Spa Francorchamps, 25-26 July, 2009
The highlight of the FIA GT season is always the 24 Hours of
Spa, which is the tenth time the series has visited the daunting
circuit in the Belgian Ardennes region, with nine of them being 24
Hour races. This year there was a change to the regulations, in
as much as there were no points awarded at the 6 and 12 hour
marks, with only the standard points on offer at the finish. There
were thirty nine entries, nine in GT1, thirteen in GT2, six in G2
and eleven in G3, covering a broad spectrum of makes, including
a Ford GT and Nissan GT-R to 2010 specification. To pilot the
entries there were a total of 141 drivers of 20 different
nationalities, including the 1997 F1 World Champion, Canadian
Jacques Villeneuve, who was driving a G2 Mosler MT900, and five
times 24 Hour winner, Belgian Eric van de Poele.
The qualifying sessions were blighted by rain, only the first 15
minutes being on a completely dry track, so those who were out
early had the advantage. This meant that Alex Muller in the # 2
Vitaphone entered Maserati MC12 claimed pole position, ahead of
the sister # 33 and # 2 cars, with the Bernoldi / Streit / Maassen
Corvette filling out the second row of the grid. In the GT2 class it
was the # 50 AF Corse Ferrari F430 GTC of Bruni / Vilander /
Melo / Companc was quickest, followed by the CRS Racing # 55
example of Mullen / Niarchos / Quaife / Goodwin, and the
Trackspeed Porsche 911 GT3 RS Ashburn / Sugden / Ortelli /
Bergmeister. Quickest in the G2 class was the Audi R8 LMS of
Faessler / Moser / Margaritis / Bassen, and in the G3 group it
was the # 121 Matech GT Racing Ford GT of Mutsch / Martin /
Wyss / Hennerici that headed the times. However, as noted,
because of the changing weather conditions, the grid did not
necessarily provide a true indication of race form, and in a 24 hour
race pole position is more a psychological advantage than a
practical one.
The rolling race start took place at 16.00 on Saturday afternoon in
fine weather conditions, although the track was slightly damp in
places from a pre-grid shower. It didn’t take long for the gremlins
to affect some of the runners, in fact three only completed 3 laps.
The # 151 BMW Alpina B6 GT3 had a brief fire and had to be
abandoned trackside just after turn 9 at Malmedy, the # 95
Pecom entered Ferrari pitted and retired immediately with
gearbox problems, and the # 78 BMS Scuderia Italia example
expired with electrical problems in the engine management
system. Meanwhile out on the track the overall leader at the end
of the first hour was the # 3 SRT Corvette of Gavin / Rouffier /
Soulet / Longin, having forced its way past the trio of Vitaphone
Maseratis, whilst in the GT2 class the # 70 Matmut Porsche of
Pilet/Narac/Long led the # 51 AF Corse Ferrari of Kaffer / Cadei /
Russo / Barba Lopez. Towards the end of the hour the rain clouds
swept in, and some sections of the track became very wet, giving
a number of competitors some scary moments. However, it
wasn’t as bad as the sudden monsoon that swept in during the
third hour of the race, that saw cars spinning everywhere, one of
them being Jacques Villeneuve in the Mosler MT900, who had
lifted off as a faster car was passing, hit a large puddle and was
then just a passenger as the car aquaplaned off into the barriers,
putting it out of the race. Two other cars went off at the same
place, but were able to rejoin, but as the stricken Mosler was
stranded on the track the safety car was deployed whilst it was
recovered. Apart from a further shower later in the evening, the
race then ran in dry conditions through to the finish at 16.00 hours
on Sunday afternoon.
However, there was quite a high rate of attrition, with the
Corvettes and Maseratis fighting fiercely for overall honours, whilst
the pair of AF Corse Ferraris had managed to get ahead of the
Porsches to lead the GT2 class. The Maserati challenge took a
major blow just after midnight when Andrea Bertolini put the # 1
Vitaphone Maserati into the barriers at Fagnes, suffering
considerable damage, although he managed to limp back to the
pits. The team then set about repairing the car, including the front
suspension and steering, but a lot of time was lost and the car
dropped way down the order before it was back on track. Due to
the extensive damage to the barriers, the safety car was deployed
while repairs were effected, thus the whole tenth hour of the race
was run behind the safety car, until officials were satisfied that the
repairs were complete. At half distance the race leader was the #
3 Corvette of Hezemans / Kumpen / Menten / Mollekens,
3.446secs ahead of the similar car of Gavin / Ruffier / Soulet /
Longin, and only 6.597secs ahead of the # 2 Muller / Ramos /
Lamy / van de Poele Maserati MC12. That close after 12 hours of
racing! In the GT2 class it was still the pair of AF Corse Ferrari
F430 GTCs that led the way, the # 51 car ahead of the # 50
example. One of the big surprises was the performance of the G2
class Audi R8 LMS, which was running like clockwork, and was
running 5th overall at this point.
