The WRT Belgian Audi Club R8 LMS took the win after a day of racing at the Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hour race over the weekend. Drivers Timo Scheider, Greg Franchi and Matthias Ekstrom took the Audi R8 LMS to victory at the grueling race, proving once again Audi’s strength in endurance racing.
“An incredible feeling!” enthused Scheider. “Obviously the expectations before the race were very high. I always tried to subdue them a little because the competition was stronger than ever before and we also started with a very young team which hardly any of us knew beforehand. The guys did a fantastic job from the very first minute of practice and stayed cool in spite of the enormous pressure. Our Audi R8 LMS survived the 24 hours without a single scratch. A marvelous weekend for all of us.”
“For a young team like us this victory is incredible,” said Vincent Vosse, WRT team boss. “The 24 hours of Spa was a very important race for Audi. We worked very purposefully towards the goal. Everybody stuck together for a year. This victory is the just reward for the team and us as big family. Thank you to all at Audi Sport, quattro GmbH and the Belgian Audi Club.”
Finishing second is Schubert Racing’s BMW Z4 and coming in third overall is the Black Falcon Mercedes SLS.
Full Race Result | ||||||||
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Pos | Car | Class | Drivers | Car | Time | Laps | Gap | Avg speed |
1 | 33 | PRO | Matthias Ekström / Greg Franchi / Timo Scheider | Audi R8 LMS | 24:01:22.333 | 545 | ||
2 | 76 | PRO | Dirk Werner / Edward Sandström / Claudia Hürtgen | BMW Z4 | 24:02:11.126 | 543 | 48.793 | |
3 | 35 | PRO | Kenneth Heyer / Thomas Jäger / Stéphane Lemeret | Mercedes SLS AMG | 24:02:07.328 | 535 | 44.995 | |
4 | 32 | PRO | Filipe Albuquerqe / Bert Longin / Stephane Ortelli | Audi R8 LMS | 24:01:22.579 | 534 | 0.246 | |
5 | 29 | PRO | Matteo Bobbi / Frank Kechele / Giacamo Petrobelli | Ferrari 458 Italia | 24:02:08.636 | 531 | 46.303 | |
6 | 20 | PAM | Ludovic Badey / Franck Morel / Guliaume Moreau / Jean-Luc Beaubelique | Ferrari 458 Italia | 24:02:08.095 | 530 | 45.762 | |
7 | 90 | PAM | David Jones / Godfrey Jones / Mike Jordan | Mercedes SLS AMG | 24:02:48.174 | 529 | 1:25.841 | |
8 | 3 | PRO | Yann Clairay / Julien Rodrigues / Pierre Brice Mena | Aston Martin DBRS 9 | 24:03:03.486 | 527 | 1:41.153 | |
9 | 50 | PAM | Jack Gerber / Matt Griffin / Nicola Cadei / Marco Cioci | Ferrari 458 Italia | 24:01:24.005 | 526 | 1.672 | |
10 | 43 | PAM | Jeroen der Boer / Simon Knap / David Hart | BMW Z4 | 24:02:22.158 | 521 | 59.825 | |
11 | 41 | PRO | Jonathan Hirschi / Markus Palttala / Antoine Leclerc | Ford GT | 24:03:36.902 | 521 | 2:14.569 | |
12 | 38 | PAM | Andril Lebed / Bret Curtis / Peter van der Kolk / Jeroen van der Heuve | Mercedes SLS AMG | 24:03:54.298 | 518 | 2:31.965 | |
13 | 23 | PAM | Richard Dean / Zakary Brown / Johnny Herbert / Stefan Johansson | Audi R8 LMS | 24:01:21.702 | 512 | 0.631 | |
14 | 98 | PRO | Marcel Fässler / Andrea Piccini / Mike Rockenfeller | Audi R8 LMS | 24:01:22.799 | 510 | 0.466 | |
15 | 4 | PRO | Frederic Makowiecki / Henri Moser / Stef Dusseldorp | Aston Martin DBRS 9 | 24:02:22.579 | 510 | 1:00.246 | |
16 | 16 | PAM | Raf Vanthoor / Marius Ritskes / Bernard van Oranje / Dennis Retera | Mercedes SLS AMG | 24:03:15.492 | 504 | 1:53.159 | |
