24h Le Mans
The second round of the FIA WEC season takes place this weekend at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The final race before the 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans on 11-12 June 2022 promises fascinating battles in every class.
Thirty-seven cars will take to the undulating Spa-Francorchamps racetrack, making it the largest grid for a WEC race outside the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Twenty-four nationalities will be represented by the drivers. Traditionally, the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps has been the last race before the 24 Hours of Le Mans – a tradition that will be resumed this year. The race itself will start at 13:00 CET on Saturday.
In March, the #36 Alpine A480-Gibson of Alpine Elf Team triumphed at the season’s opener, the 1000 Miles of Sebring. The French outfit will therefore come into the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps as the Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship frontrunner with a lead of 12 points over Toyota Gazoo Racing and 16 over Glickenhaus Racing.
After a troublesome weekend in Florida, Toyota Gazoo Racing will be looking to fight back and secure a sixth successive victory at Spa. “Since Sebring, which was a disappointing result for us, the whole team has pushed hard to improve by working together with the drivers, particularly at our test in Portimão earlier this month,” explains Toyota team principal and #7 car driver Kamui Kobayashi. “It went well and we did a lot of laps in the endurance test, which is an important part of our Le Mans preparation. We worked on some things for Spa as well, which should suit our car better than Sebring, where the bumps had a big impact on car balance and performance. So we expect to be fighting at the front and everyone is fully committed to get our first win of the season.”
The Glickenhaus Racing 007 LMH has never raced at Spa before. The #708 car, third at the 1000 Miles of Sebring, will see IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship winner Pipo Derani team up with Romain Dumas and Olivier Pla.
Spa-Francorchamps is always the scene of tremendous battles in the LMGTE Pro class and 2022 should be no different. Porsche made a perfect start to the campaign at Sebring with Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen. AF Corse and Ferrari were rather subdued in Florida (fourth and fifth), but already tasted victory at Spa in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Corvette Racing’s first full WEC season got off to an encouraging start as Nick Tandy and Tommy Milner were in a position to scrap with Porsche. “We have the experience from last year’s race and some data we can take forward into this year,” says Tandy. “If the behaviour of the C8.R is anything like it was at Sebring, it will be a dream to drive around Spa. We hope we can make it a tiny bit faster.”
Fifteen cars will compete in LMP2 with around half of them being serious contenders for victory. Nonetheless, in recent seasons, the undisputed kings of Spa have been the 1000 Miles of Sebring winners, United Autosports USA. Drivers Filipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson will be aiming for a third successive victory in Belgium. “The WEC series, and LMP2 in particular, continues to grow in strength and depth every season since we entered,” team co-owner Richard Dean points out. “This season has seen the addition of some very competitive teams and drivers. We relish the opportunity to compete against the best as it continues to push our team to new levels.”
At Sebring, the LMGTE Am class saw a fiercely fought race between Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche. The Bronze-ranked drivers had a major bearing on the overall result with the best example being Paul Dalla Lana (Northwest AMR). He put in one of his most polished performances to triumph with teammates Nicki Thiim and David Pittard. The Canadian will hope to keep up the momentum at Spa where he already has four wins to his name. However, he and his team can expect some ferocious competition. The FT Sport #33 and D’Station #777 Aston Martins should be among the frontrunners along with the #46 Porsche of Team Project 1 and Dempsey-Proton Racing’s #77 Porsche. Ferrari will also pose a major threat with the five 488 GTE Evos entering the race.
The best way of following the action from the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is to be there! If you have never visited the rugged Belgian Ardennes region, then this is your chance! Tickets are still on sale here.
If you cannot make it to Spa, you can follow the race using the FIA WEC app. You will be able to watch the race live, and also get real-time results, exclusive content with onboard cameras and customisable functionality to follow your favourite teams and drivers.
Check out the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps timetable and entry list.
