24H Spa: Little joy for the Swiss 🎥
MASS CRASH WITH CONSEQUENCES Nico Müller kept up very well with his Audi for a long time at the Spa 24 Hours, in the end missing little for the podium. Emil Frey Racing was lucky to lose two cars in a horrendous accident early on (see video). The official highlights of the Spa 24 Hours 2021, which only started nine minutes before [...]
The official highlights of the 24 Hours of Spa 2021, which was decided just nine minutes before time expired.
The 24-hour race at Spa was only nine laps old when it had to be neutralized for around 50 minutes. Jack Aitken had lost control of Emil Frey Racing's Lamborghini #114 in the notorious passage from Eau-Rouge steeply up to Raidillon, triggering a mass collision.
Get well soon, Jack!
After hitting the guard rails from the side, the Briton's car skidded back into the middle of the track. Team-mate Franck Perera in the #163 Lamborghini had no chance to avoid the obstacle and hit the sister car with full force.
Porsche works driver Kevin Estre, Neel Jani's GT teammate in the World Endurance Championship, was also involved in the bad crash, as was Davide Rigon in a Ferrari.
It borders on a miracle that this accident did not claim any lives. ¨Brig remained four completely destroyed cars.
After a health check of all four riders at the Circuit's Medical Center, Aitken had to be transferred to the hospital. There, doctors diagnosed a fractured but stable vertebrae, a broken collarbone and a mild lung contusion.
Bad luck for fast Swiss trio
The Safenwil-based team, which had been in third place in the overall GT World Challenge Europe standings until the third Endurance race of the season, was thus rid early on of two of its three cars that had started the race in promising positions.
Unfortunately, the third Huracán GT3 Evo of Ricardo Feller, Alex Fontana and Rolf Ineichen, which the man from Aargau had qualified for the hopeful fourth starting position, could not stay in the leading group for long either. First Ineichen was hit at the rear, which meant a repair stop. In the end, the Swiss trio also failed to finish after Feller crashed in aquaplaning early Sunday afternoon.
Up to Spa, the #14 team had won and finished on the podium in the Silver Cup in all sprint and endurance races so far, but the team still leads the overall standings in this category.
Pole position brought no luck
After Raffaele Marciello from Ticino, who starts for Italy, had qualified the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of AKKA ASP for pole position in the individual time trial as in the previous year, he and his two teammates Gounon and Juncadella were part of the leading group for 13 hours. In the course of Sunday morning, the trio had to retire in third place with suspension damage.
Nico Müller in the lead
The best Swiss under the Swiss flag was Nico Müller in one of the Audi R8 LMS of the Belgian team WRT from the very beginning. On Saturday evening, Müller led the field at times.
Minor setbacks repeatedly cost Robin Frijns, Dennis Lind and him time thereafter. A fuel shortage forced Lind to make an unscheduled stop in the pit lane at night, and a puncture later interrupted Müller's rhythm. After a drive-through penalty in the closing stages, the team crossed the finish line two laps behind the winning trio in fourth place.
First Ferrari victory since Calderari/Bryner 17 years ago
Their WRT teammates Dries Vanthoor, Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts finished second, just 3.9 seconds behind the winners. The Italian team Iron Lynx emerged as winners with the Ferrari 488 GTE of Alessandro Pier Guidi, Nicklas Nielsen and Côme Ledogar.
The team held the lead from lap 252 until a rain shower in the final hour, lost it briefly and regained it with the Italian at the wheel ten minutes before the end. The last winners on a Ferrari (550 Maranello) were the Swiss Enzo Calderari and Lilian Bryner plus two Italians in 2004, also on August 1.
Lonely class winners
Patric Niederhauser finished sixth overall with Audi Sport Team Saintéloc. Miklas Born and Yannick Mettler in a Mercedes-AMG ensured a respectable success with 21st overall and 5th place in the Silver Cup.
Pieder Decurtins from Graubünden was the only Swiss to cheer from the podium, which he and his three German teammates Lauck, Basseng and Busch took alongside the top three from the Pro-Am category.
They won uncontested in the Am class on the Hägeli by G2 Racing Porsche after the only opposing team fell victim to an accident while leading in the 18th hour. The four drivers included Niki Leutwiler and Ivan Jacoma.
Prov. overall Classification by classes
