The Blancpain Endurance Series, has reached, their crown jewel event. It's the Spa 24 Hours, and all the action, is coming your way, next, in a condensed, highlights essay. Check it out.
A highlight of the season is the 24 Hours of Spa. This promises to be an awesome race. Over 200 drivers are here, to battle.
Welcome to a soggy Spa. We're ready to race, but, in the rain. It's going to begin in very challenging conditions. A regular feature is the driver's parade into Spa itself. Drivers and mechanics can drive their GT3 machines, on the road. The cars rumbled into town for the driver's briefing. The fans in Belgium, love these cars and the drivers. Maxime Martin is one of the heroes, and so is Alex Zanardi. He has also demonstrated his hand bike.
This is the ultimate race for GT cars. It's the ultimate challenge. It's a special thing. The kids really love the cars and drivers, too. How many series are there where you see all thse great cars, and amazing racing action? Through Blanchimont, am I lifting, or am I not? Push, but don't make any mistakes. Every lap is a challenge in this race. In the bright of day, or dark of night. There's entertainment, and food, for the fans, too, in addition to the racing.
We're ready for a start. Six car brands were within a few seconds of each other in qualifying. The rain is getting heavier. The circuit is wet! Go! McLaren's run 1-2. Kevin Estre ahead of Alvaro Parente, as we power uphill to Eau Rouge, in the wet! Frank Stippler got caught out at the start. Can Frank Stippler move to the front? Look for visibility, too. Whoa! Frederic Vervisch in the #75 Audi R8 LMS is off the road! He will continue. But, talk about exasperation.
He may get a penalty for that collision. Some of the bodywork, came off. Vervisch, the native Belgian, is sharing the #75 ISR Audi R8 LMS Ultra with Czech driver Filip Salaquarda and Italian Audi factory driver, Marco Bonanomi. One car, the Nissan GT-R of Olivier Pla, is in pit lane, as we complete a lap. This is the #22 Pro Am Cup Nissan GT Academy Team RJN Nissan GT-R shared by Pla, the endurance racing veteran, Germany's Florian Strauss, and rookie drivers, Gaetan Paletou of France, and Ricardo Sanchez, of Mexico, both graduates of the Nissan GT Academy where racers who are good on video games, get to drive the real race car.
The timing line is on a different side of the track, and not on the front straight. Maxime Martin is going for it, but he slides wide in La Source. Lucas Luhr is trying against the Bentley of Guy Smith. They fly to Les Combes, as Kevin Estre leads. Rene Rast is the starting driver in the #1 Audi R8 LMS, passing team mate, Frank Stippler in car #2. He passes Rast back, into Brussels corner. Stippler goes back ahead. Stippler shares the #2 Belgian Audi Club WRT entry with Nico Muller, and the veteran, and former winner of this race, and Le Mans, Stephane Ortelli.
Rast is sharing the lead WRT Audi, meanwhile, with Laurens Vanthoor and Markus Winkelhock.
Don't take your team mate out, as the two Von Ryan McLaren's lead. Kevin Estre ahead of Alvaro Parente. Von Ryan's lineups in their McLaren's look like this. Estre is sharing car #58 with Rob Bell, from England (a veteran GT driver), and the rapid, former V8 Supercar racer, Kiwi, Shane van Gisbergen. Kiwi, is in reference to his homeland, of New Zealand.
Rene Rast passes Frank Stippler. Rast can take a normal line, even in the rain. We see Lucas Luhr being hounded by Mike Parisy in the #84 Bentley Continental GT3. Lucas Luhr might lose another spot. Yes, he does. Has he got an issue? Now, Lucas Luhr, is the leading driver in the sister Marc VDS BMW Z4 GT (#46) with Dutchman Nick Catsburg, and the rapid Finn, Markus Palttala, who we've also seen in Tudor Championship competition.
