The 2014 Total 24 Hours of Spa continued to play out the pattern that had been established since the first hours of running during the night, with the #1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT R8 LMS and the #77 BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS BMW swapping the lead as each pursued their own pit schedule.
The Audi – shared between Laurens Vanthoor, Rene Rast and Markus Winkelhock – pits first in every hour, before the BMW – driven by Lucas Luhr, Markus Palttala and Dirk Werner – pits towards the end of each hour. The BMW is getting progressively later, leading more and more laps with each cycle of stops, but still a distance from even potentially making up a pitstop on their rivals.
As the end of the fifteenth hour approached the BMW pitted with just minutes left in the hour, the car being turned over to Werner, who dropped back to second place. All around the BMW remained Audis with the #2 and #3 WRT Audis as well as the Sainteloc Racing entry all in the top five, just as they have been for much of the race. However, the #86 HTP Motorsport Mercedes is closing in on the Sainteloc #26, which is bringing up the rear of the four four-ringed machines.
Earlier on the Pro Cup entries from Oman Racing Team and the #98, the second of ART Grand Prix’s McLaren’s joined the list of retirements, the McLaren reported as on fire at Blanchimont when Nicolas Lapierre pulled the car off the track.
The #90 Scuderia Villorba Corse team continue to lead the Pro-Am class, with Andrea Montermini starring in the car that runs in seventh overall. The position in the class was eased in the closing minutes of the fifteenth hour when Henry Hassid crashed the #12 TDS Racing BMW out of Pouhon whilst running second in the class.
His misfortune promoted the #52 and #53 AF Corse Ferraris to second and third in the class respectively, though both were a lap behind Montermini’s entry.
Meanwhile in the Gentlemen Trophy class the #51 AF Corse team continue to lead the way over the #42 Sport Garage team and their Ferrari, with a lap separating the two.
Total 24 Hours of Spa class standings after 15 hours:
Pro Cup
1 – #1 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT (Rast/Vanthoor/Winkelhock)
2 – #77 BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS (Luhr/Palttala/Werner)
3 – #2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT (Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer)
4- #3 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT (Mies/Nash/Stippler)
5 – #26 Sainteloc Racing (Guilvert/Ortelli/Sandstrom)
Pro-Am Cup
1 – #90 Scuderia Villoba Corse (Castellacci/Gai/Montermini/Rizzoli)
2 – #52 AF Corse – (Lowndes/Piccini/Rugolo/Wyatt)
3 – #53 AF Corse – (Bertolini/Cioci/Hommerson/Machiels)
Gentlemen Trophy
1 – #51 AF Corse (Guedes/Mann/Mezard/Talkanista)
2 – #42 Sport Garage (Bontempelli/Caccia/Van Hove/Vannelet)
3 – #228 Delahaye Racing (Al Azhari/Bordet/Lemeret/Viron)
