With the summer of 2013 shaping up to be warm, sunny, and quite unlike the previous few years, one thing is certain - the weather at the 24 Hours of Spa will be unpredictable, with scorching sun being chased by thunder and lightning, and torrential downpours.
Finish
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The prediction that the weather would be unpredictable proved to be largely unfounded. There were periods of immense rainfall beforehand, but aside from a few brief showers the race remained dry and temperatures were warm.
We were robbed of a battle for the lead in the last few hours after Manthey suffered a minor engine problem and finished the race running on just 5 cylinders, meaning that the HTP Mercedes finally got some respite at the front. Bernd Schneider remarked in the press conference later that this was most welcome, not least because his waterbottle was malfunctioning and thus it was somewhat tiring in the car.
Audi salvaged the final podium spot with their #2 Audi, with Andre Lotterer telling journalists that this was both fortunate and also the maximum they could get with the car due to the Balance of Performance this year. While one normally looks dubiously at the long list of excuses that race drivers bring, perhaps there is some merit in his point. The fastest race lap by an Audi was 2.23.141 - or 1.4 seconds slower than the quickest lap by the winning HTP Mercedes.
Certainly that difference in laptime would not account for the 6 laps difference between the cars - minor incidents and component failures made the majority of that - but possibly the only chink in the armour of the unbelievably strong and exciting Blancpain series (for which the Spa 24 Hours is the highlight of the calendar) is that it's very difficult to get the Balance of Performance exactly right all the time.
Regardless, this was a brilliant race, the best in the 5 years I've been attending the Spa 24 Hours, and judging by the fact that each year the visitors are increasing with over 60,000 people attending this year, it seems this is a winning formula.
Well done to the winning team HTP Motorsport, and roll on for next year!
Sunday - 2hrs to go
The enthralling nose-to-tail battle at the front seems to have gone the way of the HTP Mercedes - at least for now. Manthey are running about 1.5 laps behind following some bad luck under a couple of safety cars, and an interesting drive-through penalty for passing under the safety car, though the TV coverage showed that green flags were being waved.
Having gone 17 hours with only 3 safety cars, two were served up within an hour following yet another crash at Eau Rouge / Radillion, this time for the #50 AF Corse Ferrari, and then a very strange collision between #16 Audi and #17 Ferrari at Les Coombes.
The threat of bad weather has stayed off, and the racing on track remain fast and furious.
Sunday Morning
The night brought attrition to many of the frontrunners; after the demise of the #4 Marc VDS with alternator failure, cars #3 and #14 also encountered failure, so the team is officially retired. This leaves the battle at the front between the #84 HTP Mercedes and the #150 Manthey Porsche.
For now the Mercedes seems to have the upper hand following a brake pad change for the Porsche, but it's very close.
Race Start...and the first 10 hours!
Wow, that was a long stint! The rain was meant to come at 8pm, then 9pm and then 11pm, so I stayed out waiting for it to rain. Finally, on the stroke of midnight the rain arrived - but it was a gentle, cooling downpour, not the torrential monsoon of last year's race.
I've just about hit the wall and will be putting my head down for some rest shortly, but the story of the race so far has been a 4-way battle for the lead between the two Marc VDS BMW Z4s #3 and #4, the Manthey Porsche #150 and the #84 HTP Mercedes SLS. The lead changed hands many times, depending on the pitstops and various minor niggles with the cars, and it has remained an enthralling battle with very close racing on the track.
Just on the stroke of 2am, the #4 Marc VDS car encountered a more serious problem - stopping at Les Combes and dropping out of contention. This leaves Manthey in the lead, with Patrick Pilet at the wheel.
