Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Leads After One Hour

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT leads the Total 24 Hours of Spa after one hour of racing in the Belgian Ardennes.

Laurens Vanthoor started the No. 1 Audi R8 LMS ultra from pole position and held onto the lead as the cars went up the Raidillon for the first time in this year’s race. Alessandro Pier Guidi followed in second place, this time keeping his Ferrari on the road.

Vanthoor began to build up a lead over Pier Guidi, Edward Sandström and Stef Dusseldorp, quickly putting his rivals a couple of seconds down. At the end of the hour, just after Pier Guidi had come in for the first stop of the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari, Vanthoor had an 18-seconds lead over the No. 26 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra.

The No. 8 M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3 had a disastrous start of the race, returning to the pits after completing just one lap. The team replaced a track rod, damaged after contact with another car.

ART Grand Prix, which already had its share of bad luck during this week, suffered more problems in the first hour. The No. 99 McLaren stopped at the pit entry, Estre requiring a tow back into the pit lane, while the No. 98 suffered a right rear puncture.

Nissan’s No. 35 Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 suffered damage to rear suspension after being hit by the No. 188 Fach Auto Tech Porsche, while the No. 150 Wochenspiegel Team Manthey Porsche retired due to an engine failure.