The World Endurance Championship will be back on the track this weekend in Belgium for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the second round of FIA WEC Season 10. Once again, there will be two 488 GTEs in the LMGTE Pro class and five in the LMGTE Am class.
LMGTE Pro. After picking up their first points of the season at Sebring, reigning world champions Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado will attempt to climb the podium at Spa, a feat already accomplished last season. They will be counting on the unpredictability of the Belgian weather and AF Corse’s fine tradition at the Ardennes track, having won in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. With the Balance of Performance unchanged from Sebring, Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco will also need to race defensively, although the Spaniard is especially motivated on this circuit. “The race at Spa-Francorchamps is one of those I look forward to most because it is a circuit I like a lot and is somewhere I have always been strong,” explains Molina. “We almost won last year, so in this edition, the aim is to try again and collect some valuable data to prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”
LMGTE Am. Given the results of the 1000 Miles of Sebring, the crews of the 488 GTEs entered in this class will also be looking for payback on the 7-kilometre-plus Belgian track. After Michelle Gatting, Rahel Frey and Sarah Bovy’s fourth place in America, the “Iron Dames” will try to use the Belgian driver’s experience to go for the podium. The crew of Iron Lynx car number 60, Claudio Schiavoni, Matteo Cressoni and Giancarlo Fisichella, share that same goal. The two AF Corse Ferraris are also looking for a strong outcome. Simon Mann, Christoph Ulrich and Toni Vilander will be in the number 21 car, while Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Nick Cassidy will take the wheel of number 54. On the other hand, the French trio of Franck Dezoteux, Pierre Ragues and Gabriel Aubry will be seeking their first points of the season for Spirit of Race after retiring at Sebring.
Programme. As per tradition, the Belgian weekend will culminate on Saturday, with the race starting at 1 p.m. local time and the chequered flag six hours later. The starting grid will be decided late Friday afternoon, from 6.20 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.