The #99 Rowe Racing BMW of Maxime Martin, Alexander Sims and Philipp Eng took the chequered flag to win the Blancpain GT Series at the Total 24 Hours of Spa.
Describing their win Maxime Martin said: “It is difficult to describe. This is the seventh victory for my family at the 24 Hours of Spa and it feels amazing. I have tried to win this race a few times before and came quite close in the last few years but today was our day, or at least our weekend.”
The #88 AMG-Team AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG claimed runner-up spot and won the Intercontinental GT Challenge. The #28 Audi Sport Team WRT R8 was third.
Pro-Am Cup honours went to the #76 IMSA Performance Porsche, while the #888 Kessel Racing Ferrari won the battle of the Prancing Horses in the Am Cup. In the National Group there was no stopping the #911 RMS Porsche.
The dramatic day started with the news that the Superpole results had been altered after stewards penalised the leading six Mercedes cars.
The #00 Black Falcon Mercedes (Maro Engel), #56 Black Falcon Mercedes (Dani Juncadella), #84 HTP Mercedes (Maximillian Buhk), #85 HTP Mercedes (Clemens Schmid), #86 HTP Mercedes (Maximillian Goetz) and #88 AKKA Mercedes (Felix Rosenqvist) had their Superpole times cancelled due to a breach of articles 6 and 10.1 of the 2016 Blancpain GT Series Sporting Regulations.
The irregularities were with the ignition timing systems of the engines relating to homologation regulations. In addition each car had to serve a five minute stop and go penalty for a breach of articles 7 and 47 of the regulations, for “non-sporting behaviour – presenting a car with a technical non-conformity of which the competitor should have been aware”
The #74 ISR Audi R8 LMS (Perera) and the #26 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS also lost Superpole lap times as a result of track limit infringements.
The 69th running of the Total 24 Hours of Spa got underway, with the members of Californian rock band Linkin Park waving the Belgian flag to start the race.
As the race began the #28 Audi driven by René Rast that had inherited the pole after the penalties for the six leading Mercedes had little trouble in keeping first position when the 65-car strong pack streamed through Eau Rouge and up Raidillon.
After only three minutes the race had its first Full Course Yellow (FCY) after the #333 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari of Marco Seefried went off the road and got stuck in gravel.
Just before this FCY four of the penalised Mercedes-AMG (#00, #84, #86 and #88 cars) had entered pit lane to serve their five minute stop and go penalty.
When racing resumed, René Rast had trouble getting up to speed, giving Mirko Bortolotti in the #63 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini and Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #50 AF Corse Ferrari the opportunity to pass, demoting the Audi to third. The top three then remained unchanged until the first round of pit stops.
After one hour of racing, the leader in Pro-Am Cup was the #24 Team Parker Racing Bentley of Callum McLeod, while Rui Aguas moved the #49 Kaspersky Motorsport Ferrari up from 55th on the grid to 31st and into the lead in the Am Cup. The leader of the Intercontinental GT Challenge was #28 Audi.
After the first series of pit stops the #16 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini driven by Mirko Bortolotti was still leading but was under serious pressure by the two Audis of Robin Frijns and Laurens Vanthoor. With the heavy traffic it appeared that Frijns was happy to pressure the Italian rather than risk a pass.
The enthralling three way battle was interrupted by the second FCY of the race caused by a heavy crash at the exit of the pit lane. The #77 Attempto Racing Porsche driven by Kevin Estre and the #53 AF Corse Ferrari driven by Motoaki Ishikawa came together as Estre left the pit lane after serving a second drive through penalty for track limits.
The crash caused significant damage to both cars and barriers. The necessary repairs caused the first Safety Car intervention, which would last over an hour and saw teams take advantage of the slowly moving procession to bring the cars in.
At the three-hour mark the #6 Audi Sport Team Phoenix of Markus Winkelhock led the #26 Audi of Mike Parisy by eleven seconds, who was closely followed by the #19 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini of Andrea Piccini.
Leader in the Pro-Am Cup was the #11 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Giacomo Piccini in 10th overall , while the Am Cup was led by the #30 Team Parker Racing Bentley of Chris Harris in 39th overall.
The #6 Audi was also leading the fight for the Intercontinental GT Challenge points, with the #7 Bentley Team M-Sport Continental in second and the #28 Audi in third.
After six hours of racing and with seven cars still on the lead lap, the first points of the 2016 Total 24 Hours of Spa were awarded.
