Spa WEC and Alonso's debut
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Lead change in GTE Am - Mathias Lauda in the #98 Aston picks off Ried's Porsche. Rookie Egidio Perfetti doing a stellar job in the Project 1 Porsche to hold an early third in class.
Quick update on Conway's progress in the #7 Toyota - he's just cleared the GTE Am battle pack and now has the GTE Pros to thread his way through.
Sarrazin is lapping much quicker than Dillmann ahead, and is likely to be challenging for fourth any time soon. Buemi is now 7s clear of the opposition in the #8 Toyota.
Van der Garde has a 3s advantage over Rusinov in LMP2 now, while the Ford-Porsche battle rages on in GTE Pro, with Mucke leading Bruni, Tincknell and Estre.
Radio Comms
Lotterer is told on the radio he has a “big gap, take it easy”.
Buemi's last lap in the lead Toyota was 1.3s faster than Rebellion, giving you a rough idea of the margin the Japanese marque holds over the privateers. Dillmann is lapping a full 5s slower than Buemi.
Sarrazin has now cleared the LMP2s and is running fifth overall in what is now the lead SMP BR1, 35 seconds off the lead.
Out front, Buemi has built a four second gap over Lotterer's Rebellion, which is one second ahead of Laurent in the sister machine. Dillmann is a further 13s back in fourth in the ByKolles.
Petrov meanwhile has pitted the lead SMP car after just four laps, almost certainly not scheduled.
Change for the lead in LMP2 - Giedo van der Garde blasts by Rusinov along the Kemmel straight to lead in the #29 Team Nederland Dallara.
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The Fords and Porsches are still holding sway in GTE Pro, with the Ferraris, Aston Martins and BMWs already falling back in their fight to be best of the rest.
GARY WATKINS has more on the latest BoP controversy to hit the WEC here:![Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari call for GTE BoP reset]()
GARY WATKINS has more on the latest BoP controversy to hit the WEC here:
Green flag
Green flag! Buemi relatively unchallenged into La Source this time.
There's another LMP1 coming from the back, and that's Stephane Sarrazin in the #17 SMP car, which stopped in qualifying with an engine systems problem. He's cleared the GTE Ams and has the Pro field to clear next.
Information
Safety car in this lap. Conway has joined the field in the #7 Toyota, by the way.
Radio Comms
Race leader Buemi being told to warm his tyres on the radio - not that a driver of his calibre needs the reminder.
Information
Running order:
1) Buemi - Toyota
2) Lotterer - Rebellion
3) Laurent - Rebellion
4) Dillmann - ByKolles
5) Petrov - SMP
Class leaders:
LMP2: Rusinov - G-Drive
GTE Pro: Mucke - Ford
GTE Am: Ried - Porsche
1) Buemi - Toyota
2) Lotterer - Rebellion
3) Laurent - Rebellion
4) Dillmann - ByKolles
5) Petrov - SMP
Class leaders:
LMP2: Rusinov - G-Drive
GTE Pro: Mucke - Ford
GTE Am: Ried - Porsche
Replays of Turn 1 show LMP2 poleman Lapierre getting nudged wide on to the kerbs at the exit of La Source. He's dropped down to eighth in class.
Looks like Michael Wainwright went off into the barriers at Les Combes in avoidance of two clashing GTE Am class Ferraris.
Yellow flag
And we've a safety car, the #86 Gulf Porsche is stationary.
Rusinov's #26 G-Drive ORECA leads LMP2, Mucke's #66 Ford leads GTE Pro.
Buemi resists a challenge from the Rebellions at La Source to take an early lead. Lotterer second in the #1 Rebellion, then Laurent, the ByKolles of Dillmann and Petrov's SMP car.
Green flag
And the WEC 6 Hours of Spa is underway!
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GARY WATKINS has been down to speak to DragonSpeed boss Elton Julian about Fittipaldi's crash, in which the BR1-Gibson was written off: ![DragonSpeed explains Fittipaldi's leg-breaking Spa crash]()
Green flag
And away they go. One formation lap, then it's go-time. Reminder that the #7 car - driven by Mike Conway for the opening stint - won't leave the pits until the field completes a lap.
Information
So, we're five minutes away from the start - the cars are about to start the formation lap. Richard Mille will wave the green.
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Qualifying was dominated by Toyota, which took a one-two, but the polesitting #7 car driven by Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi was then thrown out for an administrative error.
That means Alonso's #8 car will begin today's race from pole, with Sebastien Buemi starting the car, ahead of Andre Lotterer and Thomas Laurent in the two Rebellion R-13s:![Alonso inherits Spa WEC pole as sister Toyota excluded]()
That means Alonso's #8 car will begin today's race from pole, with Sebastien Buemi starting the car, ahead of Andre Lotterer and Thomas Laurent in the two Rebellion R-13s:
News
The other two LMP1s that won't be starting are the two Manor Ginettas, which ran an installation lap apiece in each of the three practice sessions and failed to appear in qualifying.
A shortage of funds from Chinese sponsor TRS, which is linked to the beleaguered energy concern CEFC, is at the heart of the matter:![Manor LMP1 team withdraws from Spa WEC opener]()
A shortage of funds from Chinese sponsor TRS, which is linked to the beleaguered energy concern CEFC, is at the heart of the matter:
News
We were due for 10 LMP1 cars this afternoon, but unfortunately we've already lost three.
One of those is the #10 DragonSpeed car, which was badly damaged in a qualifying crash at Eau Rouge while Pietro Fittipaldi was at the wheel. The Brazilian was airlifted to hospital with suspected fractures to both legs.
A WEC communique on Saturday morning confirmed Fittipaldi's injuries and confirmed he had undergone successful surgery:![Fittipaldi undergoes surgery after Spa WEC crash]()
One of those is the #10 DragonSpeed car, which was badly damaged in a qualifying crash at Eau Rouge while Pietro Fittipaldi was at the wheel. The Brazilian was airlifted to hospital with suspected fractures to both legs.
A WEC communique on Saturday morning confirmed Fittipaldi's injuries and confirmed he had undergone successful surgery:
Hello and welcome to Autosport and Motorsport.com's live coverage of the World Endurance Championship season-opener at Spa-Francorchamps!
The weekend was expected to be all about Fernando Alonso making his WEC debut with Toyota, but while the Spaniard's car there have been plenty of other storylines up and down the 37-strong grid (since depleted to 34, more on that later) so far this weekend.
The weekend was expected to be all about Fernando Alonso making his WEC debut with Toyota, but while the Spaniard's car there have been plenty of other storylines up and down the 37-strong grid (since depleted to 34, more on that later) so far this weekend.
By: Matt Beer
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