WEC Spa: Jota Porsche claims maiden outright win in crash-delayed race

Will Stevens and Callum Ilott secured the first customer victory of the Hypercar era for Jota in a 1-2 for the Porsche 963 LMDh, finishing 12.363s ahead of the factory #6 Penske Porsche Motorsport entry shared by Laurens Vanthoor, Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre.

Taking fuel shortly before the 1h44m red flag, caused when Earl Bamber's Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh clipped the WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Sean Gelael on the Kemmel Straight to fire both cars hard into the barriers, proved crucial in cycling the Porsches to the head of the pack and denying Ferrari a first victory since Le Mans last year.

 

Lotterer had been running ahead of Ilott before their stops in fifth and sixth position, with the cars emerging in the reverse order.

At that juncture, a 1-2 finish for the factory 499P Le Mans Hypercars had been on the cards with Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 car leading the sister #50 entry of Antonio Fuoco that started from the back of the Hypercar grid after losing all its times from qualifying for running underweight.

But the race was turned on its head by Bamber's misjudgement as the Kiwi attempted a move for third on Neel Jani's Proton Competition 963 and clipped Gelael, which triggered a violent accident and a lengthy delay while the barriers were repaired.

Teams were permitted to change tyres on the grid for the safety car restart, but the leading #51 Ferrari was forced to take emergency service before pitting again after the return to green.

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor, #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: Will Stevens, Callum Ilott (Photo by: Paul Foster)

With Ilott and Estre only needing one more stop in the remainder of the race, they could control proceedings once it went green, but Estre was never in a position to challenge the all-British crew, driving as a duo with Norman Nato on Formula E duty in Berlin.

Estre was forced to pit one lap sooner than Ilott, and a gamble on four tyres at his final stop was not enough to get him back on terms as the Jota car reeled off the laps.

The emergency stop under the safety car at the restart meant the #50 car Fuoco shared with Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina completed the podium, while Pier Guidi fought back past Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMH to finish fourth.

Kobayashi had emerged from the pits ahead of both Ferraris, but lost out to Fuoco on the approach to Les Combes and was outfoxed by Pier Guidi at the same spot later in the race.

Julien Andlauer completed a storming drive in the Proton Competition 963 that had led at half distance to finish fifth, passing Kobayashi at Eau Rouge in the car he shared with Neel Jani.

Kobayashi crossed the line sixth, but a five-second time penalty for making contact with the Iron Dames Lamborghini at La Source demoted him behind the #8 Toyota of Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa.

In the LMGT3 class, Manthey Racing delivered a remarkable 1-2 finish after the Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan that led onto the final lap had to pit for fuel.

#91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3: Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring, Richard Lietz (Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images)

Franck Perera had been set for a fairytale maiden victory after hunting down Gregoire Saucy's United Autosports McLaren, but didn't have enough energy to complete the final tour without a splash-and-dash.

This cycled the lead to the PureRxcing Manthey Porsche that had been rebuilt after a heavy qualifying accident for Alexander Malykhin at Raidillon, but his co-driver Klaus Bachler was also struggling for energy.

As a result, he didn't fight too hard as team-mate Richard Lietz in the Manthey EMA car loomed in his mirrors and the Austrian outbraked his compatriot into Les Combes before stroking home to a 1.298s victory.

Lietz, Morris Schuring and Yasser Shahin had been the leading crew before the red flag, and initially dropped deep into the pack when Schuring pitted at the restart to hand over to Lietz.

But the Porsche remained in the mix and steadily moved forwards as those who had taken fuel before the red flag ran low on energy.

Points leaders Bachler, Malykhin and Joel Sturm completed their improbable recovery to finish second ahead of Perera, Matteo Cressoni and Claudio Schiavone.

The Iron Dames Lamborghini qualified on pole by Sarah Bovy dominated the early phases of the race but had a 40s lead wiped out by a safety car triggered when the second Jota Porsche 963 of Phil Hanson was hit from behind by Rene Rast's BMW M Hybrid V8 and clattered into Ahmad Al Harthy's WRT BMW, also causing barrier damage.

#38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: Jenson Button, Philip Hanson, Oliver Rasmussen, #46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin (Photo by: Paul Foster)

The all-female car Bovy shared with Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting still appeared a contender for victory and led following the restart, but a slow right-rear change at what proved to be the penultimate stop dropped Gatting behind Perera, before she too had to make a late splash while pressuring Bachler for second.

