TEAM WRT SHOWERED IN CLOSING MINUTES AT THE TOTAL 24 HOURS OF SPA AFTER FIGHTING AGAIN FOR VICTORY

TEAM WRT SHOWERED IN CLOSING MINUTES AT THE TOTAL 24 HOURS OF SPA AFTER FIGHTING AGAIN FOR VICTORY

28/07/2019

It was a Total 24 Hours of Spa worth of the legend and epic of that unique race, full of events and incidents, including a 5.30-hour suspension of the race because of the weather conditions, and it was one of frustration for Team WRT, deprived of a very-well deserved top-5 finish in the closing minutes, when the Audi Sport Team WRT #1 car of René Rast-Nico Müller-Robin Frijns, who had led the race in two distinct phases and had been in contention for victory almost until the end, was sent out of track by another car.

It was a sad blow for the entire team, whose #2 car (Dries Vanthoor-Alex Riberas-Frank Stippler) also had its share of trouble from a contact it did not cause, while the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT-entered machines took P12 with Charles Weerts-Rik Breukers-Norman Nato and P5 in the Silver Cup with Shae Davies-Paul Petit-Alex Mac Dowall.

Despite the disappointment, the team fought up-front the entire race, saw its four cars classified and proved once again to be a player that can’t be ruled out in the world’s greatest GT3 race.

The week started with very hot weather, with temperatures breaking an historic 40c on Wednesday. Practice sessions and qualifying were clearly influenced by the conditions, with the Audi R8 LMS doing well and having no major trouble, other than car #17 being prevented to take part in qualifying because of an accident of Alex Mac Dowall in his very first lap.

Both the Audi Sport Team WRT cars made it to the top-20 and the Super Pole exercise on Friday, with Dries Vanthoor in car #2 and Nico Müller in car #1 taking excellent positions on the grid, 6^thand 7^threspectively, with car #10 qualifying 23^rd.

On Saturday, weather conditions changed radically, with much cooler temperatures and rain retaking its rights on the Ardennes forests. The start of the race was given behind the safety-car, with the group released after three laps. Initial phases saw Rast and Stippler always with the front-runners, with car #1 climbing up to 3^rd position at a given moment, while car #10 entered the top-20 during the third stint, after Charles Weerts took over from Rik Breukers, at the same time car #17 recovered positions steadily after having to starts from the pits with no qualifying time.

On a progressively drying track, but with constant drizzle, incidents were numerous, with a number of safety-car and full-yellow-course periods. Shortly before the 4-hour mark, car #1 took the lead, keeping it for a while, before having to serve a drive-through (for excessive speed in the pits) and performing a relatively early ‘technical stop’, the mandatory 5-minute servicing stop. In those phases, car #2 took the baton, running 3^rd, with car #10 stable in the top-20 and #17 having climbed in the top-35.

The middle of the night would bring more rain, incidents and neutralization periods. Unfortunately, those also concerned the #2 car as it was hit from behind by a BMW while Dries Vanthoor was at the wheel and had to make a long pit stop for repairs. Shortly before 6 am, the race direction decided to suspend the race with red flag because of the extreme conditions. With machines blocked in ‘parc fermé’ in the pits and humans allowed some rest, the unusual situation went on until 11:30 am when the race resumed for the last 5 hours.

Half-hour into the final part of the race, car #1 retook the lead, increasing its advantage. René Rast, then at the wheel, was nevertheless under investigation, which eventually yielded no penalty, because of an earlier contact with a lapped car in the old pits straight. At that point, car #10 had climbed to P9, with car #2 in 30^th and car #17 in 34^th.

With little over two hours to race, it was clear that car #1 was in the trio of cars, covered by less than 10 seconds, fighting for win, with ten other cars in the same lap! But drama wasn’t over: first, Nico Müller briefly lost the car at Les Combes and hit the tire walls with the rear. Luckily, the damage did not seem to impair the pace of the car, although it had to concede a couple of positions to faster cars. When an excellent final P4 was in sight, only 8 minutes from the flag, the race of car #1 was over, as René Rast was sent into the barriers by Bachler, who had lost control of his Porsche. Car #10 crossed the finishing line in P12, and car #2 in P25, with car #17 taking 5^th in the Silver Cup.

Vincent Vosse (Team Principal): “I am, of course, disappointed for the entire team, who has done a fantastic job for weeks to prepare the Total 24 Hours of Spa. I said ahead of the race that we were not the favourites and the last couple of hours proved it. Still, we have been fighting in true Team WRT spirit, we have been leading the race and seizing all our chances. That’s the main take-away, beyond the frustration. Many things happened during the race, but that’s racing and it’s Spa 24 Hours. Not sure it is, though, to stop the race for so long because it rains…”

René Rast (Car #1): “We led the race for quite a while, but eventually found ourselves to fight for 4^th. On the dry, we didn’t have the pace to keep the Porsche cars behind. The end was unfortunate, but we were here to win, so to finish fourth was definitely not what we would have expected, and I am very disappointed.”

Nico Müller (Car #1): “We had higher expectations, but we lost way too much time in the last 3-4 hours, when the Porsches had higher pace. We also weren’t much lucky in some of the strategic calls. We led for a lot of laps but it didn’t pay off, although we had a pretty clean race. The final contact that prevented us to take the flag doesn’t change much, as we were here to win. Still, the car was great, the team did an excellent job and we had great support from Audi Sport.”

Dries Vanthoor (Car #2): “We had a strong pace, but we couldn’t show it throughout the race. We just did not have a fluid race: we messed a bit in one of the early pit stops, then had a drive-through, and then of course, that contact during the night, which really destroyed our race, and that’s about it…’’

Charles Weerts (Car #10): “For me, these first Total 24 Hours of Spa were an unforgettable experience, it wasn’t easy but I enjoyed it and learnt a lot. Frankly, P12 is a decent result, although we would have wanted a top-10 finish. Still, we also had our little issues and a drive-through, but all in all, our pace was good.”

Paul Petit (Car #17): “We finished the race, and that was the first objective. Considering where we starting from, the result is not bad, although we were aiming at the podium in the Silver Cup. Still, P5 keeps us in the race for the season’s podium in the class and we’ll fight hard at Barcelona to get it.”

Blancpain Endurance Cup – Round 4
Total 24 Hours of Spa, Belgium, 22-28 July 2019

Race results:

1. Lietz-Christensen-Estre (Porsche 991R) 363 laps
2. Makowiecki-Pilet-Tandy (Porsche 911R) +3s347
3. Engel-Buurman-Stolz (Mercedes AMG) +17s945
4. Winkelhock-Vervisch-Haase (Audi R8 LMS) +22s425
5. Müller-Dumas-Jaminet (Porsche 911R) + 1 lap

12. Weerts-Breukers-Nato (Audi R8 LMS) + 1 lap

23. Rast-Müller-Frijns (Audi R8 LMS) + 4 laps (DNF)

25. Vanthoor-Riberas-Stippler (Audi R8 LMS) + 5 laps

34. Petit-Davies-MacDowall (Audi R8 LMS) + 7 laps (5^thin Silver Cup)

Photo: Patrick Hecq Photography