Luhr lost two spots in a lap, as the Gilles Duqueine driven Ferrari, has crashed. Gilles, is a driver, with a disability, who needs help out of the car, like Alex Zanardi does. It's good to see race car driving, becoming an accessible sport. Big impact into Les Combes, and ker-runch! Right into the wall. Duqueine, of France, and co-drivers (countrymen), Romain Brandela and Eric Clement, along with Belgium's Bernhard Delhez, are out of it. Game over, very early on, which you never want to see in a 24 hour race. It'll be an early dinner and hitting the sack, for these blokes, tonight.
We resume this race in the middle of the first hour. Rene Rast, is trying his best, as Kevin Estre and Alvaro Parente battle. Estre runs wide! He's leading, and Parente wants it. The top three are up the road. Rene Rast is trying Alvaro Parente, and makes a clean pass into the Bus Stop. One thing you don't want, is to take out your team mate. So, the Von Ryan Racing McLaren's are both at the sharp end. It's Estre in the #58 driving with Shane van Gisbergen and Rob Bell. Joining Parente in car #59 are British rookie Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, and nephew of the late Ayrton Senna, Bruno Senna, who has run F1, and sports cars, but seems to have found a home in endurance sports cars.
Ooh! The Boutsen Ginion BMW Z4 GT of Karim Ojjeh, has crashed, in Les Combes, just where Gilles Duquesne crashed a half an hour ago! This is car #15 in Pro Am Cup. Ojjeh, from Saudi Arabia, is sharing this car, with Dutchman Olivier Grotz, Jordan Grogor from South Africa (a regular Blancpain Endurance Series competitor), and German, Werner Hamprecht. Pit stop time towards the end of the first hour. Kevin Estre and Rene Rast are being held at the end of pit lane. They are going to lose the advantage under the first safety car.
This is the second one, and they will lose half a lap. The regulations say you have to be in the queue before you can be released back onto the track. When the light turns green, floor it, and exit the pit lane. Timo Glock comes into the pits, as darkness falls. The #9 BMW Z4 GT will see Alex Zanardi coming into the car. He is being helped into the car. He has a special steering wheel, with hand controls. He is doing up the belts, and is going to race his stint. More than likely, his co-drivers have already taken their first shifts. Formula One and DTM veteran, Timo Glock, of Germany, and Canada's Bruno Spengler. Spengler and Glock, both race for BMW Team MTEK in DTM.
It's twilight at Spa. He is on a wet road, at twilight, and it's getting dark. So, Alex Zanardi needs to be careful. He's a veteran, and will drive a clean stint. Ooh. Two cars have come to grief at La Source. The #29 Mercedes of Adam Christodoulou, spins, and the #11 Ferrari 458 Italia, spins in avoidance. Christodoulou is driving this car, for Black Falcon... a Mercedes SLS AMG GT3, in the Pro Cup. He is sharing with Nico Verdonck of Belgium, and Sweden's Andreas Simonsen. The #11 is the first of two Kessel Racing Ferrari 458's, and entered in Pro Am Cup, for Michael Broniszewski, of Monaco, Brit, Michael Lyons, and Italian's Andrea Piccini, and Alessandro Bonacini.
The safety car is deployed, on the road. This is our sixth safety car, as the #21 Mercedes SLS GT3 is in the pits, without the door. So, it's kind of a double whammy, for Black Falcon. This is their second Pro Cup entry, shared by sports car racing veteran, Hubert Haupt, of Germany, along with other GT veterans... Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al Faisal, from Saudi Arabia, and rapid Dutchman, Yelmer Buurman.
The car has to be refueled before they can work. The #1 Audi R8 LMS has spun at Stavelot. This is five and a half hours into the race at around 9:30 P.M. Did Laurens Vanthoor wreck in the Paul Frere corner? This car has led the race for a good while. The concert, with a dance artist called Pasha, is in full swing. Edward Sandstrom pits the #35 Audi to hand over to Marc Basseng. This is the Sainteloc entry in the Pro Cup division, with Sandstrom, Basseng, and Frenchman, Gregory Guilvert, at the controls. Sandstrom has been competitive in GT racing for a few years, while Basseng, is a real veteran, hailing from Germany.
