No.66 Ford GT takes first victory; Aston Martin wins LMGTE Am thriller
Ford celebrated the first LMGTE Pro win of the WEC Super Season at the TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps today.
Olivier Pla, Stefan Mücke and Billy Johnson claimed their first WEC victory after a race-long battle with the No.91 Porsche 911 RSR of Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz.
The race was effectively won with just 45-minutes to go when Pla was able to execute an audacious overtake on Richard Lietz exiting Raidillon. The No.91 Porsche fell back in the closing stages to fourth place as first the sister No.92 Porsche claimed second and then Davide Rigon swept through to take the final podium position in the No.71 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.
The No.67 Ford driven by Harry Tincknell crashed spectacularly in the second hour causing the second of three Safety Car periods. The British driver thankfully emerged from the Ford GT uninjured.
BMW made a promising debut at Spa as Antonio Felix da Costa and Tom Blomqvist finished in fifth position to claim useful championship points with the new BMW Team MTEK M8 GTE.
A thrilling LMGTE Pro category saw reigning champions Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda take a record fourth consecutive win at Spa. The No.98 Aston Martin Vantage V8 had a comfortable lead but saw that eroded in the final hour when a Safety Car was deployed.
Lamy was forced into a defensive final stint as Euan Hankey in the TF Sport Aston Martin applied significant pressure. Just 0.2s covered the pair as they crossed the finishing line.
Weng Sun Mok, Keita Sawa and Matt Griffin ensured Clearwater Racing Ferrari took third position as they begin their second season in the WEC.
The next round of the WEC Super Season will be the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 16/17th June.
Race facts can be found HERE
All results can be found HERE
