Spa 12H Creventic Race Report

Their second stop in Europe saw the Creventic 24H Series travel to the Ardennes in Belgium. Starting things of was the parade of the cars down to the city of Malmedy where the fans could enjoy the sights of the cars up close.

On a weekend where the weather determined many of the weekends running with most of the support series races been cancelled the Hankook 12H of Spa Francorchamps withstood the weather and took the start on a cloudy Saturday for the 5 hour long first leg. Starting on Pole Position was the #80 Car Collection Porsche 911 (992) GT3R (Tse/Hui/Au) after the original pole setter (#12 ‘Hash’/Jacoma/Fontana/Mettler) and other cars got penalized.

The Race got underway behind the safety car to ensure every driver can get used to the cold and rainy conditions and warm their tires up properly. After the field has been released, the #80 Car Collection Porsche dropped down the leader board and the sister #12 car grabbed the lead. #44 ARC Bratislava (Konopka/Llarena/Kiaba/Mikulasko) in their #44 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO and the #1 Haas RT Audi R8 LMS EVO2 (Muller/Knauf/Servais) followed behind. The Red Camel Jordans.nl Porsche Cup car was the first retirement of the race, as the car could not take the start due to engine problems leaving one of the favourites for the class win without a chance to show their speed. 35 minutes into the race the #44 car took the lead and started to build a small gap. Charging up the field rapidly was Martin Rump in the #84 EBM Porsche 911 (992) GT3R (Rump/D’Silva/Davies) after starting last as the car could not take part in the Qualifying because of a practice crash. Rump has been scored 8th after 40 minutes of racing after starting in 44th.

Almost simultaneously the #702 Vortex V8 2.0 (A. Gomez/O. Gomes/Sugliano) which was on pole position and in the lead of GTX grounded to a standstill on the exit of speakers corner bringing out the first Code 60 as the car had to be towed back to the pits. Some cars of the lead group used this Code 60 phase to go into the pits. Although the rain had stopped for quite some time, there was no chance to go on slick tires as the very low temperatures prevented the track from drying out faster. Close to the first hour being completed, the rain increased again. Especially in sector 1 the track was soaking wet. Many cars started to aquaplane in Eau Rouge due to standing water. The Kessel Racing #5 Ferrari 296 GT3 (Rosi/Gilbert/Rueda/Scheltema) was caught out by the amount of water and spun in Eau Rouge ending up in the tire barrier, sadly the end of the race due to the severe damage.

With the second our completed without any noticeable incidents the sun showed itself to the Spa racetrack making up for a possibility to change the conditions to slick tires. But before a Code 60 has been brought out for the Ginetta G56 Cup #795 (L. Tomlinson/F. Tomlinson/Simpson) losing the rear right wheel. After this Code 60 the race unfolded with battles in every class. One of the best battles was for overall P3 held by the RD Signs – Siauliai racing team #69 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 (Butkevicius/Michelon/Paskevicius) trying to fend off the #71 Juta Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 (Sundahl/Viljoen/Geciauskas). Eventually the Juta Racing Audi managed to overtake the Lamborghini and started to set off into the distance. Shortly after 3 hours raced the rain set in again and the #11 Hofor Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 (Kroll/C. Prinz/A. Prinz/Partl/Heyer) spun after Blanchimont bringing another Code 60.

Typically for Spa one part of the Track was sunny and drying out and the back part of the circuit was still very wet. With just under 90 minutes to go in Part 1 the #985 Neuhofer Rennsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) (F. Neuhofer/M. Neuhofer/Zlof) hit the barriers in Pouhon. The subsequent Code 60 was used by many Teams to bolt on some slick rubber as a completely dry line now has formed itself. The drivers had to be very careful with these cold tires in the cold conditions with wet patches looming on the edge of the dry line. Just 30 minutes after the first cars went out on slicks the heaven opened the gate again and it was back to a wet track. A brief Code 60 close to the 15 minutes remaining mark brought in many of the front-runners to top up the fuel for tomorrows Part 2.

Winning Part 1 the #91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R (992) (Noble/Bohn/Hart) will lead the field into the seven Hour-long Part 2 the next day. 6 cars finished in the lead Lap and will be right in contention for the start of Part 2. P2 went to the #69 RD Signs car with the #34 Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 (Kirchhoff/Vogler/Dalmo/Edelhoff) rounding out the top 3.

Part 2 started in similar conditions as Part 1 but temperatures where even colder. After the safety car released the field, it did not take long for the first Code 60 phase to occur. The EBM #84 car spun on the top of Raidillion and hit the inside concrete wall. After the flatbed retrieved the car from the track and almost all cars used the Code 60 to fill up their fuel the race went back to green. As the pitstops played out the #12 Car Collection Porsche was in the lead in front of the #85 CP Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo (Putman/Lewis/Espenslaub/Foster) in their last ever race. Chasing them was the #91 Herberth Porsche.

