24h Le Mans
The Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the penultimate round in the 2018-19 World Endurance Championship takes place on Saturday 4 May. The race for the title is still on and the 35 cars on the grid will be jostling for position.
In less than a week now, WEC teams will be lining up at Spa-Francorchamps for the last round before the season finale, the 87th Le Mans 24 Hours on 15-16 June 2019. The 35-strong field in the Belgian leg of the competition comprises LMP1 and LMP2 classes with 8 cars apiece and LMGTE Pro and Am with 10 and 8 respectively. The FIA world endurance championship has a newcomer in its ranks: former McLaren F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne will be on home ground this weekend. The Belgian, who has 41 Grands Prix under his belt, joins Russian outfit SMP RACING for the Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He will be driving the LMP1 #11 BR1-AER, teamed with Mikhail Aleshin and Vitaly Petrov. Vandoorne will not be alone in feeling at home. André Lotterer – who is German but grew up in Belgium – will be taking up his familiar seat in the #1 Rebellion R13-Gibson having missed the 1000 miles of Sebring.
Free practice is slated for 12:00 and 17:55 on Thursday 2 May. There will be a third slot for practice at 12:00 on Friday 3 followed by qualifying sessions at 15:00 for LMGTE Pro and Am and at 15:35 for the prototype classes. The start of the Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is at 13:30 on 4 May 2019.
The 2018-19 Super Season began with the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps last year and plenty has happened since. At Spa, Fernando Alonso celebrated his first WEC win in the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid shared with Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima and went on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
As the season draws to a close, there are only 50 days to go until the climax, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which will have a bigger field than ever a bigger field than ever this June.
