Inter Europol Takes Narrow Win After Spa Chaos

Inter Europol Competition drivers Kuba Smiechowski, Nick Yelloly and Tom Dillmann emerged triumphant in the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps after a European Le Mans Series contest that featured multiple cautions in the first half.

The No. 43 Oreca 07 Gibson managed to avoid the chaos that engulfed so many of its rivals to take a narrow victory from the No. 10 Vector Sport machine of Ryan Cullen, Vladislav Lomko and Pietro Fittipaldi after a race that finally came alive in the final stages.

Jamie Chadwick initially maintained the lead from pole in the No. 18 IDEC Sport Oreca, but one of the potential frontrunners was immediately in trouble as Bijoy Garg in the No. 34 Inter Europol machine struck the rear of front-row starter Griffin Peebles’ United Autosports No. 22 car at La Source.

Garg suffered significant front-end damage and his race further unravelled when he pitted too soon for repairs following a safety car caused by the sister LMP3 machine spinning out at Les Combes.

Peebles escaped serious damage in the clash and was able to pass Chadwick around the outside at La Source when the race resumed.

The Australian then began pulling away at a rapid rate and enjoyed a lead of over 15 seconds when there was a glut of five further safety car periods in the first two hours that prevented Peebles from taking full advantage of his superior pace.

Sure enough, the No. 43 Inter Europol machine jumped into the lead in the hands of Yelloly after the second round of stops inside the second hour after opting not to change all the tires while a slow stop relegated Laurents Hoerr now in the No. 18 IDEC machine to a net fifth.

And there was further trouble for the points-leading United Autosports machine inside the third hour, when green-flag running really began in earnest, when the No. 88 Proton Competition Oreca spun approaching the Bus Stop chicane and Gregoire Saucy had to take avoiding action, which cost him three places.

Yelloly continued to lead until the penultimate round of stops when it was the No. 10 Vector Sport crew’s decision not to change all tires that vaulted Fittipaldi into first place.

But those positions were reversed at the final pit visits with around half an hour to go and Dillmann in the No. 43 Inter Europol car emerged 2.7 seconds ahead of Fittipaldi.

Despite Fittipaldi closing that gap in traffic he was not able to prevent a first win of the ELMS season for Inter Europol with Dillmann crossing the line 3.379 seconds ahead.

The Forestier Racing by Panis No. 29 Oreca of reigning champions Esteban Masson and Oliver Gray, alongside Louis Rousset, did not enjoy the same pace that previously guided it to two wins this year but it was still able to complete the podium and close the gap to the No. 22 United Autosports squad, which ended up fifth.

In between them was the pole-sitting No. 18 IDEC Sport car Chadwick, Hoerr and Valerio Rinicella shared and they had to settle for fourth.

The battle for Pro-Am glory went right down to the wire between the No. 83 AF Corse crew of Francois Perrodo, Antonio Fuoco and Matthieu Vaxiviere and the No. 99 AO by TF Sport Oreca of PJ Hyett, Dane Cameron and Louis Deletraz.

Deletraz attempted a move at Les Combes with two minutes to go but Vaxiviere robustly defended his place and they came to blows, with Deletraz spinning.

Vaxiviere held on to finish sixth overall but faces a post-race investigation into the incident.

The No. 30 Duqueine Team Oreca that started on pole and led for much of the race fell back on strategy as Giorgio Roda completed a longer Bronze stint and was handed a five-second penalty for a starting position infringement.

Rinaldi, GR Racing Enjoy Very Different Class Victories

Rinaldi Racing stormed to a dominant win in the LMP3 division after leading throughout the second half of the contest.

The No. 5 Ligier JS P325 of Jose Cautela, Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen and Alvsie Rodella finished up nearly a minute ahead of the opposition to extend their points lead.

The charging No. 17 CLX Motorsport Ligier of Louis Iglesias moved into second in the closing stages as the youngster again impressed on his second ELMS appearance to finish runner-up alongside Paul Lanchere and Alexander Jacoby.

The CLX crew opted to make both of its longer mandatory stops during the early safety cars, which dropped it down the order before making steady progress in the final half hour.

The No. 85 R-ace GP Duqueine D09 Toyota also led amid the early interruptions but Pierre-Alexandre Provost, Fabien Michal and Hugo Schwarze had to eventually settle for third.

Further back, GR Racing scored a remarkable first win in the LMGT3 ranks with Michael Wainwright, Mex Jansen and Lorcan Hanafin at the wheel of its Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo after opting to pit much earlier than the majority of the field to change their Bronze driver.

Most of the LMGT3 crews opted to keep the FIA-graded Bronzes aboard throughout all the repeated cautions of the first two hours with the No. 62 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Abdulla Al-Khelaifi grabbing the lead from the pole-sitting Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Anthony McIntosh at the first round of stops.

McIntosh then dropped out of contention when spun out at Speaker’s Corner by the No. 75 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of Matt Kurzejewski, which left the Aston stranded in the gravel.

Al-Khelaifi continued to lead but the No. 83 GR Ferrari steadily rose up the order as its alternate strategy brought it to the fore.

Hanafin was able to make a much shorter final stop in the final half hour and was able to emerge with a narrow lead over the No. 63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG.

The Briton kept Sergio Sette Camara at bay, with the Mercedes-AMG having to make a late splash and dash to take the spoils by 2.772 seconds to secure a landmark first win in over a decade for GR Racing as the charging No. 77 Proton Porsche of Alessio Picariello rose to second.

Picariello, who was standing in for Harry King — on IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship duty — took runner-up spot alongside Martin Berry and Huub van Eijndhoven while the Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG of Al-Khelaifi, Martin and Julian Hanses had to settle for third.

Fourth went to the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari of Charles-Henri Samani, Conrad Laursen and Davide Rigon, while the points-leading TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Blake McDonald, Alec Udell and Charlie Eastwood was only sixth.

RESULTS: 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps