2015 6 Hours Of Spa-Francorchamps
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The 2015 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, formally the WEC 6 Heures de Spa-Francorchamps, was a six hour
endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from a ...
sports car racing event held for
Le Mans Prototype A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were create ...
and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars on 2 May at the
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has held ...
in
Stavelot Stavelot (; german: Stablo ; wa, Ståvleu) is a town and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Francorchamps and Stavelot. It is best known as the home of Sp ...
, Belgium. Spa-Francorchamps hosted the second race of the
2015 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the fourth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship auto racing series, co-organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). ...
with 54,000 people attending the race weekend. The No. 17
Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
of
Timo Bernhard Timo Bernhard (born 24 February 1981) is a former driver from Germany. He was a sports car driver from Porsche, but was seconded to Audi for selected events in 2009 and 2010. He is a winner of the Triple Crown in endurance racing. On 29 June 20 ...
,
Brendon Hartley Brendon Hartley (born 10 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing. He won the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, alongside his te ...
, and Mark Webber qualified in
pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
and maintained the lead until it was issued with a stop-and-go penalty, allowing
Marc Lieb Marc Lieb (born 4 July 1980) is a former German Porsche factory motor-racing driver. He won the FIA GT Championship in 2003 and 2005, and the European Le Mans Series in 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010. He won the 24 Hours Nürburgring four times, one t ...
,
Romain Dumas Romain Dumas (born 14 December 1977) is a French racing driver and a Porsche factory driver. He first started out in karting and single-seater before becoming an expert driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest r ...
and
Neel Jani Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983) is a Swiss professional Porsche factory driver. His father is from India and his mother is German Swiss. He achieved his greatest success winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche's LMP1 ...
to take over the lead.
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...
's No. 7 car of
André Lotterer André Lotterer (born 19 November 1981) is a German professional racing driver currently racing for Avalanche Andretti Formula E in the FIA Formula E Championship. He is best known for his success in endurance racing with the works Audi team, ...
, Marcel Fässler and
Benoît Tréluyer Benoît Tréluyer (; born 7 December 1976) is a French professional racing driver. Early career Beginning his motorsport career in motocross and karting, Alençon-born Tréluyer switched to single-seaters in Formula Renault Campus for 1995. He w ...
took over the lead when Jani made a scheduled
pit stop In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit la ...
. Lotterer and Lieb battled for the position until the former made a pit stop that had Tréluyer assume his driving duties. He overtook Lieb to move to the front of the race where he remained for the rest of the event to win after Audi elected to keep him on track. Lieb, Dumas and Jani finished second and Bernhard, Hartley and Webber was third. Lotterer, Fässler and Tréluyer covered a record-breaking track distance of over 176 laps. The
Le Mans Prototype A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were create ...
2 (LMP2) category was won by the No. 38 Jota Sport of
Simon Dolan Simon Dolan (born 20 May 1969) is a British businessman and investor who made his fortune through accountancy services. Since 2020, he has opposed measures by the United Kingdom government linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and has made legal ch ...
,
Harry Tincknell Harry Tincknell (born 29 October 1991 in Exeter, Devon) is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Mazda Team Joest. He won the LMP2 class on his Le Mans 24 Hour race debut in 2 ...
and
Mitch Evans Mitchell William Evans (born 24 June 1994) is a New Zealand professional racing driver. He currently drives for the Jaguar TCS Racing team in Formula E. In 2012, he won the GP3 Series and he raced in the GP2 Series for four years, achieving ...
. The car was penalised for jumping the start, but Evans took the class lead after passing co-pole sitter
Julien Canal Julien Canal (born 15 July 1982 in Le Mans) is a French racing driver who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series with Panis Racing. In 2010 he made his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and won his class in , and . Career Single-sea ...
in the No. 26 G-Drive Racing entry and held it for most of the race to earn his first category win in the World Endurance Championship; while it was Dolan and Tincknell's second in the sport. The No. 99 Aston Martin Racing car of
Fernando Rees Fernando Rees (born January 4, 1985) is a retired Brazilian racecar driver. He started his career racing with go-karts back in 1993 at age 8. Fernando made his international single-seaters' debut in 2001, his endurance racing debut in 2007, a ...
,
Richie Stanaway Richie Stanaway (born 24 November 1991) is a racing car driver from New Zealand. Career New Zealand Born in Tauranga, Stanaway was originally from a motocross background, before making the switch to speedway at the age of twelve. Following tha ...
and
Alex MacDowall Alexander "Alex" Hay MacDowall (born 22 January, 1991) is a British auto racing driver. He is currently competing in the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship season for Aston Martin Racing. Racing career Early career MacDowall was born in Car ...
took the victory in the Le Mans Grand Touring Professional (LMGTE Pro) class, their first in the World Endurance Championship. Porsche Team Manthley's cars finished second and third after
Gianmaria Bruni Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni (born 30 May 1981) is an Italian Porsche factory auto racing driver who drove in the 2004 Formula One World Championship for Minardi. He is a GP2 Series race winner and is now racing in the FIA World Endurance Champion ...
was penalised for a pit stop infringement, and
Darren Turner Darren Turner (born 13 April 1974) is a British professional racing driver and owner of Base Performance Simulators. He races for Aston Martin Racing as a Factory-backed, factory driver and also works as a high performance test driver for Aston ...
in the No. 97 Aston Martin entered the pit lane. The Le Mans Grand Touring Amateur (LMGTE Am) category was won by Paul Dalla Lana,
Pedro Lamy José Pedro Mourão Lamy Viçoso, OIH, known as Pedro Lamy (; born 20 March 1972) is a Portuguese professional racing driver currently racing in endurance races teaming up with Mathias Lauda and gentleman driver Paul Dalla Lana. He was the fir ...
and
Mathias Lauda Mathias Lauda (born 30 January 1981) is an Austrian racing driver currently racing for Aston Martin Racing as a factory driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is the son of the late three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda a ...
, ahead of
AF Corse AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Chal ...
's No. 83 Ferrari of
François Perrodo François Perrodo (born 14 February 1977) is a French billionaire businessman, racing driver, and car collector. He is the chairman of Perenco, an oil and gas company with operations in 16 countries, which was founded by his father. In December 2 ...
,
Emmanuel Collard Emmanuel Collard (born 3 April 1971) is a French professional racing driver. He is a former member of the Porsche Junioren factory team, but also drives for other marques. Born in Arpajon, Essonne, Collard is the winner of the Le Mans Series f ...
and Rui Águas. The result meant Lotterer, Fässler and Tréluyer extended their Drivers' Championship advantage over Lieb, Dumas and Jani to be 14 points ahead of the three drivers.
Alexander Wurz Alexander Georg Wurz (born 15 February 1974) is an Austrian former professional racing driver, driver training expert and businessman. He competed in Formula One from until , and is also a two-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours. He is curren ...
,
Mike Conway Mike Conway (born 19 August 1983) is a British professional racing driver. He lives in Sevenoaks, Kent and is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing. Biography Conway who was born in Bromley, Lond ...
and
Stéphane Sarrazin Stéphane Jean-Marc Sarrazin (born 2 November 1975) is a French professional racing driver. He has won races across a number of single-seater, sportscar and rallying disciplines and competitions, was French Formula Renault champion in 1994, and ...
moved from fourth to third with their
Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
teammates
Anthony Davidson Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April 1979) is a British former racing driver, currently working as an analyst for the Sky Sports F1 television channel, as part of the commentary team for WEC TV, as colour commentator for the F1 series of vid ...
and
Sébastien Buemi Sébastien Olivier Buemi (born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss professional racing driver, who competes in the FIA Formula E Championship for Envision Racing. He competed for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One from 2009 to 2011. After leaving Formula ...
dropping to fourth position. Bernhard's, Hartley's and Webber's third-place finish meant they moved into fifth place. Audi moved further ahead of Porsche in the Manufacturers' Championship while Toyota dropped to third position with six races left in the season.


Background


Entrants

A total of thirty-four cars were officially entered for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, with the bulk of the entries in
Le Mans Prototype A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were create ...
1 (LMP1) and Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2). The 2014 race winners,
Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
, returned to defend their title. Three manufacturers were represented in LMP1, including a trio of cars entered by
Audi Sport Team Joest Joest Racing is a sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany. Early years As a combined driver/team owner, Reinhold Joest first began to ...
and
Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
, while Toyota elected to bring only two vehicles.
René Rast René Rast (born 26 October 1986 in Minden) is a German professional racing driver and the 2017, 2019 and 2020 DTM champion. He previously drove for Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler in Formula E from 2019 to 2021 before Audi left the sport at the end o ...
,
Marco Bonanomi Marco Bonanomi (born 12 March 1985 in Lecco) is an Italian professional racing driver. Career Formula Renault Bonanomi began his car racing career in 2001 by competing in a few rounds of the Formula Renault Eurocup and Italian Formula Renau ...
and
Filipe Albuquerque Filipe Miguel Delgadinho Albuquerque (born 13 June 1985) is a Portuguese professional racing driver, currently driving a Acura ARX-05 in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Wayne Taylor Racing, and an Oreca 07 in the FIA World Endurance Champions ...
made their first appearances in the 2015 championship driving the 9 Audi, while
Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the yea ...
