struggled with both pace and problems on Saturday, however they still managed to secure the final space on the podium.
Two major incidents dampened the action somewhat in GTE-Pro however, as AMR’s Nicki Thiim crashed and flipped his Vantage V8 during the second hour and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Stefan Mucke suffered a hard impact during the fifth hour, preventing both cars from making the finish. Neither driver suffered injuries in the incidents.
Finally in GTE-Amateur, AMR’s top trio of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, and Mathias Lauda claimed the honors on Saturday, topping AF Corse’s Francois Perrodo, Rui Aguas, and Emmanuel Collard by one lap. Larbre Competition’s Chevrolet Corvette C7.R completed the Amateur top three.
With Spa-Francorchamps now in the books, there is one final prep race featuring entrants in the upcoming 84th 24 Hours of Le Mans next month. The race for the European Le Mans Series will take place next weekend at the Enzo E Dino Ferrari Circuit in Imola, Italy.
Stay tuned to OnPitRoad.com for continued coverage on the Road to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