The fireworks sparkle in the night. Now, Andy Meyrick has crashed the #7 Bentley Continental in the seventh hour. Is it game over for Meyrick and the Bentley? Ooh! He got off trying to pass the Emil Frey Jaguar, and he couldn't turn the car. Terrible luck for Bentley. The trio of Britons (Andy Meyrick, Guy Smith, and Stephen Kane), call it a night. No triumph, for Bentley, at Spa, this year. Game over.
Maximilian Buhk in the sister #8 Bentley might soldier on. He shares the sister Bentley Continental GT3 with Belgian Maxime Soulet, and Spaniard, Andy Soucek. All three of these drivers, have been very rapid competitors in the Blancpain championship, and have become an all-star team, for the Bentley Boys. Stef Dusseldorp currently leads. Dusseldorp, the Dutchman, is at the wheel of the #99 Rowe Racing Mercedes Benz SLS AMG in Pro Cup, he shares with Mercedes DTM driver Daniel Juncadella, from Spain, and Germany's Nico Bastian. Just before dawn breaks, Alex Buncombe crashes the #23 Nissan GT-R he shares with Wolfgang Reip of Germany, and Japan's Katsumasa Chiyo.
Now, we go to Sunday morning action. The light has returned to Spa. There's no rain, but fog blankets the Ardennes forest. The teams get to daylight and think it's almost over. No. It's still going. The Bentley's are both out. #8 joins #7 on the list of retirements, and it's a fraught race for Bentley. Better luck next year, chaps. Maxime Martin leads in the #45 Marc VDS BMW Z4 GT, having taken over from Augusto Farfus. The #99 Mercedes is fourth overall, while the #50 Am Cup AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia, spins, with Gary Kondakov at the wheel.
Kondakov is sharing that car, with fellow Russian driver Alexander Moiseev, Italian driver, Riccardo Ragazzi, and Ferrari GT racing veteran, Rui Aguas, from Portugal. Eventually though, this car, would retire from the race. Also, Mike Rockenfeller spun his Audi R8 LMS through Eau Rouge, losing the engine cover off the back of car #6. This is the second Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra, Rockenfeller shares with Le Mans team members of the past, Marcel Fassler and Andre Lotterer.
The team has a sister car entered, (#5), in the hands of German's Christian Mamerow and Christopher Mies, along with the Dane, Nicki Thiim. Audi is second with the #1 entry from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT. Nico Bastian and company head the Pro Cup class. Daniel Juncadella is sixth overall.
In dry conditions, how long are stints going? Who will be in the pound seats?
Then, problems for Marc VDS! Lucas Luhr is penalized with a drive through penalty for passing under a yellow flag. But, where is the yellow flag? It was at 7:45 A.M. which was an hour ago as we are at 8:45 local time in Spa Francorchamps. We are nearing the 17th hour of this race. The #2 WRT Audi is in the lane, but with wheel issues. They've been able to fix it. That was frustrating. A good whack with a shipyard screwdriver (a hammer), fixes it. Frank Stippler still at the wheel.
Nicky Catsburg pits the second Marc VDS BMW #45 and Dirk Werner takes over the car. The BMW is coming off pit lane, but, the Rowe Racing Mercedes SLS amg has made the pass. Ooh! Stef Dusseldorp has nearly made the pass stick on Nico Bastian. Pardon me. Nico Basitan is well into his stint, as they try passing the Frank Schmickler driven Porsche. Schmickler, at the wheel of the #56 Attempto Racing car, in Am Cup. A Porsche 997 GT-3-R- he shares with fellow Germans Jurgen Haring, and Philipp Wlazik, alongside Dimitrios Konstantinou, from Greece.