,
Earl Bamber Earl Anderson Bamber (born 9 July 1990) is a professional racing driver from New Zealand, currently competing as a factory driver for Porsche Motorsport in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM class. He is the 2014 Porsche Supercup and ...
and
Nick Tandy Nick Tandy (born 5 November 1984) is a professional British racing driver currently racing for Corvette Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the 64 Corvette C8.R. His major victories include the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 2015 ...
in Porsche's No. 19 car all entered the LMP1 category for the first time in their careers. As in
Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...
,
Rebellion Racing Rebellion Racing is a Swiss racing team that competes in endurance racing. The team competed in the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season and won the LMP1 teams' title in the 2011 Le Mans Series season. The team started as an association ...
chose not to take part in the event, leaving Team ByKolles as the sole LMP1
privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
team.
Christian Klien Christian Klien (born 7 February 1983) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. In total he has scored 14 points in Formula One. Klien currently competes full-time in the GT World Challenge Europe for JP Motorsport. Racing career Born ...
returned to compete for Team ByKolles having originally intended to race for the team only at Silverstone. LMP2 consisted of ten cars with 30 drivers. With Tandy driving for Porsche,
KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...
employed Toyota's test and reserve driver
Nicolas Lapierre Nicolas Lapierre (born 2 April 1984) is a French professional racing driver. He raced with Toyota and with Alpine Racing in the past seasons of the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is a two-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring, with overa ...
to fill his position for the Spa-Francorchamps race and the
24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...
.
GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Eccle ...
driver
Mitch Evans Mitchell William Evans (born 24 June 1994) is a New Zealand professional racing driver. He currently drives for the Jaguar TCS Racing team in Formula E. In 2012, he won the GP3 Series and he raced in the GP2 Series for four years, achieving ...
made his first appearance in sports car racing alongside
European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...
competitor
Simon Dolan Simon Dolan (born 20 May 1969) is a British businessman and investor who made his fortune through accountancy services. Since 2020, he has opposed measures by the United Kingdom government linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and has made legal ch ...
, and
Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...
factory driver
Harry Tincknell Harry Tincknell (born 29 October 1991 in Exeter, Devon) is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Mazda Team Joest. He won the LMP2 class on his Le Mans 24 Hour race debut in 2 ...
for
Jota Sport Jota Sport is a British sports car racing team. Founded as Team Jota by Sam Hignett and John Stack, Jota Sport is part of the Jota Group which is owned by Sam Hignett and David Clark. The team is based in Tunbridge Wells in England. Jota Sport ha ...
. Despite a failed buyout of the team by Kairos, a data encryption company, Team SARD Morand confirmed their commitment to the World Endurance Championship and opted to bring one car which was driven by
Oliver Webb Oliver "Oli" James Webb (born 20 March 1991 in Manchester) is a British auto racing driver. He is a 2004 Karting Champion, 2007 Formula BMW Scholarship winner, 2010 Formula 3 competitor, 2014 European Le Mans series Champion, 2015 Dubai 24 Hour ...
,
Pierre Ragues Pierre Ragues (born 10 January 1984 in Caen) is a French racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Career Karting Debuting in karting in 1994, Ragues was second in the Monaco Kart Cup in Formula A in 2001, and third ...
and
Zoël Amberg Zoël Amberg (born 25 September 1992 in Stans) is a professional racing driver from Switzerland. Career Karting Amberg began karting in 2004 and raced primarily in his native Switzerland for the majority of his career, working his way up from t ...
.
Johannes van Overbeek Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Ye ...
returned to co-drive for
Extreme Speed Motorsports Extreme Speed Motorsports was an American auto racing team based out of Riviera Beach, Florida. Founded by Scott Sharp and Patrón CEO Ed Brown, the team competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Tudor United SportsCar Championship, an ...
after missing the season's opening round because of a rib injury. The Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Professional (LMGTE Pro) field consisted of three manufacturers (
Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...
,
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
and Porsche), while the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Amateur (LMGTE Am) entrants were six teams:
Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...
,
AF Corse AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Chal ...
,
Larbre Compétition Larbre Compétition is a French auto racing team founded in 1988 by Jack Leconte. Based at the Circuit du Val de Vienne in Le Vigeant, Larbre has had considerable success in the Porsche Carrera Cup, French GT Championship, and international FI ...