Just into the 12th hour of the race the repaired # 1 Vitaphone
Maserati rejoined, but having spent nearly 3 hours in the pit
garage, and now 65 laps down on the leaders. Meanwhile the
sister # 2 car was consolidating a lead ahead of the # 3 and # 4
Corvettes, such that by the 18th hour it was 74secs ahead of the
# 3 Corvette, with the # 4 Corvette a lap down. Meanwhile the #
50 AF Corse car had taken over at the head of the GT2 group as
the sister # 51 car had suffered gearbox problems and retired,
whilst the G2 Audi was up to 4th place overall. Vitaphone
Maserati fortunes took another turn for the worse in the 19th hour,
when the # 2 car driven by Muller spun with a puncture between
Pouhon and Fagnes. He tried to nurse the car back to the pits,
but was stopped by race control before Blanchimont and the car
went into retirement. However the pair of Corvettes weren’t having
it easy, as they were both consuming/leaking oil, with the # 3
example suffering the worst, making lengthy stops to try and
rectify the problem, as the leaking oil was burning off and filling
the cockpit with fumes and smoke, which dropped it down the
order and out of contention. The # 4 Corvette dropped its lap
times considerably during the last hour, as it had a comfortable
lead over the # 33 Vitaphone Maserati, so that it was able to ease
the pressure on the engine to get it to the chequered flag.
So the race ran out with the # 3 PK Carsport Corvette of
Hezemans / Kumpen / Menten / Mollekens taking victory,
followed by the # 33 Vitaphone Maserati of Guidi / Lemeret /
Rosenblad / Vosse, with the final overall podium spot going to the
G2 class winning Audi R8 LMS of Faessler / Moser / Margaritis /
Bassen. In the GT2 class victory, and 4th overall, went to the AF
Corse Ferrari F430 GTC of Bruni / Vilander / Melo / Companc,
ahead of the Ragginger / Lucchini / Holzer / Miller Porsche 911
GT3 RS, and the Ferrari F430 GTC of Kirkaldy / Bell / Kox /
Garcia. The G3 class win went to the Mutsch / Martin / Wyss /
Hennerici Ford GT. Coincidentally, drivers in each of the GT1 and
GT2 class winning cars had celebrated birthdays on the Saturday
of the race start, Mike Hezemans was 40, and Toni Vilander was
28, so they‘ll be birthdays that they remember well!
David O’Neill
07/2009
The next race in the FIA GT Championship is at the Hungaroring,
near Budapest. This is the sixth visit of the series to the
Hungarian circuit; on the last visit, in 2006, victory was taken by a
Saleen, Hezemans and Kumpen, together with Longin, finished
second while the leading Maserati, driven by Bartels and Bertolini,
could do no better than fifth.
