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BMS Porsche wins Total 24 Hours of Spa
With 40 minutes to go indicated on the timing screens the leading BMW looked set to win the Total 24 Hours of Spa when Dirk Werner went off at Les Fagnes and what looked as a certain victory became a nightmare in sight of the finish line. The drama for BMW meant joy for Porsche as the #23 BMS Scuderia Italia Spa Porsche 911 GT3 RSR took the overall victory in the 63rd edition of the 24 Hours of Spa after 541 laps, winning the FIA GT2 European Cup in the process. Romain Dumas is now a double Spa winner, while Jorg Bergmeister, Martin Ragginger and Wolf Henzler took their maiden win in the Ardennes. Romain Dumas is also the first man to win Spa and Le Mans in the in the same year of the modern era of endurance racing and has also won the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. BMW even lost the second place to the IMSA Performance MATMUT Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Raymond Narac, Patrick Long, Patrick Pilet and Richard Lietz. The French team finished in second in the FIA GT2 European Cup, with the #1 AF Corse ALD Team Vitaphone Ferrari 430 of Michael Waltrip, Nicola Cadei, Robert Kaufmann and Marco Cioci completing the FIA GT2 European Cup podium. Dirk Werner, Dirk Müller and Dirk Aldorf finished in third and won the GTN-class, while the #78 BMW Motorsport BMW M3 of Pedro Lamy, Jorg Müller and Uwe Alzen came home fourth and second in GTN. The Gravity International Mosler MT900 took third in GTN and 16th overall. In GT3, Porsche took the spoils as well, with a win for the Belgian team Mühlner Motorsport on home soil. FIA GT3 Champions Arnaud Peyroles and Gilles Vannelet together with Jürgen Häring and Dimitrios Konstantinou were the survivors of a hard disputed GT3 class. The #99 Marc VDS Ford GT finished in second ahead of the #68 United Autosport Audi R8 LMS. In GT4 the #59 Jota Aston Martin GT4 of Simon Dolan, Sam Hancock, Roger Wills and Joe Twyman took the spoils, with the Speedlover Aston Martin and Porsche in second and third. Photography courtesy of DPPI.
