1-2 glory for Porsche/Michelin in Belgium

11/05/2024

The 2024 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps was won by the #12 Porsche 963 of Hertz Team Jota's Stevens/Ilott, ahead of the similar #6 car (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor) and the #50 and #51 Ferraris. After being interrupted for two hours, the action was extended until sunset to the delight of the 88,180 spectators, a record for an FIA WEC round – Le Mans not included. The French 24-hour classic is the calendar's next stop, on June 15-16.

The #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 (Stevens/Ilott) followed up its second place in Qatar with victory at Spa-Francorchamps. When racing resumed after a long interruption, Callum Ilott took advantage of the outstanding warm-up performance of his medium-compound MICHELIN Pilot Sports to post a sequence of quick laps and build up an appreciable lead.
Callum Ilott (Driver, #12 Porsche): “Thank you to everyone in the team. We were fortunate when the red flag was shown because we had just pitted and put four fresh tires on the car. I managed to get them up to temperature behind the Safety Car and they enabled me to push straight away to open up a gap when the race restarted. I then took care of them through the hardest parts of the circuit in order to do a really consistent stint. At the last pit-stop, we only changed the left-hand tires to hold on to our lead.”
Pierre Alves (Endurance Racing Program Manager, Michelin Motorsport): “Mission accomplished for Michelin. The medium Pilot Sport showed how quickly it climbs in temperature and we obtained some great information for Le Mans.”
Qualifying didn't go to plan for Ferrari AF Corse (its #51 499P did not take part in the Hyperpole session and its #50 car had its pole win canceled), but the two Italian cars figured strongly early on in the race. When action resumed after the red flag interruption, they had to stop for fuel, however. The #50 car ended up third.
Proton Competition's Julien Andlauer (#99 Porsche 963) delivered a masterful first stint to appear in front at the halfway point. The car concluded the race in fifth position, aided by some superb passing maneuvers through Raidillon.
Action was halted for two hours following an accident involving the #2 Cadillac down Kemmel straight. Happily, Earl Bamber was unhurt in the spectacular incident. The race was extended and ended almost two hours after the scheduled finish time. The #38 and #6 Porsches were involved in an earlier tangle.
Combative performances helped the #8 and #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrids to finish sixth and seventh, despite a Stop-and-Go penalty for the former. Alpine Endurance Team and Team Peugeot TotalEnergies both got cars into the top 10 (#35 and #93).
The FIA WEC will reconvene in a month's time for the 92^nd Le Mans 24 Hours where Michelin will provide tires for 23 Hypercar prototypes.