Spa 4 Hr Report: Toyota 1-2 in dramatic mid-portion of race

Below are the main headlines after the first four hours of action of racing at the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

Hypercar: Leader – No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing 

• No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing continues to be in charge of TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. 
• Jose-Maria Lopez consolidates gap over sister No.8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar driven by Ryo Hirakawa. 
• Gap stands at 15-seconds after four hours of racing as Hirakawa struggles with apparent braking issues. 
• Disappointment for Porsche Penske as the No.6 963 driven by Laurens Vanthoor retires in third hour after local ace stops because on pit straight. 
• This promotes the sister No.5 car to third with Dane Cameron having taken over from starter Michael Christensen. 
• Earl Bamber completes epic triple stint in fifth position before handing over to teammate Alex Lynn and car races the No.50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P driven by Miguel Molina. 
• Molina takes over the cockpit from Nicklas Nielsen and survives a difficult return to track by running wide on pit exit. But Spaniard recovers to tire and hunt down the Cadillac before getting penalty for pit exit infraction. 
• No.51 Ferrari F Corse car of Alessandro Pier Guidi is on tail of Lynn's Cadillac as fifth hour ticks ver. 
• No.93 Peugeot TotalEnergies runs seventh as Mikkel Jensen and then Paul di Resta takes turns at wheel.  
• Hertz Team Jota continues impressive debut run in eighth position with Will Stevens having taken over from Yifei Ye. 
• Glickenhaus Racing places ninth ahead of the delayed No.94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 Hypercar.  
• Loic Duval loses time after stopping at pit exit after shutting down. Duval is able to re-join the race and sits 10th  in Hypercar. 
• Floyd Vanwall was running in 11th  position as Esteban Guerrieri survives two excursions before handing over to Jacques Villeneuve in fourth hour. 
• But Villeneuve collides spectacularly with No.54 AF Corse Ferrari at Blanchimont and the cars both retire, bringing out the third safety car in the process. Both drivers emerge unhurt

SAFETY CAR 🟡

Another safety car comes out as the #54 AF Corse and #4 Vanwall collide in T16. #WEC #6HSpa pic.twitter.com/RYB7ZYNxTV

— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) April 29, 2023

LMP2: Pole - No.31 Team WRT 

• Team WRT emerge at front in LMP2 as local team takes advantage of safety car period to make a break with Robin Frijns building lead. 
• Frijns then hands over to Ferdinand Habsburg who on fresher rubber immediately chases down sister No.41 WRT car driven by Louis Deletraz. 
• But Habsburg loses lead after being slowed by an LMGTE Am car before re-taking Deletraz again in tight battle. 
• Pair of WRT cars then come under increasing pressure by a flying Oliver Rasmussen in No.28 Jota Oreca-Gibson. 
• Rasmussen makes it through after epic battle which sees him and Louis Deletraz going through Eau Rouge side-by-side. 
• Habsburg completes triple stint and enters final two hours in lead. 
• No.23 United Autosports car that led early stages loses out in safety car period and runs sixth as Tom Blomqvist gets second stint at the wheel. 
• JOTA lose several positions in fourth hour losing momentum as it goes off-set on strategy. 
• Third safety car bunches up field as fifth hour approaches with Habsburg just holding off a mob of No.63 Prema entry and both United Autosports entries.

Things we like to see

We are at the half way point and Team WRT are 1-2 in LMP2 #WRT #WEC #6HSpa pic.twitter.com/JXt7Rtmyb3

— WRT - W Racing Team (@followWRT) April 29, 2023

LMGTE Am: Leader – No.83 Richard Mille AF Corse  

• Lilou Wadoux in No.83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari stars in mid-portion of race as she takes lead from No.88 Dempsey Proton Porsche. 
• Wadoux then builds strong lead before third safety car in fourth hour. 
• No.88 Dempsey Proton Porsche maintains second place and is in strong position as Zachary Robichon gets set to hand over to Harry Tincknell for final two stints of the race. 
• Iron Dames Porsche is third and still in contention to fight for the win as Rahel Frey continues mammoth stint at the wheel of pink car. 
• ORT by TF Sport place fourth with Ahmad l Harthy continuing strong form despite having to take a penalty for crossing pit exit line. 
• Corvette Racing placed fifth with Nicolas Varrone holding off the No.21 AF Corse Ferrari in sixth. 

Find full results  HERE