G-Drive titled after a race prematurely stopped

Already brought forward to this morning due to pessimistic forecasts, the start of the 4 Hours of Spa was given at 10:45 a.m. under safety car regime, but the conditions never improved, forcing the organizers to display the red flag shortly after mid -race, before to declare the premature end of the event.

Starting from pole, the No. 07 Oreca 26 – G-Drive Racing of Jean-Eric Vergne – Roman Rusinov – Andrea Pizzitola had led the first minutes of the race after the Safety-Car re-entry after a full quarter of an hour, before see Nico Jamin (Oreca 07 n°29 – Duqueine Engineering) come to take the advantage just before the accident of the Norma M30 – Ultimate.

The race was again neutralized under safety car regime for around twenty minutes before resuming its course. The moment chosen by Gustavo Menezes (Oreca 07 n°31 – APR Rebellion Racing) to put pressure on Andrea Pizzitola for second place.

Le Français partira par deux fois à la faute au même endroit, retombant au-delà du top 5. Après la prise de relais de Jean-Eric Vergne, la Oreca 07 n°26 sera encore au centre de l’action à deux heures et demi de l’arrivée, lorsque Vergne, en tentant de dépasser cette même Oreca 07 n°31, pousse l’une des Porsche 911 RSR – Proton Competition à l’amorce de la dernière chicane.

The latter hit Oreca n°31, which was seriously damaged at its rear. Vergne is thus penalized with a stop&go of 2′ for the incident. But the incessant rain finally saved G-Drive's hopes, as shortly after the halfway mark, the marshals displayed the red flag due to the conditions.

The race will not resume, offering success to United Autosports and the tandem of the Ligier JS P217 n°22 Filipe Albuquerque – Phil Hanson in front of the Oreca 07 n°21 – Dragonspeed Stone – Hanley – Hedman and the Ligier JS P217 n°23 – Panis-Barthez Competition of Buret – Stevens – Canal.

But with half of the points awarded, Roman Rusinov and Andrea Pizzitola among the Drivers and G-Drive Racing among the Teams secure the 2018 titles. The team will also have an automatic invitation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2019.

In LM P3, United Autosports also won with the No. 3 Ligier JS P2 of John Falb and Scott Andrews. Ebimotors and the No. 911 Porsche 80 RSR of Riccardo Pera – Fabio Babini – Bret Curtis win in GTE.

Race ranking

Discover the report of the 4 Hours of Spa, produced by our special correspondent in Belgium, in issue 2184 of AUTOhebdo, available from tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.