With the first hour of racing completed in Part 2 it was the Herberth car leading the CP Racing Mercedes and the RD Signs Lamborghini in third after the Car Collection Porsche pitted shortly before the hour mark. It turned out that the #12 car got damage and has had to be repaired. Next car that had to be towed was the #91 Herberth car spinning out after the track was hit by more rain and send them into the pits for some quick repairs. On track the CP Racing Mercedes now inherited the lead in front of the #71 Juta Racing Audi and the Land Motorsport Audi. Some more stops shuffled the order after a spin before Blanchimont required a track clean up.

The newly build up Ginetta G56 Cup then grounded to a hold after Les Combes and had to be loaded up to the flatbed after not being able to continue to the pitlane. When the race went back to green flag running as the day before a dry line formed and the times where coming down. New fastest lap times where put on the board by various drivers till the #58 MP Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo (M. Gostner/T. Gostner/C. Gostner/D. Gostner) hit the tire barriers in Les Combes and in subsequence bringing out another Code 60. The green Mercedes was able to get out of the gravel and continue with minor damage. As the sun further dried out the track, the first cars went onto slicks and when a spinning Porsche was stuck on the still wet grass everyone else used the Code 60 phase to put on the Hankook slicks. Next car that got caught out in Les Combes was the #908 Seblajoux Racing by DUWO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) (Demorge/Polette/Blasco/Roy) getting stuck in the gravel. After the race went back to green, the #44 Lamborghini got a rear right puncture and spun in speakers’ corner ending up in the grass.

With 2 hours to go the CP Racing Mercedes had a commanding lead over the Haas RT Audi and the Juta Raicing Audi in third. Another massive rain/hail shower hit the track and every car was keen on going into the pits for well-needed rain tires. As quick as the rain came it went away and sunshine blessed the Ardennes forests again. An off camera crash for the #911 Hankook Competition Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) (Dr. Ma/Bruins/Cho) brought out another Code 60 as the driver had to be precociously checked in the medical center. Many teams used this longer neutralisation to change back to slick tires for the last hour. In the lead was still the CP Racing Mercedes chasing a fairy-tale win in their last outing.

One last Code 60 was brought out as the Juta Racing Audi spun out of Podium contention on the exit of Les Combes. This Code 60 was perfect timing for CP Racings last stop of the race to secure the advantage over the Haas RT Audi in P2. The #90 E2P Racing Porsche 911 GT3 (991.2) (Burguera/Sainero/Parente) had to make a last gasp pitstop dropping them out of a potential Podium result and promoting the #80 Car Collection Porsche up into P3.

After 12 Hours of wet and cold racing the fairy-tail was completed and the #85 CP Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo (Putman/Lewis/Espenlaub/Foster crossed the line in first place, what an emotional win for the team! Followed home by the #1 Haas RT Audi R8 LMS Evo2 (Muller/Knauf/Servais) in P2 and third went to the #80 Car Collection Porsche 911 GT3R (992) (Au/Hui/Tse). The #90 E2P Porsche 911 GT3R (991.2) (Burguera/Sainero/Parente) still won in GT3 Pro/Am in front of the recovering #18 Sainteloc Junior Team Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 (Doppelmayr/Inderbitzin/Erhart/Kaffer) and the Juta Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 (Sundahl/Viljoen/Geciauskas).

GTX saw the #701 Vortex V8 2.0 (Amrouche/Bonnel/Courtois) win in front of their sister car #702 Vortex V8 2.0 (A. Gomez/O. Gomez/Sugliano) and the #719 9und11 Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup MR (991.2) (Goder/Scheerbarth/Schluter) in third.

The 992 Class had the next double win on hand. The Red Ant Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) finished P1 and P2 with the #903 (A. Redant/Y. Redant/Adomavicius) heading the #904 (Verheyen/Guelinckx/Haverans) home. Third in 992 but way down the order was the Holmgaard Motorsport #902 (M. Holmgaard/J. Holmgaard/Mortensen/Perrin/Menden). 992 Am was won by the #993 Porsche Baltic (Kupcikas/Raudonis/Rudokas) team. #967 HRT Performance (Sturzinger/Pampanini/Diener) finished second ahead of the #972 Hans Weijs Motorsport (Meijer/Schilt/Eldik/Poppelaars) car.

416 Buggyra ZM Racing (Koloc/Vrsecky/Lacko) won in GT4 with their Mercedes AMG GT4 beating the #424 Lionspeed GP Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport (Garcia/Miller/Kolb/Bohn). Third went to #419 Hamofa Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 (R. Verhoeven/K. Verhoeven/M. Verhoeven).

Last but not least TCX saw the #178 CWS Engineering Ginetta G55 (White/Morris) win ahead of the #127 SRS Team Sorg Rennsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS (Eschweiler/Kroner/Tagle) and the #169 HY-Racing Porsche Cayman GTS (Pineau/Derenne/Barbaro/Brody).