Phoenix Audi win Spa 24 Hours

Autosport

Autosport10:36am 30 July 2012

spa24-audi

Audi completed a unique hat-trick by adding victory at the Spa 24 Hours to its triumphs in this year’s twice-around-the-clock endurance classics at Le Mans and the Nurburgring.

The Phoenix Audi R8 LMS ultra shared by Frank Stippler, Rene Rast and Andrea Piccini came out on top in a close confrontation with the sister WRT car driven by Stephane Ortelli, Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies. The two Audis were only briefly split by more than a lap until the final half hour of the race.

Ortelli was running a distant second as the race entered its final hour. The team made a last-minute decision to bring in the Monegasque during a safety car period, a tactic that back-fired when the car was held at the end of the pitlane and then awarded a stop-go for an unsafe pit entry.

Rast, who was making his debut in the Spa 24 Hours, said: “It was the perfect weekend. We had good race pace, good pitstops and the team took all the right decisions.”

BMW Z4s finished third and fourth, the solo Vita4One entry just ahead of the Marc VDS car.

The Vita4One BMW finished on the same lap as the WRT Audi in the hands of pole winner Frank Kechele, Mathias Lauda and Greg Franchi. They fell off the lead lap early on when Lauda pitted just before the rain arrived and were never quite able to get back on terms.

The best of the cars fielded by the Belgian Marc VDS car led much of the first half of the race and was at the head of the leaderboard at six hours when the first batch of points at this double-points round of the Blancpain Endurance Series were issued. Maxime Martin, who shared the car with Bas Leinders and Markus Palttala, was consistently quickest in the wet conditions that made for a topsy-turvy first half of the event.

The BMW lost time either side of half distance, first when Leinders was hit by a Ferrari and then when Palttala, who did not drive in the first 12 hours, took a stop-go penalty awarded for exceeding track limits in free practice on Thursday.

Tom Kristensen, who was competing in the Spa 24 Hours for the first time since it became a sportscar event, ended up sixth in the Phoenix Audi he shared with Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler. They lost time in the opening hour with a 25-minute stop to repair suspension damage caused when a McLaren MP4-12C cut across its nose entering the pitlane.

Honours in the Pro-Am class went to the AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia driven by Andrea Bertolini, Alessandro Pierguidi, Louis Machiels and Niek Hommerson.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Brendon Hartley to race an Audi in Bathurst 12 Hour

7:31pm 4 February 2013

MotorNews.co.nz
0

Motor Racing - Formula One Young Drivers Test - Day Three - Magny-Cours, France

Mercedes Formula One test driver Brendon Hartley will make his Bathurst debut next weekend (February 8-10 2013) in the…  More >

Murph joins Trofeo Corvette squad for Bathurst 12 Hour

3:59pm 30 January 2013

MotorNews.co.nz
0

corvette-bathurst12hr

Just a week out from the 2013 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12-Hour, Trofeo Motorsport have revealed their completed driver lineup, which…  More >

Ganassi team win as Scott Pruett ties Daytona 24 Hours record

10:30pm 28 January 2013

MotorNews.co.nz
0

daytona24-scottpruett

Humbled a year ago when both their cars failed to make the podium, Chip Ganassi Racing made amends by…  More >

Pre-season Bathurst miles for V8 stars

9:20am 27 January 2013

V8 Supercars
0

bathurst12hr-night

V8 Supercars fans first chance to see the 2013 drivers and cars will be at the official pre-season test…  More >

Sydney FC superstar Alessandro Del Piero has announced a new venture – as boss of a motor racing team. The…  More >

Hartley to race Prototype in Daytona 24 Hour this weekend

4:36pm 22 January 2013

MotorNews.co.nz
0

brendonhartley-daytona

Brendon Hartley will make his debut in the famous Daytona 24 Hour race in Daytona, Florida next weekend The…  More >

RACE COUNTDOWN

NZV8

Manfield Round 3

V8 SuperTourers

Hampton Downs Motorsport Park Round 1

  • Latest story comments

  • Latest forum comments

  • "));
    Newsletter icon

    Get the latest motorsport news delivered to your inbox