There is still just over a month to go until the second seasonal event of the FIA World Endurance Championship, but we already have a first list of names of the protagonists who will compete for the success at the 6h of Spa-Francorchamps.
The Ardennes race will take place on the weekend of May 5-7 and on the grid we will see 37 cars, divided into 4 in the Hypercar Class, 15 in LMP2, 5 in LMGTE PRO and 13 in LMGTE AM.
Among other things, the event is very important because it will also be the one that precedes the 24h of Le Mans, for which teams and drivers will have to prepare themselves as best as possible, but also useful for the organizers to understand which Balance of Performance to assign on the Circuit de la Sarthe.
The start of the Hypercar class
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
HYPERCAR
As always in the Hypercar category, the two Toyota GR010 Hybrids, the Alpine A480 of Team Signatech – fresh from the triumph of Sebring – and the Glickenhaus will compete for primacy.
While there is nothing new for the Japanese and French, the American team, fresh off the podium at home, the first in its history in the Endurance World Championship, brings a change.
Pipo Derani will take the place of Ryan Briscoe at the wheel of the 007 LMH # 708 which he will share with confirmed Olivier Pla and Romain Dumas.
As we know, Jim Glickenhaus’s team is rotating its seven competitors to decide who will drive the # 709 that will be deployed at Le Mans.
# 36 Alpine ELF Team Alpine A480 – Gibson: André Negrão, Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere
Photo by: Paul Foster
LMP2
There will be two re-entries between the Oreca 07-Gibson of the LMP2 Class. Vector Sport will get Sébastien Bourdais back in the # 10 car with Nico Müller and Ryan Cullen, who had been joined by Mike Rockenfeller in the Sebring debut, as the Frenchman was engaged in the 12h of the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
The same goes for Alex Lynn, who was replaced by Paul Di Resta, also giving success to United Autosports, whose Oreca # 23 now reviews the original crew formed by the British together with Oliver Jarvis and Josh Pierson.
Finally Alex Brundle will take back his place on the Oreca # 34 of the Inter Europol Competition, after the Coronavirus positivity found in the United States had forced him to stop, replaced by Fabio Scherer.
In the other teams there are no changes to the formations, signaling that Ultimate, ARC Bratislava and Algarve Pro Racing will have to hunt down the Sebring winners among the Pro / Am contenders, the AF Corse trio François Perrodo / Nicklas Nielsen / Alessio Rovera ( # 83).
# 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 – Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez, # 10 Vector Sport Oreca 07 – Gibson: Nico Müller, Ryan Cullen, Mike Rockenfeller
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
LMGTE PRO
Here too everything is unchanged with the Corvette C8.R # 64 prepared by Pratt & Miller which will have to face it alone against the pairs of Porsche and Ferrari.
The Chevrolet had finished on the podium at Sebring, where Manthey’s 911 RSR-19s led most of the race with convincing and superior performance to rivals.
We’ll see if the AF Corse 488s will be able to get up after the blow they suffered in Florida, but above all if the FIA and ACO bring a different BoP for the Reds, who seem to have suffered from the lack of cavalry due to the new fuel introduced by TotalEnergies.
# 64 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy
Photo by: Paul Foster
LMGTE AM
To conclude, the LMGTE AM Class returns with the 13 cars originally registered for the 2022 season.
In Sebring there were only 12, given that GR Racing had retired due to work commitments of Michael Wainwright, who had preferred to stay at home to support his collaborators involved in the shameful conflict unleashed by Russia against Ukraine.
The owner of the Porsche # 86 will be at the start in Belgium together with Riccardo Pera and Ben Barker for his seasonal debut.
At Dempsey-Proton Racing there is instead a change on the Porsche # 88. Patrick Lindsey and Fred Poordad will have local idol Jan Heylen as their new partner in place of Julien Andlauer.
For the rest, the men to beat are Paul Dalla Lana / David Pittard / Nicki Thiim, who with the Aston Martin Vantage # 98 of Northwest AMR present themselves as championship leaders.
# 98 Northwest AMR Aston Martin Vantage AMR: Paul Dalla Lana, David Pittard, Nicki Thiim, Henrique Chaves
Photo by: Paul Foster
THE PROGRAM
Activities in Belgium begin on Thursday 5 May in the afternoon with the first Free Practice, continuing with the intense day of Friday, where Qualifying will be held to determine the starting grid for the 6h, scheduled for Saturday after lunch.
Let’s see in detail the times of the sessions, remembering that the 6h of Spa-Francorchamps can be seen live on Motorsport.tv.
THURSDAY 5 MAY
Free Practice 1: 15; 30
FRIDAY 6 MAY
Free Practice 2: 9; 05
Free Practice 3: 14; 00
LMGTE qualifications: 18; 20
LMH-LMP2 qualifications: 18; 40
SATURDAY 7 MAY
Race: 13.00 (6 hours)
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