Sebastien Buemi has grabbed the lead of the Total Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, despite suffering a brief mechanical problem while the pole-sitting Rebellion has dropped down the order.
Norman Nato started the #1 Rebellion R13-Gibson as the race got started behind the safety car. When the race went green after four laps, the two Toyotas immediately pounced and took the lead, with Buemi’s #8 TS050 Hybrid leading Mike Conway’s #7 car.
Nato was initially passed by the #4 ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01 Gibson of Tom Dillmann before the Frenchman suffered a speed limiter issue and dropped down the order at the same time Buemi reported a loss of power, although the Toyota issue was resolved.
Filipe Albuquerque leads LMP2 in the #22 United Autosports ORECA 07-Gibson, while a stunning opening stint from Giedo van der Garde has put the #29 Racing Team Nederland ORECA into second place after starting from the back of the grid. Andre Negrao, who spun on the way to the grid, sits third in the #36 Signatech Alpine A470-Gibson.
Alessandro Pier Guidi has put the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo into the lead of GTE Pro after Maxime Martin initially seized the lead in the #97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR before the Italian made his way up the order and charged to the lead.
Martin has since dropped back to fourth, with pole sitter Kevin Estre second in the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19, fending off team-mate Richard Lietz in the #91 Porsche.
GTE Am is still firmly in the hands of the Porsche runners. Christian Ried leads in the #77 Porsche 911 RSR for Dempsey-Proton, retaking the lead from Egidio Perfetti in the #56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR.
Perfetti took the lead at the start, but ran wide at Les Combes and dropped back to second. Ben Keating sits third in the second Team Project 1 Porsche.
