The last hour of the 2013 Spa 24 Hours started with a drive through penalty being handed to the #71 SMP Ferrari of Maurizio Mediani – which lay second in Pro Am – for exceeding the maximum driving hours rule. This effectively ended the battle for the Pro Am lead, as the gap between them and the leading #59 AF Corse Ferrari of Toni Vilander would be too large to overcome after the penalty was served.
Only a few laps later, the #71 was then given a stop and go penalty for the same infringement. It was however originally unclear if they had failed to serve the initial penalty, or whether they had exceeded the maximum driving time twice Either way only one drive through was served.
Major drama would then occur in the Gentlemen Trophy class, as issues would hit the top two cars in the class. The #20 was shown having repairs to the rear in the pit box, but it may have been precautionary. Just moments later however, the #52 Sport Garage Ferrari was seen circulating the track with smoke coming out of the rear, it then dived into the pits and was attended too quickly by mechanics in its pit box. Both cars would exit the pit lane after short amounts of time, but they certainly looked (potentially) fragile.
It seemed that the 24th hour would continue to keep everyone on their toes. When the #71 SMP Ferrari went in to serve the penalty, it didn’t stop, and continued to drive through the pitlane, which would cause further confusion because it (apparently) didn’t serve the correct penalty.
Meanwhile in the Gentlemen Trophy class the leading #20 Sofrev ASP Ferrari would be investigated by the stewards for the starting procedure they used to exit the pits. Sofrev’s mechanics push started the car, which in the regulations is not allowed. The team manager was consequently sent to the stewards and handed a drive through penalty. The team were so far ahead however, that it didn’t put their class lead in jeopardy.
There would be one more retirement in this race sadly. As in the dying moments news would come from the JRM pits, that their #23 Nissan Nismo GT-R of Lucas Luhr, Steven Kane and Peter Dumbreck, would be forced to retire due to drivetrain issues.
So in the end it would be the #84 HTP Motorsports Mercedes SLS which would take the checkered flag, after an extremely solid run from the German team. Maximilian Buhk, Maximilian Götz and Bernd Schneider all drove exceptionally well throughout, not putting a foot wrong. Ultimately though, this was an “old school” type race which required the good old formula of staying out of the garage and running round and round to win – which is exactly what the guys at HTP did.
Second overall was the #150 Manthey Racing Porsche 997 GT3 R of Marc Lieb, Patrick Pilet and Ricard Lietz. It was a good performance from the N24 specialists, but a combination of bad luck with safety cars and the drive-through penalty which cost them a real shot at the win in the final quarter of the race.
And coming home in third was the #2 WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra of André Lotterer, Frank Stippler and Christopher Mies. It was a tough outing for all the Audi squads, especially WRT, who had to retire three of their four entries, but the #2 kept out of trouble and took advantage of misfortunes from other teams throughout, slowly climbing the order. The R8 didn’t have the outright pace to win this one, but if the reliability was there, surely the “four rings” would have had a larger presence on the podium.
The final top 10 were as follows:
1st – #84 HTP Motorsports Mercedes – 564 laps
2nd – #150 Manthey Racing Porsche – 2nd Pro
3rd – #2 WRT Audi – 3rd Pro
4th – #6 Phoenix Racing Audi – 4th Pro
5th – #59 AF Corse Ferrari – 1st Pro Am – 557 laps
6th – #71 SMP Racing – 2nd Pro Am
7th – #35 RJN Motorsport Nissan – 3rd Pro Am
8th – #18 Black Falcon Mercedes – 4th Pro Am
9th – #75 Prospeed Porsche – 5th Pro
10th – #72 SMP Racing Ferrari – 5th Pro Am
Gentlemen Trophy top 5:
1st – #20 Sofrev ASP Ferrari – 539 laps
2nd – #52 Sport Garage Ferrari
3rd – #111 Kessel Racing Ferrari
4th – #53 Sport Garage Ferrari
5th – #58 Delahaye Racing Porsche
Stephen Kilbey