Ferraris entered in the 2009 24h Spa race
r # Model Chassis # Colour Entrant Driver(s) Overall Result
Class Result
50 F430 GTC 2642 Red RWG Stripes AF Corse T.Vilander/
G.Bruni/ J.Melo/ L.Perez Companc 4th 1st
51 F430 GTC 2622 Red RWG Stripes AF Corse A.Barba Lopez/
N.Cadei/ M. Russo/ P.Kaffer DNF DNF
55 F430 GT 2418 Red/ White/ Blue CRS C.Niarchos/ T.Mullen/
P.Quiafe/ C.Goodwin 9th 6th
56 F430 GTC 2618 Red/ White/ Blue CRS A.Kirkaldy/ R.Bell/
P.Kox/ A.Garcia 6th 3rd
77 F430 GTC 2616 Red/ White BMS M.Maluchelli/ P. Ruberti/ K.
Heyer/ D.Romanini DNF DNF
78 F430 GTC 2614 Red/ White BMS F.Babini/ C.Pescatori/
M.Zani DNF DNF
95 F430 GTC 2626 Red/ White/ Black Pecom L.Case/
C.Sbirrazzuoli DNF DNF
99 F430 GT 2450 Blue Met JMB M.Basso/ P.Kuteman/
J.Hartshorne/ S.Daoudi DNF DNF
120 F430 GT3 146402-31 Red/ Gold Rosso Corse M.Cullen/
P.Shovlin/ M.Patterson/ P.LudwigGT 21st 7th
Race Result Pos Car Class Drivers Car Gap
1 4 GT1 Hezemans / Kumpen / Menten / Mollekens Corvette Z06
2 33 GT1 Guidi / Lemeret / Rosenblad / Vosse Maserati MC 12
11 LAPS
3 111 G2 Fassler / Moser / Margaritis / Basseng Audi R8 LMS 15
LAPS
4 50 GT2 Bruni / Vilander / Melo / Companc Ferrari F430 19
LAPS
5 97 GT2 Ragginger / Lucchini / Holzer / Miller Porsche 911 GT3
RS (997) 24 LAPS
6 56 GT2 Kirkaldy / Bell / Kox / Garcia Ferrari F430 31 LAPS
7 61 GT2 Van Splunteren / Coronel / Hommerson / MacHiels
Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 32 LAPS
8 60 GT2 Collard / Westbrook / O'Young / Edwards Porsche 911
GT3 RS (997) 33 LAPS
9 55 GT2 Mullen / Niarchos / Quaife / Goodwin Ferrari F430 34
LAPS
10 121 G3 Mutsch / Martin / Wyss / Hennerici Ford GT 40 LAPS
11 123 G3 Lefort / Verbist / Forbes Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S 41
LAPS
12 161 G3 Lanik / Loix / Palttala / Slingerland Porsche 911 GT3
Cup S 42 LAPS
13 35 GT1 Krumm / Turner / Davidson Nissan GT-R 46 LAPS
14 172 G3 Renard / Wauters / Van Hooydonck / Schroyen Aston
Martin DBRS9 56 LAPS
15 145 G3 Kelders / Greisch / Desbrueres / Helary Porsche 911
GT3 Cup S 62 LAPS
16 1 GT1 Bertolini / Bartels / Sarrazin / Negrao Maserati MC 12
70 LAPS
17 116 G2 Lichtner-Hoyer / Eckert / Rich / Sharp Porsche 997
GT3 Cup 72 LAPS
18 59 GT2 Ashburn / Sugden / Ortelli / Bergmeister Porsche 911
GT3 RS (997) 73 LAPS
19 3 GT1 Gavin / Ruffier / Soulet / Longin Corvette Z06 74 LAPS
20 160 G3 Kerkhove / Havette / Noziere / Brouard Porsche 911
GT3 Cup S 75 LAPS
21 120 G3 Cullen / Shovlin / Patterson / Ludwig Ferrari 430 GT3
83 LAPS
22 70 GT2 Pilet / Narac / Long Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 134
LAPS
23 2 GT1 Muller / Ramos / Lamy / Van De Poele Maserati MC 12
140 LAPS
24 99 GT2 Kuteman / Basso / Hartshorne / Daoudi Ferrari F430
153 LAPS
25 110 G2 Schuybroeck / Kenis / Smets / Dekeersmaecker
Mosler MT900 156 LAPS
26 77 GT2 Malucelli / Ruberti / Heyer / Romanini Ferrari F430 230
LAPS
27 40 GT1 Leinders / Kuppens / Doncker Ford GT (001 PT GT1)
241 LAPS
28 51 GT2 Kaffer / Cadei / Russo / Barba Lopez Ferrari F430 243
LAPS
29 174 G3 Lesoudier / Prignaud / Brandela / Corbel BMW Alpina
B6 GT3 271 LAPS
30 122 G3 Oliveira Jr / Negrao / Mattheis / Lunardi Ford GT 287
LAPS
31 124 G3 Haring / Konstantinou / Durr / Bourdeaux Porsche 911
GT3 Cup S 325 LAPS
32 117 G2 Kaufmann / Ullmann / Vannelet / Hirschi Porsche 996
Bi-Turbo (GT2-R) 400 LAPS
33 11 GT1 Van Dam / Dierick / Van Der Zwaan / Van Der Zwaan
Saleen S7 Twin Turbo 431 LAPS
34 118 G2 Radermeker / Ho-Pin / De Sordi / Villeneuve Mosler
MT900 494 LAPS
35 8 GT1 Bernoldi / Streit / Maassen Corvette Z06 504 LAPS
36 115 G2 Lapierre / Nury / Tremblay / Perrin Porsche 996 Bi-
Turbo (GT2-R) 533 LAPS
37 175 G3 Hummel / Petit / Paillard / Fumal BMW Alpina B6 GT3
556 LAPS
38 78 GT2 Pescatori / Babini / Zani Ferrari F430 556 LAPS
39 95 GT2 Case / Sbirrazuoli Ferrari F430 556 LAPS
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