Race 1
Teo Martin’s Spanish squad had its day in the Spa-Francorchamps sun, with the #1 BMW M6 of Miguel Ramos and Roldán Rodríguez taking their first win of the season in Race 1.
Marco Cioci made the best start from the front row in the #49 AF Corse Ferrari, while Fernando Monje and Duncan Tappy ran wide at La Source but the BMW re-took control in the Kemmel straight, followed by Cioci, Miguel Ramos, Phil Keen, Fabrizio Crestani and Tappy.
On the first lap, both McLarens lost ground, with a puncture for Tappy, and a spin for Alexander West in the sister #88 650S GT3) and Fillipe Barreiros also made slight contact with the barriers, but on lap 3 the drama was definitely bigger, as Monje ran wide at Pouhon, lost control over the kerb and hit the tyre wall hard, severely damaging the front of the M6.
Luckily, the Spaniard got out of the car by his own means quite quickly, but barriers and Armco needed long repairs, with the safety-car taking over.
The race resumed after a long break, with 42 minutes to go, with the driver change window opening shortly and Miguel Ramos, Emanuele Busnelli, Claudio Sdanowitsch and Anna Rathe being among the first ones to stop. In the meantime, Cioci continued to lead, with Keen, Crestani, Webster, Tappy and Coimbra, first in GT Am, behind.
After all pit stops, it’s Alex Moiseev led, but he was soon passed by Sean Balf’s Balfe Motorsport Ferrari and then Rodriguez’s Teo Martin BMW. Pastorelli was fourth ahead of a close group composed of Thomas Biagi, Côme Ledogar, Euan Hankey and Fabio Babini.
On lap 16, Pastorelli took third from Moiseev, with Ledogar fifth. The Renault and the Lambo put on ashow in the final laps, as Pastorelli took second from Balfe, while Babini climbed up to fifth and Ledogar stole third and the podium from Balfe in lap 19, with a daring move round the outside at Eau Rouge. Lemeret won in GT Am over Silva.
Race 2
V8 Racing stole the show in what turned out to be a rain-soaked second race at Spa. Nicky Pastorali and Josh Webster took the win, marking the Renault RS01’s first ever win in GT3 spec. V8 Racing also won in GT-Am, with Filipe Barreiros and Maximiliaan Braams.
A typical Spa storm broke out shortly before the start, with the field behind the safety-car for the first 20 of the 60 minutes of the race.
Côme Ledogar in the #88 Garage 59 McLaren made perfect start ahead of Rodriguez while Euan Hankey passed Pastorelli for third in the TF Sport Aston Martin. Shortly after, on lap 6, the window for driver changes opened, with Moiseev, Michael Benham and Luis Silva being the first ones to stop.
Conditions remain very challenging for the rest of the race, and it showed after contact at the chicane between Crestani and Ramos for 10th, with Sdanewitsch and Cioci passing both.
The difficult conditions and the perturbed sequence of pit stops give an unusual ranking in lap 10, with West leading over Yoluc and Busnelli, with Rathe, Webster, Noble, Cioci and Keen following. Yoluc and Webster took the lead one lap later, with Cioci, Tappy and Keen climbing up quickly and being right behind Busnelli in 3rd.
On lap 12, Webster stole the lead from Salih Yoluc, and the trio of Cioci, Tappy and Keen passed Busnelli.
One lap later, Yoluc conceded the position to Cioci and Tappy, and on lap 16 also to Keen and Crestani, who were fighting hard. In the closing moments, Tappy snatched second from Cioci.
