Table of Contents
RACE
The race started with the 40-car field hurtling into the first corner at La Source led by Kyffin Simpson in the no25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca. Behind Simpson, there was a cloud of tyre smoke as the no65 Panis Racing Oreca of Manuel Maldonado came down the inside at speed, missing the turn in for Turn 1 and hitting the no30 Duqueine Team and no28 IDEC Sport Orecas, with all three cars plus the no22 United Autosports Oreca ending up in the gravel trap.
The LMP3 leader was the no11 Eurointernational Ligier with Matthew Richard Bell, also building a comfortable lead in LMP3. At the top of the first hour, a Full Course Yellow was shown when Daniel Schneider went off track in the no21 United Autosports Oreca at T11 after being hit by the no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier.
With 90-minutes remaining the third Safety Car was deployed after the no10 Eurointernational Ligier of Glenn Van Berlo went off into the barriers at T14 after running wide into the gravel and spearing across the track. The repairs to the barriers took 35-minutes, and racing resumed with less than an hour on the clock.
Another Safety Car was deployed when Ben Hanley went off into the barriers at Turn 15. The front runners had spotted the issue and decided to pit before the Safety Car was deployed, which closed the pits. With 22 minutes left on the clock, the race went green.
The no47 COOL Racing Oreca of Reshad De Gerus was leading from the no81 Dragonspeed USA Oreca of Sebastian Montoya and the no3 DKR Engineering Oreca of Sebastian Alvarez. However, these three cars had not stopped when the others had and would need to stop before the end of the race.
The fifth and final Safety Car was deployed with 18-minutes on the clock when the no43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca of Jonathan Aberdein went off in the same place as Ben Hanley’s Nielsen Racing Oreca.
LMP2
Kyffin Simpson of Algarve Pro Racing Oreca-Gibson scored a second win of the 2023 season in the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The race was chaotic as it saw five Safety Cars and three Full Course Yellows. Simpson, along with his teammates James Allen and Alex Lynn, stood on the top step of the Spa-Francorchamps podium.
The no37 COOL Racing Oreca took the LMP2 Pro/Am victory, with Malthe Jakobsen taking the chequered flag in 2nd overall, less than two seconds behind Alex Lynn at the end of the four-hour race.
LMP2 PRO AM
The no83 AF Corse and no34 Racing Team Turkey Orecas were battling for the minor podium places. Alessio Rovera got ahead of Louis Delétraz to put the AF Corse Oreca second in class and third overall. However, two post-race time penalties saw the no34 Oreca being classified ahead of the no83 Oreca.
LMP3
COOL Racing celebrated their second win of the weekend in LMP3 when Marcos Siebert crossed the line at the head of the LMP3 field in the no17 Ligier-Nissan. This gave Siebert, Adrien Chila, and Alejandro Garcia an almost unassailable lead of 46 points in the championship standings. 52 points are available in the final two races in Portugal next month.
LMGTE
The LMGTE win was secured by the no16 Proton Competition Porsche with Belgian driver Alessio Picariello taking the chequered flag for his first ELMS win at his home track. The winning car was given a 10-second penalty for not respecting the speed under Full Course Yellow and accelerated too soon, which promoted the no60 Porsche into first place.
The no16 Proton Competition Porsche was given a 10-second penalty for not respecting the speed under Full Course Yellow and accelerated too soon. This dropped the no16 Porsche to 3rd in LMGTE and promoted the no60 Iron Lynx Porsche into first place and the no50 Formula Racing Ferrari into second place.
POST RACE PENALTIES
The no83 AF Corse Oreca-Gibson was given a 4-second time penalty for not respecting the speed under Full Course Yellow and accelerated too soon.
The no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca-Gibson was given a 2-second time penalty for not respecting the speed under Full Course Yellow and accelerated too soon.
The result of these two penalties means Racing Team Turkey is classified 2nd in LMP2 Pro/Am, and AF Corse is classified 4th behind the no21 United Autosports USA Oreca, which finishes 3rd in Pro/Am and 4th overall.
