LMS Spa - To The Finish The pitstop issue that delayed the JMW Ferrari was, incredibly, a rear tyre (wrongly marked LF) mounted on the front of the car, the mistake also causing some brake caliper damage. It isn't slowing Bruni down yet though but he has a 2 minute gap to the second in class Team Modena 430.  |
Marc Lieb (just before the JMW problem)
"Things are going pretty badly I have to say. I got hit by the Aston Martin at the end of Radillon it spun me around and we lost at least a minute because I had a flat tyre. Now we are eight seconds behind the leading Ferrari, we both have to do one more pit stop and it’s going to be very close. Without the earlier incident we would have easily been in the lead. So it’s disappointing but still very open."
Rob Bell – (just after the JMW problem) "We were leading, Gimmy went out, we had a puncture, now we’re not..."
Emmanuele Collard "The car feels really good and we’ve had no surprises. The most important thing right now is that we get Kristian some time in the car today so we can get comfortable as a team before Le Mans." The Hankook Ferrari is in trouble too - ignition/ electrical issues we believe. Harold Primat has spun in the #009 Lola Aston Martin in fifth place. he gets the car started agai before the #14 Kolles Audi, a lap down, can take advantage. Elgaard pits the Essex Porsche and Kristijan Poulsen will go to the finish. Benjamin Leuenberger though is catching the Porsche very quickly in the #33 Speedy Sebah Lola Judd - 18 seconds the gap and lapping 4 seconds a lap faster - But does #33 need fuel? A big accident for Bruno Senna in the #10 Courage Oreca, the aftermath of the incident also involves the WR which is scraping its front end back to the pits - The #10 car is into the wall and out of the race. Tinseau stops for a splash of fuel - does Klien have to pit too? And now the 3rd in GT2 #29 Racing Box Lola Judd gets a left rear puncture up through Eau Rouge, Giacomo Piccini though doesn't slow down enough, the car skipping across the grass at Blanchimont and damaging rear bodywork, Fernando Rees is 3 laps back in the Barazi Epsilon Ginetta Zytek but Piccini brings it back and rejoins still 3 laps to the good. Leuenberger doesn't need to pit - but will the race go green again? Panis pits from third. is held at pit exit and Enge takes the place. In GT2 the gap first to second is now just a couple of seconds, the luckless JMW car though has lost a lap. If this race goes green we'll have a 3 way battle for third place overall (Enge, Panis, Primat), for the LMP2 win (Poulsen vs Leuenberger) and GT2 (Lieb vs Garcia) We'll have 5 laps of racing to finish as the Safety Car is withdrawn - Enge unlaps himself from Tinseau, the Pescarolo man hoping for some late race Peugeot unreliability. Enge meanwhile is edging away from his own pursuers. The P2 gap is under 3 seconds for the win but with a couple of LMP1 cars looking for a way past the Swiss. Lieb though is stretching his lead in GT2. Primat is right with Panis for fourth. Leuenberger less than a second behind Poulsen Klien is pulling away from Tinseau easily though, he takes the win, with a formation Peugeot finish, by 27.622 seconds, Christophe Tinseau taking the flag for the #16 Pescsrolo squad in second place with Enge grabbing a valuable third slot for Aston martin racing's #007 car. At the flag there was barely half a second between the top two, the Team Essex Porsche though came home the winner, Benjamin Leuenberger baulked as he started his last lap by a slower P2 car, Speedy Sebah though should be delighted with second place from a car that ended the Bugatti test in a bucket. Third in LMP2 went to the same car that claimed the same place in Barcelona, Giacomo Piccini bringing home the #29 Racing Box Lola Judd for a Huntingdon 2,3 GT1 went the way of the Luc Alphand Corvette, Yann Clairay taking the flag a lap ahead of the #55 Lamborghini Marc Lieb stretched his advantage to seven seconds by the end in GT2, Team Modena taking a hard fought second place after a gutsy performance that featured a star turn by Jaime Melo. Third place went to JMW Motorsport, the team no doubt highly irritated with the manner of their losing - finger trouble, an oversight and or the ludicrous new tyre change regulations - It doesn't matter now the race win has gone elsewhere. | 
