6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps – Race: New victory for Audi ahead of Porsche

As in Silverstone, spectators had to wait until the very end of the race to find out who would win, as the gap between Audi No. 7 and Porsche No. 18 was so small. Fifteen minutes before the end, Benoit Tréluyer was called to the pits for a final refueling. But the strategists from Ingolstadt took the risk of not changing his tires to lose as little time as possible. This strategy paid off as the Frenchman managed to exit with a thirteen-second lead over Neel Jani, which he managed to maintain until the end. He stated at the end of the race: « When they told me I would keep my tires for a third stint at the end, I thought, “Oh no!” But it was our chance to win the race and I managed to take risks in the traffic and attack like crazy. We succeeded and I am very happy for the team because we had a very good weekend and it’s great to win in this way. »

The trio has thus managed to secure its second victory in as many races, putting them in an ideal position before tackling the peak of the season, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Porsche No. 19, then driven by Nick Tandy, was the first to be unable to fight for the victory following a collision with Kevin Estre’s Porsche No. 91, which occurred just fifteen minutes into the race. The impact required a return to the pits to repair bodywork damage, which was completed in less than four minutes. The trio was never able to recover the lost time and thus had to settle for 6th place overall, three laps behind the winners. The German driver was nonetheless satisfied with his endurance debut, looking forward to his next participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans: « I felt comfortable in the car during the race. I did a double stint on one set of tires, which was hard on the rubber. Managing traffic was also very interesting and a pleasant experience even if it scared me a few times. Sometimes, it’s the right time to overtake, but other times, it’s not. »

It was then the Porsche No. 17 that experienced a setback: although it had been leading since the start of the race, Brendon Hartley made a mistake after an hour and a half into the race at the final corner, causing him to go off the track, where marshals were working. This was penalized with a 15-second penalty. It then had to relinquish the lead to Porsche No. 18. But this was just the beginning of troubles for the pole sitters, as fifteen minutes later, Mark Webber was pushed into the pits to address rear suspension issues. The repairs cost them a lap. However, once repaired, it proved to be extremely effective as Brendon Hartley subsequently managed to set the fastest lap of the race. Their efforts were rewarded with third place on the podium. At the end of the race, the former F1 driver then stated: “We handicapped ourselves too much today. We don’t want to receive gifts when we’re not at our best. I’m surprised we managed to come back the way we did. The speed of the car was good and, fortunately, the race is long enough for us to make a comeback.”

After two hours of racing, it was the Audi No. 9 that also experienced issues, as its left window detached from the bodywork, necessitating an additional pit stop. Nevertheless, victory was not the objective for this car, which was equipped with an aerodynamic package from the other two Audi cars in order to serve as a reference in preparation for Le Mans and other championship races. Therefore, the trio Albuquerque/Bonanomi/Rast could be satisfied with their fourth-place finish.

Behind, Toyota experienced a weekend to forget. Although it started poorly with the accident that victimized Kazuki Nakajima during free practice, it didn’t improve during the race. Thus, the No. 2 car of Stéphane Sarrazin, Alex Wurz, and Mike Conway did not encounter specific problems but still finished 5th, three laps behind the winners, highlighting a significant performance deficit.

As for car number 1, which was driven only by Sébastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson, it was affected by throttle problems after three hours of racing, which required several successive stops for the car to regain its full potential. But the damage was done as the duo lost 14 laps in the process. The end of the race was therefore a race against time to catch up with the much slower LMP2s. But the reigning world champions had to settle for 8th place in the end.

The race was also very complicated for the Audi No. 8 of Oliver Jarvis, Loic Duval, and Lucas Di Grassi, which had already been involved in the accident with the Toyota during free practice. Indeed, after three and a half hours of racing, it encountered electronic problems that could only be resolved by changing the electronic control unit. Moreover, in the penultimate lap, Oliver Jarvis made a mistake and hit the wall at Stavelot. He still managed to bring his car to the checkered flag in 7th position.