17 | 19 | GEN | Brody / Christoff Corten / Mathijs Herkema / Kurt Dujardin | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S | 24:01:48.253 | 493 | 25.920 | |
18 | 124 | GEN | Martin Rich / Tim Bergmeister / Sebastian Asch / Jochen Krumbach | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S | 24:03:26.615 | 493 | 2:04.282 | |
19 | 12 | PAM | Arie Luyendyk / Alain Li / Richard Meins / Henri Richard | Audi R8 LMS | 23:34:45.942 | 490 | 26:36.391 | |
20 | 79 | PAM | Oliver Bryant / Alasdair McCaig / Andrew Smith / Joe Twyman | Aston Martin DBRS 9 | 24:03:49.698 | 489 | 2:27.365 | |
21 | 888 | PAM | Richard Westbrook / Christian Menzel / Mike Stursberg / Hans Guido Riegel | Porsche 997 GT3 R | 22:16:18.386 | 485 | 1:45:03.94 | |
22 | 63 | GT4 | Alex Buncombe / Jordan Tresson / Christopher Ward | Nissan 370Z | 24:03:19.826 | 476 | 1:57.493 | |
23 | 116 | GEN | Patrick Chaillet / Thierry de Latre du Bosqueau / Benoit Galand / Christoph | Dodge Viper GT3 | 24:03:59.442 | 473 | 2:37.109 | |
24 | 56 | Cup | Marc Faggionato / Thierry Stepec / Thierry Prignaud / Franck Racinet | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | 23:10:05.068 | 470 | 51:17.265 | |
25 | 60 | PAM | Adam Christodoulou / Glynn Geddie / Phil Quaife / Roger Wills | McLaren GT | 24:02:44.783 | 469 | 1:22.450 | |
26 | 82 | GEN | Domenique Nury / Bernard Salam / Jean-Marc Merlin / Guy Clairay | Dodge Viper GT3 | 24:04:12.854 | 467 | 2:50.521 | |
27 | 100 | GT4 | Christophe Legrand / Raffaelle Sangiuolo / Guiseppe De Pasquale / Wolfgang | BMW M3 GT4 | 24:02:01.694 | 465 | 39.361 | |
28 | 92 | PAM | Marc Duez / Jean Michel Martin / Eric Bachelart | Ford Mustang FR500 | 24:03:00.210 | 444 | 1:37.877 | |
29 | 57 | Cup | Manuel Nicolaids / Fabio Spirgi / Richard Feller / Olivier Baron | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | 24:02:13.627 | 442 | 51.294 | |
30 | 85 | GEN | Benjamin Bailly / Julien Schroyen / Jose Close / Raphael van der Straten | Ford Mustang FR500 | 24:03:00.289 | 437 | 1:37.956 | |
31 | 44 | PAM | Hoevert Vos / Harrie Kolen / Archie Hamilton / Xavier Maassen | BMW Z4 | 19:58:44.666 | 432 | 4:02:37.66 | |
32 | 161 | Cup | Pascal Muller / Patrick Gelade / Didier Grandjean / Dominique Sandona | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | 24:03:31.759 | 407 | 2:09.426 | |
33 | 2 | PAM | Michael Bartels / Andrea Bertolini / Nick Hommerson / Louis Machiels | Ferrari 458 Italia | 18:19:45.052 | 401 | 5:41:37.28 | |
34 | 10 | PRO | Oliver Pla / Julien Jousse / Patrice Goueslard | Ferrari 458 Italia | 17:36:28.635 | 374 | 6:24:53.69 | |
35 | 55 | PAM | Mike Parisy / Gilles Vannelet / Philippe Haezebrouck / Massimo Vignall | Mercedes SLS AMG | 17:13:49.913 | 367 | 6:47:32.42 | |
36 | 54 | PAM | Olivier Panis / Nicolas Lapierre / Gregoire Demoustier / Eric Debard | Mercedes SLS AMG | 18:17:35.863 | 364 | 5:43:46.47 | |
37 | 75 | PRO | Marc Goossens / Jan Heylen / Maxime Soulet | Porsche 997 GT3 R | 15:56:43.353 | 331 | 8:04:38.98 | |
38 | 6 | PAM | Ricardo Bravo / Lourenco Beirao da Veiga / Duarte Felix da Costa / Mika Vah | Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 | 15:54:55.417 | 329 | 8:06:26.91 | |
39 | 22 | GEN | Lionel Comole / Andre Alain Corbel / Thomas Duchene / Eric Vaissiere | Ferrari 430 Scuderia | 20:13:36.746 | 319 | 3:47:45.58 | |
