Spa-H7: Maserati dominates, Corvette in ambush

At the start of the 24 Hours of Spa, the Sangari Team Brazil Corvette C6.R engaged in a real sprint. And yet, Maserati seemed unbeatable. With three MC 12s at the front, the race lead was monopolized by the Italian cars. But, from the first laps, Enrique Bernoldi took over the No. 1 and No. 33 Vitaphone Maseratis, before tackling the No. 2, that of Alex Müller, who started on pole.

After less than half an hour of racing, the American cars demonstrated their fine abilities on the Ardennes circuit. Starting from 4th, 5th and 6th places, the three Corvette C6.Rs of Enrique Bernoldi, Oliver Gavin and Mike Hezemans found themselves in first, second and fourth places respectively. At the same time, in GT2, the Porsche 997 n°70 of the French team IMSA Performance, with Patrick Pilet at the wheel, took the reins of its category.

But the rain was going to disrupt the proceedings. Surprised by a short downpour, Bernoldi lost the race lead to Oliver Gavin, who settled permanently at the front. The Briton was almost thirty seconds ahead of the No. 1 Maserati of Andrea Bertolini.

After an excellent start to the race, the crew of Sangari Team Brazil (Corvette n°8) saw their dream shattered after the change of steering wheel. Taking over from Enrique Bernoldi, Roberto Streit made a mistake at the top of Raidillon and destroyed his car. Under safety car regime, the No. 3 Corvette remained in the lead.

Another driver imitated Streit a few dozen minutes later. Jacques Villeneuve, at the wheel of the Mosler MT 900 (G2 category), was surprised by the terrible and sudden downpour that fell on the Ardennes. The 1997 world champion Formula 1 touched the Ford GT n°122 (category G3) and saw its race stop there.

As night fell on the circuit, Stéphane Sarrazin demonstrated his impeccable steering skills. Having taken over in the No. 1 Maserati, the Frenchman once again offered command of the race to an Italian car. Meanwhile, the IMSA Performance Porsche continued to lead the GT2 debates, battling with the Ferrari 430 n°51 and n°50.

In GT1, Corvette took back the lead thanks to the No. 4 from the PK Carsport team. But this domination was not going to last, Alex negrao replacing the No. 1 Maserati after dark. But the No. 4 and No. 3 Corvettes of Mollekens and Gavin were only a handful of seconds behind the leader?