, Dempsey-Racing
Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
, Porsche Team Manthley, and
SMP Racing SMP Racing is the motor sport endurance racing team and also motorsport management created in 2013 by Boris Rotenberg, founder of the SMP Bank of Russia. Description The goal of SMP Racing is to train and unveil new talents. The team's training ...
. The No. 91 Porsche 911 was vacated after regular driver Michael Christensen missed the Spa race because of a
United SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...
commitment, while
Richard Lietz Richard Lietz (born 17 December 1983 in Waidhofen an der Ybbs) is an Austrian professional racing driver and a Porsche Factory driver. He has competed in such series as American Le Mans Series, Formula 3 Euro Series and the Rolex Sports Car Seri ...
moved to the team's No. 92 entry and the car was driven by Sven Müller and
Kévin Estre Kévin Estre (born 28 October 1988) is a French professional racing driver. He is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Porsche in the GTE PRO class. Career Karting Born in Lyon, Estre began his racing career in kart ...
.
Nicki Thiim Nicki Thiim (born 17 April 1989 in Sønderborg, Denmark) is a Danish professional racing driver, and Aston Martin Racing works driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Biography After competing in karting, Thiim won the 2006 Danish For ...
was unable to attend the event because he was taking part in the
ADAC GT Masters The ADAC GT Masters is a grand tourer-based auto racing series founded by the international Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and supported by the German ADAC automotive club. Similar to an earlier ADAC GT Cup series in the 1990s, the new GT ...
Championship, so the No. 95 Aston Martin was driven as a two-driver operation by
Marco Sørensen Marco L. Sørensen (born 6 September 1990) is a Danish racing driver currently racing for Aston Martin Racing as a factory driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He was part of the Renault Driver Development. He has competed in such seri ...
and
Christoffer Nygaard Christoffer Nygaard (born 24 March 1986, in Gentofte) is a Danish auto racing driver who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Racing career Karting Nygaard started his karting career in 2001. His best result while karti ...
. The team's No. 97 entry became a three-person driver team when McLaren factory driver Robert Bell made his first start of the year alongside
Stefan Mücke Stefan Mücke (born 22 November 1981) is a German professional racing driver. Racing career Born in Berlin, Mücke started his racing career in 1998, when he won the Formula BMW ADAC series, with his father's Mücke Motorsport team, also making ...
and
Darren Turner Darren Turner (born 13 April 1974) is a British professional racing driver and owner of Base Performance Simulators. He races for Aston Martin Racing as a Factory-backed, factory driver and also works as a high performance test driver for Aston ...
. Ferrari's factory team AF Corse entered a second car in LMGTE Am which was driven by Duncan Cameron, Alex Mortimer and Matt Griffin.


Preview

The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps was confirmed as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship's 2015 schedule in an
FIA World Motor Sport Council The World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) is a major organ within the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's governance structure. Its primary role is amending current regulations and drafting new regulations for all of international motor spor ...
meeting in
Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
on 3 December 2014. It was the second of eight scheduled
endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from a ...
sports car races Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...
of the
2015 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the fourth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship auto racing series, co-organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). ...
, and the fourth running of the
event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...
as part of the championship. It was held on 2 May 2015 at the
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has held ...
in
Stavelot Stavelot (; german: Stablo ; wa, Ståvleu) is a town and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Francorchamps and Stavelot. It is best known as the home of Sp ...
, Belgium following two days of practice and qualifying. The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is a race track that is 7.004 kilometres (4.352 mi) long and has twenty corners. Endurance racing events were first held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in 1924 with the
Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was ...
. Thirty-nine years later, the track began holding
World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...
races which later expanded to . It was cancelled after the 1975 running because of modern safety concerns. It was resurrected in 1982 on the reconfigured Spa-Francorchamps track layout and remained on the calendar until 1990. Spa-Francorchamps again began holding endurance sports car races from 1999, and the 6 Hour event was made part of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2012. The race is considered by many as a final preparation event for the
24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...
. Before the race Audi Sport Team Joest drivers
André Lotterer André Lotterer (born 19 November 1981) is a German professional racing driver currently racing for Avalanche Andretti Formula E in the FIA Formula E Championship. He is best known for his success in endurance racing with the works Audi team, ...
