Spa 24 Hours: Manthey Porsche leads into final quarter
The Manthey Porsche squad led the Spa 24 Hours at three-quarter distance by just four tenths of a second
The German team's Porsche 911 GT3-R driven by Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz and Patrick Pilet was fighting a rear-guard action to hold off the HTP Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG shared by Bernd Schneider, Maximilian Gotz and Maximilian Buhk at the 18-hour point of the blue-riband round of the Blancpain Endurance Series.
The Porsche was, however, due a pitstop, which came just after the hour and restored a true gap of just over two minutes.
That gap came courtesy of a quicker brake change for the Mercedes, which made its stop for new pads and discs in the 11th hour, while Manthey undertook a similar service in the 13th hour.
Spa 24 Hours live video stream
The two German machines were the only two cars on the lead lap after the remaining of the trio of Marc VDS Racing BMW Z4s went out in the 13th hour when a freak failure of the cockpit fire extinguisher damaged the wiring loom.
The best Audi R8 LMS ultra, the solo remaining car from the Belgian WRT squad's four-car entry, held third place in the hands of Andre Lotterer, Frank Stippler and Christopher Mies.
Foruth place was held by the championship-leading trio of Davide Rigon, Daniel Zampieri and Cesar Ramos aboard the Kessel Racing Ferrari 458 Italia.
The Pro-Am class was led by AF Corse Ferrari shared by Toni Vilander, Matt Griffin, Duncan Hamilton and Alex Mortimer.
Spa 24 Hours: Marc VDS BMW leads into night
Spa 24 Hours: HTP Mercedes beats Manthey Porsche to victory
How to get the best out of amateur racers
Pro-Am GT racing is booming. But how should drivers approach working with an amateur? Autosport sought out a panel of experts to explain the pitfalls amateur drivers should avoid and how professionals can help them to achieve their goals
The remarkable career of a 'classy' champion who rejected politics
Over two decades as a factory driver with Audi and BMW, Martin Tomczyk earned the respect of team-mates and rivals as a hard but fair racer. After calling time on his racing career, the 2011 DTM champion sat down with Autosport to look back
The ex-IndyCar racer in "uncharted territory" of British GT team ownership
This weekend’s British GT finale will be a tense title showdown for some but, for those not in the championship fight, it’s a chance to end a challenging year on a high. In the latter camp is Paddock Motorsport's team owner Martin Plowman, whose 2021 season has been a rollercoaster ride of non-stop learning
The unpopular BMW stalwart built for the big occasion
It has won most of the big prizes in endurance racing across its six years in service, but the BMW M6 GT3's key weaknesses meant only a devoted few teams persisted with running it. As it prepares to bow out at season's end, the teams and drivers involved in its story share the secrets of an unpopular winner
The unwanted GT car that changed sportscar racing forever
Had FIA GT boss Stephane Ratel had his way, the Maserati MC12 would never have been allowed to set foot in his series. It duly proved the class of the field that most had expected, but the Balance of Performance that its superiority spawned would keep GT1 battles tight and bring long-term benefits that sportscar racing enjoys today
Why Britain's greatest sportscar was eclipsed on the world stage
The E-Type may be the most famous of all road-going Jaguars, but that didn't always translate into success on the track. After winning on its competition debut in 1961, motorsport success seemed an inevitability, but things didn’t turn out to be quite that straightforward
Why the Jaguar E-type remains special at 60
It’s 60 years since the Jaguar E-type arrived and caused a sensation. As our resident racer Ben Anderson discovered when he got behind the wheel of two special racing versions at Brands Hatch, the thrill of driving them hasn't diminished over time
The rise of a GT squad responsible for a unique 24-hour racing feat
It's a significant achievement to win one 24-hour race in a year, let alone two, and with different manufacturers, but that's exactly what ROWE Racing did in 2020 at the Nurburgring and Spa. This weekend's German classic offers the DTM newcomer a chance of another unique double to add to its growing collection of accolades