Ferrari
teammates
James Calado
,
Antonio Giovinazzi
and
Alessandro Pier Guidi
secured the victory at the Spa 6 Hours on Sunday, finishing ahead of the sister car—a 499P Le Mans Hypercar—by approximately 4 seconds.
Nicklas Nielsen
,
Miguel Molina
and
Antonio Fuoco
, with the third-placed
Alpine
A424 LMDh driven by
Frédéric Makowiecki
,
Jules Gounon
and
Mick Schumacher
an additional second behind.
Although Ferrari may have led in qualifying with the trio of 499Ps securing the front row spots in Hyperpole, the Belgian race turned into a tightly contested battle where they encountered strong competition from Alpine, BMW, and Peugeot.
After the second of two safety car periods concluded with one hour and 51 minutes left, the second-place Ferrari seemed to gain the upper hand.
The winning car in the GT3LM class was #21 Vista AF Corse with their Ferrari 296 LMGT3 driven by François Hériau, Simon Mann, and Alessio Rovera. The overall race victor was #51 Ferrari AF Corse’s Ferrari 499P piloted by Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi.
Photo credit: FIAWEC – DPPI
However, when the two factories
AF Corse
About an hour before the end of the race, when they were about a lap apart, Pier Guidi driving car #51 managed to close down a 6-second gap to the #50 driven by Nielsen after taking over from Fuocco.
Despite being outpaced by the two WRT BMW M Hybrid LMDhs, Pier Guidi managed to overtake them swiftly. In contrast, Nielsen faced delays and dropped back further behind the duo of Jota Cadillac V-Series R LMDhs.
Over the last hour, the approaches of the two Ferraris differed as Pier Guidi pressed ahead, knowing he needed to make a significant move later on, whereas Nielsen opted for a fuel-saving strategy.
Pier Guidi withdrew from the race with 12 minutes remaining, finishing with an 11-second lead over his teammate.
Alpine ranked as ‘the best among the rest.’
#35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Paul-LoupChat in, FerdinandH abs burg,CharlesMiles i
Photo courtesy of: FIAWEC – DPPI
Nielsen simply overpowered Schumacher towards the finish line, carefully managing his energy reserves until the very last moment. It turned into a scenario of ‘what could have been’ for the #36 Alpine.
A gradual leak during the second-to-last stint dulled the French company’s competitiveness, which paradoxically enabled Schumacher to move up his pit stop for fuel timing.
BMW took the lead with the #20 vehicle co-driven by
René Rast
and
Robin Frijns
, missing out on a clear chance for a spot on the podium due to a brake issue that led to its withdrawal in the last hour.
The Peugeot 9X8 2024 LMH, which was well-positioned to secure yet another podium for the brand, also had to retire from the race.
Malthe Jakobsen
in the #94 co-shared with
Loic Duval
and
Stoffel Vandoorne
collided with Frijns at Les Combes.
Earlier in the race, Peugeot had divided its fuel strategies, which resulted in
Jean-Eric Vergne
The driver leading with the #93 car lost his advantage when the safety car emerged soon after he had made a pit stop, negating their strategic move.
#38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais, Jenson Button
Photograph by: Eric Le Galliot
Toyota secured the fourth position with the GR010 HYBRID LMH driven by
Brendon Hartley
,
Ryo Hirakawa
and
Sébastien Buemi
, even though its two cars qualified ahead of just the Aston Martin Valkyrie LMHs.
The Jota Cadillacs finished in fifth and sixth place, with the #12 vehicle being shared by
Alex Lynn
,
Norman Nato
completing the race nine seconds ahead of #38 piloted by
Jenson Button
,
Earl Bamber
and Sebastien Bourdais.
The second car manufactured by Toyota driven by
Mike Conway
,
Kamui Kobayashi
and
Nyck de Vries
claimed seventh position ahead of the second Alpine car shared by
Ferdinand Habsburg
,
Charles Milesi
and
Paul-Loup Chatin
.
Porsche managed to secure a top result of ninth with the No. 6 factory Penske 963 LMDh driven by their team.
Laurens Vanthoor
,
Kevin Estre
and Pascal Wehrlein.
BMW completed the top 10 with the #15 M Hybrid piloted by
Kevin Magnussen
and
Raffaele Marciello
.
LMGT3 witnesses yet another triumph for Ferrari.
#21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3: François Hériau, Simon Mann, Alessio Rovera
Photo by: Andreas Beil
The LMGT3 honors were awarded to the AF Corse-driven Ferrari 296 GT3 co-piloted by François Hériau.
Simon Mann
and
Alessio Rovera
, even with an initial race penalty.
Rovera completed the race 40 seconds ahead of the opponent.
Proton Competition
Ford Mustang GT3 of
Dennis Olsen
,
Giammarco Levorato
and
Stefano Gattuso
.