The Dames ultimately crossed the finish line in fourth, ahead of the McLaren Saucy shared with James Cottingham and Nicolas Costa, but was demoted a place by a post-race five-second penalty for Gatting's contact with Bachler.

WEC Spa 6 Hours - Race results

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Team	#	Drivers	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Retirement	Points
1	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	12	W. Stevens C. Ilott	Porsche 963	141			5
2	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	6	K. Estre A. Lotterer L. Vanthoor	Porsche 963	141	12.363		5
3	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	50	A. Fuoco M. Molina N. Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	141	1'14.020		5
4	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	51	A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	141	1'17.710		6
5	Proton Competition HYPERCAR	99	N. Jani J. Andlauer	Porsche 963	141	1'26.326		5
6	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	8	S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	141	1'34.955		6
7	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	7	M. Conway K. Kobayashi N. de Vries	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	141	1'38.331		6
8	AF Corse HYPERCAR	83	R. Kubica R. Shwartzman Y. Yifei	Ferrari 499P	141	1'49.162		6
9	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	35	P. Chatin J. Gounon C. Milesi	Alpine A424	141	2'07.089		5
10	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	93	M. Jensen N. Müller	Peugeot 9X8 2024	140	10.657		7
11	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	15	D. Vanthoor R. Marciello M. Wittmann	BMW M Hybrid V8	140	30.282		6
12	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	36	N. Lapierre M. Schumacher M. Vaxiviere	Alpine A424	140	37.360		5
13	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	20	S. Van Der Linde R. Frijns R. Rast	BMW M Hybrid V8	140	2'09.102		7
14	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	94	P. di Resta L. Duval	Peugeot 9X8 2024	139	2 laps		8
15	Isotta Fraschini HYPERCAR	11	A. Serravalle C. Bennett J. Vernay	Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 Competizione LMH	138	3 laps		7
16	Manthey EMA LMGT3	91	Y. Shahin M. Schuring R. Lietz	Porsche 911 GT3 R	130	11 laps		7
17	Manthey PureRxcing LMGT3	92	A. Malykhin J. Sturm K. Bachler	Porsche 911 GT3 R	130	1'11.355		6
18	IRON LYNX LMGT3	60	C. Schiavoni M. Cressoni F. Perera	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	130	1'19.920		7
19	IRON DAMES LMGT3	85	S. Bovy R. Frey M. Gatting	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	130	1'37.121		7
20	United Autosports LMGT3	59	J. Cottingham N. Costa G. Saucy	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	130	1'41.394		7
21	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	54	T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon	Ferrari 296 GT3	130	1'50.871		7
22	D'Station Racing LMGT3	777	C. Mateu E. Bastard M. Sorensen	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	130	2'12.827		7
23	Proton Competition LMGT3	88	G. Roda M. Pedersen D. Olsen	Ford Mustang GT3	130	2'17.936		7
24	Proton Competition LMGT3	77	R. Hardwick Z. Robichon B. Barker	Ford Mustang GT3	130	2'24.658		7
25	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	78	A. Robin T. Boguslavskiy R. Miyata	Lexus RC F GT3	129	12 laps		6
26	Heart of Racing Team LMGT3	27	I. James D. Mancinelli A. Riberas	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	129	9.322		8
27	TF Sport LMGT3	82	H. Koizumi S. Baud D. Juncadella	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	129	1'30.923		8
28	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	55	F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera	Ferrari 296 GT3	129	2'28.972		7
29	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	87	T. Kimura E. Masson J. Lopez	Lexus RC F GT3	128	13 laps		6
30	CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR	2	E. Bamber A. Lynn	Cadillac V-Series.R	95	46 laps		3
31	TEAM WRT LMGT3	31	D. Leung S. Gelael A. Farfus	BMW M4 GT3	87	54 laps		5
32	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	5	M. Campbell M. Christensen F. Makowiecki	Porsche 963	64	77 laps		2
33	United Autosports LMGT3	95	J. Caygill N. Pino M. Sato	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	59	82 laps		5
34	Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR	63	M. Bortolotti A. Caldarelli D. Kvyat	Lamborghini SC63	59	1'47.875		3
35	TF Sport LMGT3	81	T. Van Rompuy R. Andrade C. Eastwood	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	56	85 laps		4
36	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	38	J. Button P. Hanson O. Rasmussen	Porsche 963	37	104 laps		1
37	TEAM WRT LMGT3	46	A. Al Harthy V. Rossi M. Martin	BMW M4 GT3	33	108 laps		1
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