Analysis

The Planetlemans Spa 24 Hours GT2 preview

© Planetlemans - Brecht Decancq

Thirteen GT2 cars are entered for the Total 24 Hours of Spa this weekend at the Belgian Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Five Porsche 997 GT3 RSRs will take on eight Ferrari 430 GT2s for the class victory. Last year it was an all Porsche podium, but this year the Italian manufacturer seems to have the best chances.

In 2007 it was the BMS Scuderia Italia Porsche that took the win after leading for almost the entire race. Its Italian rivals failed, despite being close at the halfway point of the race. As the chequered flag came out on Sunday afternoon the Ferrari’s had been thrown back down the order or even into retirement. BMS Scuderia Italia had a four laps lead over the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche and ten over the Tech9 Motorsport Porsche. The first Ferrari ended in fifth place in GT2.

The defending GT2 Spa 24 champion switched from Porsche to Ferrari this year and like in 2007 will enter a single car, rather than the two entries they have in this year’s championship. The BMS Scuderia Italia #77 Ferrari 430 GT will be racing in Belgium with all four regular drivers behind the wheel. Matteo Malucelli knows how it feels to win Spa, he was one of the three winning drivers. His team mates are Paolo Ruberti, Joel Camathias and Davide Rigon.

© Planetlemans - Brecht Decancq

The absolute favourite for this event is the AF Corse team. They come to Spa with high hopes of a victory, despite a rather dramatic 2007 edition. The #50 Ferrari will have FIA GT2 Drivers Championship leaders Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni, joined by highly experienced Ferrari drivers Mika Salo and Jaime Melo. Bruni, Salo and Melo won the Le Mans 24 Hours this year in a Risi Ferrari and the team hopes to get the same result at Spa. A victory at Spa could also lead to a big step forward in the team’s attempt to win both the drivers and teams championships. The sister car, the #51, will see regular drivers Thomas Biagi and Christian Montanari joined by two other experienced Ferrari 430 drivers. Dominik Farnbacher will be coming over from the Tafel Racing ALMS squad while Matias Russo comes over from ‘sister squad’ Advanced Engineering. Russo’s season entered Ferrari, which he shares with Perez Companc, will not be racing at Spa.

Third placed in the GT2 Teams Championship is the CR Scuderia team. Despite being new at Spa the drivers are very experienced and this car could do well if mechanical problems and driver errors stay away from the team. The team’s #55 entry will be driven by Chris Niarchos and Tim Mullen, joined for this weekend by Andrea Piccini and the lesser known British touring car driver Gordon Shedden, who has tested for the team this year. The second car, the #56, also has a similar impressive squad. Andrew Kirkaldy and Rob Bell will have works driver Dirk Müller with them and CR Scuderia’s British GT driver James Sutton is their reserve driver.

© Planetlemans - Marcel ten Caat

Porsche’s attempt to repeat its GT2 Spa 24 win is spearheaded by Prospeed Competition. Works drivers Richard Westbrook and Emmanuel Collard (part of last year’s winning squad) are joined by Marc Lieb in the #61 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR. Lieb brings even more experience to the team and knows the car by heart. He was the third driver in the winning Porsche last year and after missing out on the Le Mans 24 Hours his mind is set on a victory at Spa. The Porsche has shown that it can go all the way and if a Porsche is to win again at Spa it should be this one. The sister car, the #60, of Markus Palttala and Mikael Forsten will also have a works Porsche driver. Coming over from the USA is Flying Lizard Motorsports driver Wolf Henzler, who also knows what it is to win with Porsche.

Another team that could be in for a surprise is the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche. Having already finished on the podium at Spa last year the team is back for more. After a rather dramatic exit in the Le Mans 24 Hours Raymond Narac, Richard Lietz and Patrick Long are back to show they are still able to finish a 24 hours event in the best way possible. They will need some luck as IMSA’s season has not been great so far, but it still is Spa-Francorchamps, where everything can happen.

Scuderia Ecosse will also run three drivers at Spa, rather than four. Fabio Babini and Jamie Davies are getting help from Ferdinando Monfardini at the Belgian track. After not being at the front this season and only scoring points in the Italian rounds the team run by Stewart Roden is hoping for a change of luck at Spa, but they will need more than luck to be at the front.

Trackspeed Racing will also compete at Spa. Despite David Ashburn and Richard Williams not having scored a single point so far this season the pair is joined by two highly experienced drivers, Xavier Pompidou and Tim Sugden. These two drivers should bring enough experience to the team to score some points this race. Both Sugden know the Porsche and the Spa circuit well.

Henri Moser and Fabrizio Del Monte will bring their Kessel Racing Ferrari 430 GT2 to Spa, with Gilles Vannelet and Andrea Palma joining the team. Having joined the FIA GT championship this season it will be the first time the team will race in the GT2 class of the Total 24 Hours of Spa. If the regular top cars will not make any mistakes this car will likely be classified as an also-ran rather than a podium candidate.

An historical entry into FIA GT is the Porsche 997 GT3 RSR of Juniper Racing. The Australian team makes its debut at Spa, with Aussies Shaun Juniper, Max Twigg and Rodney Forbes joined by New Zealander Craig Baird. The team raced in the 24H Series and the Nürburgring 24 Hours this year, but it will be their very first FIA GT race. Let’s just say they did not come from down under just to take part.

And finally we get to the thirteenth GT2 car to be racing this weekend. Easy Race will return to Spa-Francorchamps after finishing in seventh place in the GT2 class last year. Giampaolo Tenchini, Maurice Basso, Roberto Plati and local man Bertrand Baguette will be the four drivers for the Italian squad. A repeat of their result from 2007 would be a good result…