Audi no7 wins 6 hours of Spa, Aston Martin takes both GTE victories

Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler’s No7 Audi R18 e-tron Quattro won the second round of the World Endurance Championship, the 6 hours of Spa-Fancorchamps, Belgium. No 18 Porsche 919 finished 2^nd while the no 17 Porsche finished 3^rd.

With the Belgian crowd on the edge of the seats, Treluyer in his last stint had to fight Neel Jani in the no18 Porsche 919 all the way to the chequered flag, with the two cars going wheel to wheel, and a late stop for fuel left the French driver just 13 seconds ahead of the Porsche with 15-minutes on the clock.  The run to the flag was nail biting but the no7 Audi crossed the finish line to take the win for Audi.

The pole sitting no17 Porsche 919 of Brendon Hartley led from the start but was given a stop go penalty for using a run off area near to a group of marshals after he outbraked into the last corner.  The car then had to go into the garage after a problem with the rear suspension was diagnosed, losing the car a lap on the leaders.  Hartley and his teammates Timo Bernhard and Mark Webber fought back and were rewarded with third place on the podium 1 lap down, with Hartley setting a new lap record for the WEC at Spa with a 1m57.972 lap, 3.2 seconds quicker than the previous best time.

LMP2

A jump start by the no38 JOTA Sport Gibson-Nissan of Harry Tincknell ended in a drive through penalty for the Englishman. The no26 G-Drive Racing Ligier-Nissan, which won the opening at Silverstone finished 2^nd in class. The no43 Team Sard Morand Morgan Evo took the final podium place on the team’s WEC debut with Pierre Ragues, Oliver Webb and Zoel Amberg taking the chequered flag 2 laps behind the JOTA Sport Gibson