Stevens Leads Opening Hour at Spa

Photo: Andrea Lorenzina/DPPI

Will Stevens led the opening hour of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, following a first-lap pass for the lead.

The No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R held a less than two-second advantage over the No. 35 Alpine A424 of Ferdinand Habsburg, with the pole-sitting No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 having dropped to third.

Loic Duval led the 17-car Hypercar field to the green, although Stevens overtook the French LMH car on the Kemmel Straight on the first lap and bridged out into an early lead.

A safety car period for the beached No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 EVO of Eric Powell, who briefly took his car into the LMGT3 class lead, led to the race’s first neutralization.

Racing action resumed on Lap 10, and saw Duval drop to third, with the No. 36 Alpine of Fred Makowiecki having run fourth.

The No. 15 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Kevin Magnussen completed the top-five after starting from tenth on the grid.

Trouble hit the No. 38 JOTA Cadillac of Earl Bamber, who had contact with the No. 92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of Yasser Shahin in the Turn 12-13 complex, sending both cars off-track.

Bamber’s Cadillac also brushed the left-side barriers and sustained a left-rear puncture. The Kiwi then brought the car back into the pits a few laps later with a suspected master cylinder issue.

It was one of two Hypercars that were in the garage at the end of the hour, the other being the No. 19 Genesis GMR-001 of Dani Juncadella, the latter for an unidentified issue.

Of note, the No. 8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid of Brendan Hartley pitted at the 38-minute mark for what was understood to have been a routine stop, but on a strategic call.

LMGT3 was led by the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 of Tom van Rompuy, who reassumed the top position after Powell made a daring pass around the Belgian driver at Eau Rouge for the class lead, only to end up in the gravel at Campus moments later.

The No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Ian James ran in second for the much of the opening hour but dropped to forth in class just prior to the first round of pit stops.

Stefano Gattuso was classified second at the one-hour mark in the No. 88 Proton Mustang, with Francois Heriau third in the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John