Gamble: “Bittersweet” to Finish Fourth in “Crazy” Spa Race

Tom Gamble says his fourth-place finish in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps was a “bittersweet” result as he narrowly missed out on scoring the Aston Martin Valkyrie’s first FIA World Endurance Championship podium.

Gamble had an eventful final half hour of the race as he was running in sixth at the time of the final safety car restart but just avoided the out of control Alpine A424 of Antonio Felix da Costa that spun across the front of the Aston at Raidillon.

He then set off after the No. 7 Toyota TR010 Hybrid and the No. 50 Ferrari 499P that were being held up by a stout defense from Kevin Magnussen in the second-placed No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8.

While Gamble was able to jump ahead of the Toyota on the Kemmel Straight with two laps to go, he ultimately finished just 2.4 seconds away from the podium, although fourth in the car he shared with Harry Tincknell still represented the Valkyrie’s best WEC result to date.

“It was nice to get one of them but bittersweet in some ways because I could see the podium was so close, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” Gamble told Sportscar365.

“Nevertheless, a very positive result for all the crew and they’ve worked really hard this whole project.

“Making steps closer to the front is really nice to see and, ahead of Le Mans, to have a P4 is a great confidence boost.

“It was a crazy race really because at one point we were P11 and I was like, ‘Ah this is not a great day.’ And then the next minute I’m into P4.”

Gamble knew it was “going to be a bit gloves off” after the penultimate safety car period in the final hour and so it proved to be the case.

This included when teammate Alex Riberas in the sister No. 009 Heart of Racing Team entry attempted to pass da Costa on the Kemmel Straight but put a wheel on the grass, resulting in him spearing across the track and into the barriers, which triggered the final caution.

“Obviously, everyone had new tires and we had new Softs, which I knew was going to be quick on the restart but then was going to be tricky at the end, which it already was to be fair,” he said.

“The first restart I had two GTs in front of me so I was a long way behind the pack and then obviously came up to Turn 5 and all I could see was like an explosion so thought, ‘Oh God, someone’s gone off here.’

“Really unlucky race for the No. 009 because they were really flying today so it was a shame for them.

“The next safety car went green and I had a very, very, very near miss with the Alpine — I think I need to go and buy some lottery tickets after that one, it was crazy.

“Then I closed up to the three in front and squeezed past the Toyota but didn’t really have enough to then get back up to the BMW and the Ferrari, a real shame.”