Another incredible round of the FIA World Endurance Championship came our way yesterday from Spa Francorchamps, Belgium as the four Heart of Racing Aston Martin powered crews went about their usual competitive game plan which this time earned one crew podium success but at the cost of broken hearts for another.
Unlike the preceding two days of track preparation, the early afternoon start to yesterday’s six-hour race came under glorious blue skies and warming sunshine as the thirty-five cars within the Hypercar and LMGT3 gathered on the grid in front of another sizeable crowd.
Qualifying the day before had seen both Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercars reach the Hyperpole session for the first time as good pace during Free Practice had put decent qualifying positions very much on the cards with the #009 car of Marco Sorenson/Alex Riberas just out doing the #007 car of Harry Tincknell/Tom Gamble in P6 and P7 respectively.
Within LMGT3, the experience within the #27 AMR Vantage car of Ian James/Zacharie Robichon/Mattia Drudi again proved pivotable as they secured a P2 start after their class Hyperpole session whilst Gray Newell still did well in his first WEC visit to the circuit to qualify P13 in a car that he shares with Jonny Adam and Eduardo Barrichello.
The race final got underway after two warm up laps behind the Safety Car with all the entries surviving the initial bumping around the opening laps as race pace was quickly determined by those cars at the front in class but whilst initially losing a small number of places each, all four cars were looking good.
An early Safety Car for a car off in the gravel reset the pack after just twenty minutes but once the race got back underway, the next biggest challenge for those on track was when the hypercar recaught and made their way through the LMGTs tail enders which saw a car from each class make through the gravel for an untidy show of driving skills from those concerned.
Whilst Newell had kept his copybook clean as far as track limits were concerned in Qualifying, he was unfortunately racking them in during his first two hours aboard the #23 car, something that would cost him and his team-mates two additional visit to the pit lane in penalties.
At the halfway point, all bronze and silver ranked drivers had now had at least one stint apiece within their respective GT car whilst all four hypercar drivers were still holding a mid-table position whilst not favouring still the medium tyre. Further Full Course Yellow calls for debris and later a collision between a leading hypercar and an LMGT3 at Les Combes – something which lead to something of another prolonged delay to the race.
Two hours still remained as there seemed to be a distinct downturn in ambient temperature at the top of the circuit, but the #27 Vantage crew had come back through the field to third in class, but the two green hypercars were still importantly where they both started in sixth and seventh.
Disaster would however strike down the #009 car of Riberas as, at another Safety Car restart and whilst attempting to overtake the Alpine onto the Kemmel Straight, that wheels left the track surface and for the Valkyrie to spin, crossing the track before hitting the outside wall with sufficient force to smash the front quarter of the car putting the #009 into immediate retirement.
Another Safety Car clean-up operation left just twenty-five minutes with Gamble getting the final stint to the flag aboard the #007. Drudi was still aboard his #27 car, and he was still pushing for an improved class podium position – then in third but a time penalty for then leader would move them up one at the end.
As the chequered flag fell, the race pace of the #007 had just fallen away towards the end despite being on the ‘better for them’ softs as they finished their season best in fourth with the #27 Vantage LMGT3 crew also getting their first podium of the year – second in class. The #23 Vantage LMGT3 would complete their first WEC race together as a driving trio in P13 as eyes now move to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.