Richard Lietz secured victory for the #91 Manthey Porsche 911 at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the third round on the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship.
An action-packed and delayed ‘7-Hours-and-44-minutes of Spa’ hosted a frantic and dramatic narrative to the expense of both Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3s.
The front-runners fought to the end in a gripping battle as the race disruptions did not halt the close fights which characterise the worldwide platform of GT3.
At the start, #46 BMW driver Ahmad Al Harthy could not retain his front row start in P2 to the #59 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 EVO driver of James Cottingham who gained two positions after starting fourth.
Pole-sitter Sarah Bovy asserted strong qualifying pace to claim her first LMGT3 pole, having recorded three last year in GTE Am.
Unsurprisingly she commanded the race, despite the disruptions from the safety car and prolonged red flag periods, and built a gap at the front to 10 seconds and far beyond.
Two brief full course yellow periods were declared to remove debris between La Source (Turn 1) and Turn 2.
Local home favourite Tom Van Rumpay of the #82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R jostled for sixth with Alex Malykhin’s #92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3.R.
AF Corse’s (#54 Ferrari 296) Francesco Castellacci got past Clement Mateau’s #777 D’station Racing AMR Vantage with cunning move downhill after La Source in which he decided to gain momentum, which was most crucial for speed down the Kemmel Straight.
In the battle for P4 down to P7, a train of four different manufacturers kept Al Harthy, in reach of Ian James’ #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, followed by Castellacci and Malykhin.
James and Castellacci put the pressure on Al Harthy which became enough for a move past him at the bus-stop chicane.
The first safety car (SC) was declared when Al Harthy was hit into the left-side barrier before and therefore into Bruxelles when the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, driven by Rene Rast, hit the #38 JOTA Porsche 963 of Phil Hanson.
Bovy’s gap was demolished with the SC, and so the #59 United Autosports McLaren driver of Nicolas Costa made a move on Rahel Frey – who was at the wheel of the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini – at the restart into Les Combes, on the outside.
Their thrilling battle continued with Costa attempting to fend off Frey, though Frey carried out the same move into Les Combes and back into the LMGT3 lead.
Costa was then challenged and chased by Daniel Mancinelli in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin.
Sebastien Baud in the #82 TF Sport Corvette took on a left rear puncture after contact with Erwan Bastard in the #777 D’station Aston Martin after top of Raidillon.
Bastard was then immediately tasked with holding off the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F of Clemens Schmid – a McLaren DTM driver brought in this weekend at late notice to replace an ill Timur Boguslavskiy.
The other #81 TF Sport Corvette was pushed into the garage and into retirement as they were not able to continue their race running.
As for the other #95 United Autosports McLaren of Nicolas Pino, they suffered a suspected gearbox failure marking a bitter-sweet outing after they qualified both McLarens into the top-5, before the #95 was disqualified for an infringement after setting themselves up for a second-placed start.
Furthermore, the #95 climbed from P18 up to P5 during this race before it’s progress was halted.
After the first full course yellow, declared when Michael Christensen hit the left wall at Blanchimont, Frey conducted a reactive restart on the #59 McLaren.
Into the fourth hour, a fight ensued between the #31 Team WRT BMW of Augusto Farfus and Joel Sturm’s #92 Porsche 911 GT3.R for P4.
The pair went side-by-side before the Porsche got on through on the inside at T9, the third element of the Les Combes section.
Frey made her way back into the lead for the Iron Dames who chased their second WEC victory, and their first in the new-for-2024 LMGT3 category. It was done so on the #59 McLaren driver Costa at the end of Kemmel Straight and into Les Combes.
The most dramatic moment of the race was when Cadillac Hypercar driver Earl Bamber misjudged a move on the #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 of Neel Jani.
In the heat of the moment, Bamber – keen to make the move after slipstreaming the Porsche – clipped the #31 of Sean Gelael with a move on the right of Jani, but not far-front enough to avoid a significant collision between the two into the barrier.
This facilitated a 1-hour and 44-minute barrier replacement, and the race continued with that duration declared as the remainder from the restart.
A seemingly dominant form on strong, consistent race by the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini of Michelle Gatting when she was pinched on the rear-right at La Source after Kamui Kobyayashi (#7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar) acted eagerly, and so her pace reduced following this contact which implied rear-right
Nevertheless, Gatting was keen to get onto the podium with a side-by-side entry into the bus-stop chicane on the Richard Lietz #92 Porsche 911, though she dived into the pits as did Gregoire Saucy in the #59 shortly after he was passed by Frank Perera’s #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini.
His victory came after being tasked with fuel-saving massively, though that was not enough as the #60 Iron Lynx had to pit, thus giving way to a 1-2 finish for Manthey Porsche – their first claim of the feat this year.
The #91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 took on their first WEC win in the hands of drivers Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring, and Richard Lietz.
Second place was taken by the other #92 Manthey PureRxing of Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm, and Klaus Bachler, followed by the #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 crew of Claudio Schiavoni, Matteo Cressoni, and Franck Perera.
Fourth position was claimed by the #85 Iron Dames crew of Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, and Michelle Gatting, as P5 was secured by the #59 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 EVO crew of James Cottingham, Nicolas Costa and Gregoire Saucy.
A five second penalty was later awarded to the #60 Iron Lynx for depleting their energy count towards the end.
This promoted the #85 Lamborghini into the podium position, and the #59 McLaren into P4.
