Six hours of extreme weather conditions saw Aston Martin Racing’s No.97 crew of Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin take their first win of the season in the highly-competitive LMGTE Pro category.
The win was made even more special for Martin as he celebrated in front of an elated home crowd. Indeed, 52,000 spectators braved mixed weather conditions in Belgium to attend round 7 of the FIA WEC Super Season.
Meanwhile, Porsche took the World Endurance GTE Manufacturers’ Championship with one round still remaining. After the No. 92 and No. 91 crews finished third and eighth respectively, the Porsche GT Team have a 93-point lead in the overall standings making it mathematically impossible for Ferrari to catch them.
The No. 51 car piloted by Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado took the runner-up spot for Ferrari. During the race’s closing stages, the AF Corse entry was hot on the heels of category winner Aston Martin Racing with less than a second separating the two cars. However, a red flag was issued 11 minutes before the end of the race due to deteriorating weather conditions putting an end to the on-track battle.
After nearly six hours of racing, the BMW Team MTEK crew made up of Augusto Farfus and Antonio Felix De Costa plus Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK’s Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell were neck and neck for P4. When the race was red flagged, only a tenth of a second separated the two crews emphasising the hugely competitive racing in LMGTE Pro. BMW were awarded fourth, with Ford rounding out the top five.
Dempsey-Proton Racing take second consecutive win in LMGTE Am
The LMGTE Am field once again saw plenty of action from start to finish but the top spot of the podium eventually went to Dempsey-Proton Racing’s No. 77 car trio made up of Christian Ried, Riccardo Pera and Matt Campbell. The squad’s emphatic victory is the second in a row for the German-based team having also taken the spoils in Sebring back in March.
Pole-sitter TF Sport finished runner-up with Salih Yoluc, Euan Hankey and Charlie Eastwood at the wheel of their Aston Martin. Clearwater Racing’s trio of Luis Perez-Companc, Matteo Cressoni and Matthew Griffin took the third podium spot in the Ferrari. The Singaporean team enjoyed a close battle with the No. 98 of Aston Martin Racing and the No. 86 Gulf Racing team in the early stages of the race.
Category leaders Team Project 1 finished fifth for Porsche – less than half a second behind Spirit of Race in the Ferrari. At the top of the standings, Team Project 1 now lead Spirit of Race by 23 points meaning everything is to play for at the season-closing 24 Hours of Le Mans.
by Rachel CAVERS (www.fiawec.com)