The #99 BMW driven by Alexander Sims took the full points, with the #6 Audi driven by Christopher Mies and the #1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT R8 driven by Frederic Vervisch taking the rest.
The #28 driven by Rene Rast, made contact with the #114 Emil Frey Jaguar of Jonathan Hirschi in the braking zone for Fagnes. Rast lost three laps and the Jaguar also had a lengthy pit stop.
There was a brief rain shower, followed by the second Safety Car intervention caused by the #15 BMW Team Italia going off at Raidillon.
The #30 Bentley ended up in the tyres at Les Combes which cost them the lead of the Am Cup which was inherited by the #49 Ferrari.
In a very unpredictable race, seven different marques had led in the first six hours and the pole sitting #28 Audi was languishing in 42nd place.
In Pro-Am Cup it was the #44 Oman Racing Team Aston Martin who took the full points, from the #100 Attempto Racing Lamborghini and the #89 AKKA-ASP Mercedes-AMG.
The Intercontinental GT Challenge lead remained with the #6 Audi, from the #1 Audi and the #8 Bentley Team M-Sport Continental.
After nine hours of racing it was still the #99 BMW driven by Alexander Sims that was leading the race. The #6 Audi was running second with the #8 Bentley driven by Maxime Soulet in third. The different strategies deployed by the teams made it difficult to ascertain who had the edge.
Just after midnight #24 Bentley with Ian Loggie at the wheel, hit the barriers at Les Combes, very close to the site of the #30 Bentley’s earlier incursion into the tyres.
The damage to the front left of the car forced to the team to retire, only the fourth retirement of the race so far. The damage to the barriers meant another hour under the Safety Car.
In the Pro-Am Cup the #52 AF Corse Ferrari led, but the #100 Lamborghini and the #11 Ferrari were close behind.
The same was happening in the Am Cup, with the #49 Ferrari still ahead but closely followed by the #888 Ferrari and the #51 AF Corse Ferrari.
In the Intercontinental GT Challenge it was the #6 Audi still leading overall, with the first position in Am going to Duncan Cameron in the #52 Ferrari.
The trio of Wolfgang Reip, Maxime Soulet and Andy Soucek in the #8 car had been in a close battle with the #99 BMW, until the BMW served its mandatory five-minute technical stop.
This allowed the #8 Bentley to take a lead it would keep until just after the halfway mark to take the maximum 12 points available. Reip then managed to dive in under an FCY to serve the car’s own mandatory five-minute mechanical pit-stop.
The #6 Audi picked up the points for second place ahead of the #7 Bentley which was making steady progress after starting the race from pit lane.
However, the same FCY period, resulting from the #41 Classic and Modern Racing Ferrari dropping oil through the entry to the Bus Stop, sparked a flurry of pit-stops from the contending teams.
The #58 Garage 59 McLaren of Shane Van Gisbergen, Come Ledogar and Rob Bell was in the pits for 17 minutes to repair accident damage and to serve their technical pit stop.
The #74 Audi with Franck Perera at the wheel scooped maximum points for leading the Pro-Am Cup at half-time, ahead of Michael Lyons in the #89 Mercedes and #11 Ferrari driven by Michal Broniszewski.
Kessel were also top of the Am Cup race at the 12-hour mark, Liam Talbot in the #888 car having a lap in hand over Rino Mastronardi’s #51 Ferrari and the recovering Marco Seefried in the #333 Ferrari that span out on the very first lap.
The overall top-three of the race also reflected the potential podium finishers in the Intercontinental GT Challenge. After scoring important points at the halfway mark, the Bentley cars were in first and third, with the #6 Audi in second.
The #7 Bentley dropped back at the fourteen hour mark, when taking its mandatory technical pit stop under the FCY resulting from the #12 Boutsen Ginion BMW stopping on track.
At the front, the #8 Bentley seemed to have a trouble free run, until the end of the sixteenth hour. The FCY caused by a crash involving the #55 AF Corse Ferrari at Pouhon, saw the leaders serve another drive-through for a driving time infringement. This dropped them a minute behind the #99 BMW with the #6 Audi still in third.
The fourth placed #28 Audi that had lost so much time as a result of the incident with the #114 Jaguar, was trying to get back among the front runners, with Laurens Vanthoor setting the fastest lap of the race in 2’18.793. However the car was still a lap down on the leaders.
In Pro-Am Cup the #74 Audi still led, despite a drive-through penalty for a pit lane infringement which reduced their lead to ten seconds over the #76 Porsche. In third was the #29 Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini of Christopher Zöchling, Jules Gounon, Luca Rettenbacher and Rik Breukers.
