Red flag ‘cancelled’
Double Porsche at the end of the 6 hours of Spa, or perhaps it is better to call it the 8 hours of Spa. In Belgium, in fact, a red flag made necessary by the accident on the Kemmel straight between the BMW #31 of the WRT team with Sean Gelael at the wheel ( innocent) and Earl Bamber’s Cadillac #2 (his serious mistake) which damaged the safety barriers, was recovered by adding 1 hour and 47 minutes – the duration of the neutralization – when 7.00 pm had now arrived, the time for which was expected to take the checkered flag.
There Ferrari was preparing to celebrate an unexpected double in light of the outcome of Qualifying, and instead Alessandro Pier Guidi, who had a 25 second lead at the time of the red flag, found himself – like Antonio Fuoco – forced to make two stops at the box against the single Porsche of Jota Sport #12 and the official Porsche #6 who thus easily achieved a one-two ahead of the Ferrari 499Ps of Fuoco and Pier Guidi.
The race in the first part before the red flag had registered the retirement of Porsche #5 race leader due to a mistake exiting the Blanchimont corner which saw Michael Christensen hit the wall after putting his wheels on the grass as well as the curb. During a lapping, the other Jota Sport Porsche, the #38, had previously been knocked out in a collision that also took out Valentino Rossi’s BMW #46 who was not driving at the time.
After the restart, the almost two hours of racing were enlivened by challenge between Alessandro Pier Guidi and Kamui Kobayashi for fourth position. After the pit stop in which Ferrari changed the outside tires and Toyota the inside tires (compared to the clockwise direction of travel in Spa) Pier Guidi had the upper hand on the Kemmel straight, thus also relegating the Toyota #7 behind the Ferrari . After seven years, Toyota abdicates at Spa and will now be waiting for redemption at Le Mans where Ferrari prevailed a year ago. In the standings, second place allows Porsche #6 to consolidate its lead in the standings, just as the German company, with its one-two finish, extends its lead over its rivals in the manufacturers’ ranking.
Porsche double also in the LMGT3 class with the #91 Manthey PureRxcing car overtaking the #92 on the last lap, thus extending its lead in the standings. Atrocious mockery for the Iron Lynx Lamborghini which found itself forced into a splash and go at the very end, thus losing the chance to win. Fourth place for the Iron Dames with the other Lamborghini of the Italian team. See you now in mid-June for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2024.
#Ferrari #Porsche #onetwo #controversy #wins #Spa