Phoenix Racing emerged victorious from the 2022 Hankook 12H Spa-Francorchamps after a sensational, race-long battle with CP Racing and WTM Racing.
On an opposing fuel strategy, the Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II (#18, Michael Doppelmayr / Pierre Kaffer / Elia Erhart / Patryk Krupinski) repeatedly swapped the overall lead with the CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#85, Charles Putman / Charles Espenlaub / Shane Lewis), which took this morning’s restart from pole position, and the WTM Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 (#22, Georg Weiss / Leonard Weiss / Jochen Krumbach / Daniel Keilwitz) throughout the course of the afternoon.
With CP Racing forced to conserve fuel during its final stint, and WTM Racing, which also suffered two punctures during the afternoon, required to make one final driver change 10 minutes from home, Phoenix Racing eventually strengthened its lead and went on to take victory one lap clear.
Elia Erhart drove the #18 Audi across the line to complete 256 laps of the 7.004km Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and even had to contend with a late rain shower during his final run.
“This is a great feeling. It’s fantastic!” Elia Erhart explained to CREVENTIC post-race. “We really wanted to win this race, and it was so tough, because it started raining during the last eight laps. It was too early to go to rain tyres, and we still had to fight hard with CP Racing and WTM Racing. So it was very close, but we also really enjoyed that. This is a great result for us!”
While WTM Racing also secured 2nd in the GT3-PRO/AM class behind Phoenix Racing, CP Racing was victorious in the GT3-AM category. Behind the overall top three, the Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (#91, Daniel Allemann / Ralf Bohn / Jürgen Häring) finished a hard-earned 4th overall and 2nd in GT3-AM, despite a splash-and-dash for fuel inside the final 10 minutes.
The JUTA Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO I (#71, Julius Adomavičius / Andrius Gelžinis / Jonas Gelžinis) rounded out the overall top five, and collected ‘GT3’ class victory, after a meticulous run. The Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II (#34, Johannes Dr. Kirchhoff / Max Edelhoff / Tim Müller) had also been on course for a top five finish at Spa-Francorchamps, and even led the race outright on Saturday, but eventually fell back after suffering several punctures, the third coming in the closing moments of the event. The Audi nevertheless managed to retain 3rd in GT3-AM.
The SAINTéLOC Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II (#26, Olivier Esteves / Pierre-Yves Paque / Christian Kelders / Simon Gachet) survived two separate clashes at La Source – the second of which earning the Audi a 30-second time penalty – to finish 7th overall, and just one lap shy of the GT3-AM class podium. The EBM Porsche 911 GT3 R (#61, Adrian D’Silva / Tanart Sathienthirakul / Jeffrey Kingsley) was the final GT3 runner in the overall top 10 in 9th.
Having finished 8th overall on the road, Red Ant Racing (#903, Ayrton Redant / Bert Redant / Yannick Redant) secured its first 992-AM category win in the 24H SERIES ahead of nearest class rival HRT Performance (#929, Antti Buri / Kari-Pekka Laaksonen / Jim Rautiainen), the latter of which also rounds out the overall top 10. Speed Lover (#929, Olivier Dons / Dominique Bastien) was eventually classified 3rd in 992-AM after podium contender Porsche Lorient Racing (#912, Philippe Polette / Frederic Lelievre / Jean-François Demorge / Franck Dezoteux / Frédéric Ancel) had to be recovered from the Kemmel Straight in the closing hour.
The result pushes Red Ant Racing to the top of the 992-class European standings, though HRT Performance continues to lead in the Championship of the Continents.
Behind the 992 runners, Van Berlo Motorsport by Bas Koeten Racing (#906, Marcel van Berlo / Bart van Helden / Glenn van Berlo) secured a comfortable 991-class win ahead of nearest rival E2P Racing (#910, Pablo Burguera / Manuel Cintrano / Ben Clucas).
9und11 Racing (#719, Georg Goder / Ralf Oehme / Martin Schlüter) returned to winning ways in GTX after an error-free run with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup MR. The German team thus secured its second series win in as many outings after taking GTX victory last year in Hockenheim.
Vortex V8 (#701, Lionel Amrouche / Philippe Bonnel / Sebastien Lajoux) survived several spins and front end damage to take 2nd in GTX, while the Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo (#710, Kerong Li / Jean-Francois Brunot / Tyler Cooke) completed a sensational recovery drive to finish 3rd in-class. Despite a failed alternator costing the team nearly an hour in repairs on Saturday, Leipert Motorsport retains its lead in the GTX-class Championship of the Continents standings, albeit by just two points ahead of Vortex V8.