The Am Cup fight was building between the Ferraris with the #888 car less than a minute behind the #51, with #333 in third.
In the Intercontinental GT Challenge the #8 Bentley was still in the lead, with the #6 Audi and the #28 Audi in second and third respectively.
With four hours to go, the #99 BMW continued to lead but when it started to drizzle at around 11 am on Sunday morning, Bentley Boy Andy Soucek drove the conditions better than the Belgain driver. He quickly closed the gap until the Spaniard was almost under the rear wing of the BMW before he had to pit.
Once Martin pitted and handed over the car over to Alexander Sims, the Bentley retook the lead.
More drama just before noon saw the third placed car, the #6 Audi in the hands of Christopher Mies catch fire after suffering a puncture when exiting the Pouhon. This put the #28 Audi into a potential podium position, having passed the #88 Mercedes car just before the twenty hour mark.
The leaders made full use of the FCY to pit for rain tyres as a result of Mies’ fire, since the clouds had opened up again over the Spa circuit. Rowe Racing decided to change the brake pads on the #99 car at the same time.
In Pro-Am the #76 Porsche put a lap on the second place #74 Audi with the #666 Lamborghini in third.
The Pro-Am championship leader Michal Broniszewski saw his ambitions to clinch the title in Spa disappear when his #11 Ferrari was hit from behind at La Source by Jereon Mul in the #100 Lamborghini.
In Am Cup the leading #51 Ferrari had a comfortable margin, enjoying a two-lap lead over the #888 car, with the #333 a further six laps down.
The leading #8 Bentley led the fight for the Intercontinental GT Challenge points, from the #28 Audi and the #88 Mercedes. First of the Am cars was the #76 Porsche.
Within the last ninety minutes the #58 McLaren, driven by Rob Bell developed a fire in the right exhaust of the car and finally crossed the line in 31st position, rounding off a disappointing event for the Garage 59 team.
With 50 minutes to run, Dirk Werner pulled the #98 BMW into the pits to retire from 6th place.
The #78 Lamborghini of Marco Attard span at Blanchimont hitting the barriers with both ends of the car, which brought out another FCY to clear debris.
The #99 BMW came in for a final stop and Maxime Martin handed over to Alexander Sims for the final run to the flag.
The #8 Bentley was handed a drive through penalty for an FCY infringement. Andy Soucek took the Bentley through the pit lane and emerged a lap down on the leader but still a few seconds ahead of the #86 Mercedes in the hands of Maximillion Goetz.
With only 33 minutes to go there was rain at turn 1 which developed from the gentle rain of the weekend to a torrential downpour. Immediately the field descended on the pit lane for rain tyres.
In the heavy rain the #230 SpeedLover Porsche of Wim Meulders, Gregory Paisse, Pierre Yves Paque and Philippe Richard aquaplaned off at the Bus Stop but managed to avoid hitting anything.
Many other cars followed, including the #57 Black Falcon Mercedes driven Hubert Haupt, Andreas Simonsen and Adam Christodoulou ending up stranded in the run off area.
The #40 Easy Race Ferrari of Ferdinando Geri, Gregory Romanelli, Niccolo Schiro and Daniel Mancinelli collided heavily with the barriers.
The #29 Lamborghini then smashed into the stationary #57 Mercedes causing significant damage to both cars bringing out another FCY.
The pit lane was instantly full again and the #86 Mercedes was released into the path of the #16 Lamborghini earning them a drive through penalty for an unsafe release.
With only 14 minutes to run, racing resumed with two Mercedes #88 and #86 in second and third behind the leading #99 BMW. The #28 Audi was fourth and the #8 Bentley fifth.
The #86 Mercedes served their penalty and dropped to fifth place. The second place battle went to the very end with Felix Rosenqvist in the #88 Mercedes managing to hold off the charging Laurens Vanthoor in the #28 Audi.
Despite all the excitement, the Pro-Am class remained unchanged with the #76 Porsche driven by Maxime Jousse taking the victory with the #74 Audi driven by Franck Perera second and the #666 Lamborghini of Phil Keen rounding out the podium.
The Am Cup saw Ferrari take the top three places. The leading #51 Ferrari driven by Rino Mastrenado suffered a puncture handing the lead to Laim Talbot in the #888 which he retained to the flag. The #51 car finished second with the final podium place taken by the #333 of Pierre Ehret.
The #99 BMW also took the points for the Intercontinental GT Challenge. By Melissa Warren
