FIA GT - Spa 24 Hours Preview Part 2 - GT2

13 cars make up the GT2 field for this weekend’s Spa 24 Hours and it’s a straight split between the GT equivalent of the Auld Enemy – Ferrari and Porsche.

Porsche

There are five 997 GT3 RS runners on the grid, all bar one are FIA GT full season entries.

The interloper is the IMSA Performance Matmut squad, again looking for a significant 24 Hour race crown, their #70 car comes with one of the classiest driver line-ups of the lot, co-Principal and very quick man in his own right Raymond Narac Joined by the double Patrick Porsche factory combo of Messrs Long and Pilet – This team will be tough to beat.

The fight though will be taken to them by several other GT2 runners, including a trio of other Porsches.

Trackspeed arrive at Spa with a driver line-up that signals some intent.  Owner David Ashburn provides the means and will be very much the fourth man as Tim Sugden is joined for the weekend by none other than Stephane Ortelli (overall winner of the race in a GT2 Porsche in 2003) and Joerg Bergmeister.  Expect the #59 car to qualify and race very well indeed.

The third of a group of pacey Porsches is likely to be the lead #60 Prospeed 997.  Regular wheelmen Richard Westbrook and Emmanuel Collard are joined here by Darryl O’Young, usually seen aboard the #61 car and the always quick Sean Edwards – There’s strength in considerable depth there!

The #61 car meanwhile is given over to a different looking quartet - Paul van Splunteren
Raymond Coronel, Niek Hommerson and Louis Machiels are unlikely to trouble the real frontrunners – but a Porsche is the thing to have in an endurance race!

Finally in Porsche land in GT2 the Brixia Racing squad field Luigi Lucchini, Porsche junior stars Martin Ragginger and Marco Holzer and ALMS front runner Bryce Miller.  Brixia remember are a shadow team of BMS Scuderia Italia, the squad looking for a triple win in GT2 here – and two years ago they did it in a

Porsche!  Don’t count this car out to be there and thereabouts.

Ferrari

The 8 GT2 class Ferrari 430s include three two car teams – AF Corse, CRS Racing and BMS Scuderia Italia.

All have squads that can win this race on pace – And all have learnt that that probably won’t be the way this race pans out!

AF Corse field a driver squad in their #50 car that will have the opposition biting fingernails.

Toni Vilander, Gianmaria Bruni and Jaime Melo are all world class, in a team with the best that the Ferrari factory and Michelotto can screw together.  They’re joined by Luis Perez Companc, again very much the fourth man in this company.  This is very much a car that will be a pacesetter.

AF Corse’s #51 car fields Alvaro Barba Lopez, Niki Cadei, Matias Russo and Pierre Kaffer.  There’s pace aplenty there too but perhaps not as much depth as the lead car – Expect both AF Corse cars though to be in the leading pack.

Next up CRS Racing and the hare of their pair is the #56 car - Andrew Kirkaldy, Rob Bell, Peter Kox and 
Antonio Garcia have absolutely nothing to hide from amongst the rest of the GT2 field – this is another truly world class line-up – Could this be CRS’s day?

The #55 car meanwhile has little to be shy of either.  Tim Mullen and Phil Quaife should be the quickest two here with Chris Goodwin hardly a slouch either and Chris Niarchos able to pedal almost as fast and as long as he talks!  This is a team that loves to go racing and they’ll be looking to stay in touch for a fast finish rather than lead from the front through the race – Muillen though is well capable of taking the fight to anyone.

As observed earlier BMS Scuderia Italia are on a treble – Never fancied but always classy – sounds like a blind date but actually it’s a recipe that has served the team well.  Their Ferraris are back on Pirellis for this race and, with a lead #77 squad composed of Matteo Malucelli, Paolo Ruberti, Kenneth Heyer and Diego Romanini they could be looking good for a quick run if attrition strikes.

The sister #78 car meanwhile has Frédéric Dor joined by Christian Pescatori and Marcello Zani.  Again there’s pace available there but a reliability run looks more likely.

Neither of the singleton entries look likely to challenge for long on pace.

Pecom Racing’s satellite AF Corse entry brings Lorenzo Casé, Cédric Sbirrazuoli and Alessandro Garofano to the fray whilst JMB’s #99 car adds the pace of Stephane Daoudi to the gentleman driver mix of Maurizio Basso, Peter Kuteman and John Hartshorne.