- #150 - Manthey Racing - Porsche 911 GT3 R
- #3 - Marc VDS - BMW Z4 GT3
- #84 - HTP Motorsport - Mercedes SLS GT3
- #127 - ROWE Racing - Mercedes SLS GT3
- #2 - WRT - Audi R8 LMS
- #26 - Vita4fone Racing - BMW Z4 GT3
- #69 - Gulf Racing - McLaren MP4-12C
- #44 - Kessel Racing - Ferrari F458 GT3
- #75 - Prospeed Competition - Porsche 911 GT3 R
- #6 - Phoenix Racing - Audi R8 LMS
Qualifying
Qualifying for the 24 Hours of Spa takes place in 3 segments: Qualifying 1 which takes place during daylight, Qualifying 2 which is at night, and then a Pole Position shootout for the top 20 cars, with those cars allowed just 2 laps to set their fastest time.
The entry for this years race is unbelievable strong, with 66 GT3 spec cars competing; 25 in the Pro category, 28 in the Pro-Am and 13 in the Gentleman Trophy. The specificiations of the cars in each class are the same, so an Audi R8 in Pro is identical to that in the Gentleman Trophy class for example. The difference is in the category of drivers. The drivers are rated based on the series they've competed in, the races they've won, and to an extent their age, and they are categorised in terms of Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. In Pro there are factory drivers in many of the cars. In Pro-Am, there are also cars driven predominantently by professional drivers, but a Bronze-rated driver must drive for at least 6 hours, or 25% of the race.
In the Gentleman Trophy professional drivers are not allowed, though two Silver drivers are permitted, and Bronze drivers must drive for at least 12 hours.
The 3 segments of qualifying for this race were all conducted in hot and dry conditions, though this didn't mean that they were incident-free. There were 2 red flags during Qualifying 1, including a strange incident where the two Marc VDS BMW Z4s collided with each other at Les Coombes. During Qualifying 2, there was a horrific crash for the #80 Aston Martin at Eau Rouge which thankfully the driver walked away from, the tyre barriers having done their job.
For some, the lottery for the pole position shootout is not so welcome - for example, during Q1 Marc Lieb set the 3rd fastest overall qualifying time in his #150 Manthey Racing Porsche 997 GT3 R, but in the pole position shootout he could only manage 9th on the grid. However, Stefan Mücke grasped the chance in the #99 Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and combined with Alessando Per Guidi in the #70 SMP Racing Ferrari F458 set up a front row consisting of Pro-Am cars. The quickest Pro car was the #84 HTP Mercedes SLS GT3 in 3rd.
However, SMP Racing started qualifying late, and were penalised with a drive-through penalty to be taken during the first 4 laps of the race, which no doubt took away from the joy of the front row start.
Highlighting the closeness of the grid, just 9/10ths of a second seperated the first 10 cars, with representation from 6 manufacterers. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that there were no Audi R8s in the top 10, with the cars seeming to be slightly off the pace this year and drivers stating that the Balance of Performance is not in their favour.
- #99 Beechdean AMR - Vantage GT3 - 2.20.675
- #70 SMP Racing - F458 GT3 - 2.20.902
- #84 HTP - SLS AMG GT3 - 2.20.917
- #4 Marc VDS - Z4 GT3 - 2.21.100
- #911 Prospeed Competition - 911 GT3 R - 2.21.219
- #59 AF Corse - F458 GT3 - 2.21.249
- #100 GPT AMR - Vantage GT3 - 2.21.293
- #3 - Marc VDS - Z4 GT3 - 2.21.297
- #150 - Manthey Racing - 911 GT3 R - 2.21.313
- #7 - Hexis Racing - MP4-12C GT3 - 2.21.543
Introduction
I had originally planned to cover the 24 Hours of Spa directly from my iPhone, with all images, content and everything being posted from it to enable timely coverage throughout the race. I was quite impressed with the shots I took using it at this year's Nürburgring 24h. Alas, during pre-qualifying, my iPhone crashed, and has failed to work since - it now displays some scary NAND memory errors on startup - and has been booked in for a visit to the Apple Store when I return to London. Thankfully, I came prepared for such eventualities and had a couple of large backpacks full of my usual Canon camera gear, along with a laptop. So, this means that coverage will generally be updated when I come into the Media Centre during the race. I'll try to make this at regular intervals, but with the unpredictable weather, certainly for the first few hours I will be predominantenly out on track.