40 | 70 | GT4 | Edoardo Piscopo / Leo Mansell / Greg Mansell / Gianni Giudici | Lotus Evora GT4 | 16:02:32.832 | 315 | 7:58:49.50 | |
41 | 1 | PRO | Eric van de Poele / Nico Verdonck / Jean-Karl Vernay | Ferrari 458 Italia | 12:37:51.878 | 251 | 11:23:30.4 | |
42 | 36 | Cup | Sergio Negroni / Stefano Crotti / Roberto Fecchio / Giorgio Piodi | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | 12:48:44.347 | 239 | 11:12:37.9 | |
43 | 103 | GT4 | Peter van Audenhove / Sven van Laere / Rene Marin / Christophe Bigourie | Aston Martin GT4 | 17:13:55.192 | 235 | 6:47:27.14 | |
44 | 9 | PRO | Gianluca Roda / Raffaele Giammaria / Paolo Ruberti | Porsche 997 GT3 R | 10:58:45.749 | 233 | 13:02:36.5 | |
45 | 99 | PRO | Marc Basseng / Christopher Haase / Frank Stippler | Audi R8 LMS | 10:11:55.541 | 224 | 13:49:26.7 | |
46 | 26 | PAM | Frederic Bouvy / Damien Coens / Jean Luc Blachemain / Christian Kelders | Corvette Z06 GT3 | 11:07:20.303 | 215 | 12:54:02.0 | |
47 | 104 | Cup | Michel de Coster / Rik Renmans / Tom Langeberg / Oskar Slingerland | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | 10:02:44.600 | 200 | 13:58:37.7 | |
48 | 42 | PAM | Romain Brandela / Eric Cayrolle / Christophe Jouet / Michael Petit | Ferrari 430 Scuderia | 8:31:52.082 | 160 | 15:29:30.2 | |
49 | 8 | PAM | Tomas Enge / Eddy Renard / Gavin Pickering / Jan Stovicek | Aston Martin DBRS 9 | 7:48:15.886 | 154 | 16:13:06.4 | |
50 | 15 | PRO | Koen Wauters / Anthony Kumpen / Mike Hezemans | Mercedes SLS AMG | 6:57:22.946 | 151 | 17:03:59.3 | |
51 | 45 | PAM | Fabien Giroix / Frederic Fatien / Andrea Barlesi / Karim Al Azhari | Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 | 6:29:01.345 | 136 | 17:32:20.9 | |
52 | 123 | PAM | Armand Fumal / Christian Lefort / Carl Rosenblad / Jerome Thiry | Porsche 997 GT3 R | 6:26:55.533 | 131 | 17:34:26.8 | |
53 | 18 | PAM | Gianluca de Lorenzi / Alessandro Bonetti / Beniamino Caccia / Lorenzo Bonte | Porsche 997 GT3 R | 6:30:04.912 | 128 | 17:31:17.4 | |
54 | 11 | PAM | Mark Patterson / Matthew Bell / Eddie Cheever / Mark Blundell | Audi R8 LMS | 5:32:35.093 | 112 | 18:28:47.2 | |
55 | 40 | PRO | Maxime Martin / Bas Leinders / Marc Hennerici | BMW Z4 | 4:42:02.643 | 102 | 19:19:19.6 | |
56 | 58 | PRO | Rob Bell / Chris Goodwin / Tim Mullen | McLaren GT | 4:24:03.954 | 88 | 19:37:18.3 | |
57 | 51 | PAM | Yannick Mallegol / Jean Marc Bachelier / Howard Blanc | Ferrari 458 Italia | 3:40:04.022 | 69 | 20:21:18.3 | |
58 | 24 | PAM | Marc A. Hayek / Peter Kox / Jos Menten | Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 | 3:06:59.126 | 65 | 20:54:23.2 | |
59 | 74 | PAM | Paul van Splunteren / Bryce Miller / Ludovic Sougnez / Nicolas de Crem | Porsche 997 GT3 R | 2:59:21.857 | 43 | 21:02:00.4 | |
60 | 25 | PRO | Eugenio Amos / Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof / Albert von Thurn und Taxis | Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 | 1:43:00.132 | 36 | 22:18:22.2 | |
61 | 78 | GEN | Pierre Grivegnee / Jean-Pierre Vandewauwer / Alix van de Poele | Aston Martin DBRS 9 | 1:04:45.726 | 19 | 22:56:36.6 | |
62 | 59 | PRO | Andrew Kirkaldy / Alvaro Parente / Oliver Turvey | McLaren GT | 10:49.087 | 2 | 23:50:33.2 |
24 Hour Spa-Francorchamps Gallery