An alternate pit strategy allowed BMW M Team WRT to get their No. 20 to the front Saturday (May 9). Once in position, Robin Frijns was able to hold on late to win the FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with teammates Rene Rast and Sheldon van der Linde. It is the first WEC win for the BMW M Hybrid V8.
“It’s a BMW day today,” said Rast after the race. “It’s a long time coming. BMW and the team deserved a double victory. Winning here at our home race is really special.”
The margin of victory was 1.969 seconds over teammates Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor. Ferrari AF Corse’s Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen was third, followed by The Heart of Racing’s Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell. Toyota Racing’s Mike Conway, Nyck de Vries and Kamui Kobayashi were fifth.
Peugeot TotalEnergies’ Loic Duval started from the overall pole, but Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA’s Will Stevens was able to get the lead at Les Combes on the first lap.
The whole complexion of the race changed 14 minutes in. Proton Competition’s Eric Powell clipped the gravel exiting Stavelot and spun, getting himself stuck in the trap. That brought out the first safety car of the race.
The first safety car period of the race ultimately resulted in two separate pit strategies coming into play. The leaders chose to stay out here, but a number of drivers further down the order chose to stop to top off their energy.
When the leaders made their stops late in the first hour, it gave the lead to Rast, the best driver on the alternate strategy. He spent much of his second stint battling with Toyota Racing’s Brendon Hartley. From there, the two strategies would alternate turns at the front of the field.
Late in the fourth hour, the Mercedes of Iron Lynx’s Lin Hodenius spun at Les Combes. Peugeot TotalEnergies’ Theo Pourchaire, who had just come out of the pits on cold tires, had nowhere to go but straight into the Mercedes.
The crash led to a safety car period. Pourchaire was able to limp his Peugeot back to the pits, but was done for the day.
The day for Ferrari AF Corse’s Alessandro Pier Guidi came to an end with just over an hour to go. Team WRT’s Augusto Farfus lost control of his BMW under braking for La Source and smashed into the right side of Pier Guidi’s Ferrari.
The contact broke a radiator in Pier Guidi’s car. Fluids were all over the place and the car was visibly steaming. Pier Guidi pulled into the pit exit and retired on the spot. The incident resulted in a long virtual safety car before it was converted into a full safety car.
Right after the restart, The Heart of Racing’s Alex Riberas was challenging Signatech Alpine’s Antonio Felix da Costa for fifth overall. Felix da Costa went defensive on the Kemmel Straight and effectively ran Riberas off the road.
The result of that move was the destruction of several roadside banners, and a spin for Riberas into the Armco barrier. The crash damaged the left front corner of his Aston Martin Valkyrie and brought out another safety car.
Felix da Costa’s chances at a good finish ended right after the restart. In the dreaded Eau Rouge-Radillion complex, the Alpine had a major twitch at 170+ mph. That put the No. 35 into the runoff, then a spin into the barriers. He was able to drive back to the pits and went to the garage for brief repairs. He would finish two laps down in 12th.
The race also saw Genesis earn their first world championship points. The No. 19 had mechanical issues, but the No. 17 of Pipo Derani, Mathys Jaubert and Andre Lotterer had a trouble-free race to finish eighth and earn fourth.
In LMGT3, Akkodis ASP Team’s Tom van Rompuy started from pole in his Lexus. Proton Competition’s Eric Powell moved up to second on the first lap. These two drivers quickly opened up a decent gap on the rest of the class.
Powell then attempted a move for the lead at La Source. He was on the wrong side of the road here, which allowed van Rompuy to get back past. Powell then crossed over van Rompuy and beat him into Eau Rouge to take the lead.
Powell’s time in the lead was short-lived. His spin into the trap not only brought out the safety car, but gave the lead back to van Rompuy. Powell would eventually 16th in class, 11 laps down.
Van Rompuy led until the first round of pit stops. Here, Proton Competition was able to get Stefano Gattuso out of the pits ahead of van Rompuy to take the lead, but that was short lived as van Rompuy was able to take it back.
FOllowing the second round of stops, the race belonged to Vista AF Corse’s No. 21 Ferrari. Francois Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera controlled much of the race from the front. They were never that far ahead of, but no one could do much with them.
A dominant day for Vista AF Corse was ruined in the final moments. A five-second penalty was assessed to the No. 21 Ferrari on the final lap of the race due to an unsafe release from the pits during Rovera’s final stop. As a result, despite the No. 21 Ferrari winning on the road, the No. 10 Garage 59 McLaren of Antares Au, Thomas Fleming and Marvin Kirchhoefer inherited the class victory.
The margin of victory was 2.148 seconds over The Heart of Racing’s Aston Martin for Mattia Drudi, Ian James and Zacharie Robichon. The Bend Manthey’s Porsche for Richard Lietz, Riccardo Pera and Yasser Shahin were third, while the penalty dropped Mann, Rovera and Heriau to fourth. Garage 59’s No. 58 for Finn Gehrsitz, Benjamin Goethe and Alexander West were fifth.
FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps Unofficial Results
Next up for the WEC is the big one. The 24 Hours of Le Mans. The on-track action starts with the Test Day on June 7.
The race itself is scheduled for June 13-14 for 10 a.m. ET. The race will air live on TruTV as the first race in the series’ new TV deal. It will also be simulcast on HBO Max.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the Frontstretch email newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the Frontstretch Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
This was an entertaining race, which cannot always be said of WEC races. Most are interesting, but the nature of endurance racing means they’re not always exciting.
It seemed Magnussen in the second BMW was tasked with holding up Ferrari and Toyota in the final stint, to give Frijns a comfortable gap in the leading BMW. K Mags was running competitive speeds much of the track, then slowing in areas where passing would have been difficult.
In all of motorsport, I think Magnussen is the toughest pass to make when his focus is to hold up trailing cars. He was good at it in F1, and that has translated to sports car racing. There are others who are in that conversation (Ross Chastain, Santino Ferrucci, Sergio Perez), but if I were choosing a driver just based upon ability to hold off challenges, Magnussen would be my choice.