The drivers of the 2008 Total Spa 24 Hours
The 2008 season of the FIA GT Championship enters the mid-point of the season at Spa. With four races run, and five remaining after the Spa marathon, the double points allocation in the Belgian Ardennes means that effectively the mid-way point, in terms of points, will be reached at four am on Sunday August 3rd…
The Total 24 Hours of Spa is longer than the rest of the season’s races put together, and takes place on the longest circuit visited by the Championship. Until last year, victory in the 24-hour event virtually guaranteed success in the Teams classification; that may no longer hold true, but a win will definitely boost the points score of the teams and drivers, allowing them to fight on towards the season finale in Argentina. Despite all the unpredictability of an endurance race, coupled with the notoriously tricky weather conditions at the beautiful but challenging circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, all the regular competitors will be keen to claim as many points as possible towards their 2008 tally. Of course, they will be joined by a number of race-by-race entrants, aiming for glory in the Ardennes, as well as numerous cars in the G2 and G3 categories, to give an excellent grid of around 46 cars heading round La Source and up the steep Raidillon when lights go green on Saturday afternoon.
This will be the 60th time that the epic race has been held. After many years as a touring car race, the GT cars arrived in 2001, and this will be the eighth time that the 24-hour race has been a fundamental part of the FIA GT Championship.
The points could hardly be closer coming into the fifth round. With 24 points, Vitaphone’s Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini lead the GT1 Drivers classification by two points ahead of six drivers tied on 22 points. These include Jetalliance double winners Wendlinger and Sharp, Monza victors Bouchut and Maassen, and the Phoenix Racing duo of Hezemans and Gollin, who triumphed in Adria. With two wins to Aston Martin and two to Corvette, honours are equal. But Vitaphone’s dominance in both Teams and Drivers classifications shows that consistency still pays in GT racing.
Vitaphone has a great record at Spa and have been consistent in this year's Championship
While nothing is certain in GT1, a clear favourite has emerged in GT2, with AF Corse winning three of the first four races with its Ferrari 430 GT2 cars. Bruni and Vilander have three wins to their credit, while their team-mates Biagi and Montanari, in their first season in GT2, are second in the classification. There is a close battle for third, between BMS’s Ferrari of Ruberti/Malucelli, CR Scuderia’s Kirkaldy and Bell, and Monza winners Prospeed, with the leading Porsche of Collard and Westbrook.
So how does the Spa grid look ? In GT1, the grid could hardly be more varied and balanced, with three Maserati MC 12 cars up against three Corvettes, two Aston Martin DBR9 , two Saleens and a Lamborghini Murciélago. Vitaphone has added some powerful drivers to their line-up, opting for four per car again this year. Local hero and four-times Spa winner Eric van de Poele will try to make it five when he joins Bartels, Bertolini and Le Mans star Stéphane Sarrazin in the nr 1 car. Stephane Lemeret and former Scuderia Playteam Sarafree driver Alessandro Pier Guidi strengthen the duo of Ramos and Negrao in the team’s second car. The nr 15 JMB Racing will be in the hands of a strong trio : Ben Aucott, Stéphane Daoudi and Alain Ferté, and are aiming for a podium.
Among the Corvettes, Phoenix Racing has opted to keep their winning formula. The crews from the nr 5 and nr 6 cars are reunited in one car and Deletraz, Fässler, Hezemans and Gollin will try to make it two in a row. The second car has all-new crew : former DTM star Alex Margaritis – last seen in a Konrad Saleen in the FIA GT – Uwe Alzen, a race winner with Vitaphone, Jos Menten – who took pole in Paul Ricard in a PSI Corvette – and newcomer Robert Schlünssen – will take care of the Corvette C6R. The Selleslagh Racing Team will be on home ground for Spa; the team has had plenty of work after their Corvette C6R suffered serious damage during the recent FFSA GT Championship round at Spa. Luckily, neither the chassis nor the engine were damaged, so the car can be repaired in time. Double Spa winner Bouchut and his team-mate Xavier Maassen will be joined by Belgian driver Maxime Soulet, and Christophe Pillon from Switzerland.
AF Corse have dominated GT2 in 2008,s
The Aston Martin clan sees the two Jetalliance crews join up on the nr 33 Aston Martin DBR9, concentrating effort and talent for this important race. Gigawave Motorsport has taken on two talented drivers : Darren Turner, fresh from victory in an Aston Martin at Le Mans, and Andy Thompson, usually seen in an Ascari in the FIA GT3 European Championship, but who is also Gigawave’s test driver. They will join the team regulars of Simonsen and Peter.
Two Saleens will take part. PK Carsport will once again be ‘United for Belgium’ with an all-Belgian crew, this time with an impressive red livery, to match their sponsors, Gordons. Fred Bouvy and Kurt Mollekens join the team again, alongside Kumpen and Longin. Although the season has not gone to plan for the popular duo so far, perhaps Spa can be the turning point for the Saleen, which underwent a successful Pirelli test recently. Larbre Competition has plenty of experience with their Saleen, and came close to taking GT1pole at Le Mans. Vosse and Franchi will have a powerful pair of co-drivers : former FIA GT Champion Pedro Lamy, and LMS Champion Steve Zacchia. All four are Larbre regulars; the team won the first two editions of the Spa race in 2001 and 2002, and a repeat win would be perfect.