An extraordinary run from the ALFAB Racing McLaren 570S GT4 (#400, Erik Behrens / Daniel Ros) came to naught just a few hours from home with turbocharger failure. GT4-class victory thus went to Team ACP – Tangerine Associates BMW M4 GT4 (#421, Catesby Jones / Wim Spinoy / Steven Thomas) for the second European round in a row, the sister BMW M4 GT4 of Veidec Racing by JJ Motorsport (#422, Hakan Sari / Recep Sari / Arthur Peters) rounding off a strong weekend for the Belgian team in 3rd place.
Between the BMWs, the CWS Engineering Ginetta G56 GT4 (#478, Colin White / Freddie Tomlinson / Mike Simpson) finished a character-building 2nd in-class after suffering ABS failure and two separate punctures.
Holmgaard Motorsport takes first series TCE win at Hankook 12H Spa-Francorchamps
Holmgaard Motorsport has secured both its first win and its first podium in the 24H SERIES at an enthralling Hankook 12H Spa-Francorchamps, one that saw the battle for TCE honours go down to the wire.
The division’s overall win had looked set to go to NOKER racing team (#104, Kestutis Stasionis / Sten-Dorian Piirimägi / Arunas Geciauskas). Just 90 minutes for home however, the Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR SEQ was wheeled back into its garage with heavy frontend damage following an on-track collision.
NOKER’s demise thus meant that the Holmgaard Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR DSG (#102, Magnus Holmgaard / Jonas Holmgaard / Roy Edland / Martin Vedel Mortensen), with which the Lithuanian team had competed throughout the afternoon, was able to secure not just its first win in the 24H SERIES but its maiden podium as well. Jonas Holmgaard drove the #102 Volkswagen across the line to complete 234 laps of the 7.004km Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps en-route to victory.
“It feels amazing to finally get to the top of the podium!” Magnus Holmgaard explained to CREVENTIC. “[NOKER] did an amazing job. Unfortunately they had a crash in the last part of the race, but we managed to keep the car on the track without any mistakes, and that did the trick. The Holmgaard team today was perfect!”
Asked what the secrets to success were at Spa-Francorchamps, Magnus’ brother Jonas Holmgaard explained: “good speed; don’t crash!”
Like Holmgaard, GSR Motorsport (#105, Ernesta Globytė / Rolandas Salys / Mindaugas Liatukas) similarly secured its best-ever result in the 24H SERIES by finishing 2nd overall in TCE with its Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR SEQ. This bests the 3rd in-class the Lithuanian team secured at the Hockenheimring last season.
Following a post-race penalty, RAIL EQUIP BY TOTCAR SPORT (#123, Jorge Belloc Diaz / Jorge Belloc Ruiz / Álvaro Rodríguez Sastre), which had finished 2nd on the road in TCE, was eventually classified 3rd, less than 20 seconds behind the GSR Volkswagen. This is the second consecutive podium for the Spanish team, which also finished 3rd in-class last year in Barcelona.
Though troubled by “a few niggles” in its electrical system, the Valluga Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS (#205, Bradley Ellis / Leonidas Loucas / Rhea Loucas / Charles Hollings) finished 4th overall in TCE, collecting a commanding TCX-class win in the process. Further back, the Ligier JS2 R of Belgium’s Xwift Racing (#221, Pieter Denys / Tim de Borle / Steven Dewulf) and the PR-V Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS (#225, Hervé Houdré / Christian Gloz) finished 8th and 9th overall in TCE to round out the TCX-class podium.
In contention for a TCE podium early on after running 3rd in-class yesterday, the Wolf-Power Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR (#116, Jasmin Preisig / Fabian Danz / Marcus Menden) eventually dropped to 5th in TCE. The Audi was bumped into the gravel by the GSR Volkswagen on Sunday’s opening lap, losing three laps in the process, but recovered to finish just over 60 seconds behind the Valluga Porsche.
After losing significant time to brake failure at the Bus Stop Chicane yesterday, the BBR CUPRA Leon Competición TCR (#159, Chariya Nuya / Kantadhee Kusiri / Kantasak Kusiri / Munkong Sathienthirakul) completed a flawless Sunday afternoon run to finish 6th in TCE, ahead of the Baporo Motorsport CUPRA TCR DSG (#151, Joan Vinyes / Jaume Font). Following its wins in Dubai and Mugello, Thailand’s BBR still leads TCE in both the Championship of the Continents and the European standings.
Following its demise, NOKER racing team was eventually classified 10th in TCX, one place ahead of the troubled PCR Sport CUPRA Leon Competición TCR (#117, Vicente Dasi / Josep Parera / Ivars Vallers) which suffered repeated overheating problems.
