Corvette take dramatic win at Spa
The Carsport Holland Corvette team took a dramatic victory in a rain-affected Spa 24 Hours after their race-long rivals in the No. 1 Vitaphone Maserati spun away the lead with just over an hour to go
Corvette quartet Marcel Fassler, Jean-Denis Deletraz, Mike Hezemans and Fabrizio Gollin had battled for the lead with Michael Bartels, Thomas Biagi, Pedro Lamy and Eric van de Poele in the Maserati for the majority of the event, but it seemed the Vitaphone crew had secured victory as the race entered its closing stages.
But van de Poele put the Maserati car into the Stavelot gravel as the 23 hour mark approached, just after the charging Fassler had got the Carsport Corvette back on to the lead lap. The Belgian's incident cost Vitaphone a lap, and handed the win to Carsport Holland.
The No. 5 Carsport entry had pulled away early on, having emerged from a three-way battle with the No. 33 JetAlliance Aston Martin and the No. 3 Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette.
A tyre problem then delayed the Carsport No. 5 after four hours, just as their teammates in the No. 4 car moved to the head of the field during a pit stop exchange.
Anthony Kumpen, Frederic Bouvy, Kurt Mollekens and Bert Longin remained in front until nightfall, when a brake problem took them out of contention for victory.
The JetAlliance Aston consequently moved back ahead, but only for an hour before a mechanical problem left it stranded at the trackside. They managed to claim the points on offer for leading at the six hour mark
The Fassler/Deletraz/Hezemans/Gollin car's recovery saw it in the lead again by the early hours of the morning, where it would remain until rain fell at dawn.
It was at this point that the No. 1 Maserati moved into contention, chasing down the leading Corvette and taking the lead during pit stops with five hours to go.
Conditions would remain wet for the remaining hours, with the gap between the two leading cars fluctuating as the rain intensified and eased. Fassler closed in on leader Biagi when the precipitation was at its heaviest, but the MC12 edged away again once the track dried slightly, and remained in control until van de Poele's late error.
There was no time for the Vitaphone team to get back on terms with the Carsport No. 5, which duly clinched the victory. To complete a superb day for the team, Mollekens, Bouvy, Kumpen and Longin managed to bring the delayed sister car back up to third by the end.
The second Vitaphone car and the best of the Playteam Maseratis completed the top five.
The No. 97 BMS Scuderia Italia Porsche of Marc Lieb, Emmanuel Collard and Matteo Mallucelli won the GT2 class, having led comfortably since Saturday evening.
The AF Corse Ferrari had dominated the early running in the class, before Dirk Muller crashed the car in the fourth hour.
Classified:
Pos Cl Drivers Make Laps
1. GT1 Deletraz/Hezemans/Gollin/Fassler Corvette 532
2. GT1 Poele/Bartels/Biagi/Lamy Maserati 532
3. GT1 Kumpen/Longin/Mollekens/Bouvy Corvette 529
4. GT1 Lemeret/Ramos/Montanari/Bobbi Maserati 529
5. GT1 Bertolini/Piccini/De Simone/Pier Guidi Maserati 527
6. GT1 Vosse/Franchi/Beretta/Gavin Corvette 521
7. GT1 MacAri/Aucott/Peter/Franchitti Maserati 515
8. GT2 Collard/Malucelli/Lieb Porsche 511
9. GT2 Lietz/Long/Narac Porsche 507
10. GT1 Coens/Duez/Soulet/Vanbellingen Corvette 502
11. GT2 MacHitski/Edwards/Maassen Porsche 501
12. GT2 Zani/Busnelli/Pompidou/Ceccato Porsche 495
13. GT2 Ruberti/Pasini/Cressoni/Case Ferrari 483
14. G3 Splunteren/Khan/Frederiks/Gosse Porsche 475
15. GT2 Niarchos/Kirkaldy/Sugden Ferrari 474
16. GT2 Tenchini/Basso/Plati/McCormick Ferrari 474
17. G3 Kelders/Kerkhove/Greisch/Lefort Porsche 459
18. GT1 Giannoccaro/Busnelli/Muller/Lambert Maserati 458
19. G2 Kenis/De Keersmaecker/Smets/Mattheus Mosler 455
20. G3 Rautureau/Lemonnier/Herbert/Lahaye Porsche 453
21. GT2 Daniels/Cox/Camathias/Moorey Porsche 450
22. G2 Radermecker/Dermont/Muytjens/De Sordi Mosler 448
23. CdR Kutemann/Haane/Comar/Rambaud/Balla Ferrari 439
24. G3 Baron/Pasquali/Corbel/Fournet Porsche 437
25. G3 Broodcooren/Grouwels/Heyer/Thomas Dodge 411
26. G3 Ortlieb/Pfefferkorn/Sagmeister/Zumstein Porsche 399
27. G3 Dragun/Forstein/Peham/Schmitter Porsche 382
28. G3 Lesoudier/Jakubowski/Vannelet/Leister Ferrari 381
29. GT2 Pauw/Hove/De Radigues/Belmondo Ferrari 369
30. GT2 Bruni/Ortelli/Aguas Ferrari 365
31. G3 Brandela/Carcone/Beroujon/Stepec Ferrari 354
32. G2 Noziere/Brouard/Roussaud/Ferreira Porsche 348
33. G3 Ashburn/Rich/Lang/Hines Porsche 341
Not classified:
Cl Drivers Make Laps
G3 Guiod/Mitieus/Levy/Levy Porsche 45
GT2 Penders/Lamot/Couwberghs/Duval Porsche 57
GT2 Vilander/Muller/Salo Ferrari 58
G2 Castro/Premoli/Barbaro Porsche 63
G2 Leinders/Kuppens/Bovy Gillet 64
GT1 Bouchut/Mucke/Stippler Lamborghini 83
GT2 Mullen/Enge/Janis/Kane Ferrari 136
G3 Chaillet/Nef/Geoffroy Dodge 153
GT1 Wendlinger/Sharp/Lichtner-Hoyer/Lechner Aston Martin 158
CdR Charouz/Jirik/Kuzminykh/Leclerc)/Ur Lamborghini 232
GT1 Menten/Kox/Bleekemolen Lamborghini 268
GT1 Babini/Davies/Monfardini/Alessi Aston Martin 330
GT1 Toccacelo/Frassinetti/Lancieri/Ragazzi Aston Martin 13
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