While all this happened, another retirement. It's the new, and wild looking, Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Grasser Racing Team, entered two of the green monsters, but one, was out. It's the Pro Cup entry #63 for South Africa's Adrian Zaugg, and Italian's Giovanni Venturini, and Mirko Bortolotti.
Nicky Catsburg is a go to driver in a GT3 car. Catsburg, and Nico Bastian, have been having a great, see saw battle. But, oh no! Dirk Werner has spun off the road! He is in Bruxelles, with a blown motor! Catsburg, along with Markus Palttala and Lucas Luhr, take the lead.
Werner had a differential or a transmission lock up, and caused the car to spin! Clunk, clunk, clunk, and game over! We are back to green in nthe 19th hour, with the #2 Audi taking the lead back. Marc VDS has been denied again! BMW has been knocking on the door year after year. But, they are a bridesmaid and a DNF again at the Spa 24, 2015. The #9 BMW Z4 has a puncture. That's actually an enigne problem for Timo Glock, Alex Zanardi, and Bruno Spengler, with just an hour to go. How cruel!
Stephane Ortelli in the #2 Team WRT Audi took over the lead. Shortly, thereafter, the team Marc VDS BMW springs hope for the team, as he passes Ortelli back. The Rowe Racing Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 is also in the box, with a radiator issue. The #99 Mercedes seems to be out of this race. Now, we fast forward to the last part of this one. Game over for Rowe Racing. The alternator is out, and so is the radiator.
Phoenix Racing's Audi #6 for Mike Rockenfeller, Andre Lotterer, and Marcel Fassler, is set to take third overall. The #46 BMW Z4 GT3 is in pit lane, with Nick Catsburg bringing the car in for the final stop, with less than 20 minutes to go. Nicky Catsburg, serviced and sent. Nick Catsburg leads this race. Will he win the Spa 24 Hours outright? Yes! Marc VDS and BMW will finally win the Spa 24 Hours! Yes! Nick Catsburg, Markus Palttala, and Lucas Luhr, win the Spa 24 Hours!
Audi gets second and third. In Pro Am, it's Ferrari! But, BMW has won their first GT Spa 24 Hours, after winning it many, many times previously, when it was a touring car race. This is BMW's 21st overall victory at Spa, since first winning in 1965, and their first since 1998 in the touring car days. In '65, it was a BMW 1800 Ti/SA of Belgian's Pascal Ickx and Gerard Langois van Ophem, taking the honors. In 1998, they won with a BMW 318I in the hands of Eric van de Poele, Marc Duez, and Alain Cudini.
During the 1970s, and '80s came BMW's greatest Spa triumphs, winning with models like the CSL,530i, 635CSI, and M3. Plus, wins came in the 1990s with the 320I and 318I. But, Marc VDS sends the Z4 GT3 into retirement, with a win. Next year, they will likely race the all new M6 GT3 coupe. Can they win again? We'll see. For now, they've won overall and the Pro Cup. In the Pro Am Cup, it was AF Corse with their #47 Ferrari 458 Italia, winning the class, with drivers Pasin Lathouras of Thailand, Belgian Stephane Lemeret, and Italian Ferrari GT veterans, Gianmaria Bruni, and Alessandro Pier Guidi.
The win in the Am division, goes to the #24 Team Parker Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra of Ian Loggie, Julian Westwood, Callum Macleod, and Benny Simonsen.
So, the winners list, looks like this.
Overall/Pro Cup: #46 Catsburg/Luhr/Palttala BMW Z4 GT
Pro Am Cup: #47 Lathouras/Lemeret/Bruni/Pier Guidi Ferrari 458 Italia
Am Cup: #24 Loggie/MacLeod/Simonsen Audi R8 LMS Ultra
That's a wrap from the 24 Hours of Spa, 2015, folks! Au revoir, for now. We'll see you at Spa, next year.
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