There’s this concept, that when the inexperienced flag drops at an endurance race, there received’t be any pauses or relaxation till the very finish. In actuality although, everybody takes a break – at the least for a second or two.
I managed to seize round three hours of sleep at my resort after I left the observe within the early hours of Sunday morning, however the sounds of vehicles at full noise reverberating via the woods was the wake-up name I wanted on my return for the second half of the 2022 TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa.
I’d be mendacity if I didn’t say my complete physique was already aching earlier than the race even began, so my tempo was positively a bit slower for the ultimate 12 hours.
For one thing a bit bit completely different, I recorded some ambient sounds of the race, so for those who’d prefer to really feel such as you’re amongst the motion whilst you scroll via this put up, hit the play button above.
By this stage I had walked 35 miles, a first rate hike distance, and the earlier day and evening have been all however a blur to me. The ambiance was completely different although; the damp morning air felt refreshing, and despite the fact that vehicles have been attacking the observe simply as exhausting as that they had proper on the race begin, there was a way of calm in regards to the place. In fact, that had lots to do with an absence of spectators at this hour.
Whereas the grandstands have been as empty as they have been throughout the pre-race observe periods, the pits have been nonetheless alive, even if there was a sense of tiredness in regards to the place. For some groups it had been a really lengthy evening repairing automobile harm or chasing mechanical issues.
I got here trying to find velocity and the dawn on the circuit’s first flip – La Supply – from the place the closing chicane can also be seen. The rising solar wasn’t capable of push via the clouds, however even in these situations the sunshine was good.
Earlier than lengthy, one of many Audi groups suffered a nasty hit from one other automobile, and the race went beneath a ‘full course yellow’ with no overtaking.
That in fact meant that the sector bunched proper up, and though most groups have been on completely different laps, when the inexperienced gentle got here on once more the racing was feisty.
At this level, simply 53 vehicles from the 66 starters have been nonetheless racing. The Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3 #98 automobile pushed by Nicky Catsburg, Augusto Farfus and Nicholas Yelloly had led the race for a lot of Saturday, and on Sunday morning was nonetheless in first.
BMW is essentially the most profitable producer on this race’s historical past with 24 total wins, and it felt like one other was within the bag. However final yr’s winner, Ferrari, run by the Iron Lynx squad, have been additionally in rivalry, as have been a few different groups.
Funnily sufficient, the solar lastly broke via the clouds simply after I left my place, however by this time it was already excessive within the sky.
I made a decision to get pleasure from some extra pit motion, and see how everybody was waking up for an additional day of racing.
Followers have been returning to the observe, and the ambiance shortly turned festive once more.
The pink Ferrari 488 GT3 of Doriane Pin, Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting was poised to win within the ‘Gold’ class, and finally the all-female crew succeeded. Two extra women, Samantha Tan for BMW and Reema Juffali of the #20 SPS Mercedes-AMG staff have been additionally competing on this yr’s race, to not point out a lot of feminine race engineers and staff workers. It actually feels just like the motorsport world has now modified for the higher.
I believed that by this level within the race, many groups can be making an attempt to drive with warning to make sure they made it throughout the end line, however that couldn’t be farther from the reality. The racing wasn’t getting any much less attention-grabbing, with many drivers nonetheless battling in shut proximity and bouncing over the purple and yellow kerbs.
A heartbreaking second got here simply 1 hour and 53 minutes earlier than the race finish, when the Rowe Racing M4 suffered a puncture and misplaced the lead. It appeared like a BMW wouldn’t deliver a present for BMW M’s fiftieth anniversary.
By this stage, the closest rival was the #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 automobile of Raffaele Marciello, Daniel Juncadell and Jules Gounon. Their weekend wasn’t good; the automobile skilled two spins and an enormous scuffle with an Aston Martin, however in the long run nothing may cease Mercedes and AMG Workforce AKKODIS ASP from taking the general victory. After 536 laps of racing, Mercedes took their first win at this race since 2013.
The TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa is particular in endurance racing, because it’s strictly contested between GT3 equipment. Whereas the 24 Hours of Le Mans consists of completely different prototype lessons, the Belgian occasion focuses on production-based vehicles that everybody can relate to. Add that to the distinctive sense of historical past, and all of the challenges that the modern-day Spa-Francorchamps presents to producers since adopting GT guidelines for this race in 2001, and you’ll see why so many individuals hold coming again yr after yr to look at it. After so lengthy, I’m glad I lastly obtained to expertise it for myself too.
Vladimir Ljadov
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