Porsche customer team Rutronik Racing among the leaders at Spa
Porsche customer team Rutronik Racing among the leaders at Spa
After two thirds of the distance, the best-placed 911 GT3 R at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps had established itself in fourth place and within striking distance to the front runners. The number 96 car from Rutronik Racing had started from 15th on the grid.
Belgian Alessio Picariello, Patric Niederhauser from Switzerland and former Porsche Junior Sven Müller from Germany drove a faultless race until 8:30 in the morning. A little later, the trio got their first taste of the lead. The endurance classic ends on Sunday afternoon at 4:30 pm.
Eleven Porsches tackled the endurance classic on the 7.004-kilometre Grand Prix circuit in the Belgian Ardennes at 16:30 on Saturday. Eight 911 GT3 R were still in the race after 16 hours in summer temperatures and on a dry track throughout. The first customer teams had to cope with setbacks early on. On the third lap, the number 97 car from Rutronik Racing collided with another car that had spun at the start-finish straight. This resulted in an almost hour-long repair stop. After that, Antares Au from Hong Kong, Martin Rump from Estonia and the two Dutchmen Loek Hartog and Morris Schuring continued to be unlucky. After 16 hours, they were in 52nd place.
One of the big favourites, the 911 GT3 R of the French team Schumacher CLRT, was hit even harder. Just over an hour into the race, Laurin Heinrich collided at full speed with a vehicle that was hidden from his view by the car in front as he exited the high-speed left-hand bend "Blanchimont". It was on its way back to the pits at slow speed due to a puncture. Both drivers were uninjured in the accident. For Heinrich, Ayhancan Güven from Turkey and Austrian Klaus Bachler – all former Porsche Juniors – the race came to an abrupt end.
The number 18 car of the Italian customer team Dinamic GT had to retire at around 8:15 pm with damage to the front right suspension. Porsche works drivers Matt Campbell from Australia and Mathieu Jaminet from France shared the cockpit with Bastian Buus from Denmark. At 1:30 am, the 911 GT3 R from Pure Rxcing also retired after long repair stops. The race car of Alex Malykhin and the two Austrian works drivers Richard Lietz and Thomas Preining had previously lost the front right wheel after a pit stop. This damaged the steering as well as the wheel hub.
As the second-best Porsche behind the leading Rutronik Racing car, the 911 GT3 R from Wright Motorsport was 17th overall and fourth in the Gold Cup standings after 16 hours. North Americans Elliott Skeer, Adam Adelson and Thomas Sargent take turns in the number 120 car. In 24th place, the Lionspeed GP nine-eleven defended a top-three position in the Bronze Cup class. Frenchman Gabriel Rindone, Riccardo Pera from Italy, Patrick Kolb from Germany and Swiss driver Ricardo Feller are at the wheel. The Porsche from AV Racing by Car Collection Motorsport held first place in the Pro-Am classification. The drivers: Noam Abramczyk from France, the two Belgians Mathieu Detry and Fabian Duffieux and Bo Yuan from China.
"This 24-hour race here at Spa-Francorchamps started with a rollercoaster of emotions for us – first and foremost, of course, because of Laurin Heinrich's major accident. We are glad that the two drivers involved were able to get out unharmed," says Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R. "Unfortunately, we lost some very good cars due to technical failures, like the number 18 from Dinamic GT. Fortunately, a Pro race car from Rutronik Racing is still at the front of the field. Sven Müller, Patric Niederhauser and Alessio Picariello were able to work their way into the top three and even take the lead from time to time. In the final third of the race, we now want to build on this and consolidate it."
With 75 race cars entered, the 24-hour classic on the Ardennes circuit is the world's biggest event for GT3 cars. The race counts as the third round of both the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup (GTWC) and the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC). Drivers and teams receive points for the GTWC after six, twelve and 24 hours. The website
Driver comments after 16 hours of racing
Sven Müller (Porsche 911 GT3 R #96): "It's going quite well for us, we're among the front runners. We made it through the night without any contact with opponents, without penalties and without the slightest technical problem. The grip level improved more and more in the morning hours, which made our Porsche 911 GT3 R even better to drive. If we can continue to have a flawless race, we should be able to achieve a good result."
Tom Sargent (Porsche 911 GT3 R #120): "We’re celebrating our premiere at the 24 Hours of Spa. There is a lot more action on track than I had expected. Unfortunately, we're one lap down on the leaders in our class, but the race still lasts a bit. We'll probably need a minor miracle to finish on the podium. But we'll keep giving it our all."
Riccardo Pera (Porsche 911 GT3 R #80): "The race is going ok for us so far. There are a lot of battles for position on the track. We led the Bronze Cup classification for long stretches and were fourth in class after 16 hours, but close to the top. We are going for it."
Standings after 16 hours of racing
1. (1.Pro) Bortolotti/Engstler/Pepper (ITA/DEU/ZAF), Lamborghini #63, 356 laps 2. (2. Pro) Eng/Harper/Hesse (AUT/GBR/DEU), BMW #998, +3.440 seconds 3. (3. Pro) Rovera/Abril/Pier Guidi (ITA/MCO/ITA), Ferrari #51, +4.637 seconds 4. (4. Pro) Müller/ Niederhauser/Picariello (DEU/CHE/BEL), Rutronik Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #96, +11.087 seconds 17. (4. Gold) Adelson/Skeer/Sargent (USA/USA/AUS), Wright Motorsports, Porsche 911 GT3 R #120, -1 lap 24. (4. Bronze) Rindone/Kolb/Feller/Pera (FRA/DEU/CHE/ITA), Lionspeed GP, Porsche 911 GT3 R #80, -2 laps 25. (5. Bronze) Bohn/A. Renauer/R. Renauer/Jefferies (DEU/DEU/DEU/ZWE), Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, -2 laps 33. (6. Silver) Rappange/Al Rifai/Pieris/Baud (NLD/ARE/LKA/FRA), Dinamic GT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #54, -3 laps 35. (1. Pro-Am) Abramczyk/Detry/Duffieux/Yuan (FRA/BEL/BEL/CHN), AV Racing by Car Collection Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #29, -3 laps 43. (9. Gold) Ineichen/Heinemann/Sturm (CHE/DEU/DEU), Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92, -6 laps 52. (15. Bronze) Schuring/Au/Hartog/Rump (NLD/HKG/NLD/EST), Rutronik Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #97, -20 laps DNF Lietz/Malykhin/Preining (AUT/GBR/AUT), Pure Rxcing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #911, 136 laps DNF Buus/Campbell/Jaminet (DNK/AUS/FRA), Dinamic GT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #18, 60 laps DNF Bachler/Güven/Heinrich (AUT/TUR/DEU), Schumacher CLRT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #22, 27 laps
Pro = Pro class; PAM = Pro-Am-Cup; GC = Gold-Cup; SC = Silver-Cup; BC = Bronze-Cup
Full results
