24 Hours of Spa: Mixed feelings among the Grasser Racing Team

The 24 Hours of Spa is the most important race and the highlight in the GT calendar in the Blancpain Endurance Series – a true motor racing festival that shows what the GT cars are capable of. The 24 Hours of Spa is held on the picturesque and challenging track of the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

The favorite track of all the pilots usually has rain and fog in store – even in the height of summer. Yet this Saturday’s race, in which 63 cars – including eleven Lamborghinis – lined up, got underway in wonderful, hot and sunny conditions.

Marco Mapelli, Raffaele Giammaria and Ezequiel Perez Companc began from 28th place on the grid in their Lamborghini Huracán GT3 with the number 19. The trio fought its way up into the top ten and kept on improving as the race went on. After 506 intense and frequently dramatic laps in the 70th staging of the Total 24 Hours of Spa, they crossed the finishing line in 14th. Unfortunately, the two Lamborghini Huracán GT3 cars with the start numbers 63 and 82 had great difficulties during the night and were forced to retire prematurely.

Mirko Bortolotti, who drove the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 number 63 together with Christian Engelhart and Andrea Caldarelli, started from eighth spot. He made up ground right away and was already in third at the end of the second lap. However, the front of Caldarelli’s car suffered damage during an incident after four hours. The Lamborghini Huracán GT3 number 63 had to head for the pits and, on top of that, was given a 30-second stop-and-go penalty as a result of the collision. After a wait, the team sent Caldarelli back onto the track. At the time he was seven laps behind the leader. Unfortunately, technical problems caused by the preceding accident meant the number 63 was forced to withdraw from the race.

Christian Engelhart said: “The whole team did a great job and prepared the car very well. We really had a decent racing car here. Mirko produced a really god lap in the Super Pole session, enabling us to start from eighth on the grid. We had a good first stint and from the strategic perspective it was good to make an early pit stop. We then fought our way right up into third. Unfortunately, Andrea was involved in an accident with another car after my stint and so we had to retire. That’s how motor racing goes sometimes. It’s a sad day for us, since we had good chances to contend for the lead. Now we’re waiting for the next race to show that things can also go better.”

Source: Motorsport-Magazin