GT2 Europe

Piccini out at Spa due to tyre explosion

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

A blown tyre, and a consequential crash, just when Andrea Piccini’s Audi R8 was catching up, after experiencing some technical issues at the start of the race, caused the car to have to retire from the Spa 24-hour race.

For the 32-year-old Italian driver, it is another of many bitter episodes of an “old movie”, with the difference that this time a medical check
at the military hospital in Koblenz was deemed necessary, due to the shoulder and knee pain he was suffering from, however without serious consequences.

Technical issues, followed by some outstanding driving, and in the end another incident that went very close to becoming dangerous. A start, at 16:00 on Saturday 31st July, from fourth position on the grid: as per pre-race agreements, Piccini completes the first hour of the race, managing to bring the car up to 2nd position (first place in GT3), behind Bruni and Longin’s Ferrari 430 GT2, when an issue with the electronic system causes the Audi to have to pit twice. Pit stops that cause the car to fall back 6 laps, re-entering in 28th position.

Despite the drawback, Alex Margaritis, Henri Moser, and Marc Hennerici (who completes two stints), are able to regain about 10 positions, and late in the evening hand the R8 back over to Piccini, who manages to reach 15th position, when his rear left tyre blows up at the Eau Rouge, just past the starting line. Andrea is therefore forced to take the remaining 6km slowly, before he is able to enter the pit lane.

As a consequence, the Audi ends up in 17th position. However, thanks to a drying track and slick tyres, the Italian driver completes an exceptional double stint, regaining another 10 positions in two hours. When, at 06:00 am, Bruni and Longin’s Ferrari 430 and Kumpen and
Fassler’s Audi R8 (also a Team Phoenix Racing car) take each other out, Piccini ends up in 5th overall position and 2nd in the GT3 class, with
the 3rd position runner only one lap ahead. Half an hour of strong driving and 12 laps completed, with the class and determination that are his
characteristics, but the adventure is destined to end with a good amount of pathos: the tyre that blows up this time is the right rear one, once again at the Eau Rouge Raidillion, a downhill corner that is driven at approximately 240 km/h. The result: the Audi goes off track and runs into the wall of tyres, then bounces back. The car is almost completely destroyed and Piccini complains of pain in his left shoulder and knee, possibly caused by an injury to his meniscus.

“Apart from the problems experienced at the start of the race – said Piccini just before being transferred to Koblenz – we had done some
great team work, with all drivers contributing to improving our position. We more than deserved the 5th position, and I think that we would have been able to win the GT3 race and reach the lower step on the podium: it would have been a great achievement, which we have unfortunately been denied by unforeseeable circumstances”.