The nr 13 IPB Spartak Racing Lamborghini Murciélago, has also announced a powerful line-up. Regulars Peter Kox and Roman Rusinov will be joined by two former F1 drivers. Jan Lammers has not driven in the FIA GT since 1998, and this will be a welcome return for the Dutch star. The fourth member of the crew is Tomas Enge, who has driven a wide variety of cars in the FIA GT, and been instantly fast in most of them.
Moving on to GT2, a fine battle between the Ferrari and Porsche cars appears to have been set in place, with nine Ferrari cars up against five Porsches. Despite failing to finish in 2007, AF Corse must be considered the favourites, after a dominant start to the season. Three-times winners Bruni and Vilander will be joined by 2006 Champion Jaime Melo and former F1 driver Mika Salo. Biagi and Montanari will share the nr 51 car with Mattias Russo from Argentina, one of the revelations of the season, who has qualified the nr 95 Pecom Racing Team Ferrari in fourth position in the last two rounds. Newcomer Dominik Farnbacher from Germany will complete the line-up.
The cars of the 2008 Total Spa 24 Hours on display for the fans
This will be CR Scuderia’s first 24 hour race, and the British team has imported some impressive names to help their regular crews. Kirkaldy and Bell, third in Oschersleben, will be joined by reigning Champion Dirk Müller, making his first appearance since winning the title. They will have support from James Sutton, a young driver from the British GT Championship. In the team’s other car, Niarchos and Mullen will be joined by Andrea Piccini and BTCC star Gordon Shedden.
Kessel Racing has been making steady progress in their first season in GT2. For this race, reigning FIA GT3 European Champions Moser and Vannelet will be reunited, with Andrea Palma joining fellow Italian Fabrizio Del Monte.
Scuderia Ecosse also have an extremely strong line-up for the marathon race. Former GT1 drivers Fabio Babini and Jamie Davies will be joined by Ferdinando Monfardini, who raced for BMS last season in their Aston Martin DBR9. BMS Scuderia Italia, currently lying second in the GT2 Teams classification, will emulate Jetalliance and place all their four drivers in one extremely fast car. The Italian team, a double winner in the GT1 category at Spa as well as victorious in GT2 last year, are sure to put in a strong performance. Last but not least among the Ferrari clan are Easy Race, the Italian team which has returned again to Spa after a points finish in 2007, with a similar line-up of Roberto Plati, Maurice Basso, Giampaolo Tenchini and Belgian driver Bertrand Baguette.
In the Porsche camp, double FIA GT Champion Marc Lieb will join Emmanuel Collard and Richard Westbrook in the nr 61 Prospeed Competition car, while experienced driver Wolf Henzler will race with the Finns Palttala and Forsten in the nr 60 car. Trackspeed Racing has a fine line-up, with Tim Sugden and Xavier Pompidou joining regulars Richard Williams and David Ashburn. Two more Porsches will join the line-up : IMSA Performance Matmut, second last year, will be hoping to go one better in 2008. Their line-up remains unchanged : Raymond Narac of Frace, Richard Lietz of Austria and Patrick Long from the USA. And Juniper Racing will join the FIA GT grid all the way from Australia. The team’s Porsche will be in the hands of Shaun Juniper, Max Twigg and Craig Baird.
The G2 category, for cars from National GT Championships, is the smallest category, mainly due to so many national GT series having moved over to the increasingly popular GT3 category. But the Belgian Racing Gillet Vertigo and their regular opponents, the GTO Charouz Racing Mosler cars, will be up against Mac Donald’s Racing with a Porsche GT2 Bi-Turbo, driven by AT Racing regulars and Citation Cup leaders Kaufmann and Talkanitsa.
G3, reserved for cars complying with the FIA GT3 regulations, sees a fine entry list of 15 cars. Although Porsche cars still form the backbone of the class, with no fewer than seven entries, including 2007 winners Mühlner Motorsport, Emeraude Racing, First Racing, Prospeed Competition, and a strong lineup from GPR Racing including Marc Duez. Five Ferrari 430 GT2 cars will face the Porsche armada, with cars entered by Delahaye Racing, Exagon Engineering, AS Events and Sport Garage. S-Berg Racing, regulars from the FIA GT3 European Championship and GT4 European Cup, enter their Lamborghini Gallardo, while the 2006 category winner, the Signa Motorsport Dodge Viper Competition Coupe, also returns. Finally, fomer FIA GT regulars David and Godfrey Jones enter an Ascari KZ1R along with Mike Jordan – a race winner in the FIA GT in a Lister.
Finally, the 2007 Coupe du Roi winners JMB Racing return with three Ferrari 430 GT3 cars to take part in the relay race. With two drivers per car, they must complete 45-minute stints, handing over to the next car in the pits.
In its 60th year, the Total 24 Hours of Spa will see a few changes, including a move to the F1 grid, where the start will be given. So although the first corner will be La Source instead of Eau Rouge, over 24 hours of racing, the excitement should still be the same.
Spa. Come rain or shine, it is sure to give a fantastic show.