Hexis Racing‘s 24 Hours of Spa adventure ended in disappointment, as both of the team’s McLaren MP4-12Cs failed to make the finish.
Qualifying went well for the McLaren customer team, with the #7 car placing 8th on the combined qualifying session grid, over a second faster than the next MP4-12C of Von Ryan Racing in 28th. The team’s second car, the Pro-Am class #107, took 44th overall but had been making steady progress in terms of pace throughout the qualifying and practice sessions.
A strong start for the #7 saw Alvaro Parente miss the chaos on the first lap, taking the car to third for the opening hour of the race. From then on, however, it was downhill. The car lost 18 laps in the pits due to a broken alternator cable connection, while the #107 car was stuck in the pits for eight laps owing to a stuck brake pedal.
Despite the set backs the teams fought through to get back in to the race, but it would all end early for the #7 squad, who only lasted 7 hours before Alexander Sims made contact with another car at the Bus Stop chicane, badly damaging the car to the extent that it could not be repaired and retirement was the only option.
The #107 car battled on and had made it in to the top 30 by the halfway point, however, in the early hours of the morning the car pulled over to the side of the circuit, ending Hexis Racing’s Spa weekend earlier than intended.
“I could write many paragraphs on the understandable disappointment from the whole team, on the long hours of work and much sweat which had brought them to that point,” said Hexis Racing’s Romane Didier. “For their second 24-hour race, Hexis Racing shone but did not reach their dream, and it is never easy to come down from such hopes and expectation! The biggest teams, the best-prepared factories, the most experienced drivers, have all gone through this phase. It is important to know that you gave your all, that you faced up to each difficulty with courage, and, most importantly… to come back the next year and try again!”
