Our resident endurance racing fundi, Nick van der Meulen recounts the recent event held in Belgium, the 2023 WEC 6 Hours of Spa.

The third round of the 2023 World Endurance Championship ran at Spa Franchorchamps, Belgium in its notorious interchangeable weather conditions. It is an old-school driver’s circuit and there isn’t a driver in the paddock that doesn’t adore racing at Spa. Designed in 1920 by Jules de Thier and Langlois van Ophem, the track utilised public roads between the two villages Spa and Franchorchamps.

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Its first race event was held in 1922; the 1921 race was abandoned due to only having received one entry. The first 24-hour event was held there in 1924, implying that next season will be a centenary event. The circuit has been notorious in former years for being lethal to drivers, which saw the calendar drop the event from time to time. As an example, the 24-hour event in 1985 saw Stefan Bellof crash while leading and killed instantly

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Qualifying Drama

Qualifying leading up to the race saw some drama in the Hypercar class. Toyota #8, with Brendon Hartley at the wheel, crashed on cold tyres – an issue subsequently raised by many competitors. Antonio Giovinazzi blasted Ferrari #51 to pole position, only to have his time stripped for a track-limits infringement. This handed pole to Kobayashi (Toyota #7), leaving Toyota with a car at the front and at the tail of the field.

Typical Spa

The race began in tricky conditions, with a damp circuit and teams having to decide which tyres to fit. Toyota began both its cars with slick (dry weather) tyres, which left Mike Conway (Toyota #7) floundering at the start. Both Ferraris and a Cadillac blasted past him on Lap 1, leaving Conway struggling to keep his machine on track. Renger van der Zande (Cadillac #3) crashed heavily at Eau Rouge after about two hours, bringing out the safety car.

The car was destroyed but, thankfully, the Dutch driver emerged unscathed. It was surmised that the car had a steering issue, which led to the accident. Not long afterwards, Porsche #6 (Vanthoor/Lotterer/Estre) ground to a halt and into retirement after a strong showing.

For the second race running, Jacques Villeneuve was driving Vanwall #4 when forced to retire from the event. Villeneuve, chasing Glickenhaus #008, was clipped by the GTE Am #54 AF Corse Ferrari (Francesco Castelatti) at Blanchimont. The move pitched them both into the wall with about 2 hour 30 min remaining.

An hour later, Alessandro Fuoco crashed Ferrari #51 just after its pit stop going down the hill to Eau Rouge. The car was running third after having to battle past Cadillac #2 and Porsche #5 earlier. Toyota #7 (Kobayashi/Conway/Lopez) cantered to victory ahead of its sister car (Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa).

The battle for third place was settled on the final lap when Ferrari #51 (Calado/Pierguidi/Giovinazzi) surged past Porsche #5 (Makowiecki/Cameron/Christensen). Calado lapped 2,5 to 3 seconds per lap faster than Makowiecki for the final 30 minutes of the race. Cadillac #2 (Bamber/Lynn/Westbrook) finished fifth after vying for a podium finish throughout the race.

LMP2

The LMP2 class saw United Autosport #23 (Blomqvist/Pierson/Jarvis) dominate the early stages of the race. The safety car periods saw the class leaderboard seesaw, however. Hometown heroes Team WRT (running #31 and #41) both battled for supremacy, but #41 (Andrade/Kubica/Deletraz) saw the chequered flag first. The team managed to pass United Autosport #23 with 15 minutes remaining.

Prema Racing #63 (Pin/Bortolotti/Kyvat) was also in the running, but had to serve a 3-minute stop-and-go penalty. The penalty, for not respecting safety car procedures, was served with 30 minutes remaining, putting them out of contention. Inter Europol #34 (Scherer/Costa/Smiechowski) passed Prema Racing #9 (Ugran/Viscaal/Caldarelli) with less than 5 minutes remaining to claim the final step on the podium.

Production-Based GTE

The GTE Am class saw Corvette #33 (Catsburg/Keating/Varonne) battle Ort by TF Aston Martin #25 (Al Harthy/Dinan/Eastwood) for the lead. They vied for position throughout the race, however, by the chequered flag it was a battle for second place. Lilou Wadoux (Richard Millé Ferrari #83 featuring Companc/Wadoux/Rovera) overtook Proton Competition #88 at about half distance and was never headed. Corvette #33 and Aston Marton #25 finished inline astern in second and third places, respectively. The Iron Dames Porsche #85 (Frey/Bovy/Gatting) finished fourth ahead of Proton Competition Porsche #88 (Hardwick/Robichon/Tincknell).

The Crown Jewel

The fourth round of the WEC world championship is the jewel of its crown: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This will run on 10-11 June 2023. While Toyota are the class of the Hypercar field, Ferrari look to be the second-best team on the grid thus far, edging Porsche and Cadillac. Peugeot will be hoping to overcome its gremlins and show well on home turf. As ever, GTE Am will be fascinating to watch, with Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette and Aston Martin vying for victory.