, Marcel Fässler and
Benoît Tréluyer Benoît Tréluyer (; born 7 December 1976) is a French professional racing driver. Early career Beginning his motorsport career in motocross and karting, Alençon-born Tréluyer switched to single-seaters in Formula Renault Campus for 1995. He w ...
led the Drivers' Championship with 25 points, seven ahead of their nearest rivals
Marc Lieb Marc Lieb (born 4 July 1980) is a former German Porsche factory motor-racing driver. He won the FIA GT Championship in 2003 and 2005, and the European Le Mans Series in 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010. He won the 24 Hours Nürburgring four times, one t ...
,
Romain Dumas Romain Dumas (born 14 December 1977) is a French racing driver and a Porsche factory driver. He first started out in karting and single-seater before becoming an expert driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest r ...
and
Neel Jani Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983) is a Swiss professional Porsche factory driver. His father is from India and his mother is German Swiss. He achieved his greatest success winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche's LMP1 ...
in second, and a further three in front of third-placed
Anthony Davidson Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April 1979) is a British former racing driver, currently working as an analyst for the Sky Sports F1 television channel, as part of the commentary team for WEC TV, as colour commentator for the F1 series of vid ...
,
Sébastien Buemi Sébastien Olivier Buemi (born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss professional racing driver, who competes in the FIA Formula E Championship for Envision Racing. He competed for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One from 2009 to 2011. After leaving Formula ...
and
Kazuki Nakajima is a retired Japanese professional racing driver who drove in Formula One for the Williams-Toyota team from to . In 2012 and 2014, he won the Super Formula Championship driving for TOM'S. Racing for Toyota Gazoo Racing, he won the 2018, 2019 an ...
. Their teammates
Alexander Wurz Alexander Georg Wurz (born 15 February 1974) is an Austrian former professional racing driver, driver training expert and businessman. He competed in Formula One from until , and is also a two-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours. He is curren ...
,
Mike Conway Mike Conway (born 19 August 1983) is a British professional racing driver. He lives in Sevenoaks, Kent and is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing. Biography Conway who was born in Bromley, Lond ...
and
Stéphane Sarrazin Stéphane Jean-Marc Sarrazin (born 2 November 1975) is a French professional racing driver. He has won races across a number of single-seater, sportscar and rallying disciplines and competitions, was French Formula Renault champion in 1994, and ...
were fourth on 12 points, and
Loïc Duval Loïc Duval (; born 12 June 1982) is a French professional racing driver racing for Audi Sport as a factory driver in DTM and driving for Dragon Racing in Formula E. He won the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans with Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen driv ...
,
Lucas di Grassi Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula E World Championship for Mahindra Racing. He became the FIA Formula E Champion in 2016–2017, achieved three overall podium ...
and
Oliver Jarvis Oliver Jarvis (born 9 January 1984) is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Mazda Team Joest. Jarvis won the 2022 24 Hours of Daytona with Meyer Shank Racing. Early life Bo ...
stood in fifth place on ten points. Audi led the Manufacturers' Championship with 35 points, seven ahead of rival Toyota in second; the third-placed manufacturer Porsche had scored 19 points. Audi had won the preceding 6 Hours of Silverstone with Lieb, Dumas and Jani finishing in second place, while Davidson, Buemi and Nakajima came in third position. Some teams made modifications to their cars in preparation for the event. Audi installed low-
downforce Downforce is a downwards lift force created by the aerodynamic features of a vehicle. If the vehicle is a car, the purpose of downforce is to allow the car to travel faster by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip. ...
setups on its No. 7 and 8 cars while their third entry used a version observed at the Silverstone race. The design was optimised to omit downforce, thereby reducing drag, for better preparation for competing on high-speed tracks. This was done by modifying the car's side pods and openings on the inside surface of its fenders. New cooling techniques were achieved by creating new suspension solutions to restrict spring displacement which also reduced underside turbulent airflow. Porsche chose to use high downforce configurations on all three of their 919 Hybrid cars as they did previously at Silverstone. The ByKolles
CLM P1/01 The CLM P1/01, renamed ENSO CLM P1/01 in 2017, is a sports prototype racing car built for the Austrian based team ByKolles Racing. It is designed to meet the 2014 LMP1-L regulations for Le Mans Prototypes in the FIA World Endurance Championship as ...
was further developed and had a new front nose equipped after it completed a shakedown test on 24 April.


Practice

There were three practice sessions—one 90-minute session each on Thursday afternoon and evening and a one-hour session on Friday afternoon—preceding Saturday's race. The first session was held in heavy rain. Lieb's No. 18 Porsche lapped fastest at 2:16.616, ahead of Davidson's No. 1 Toyota in second.
Brendon Hartley Brendon Hartley (born 10 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing. He won the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, alongside his te ...
and Hülkenberg in Porsche's two other cars were third and fourth; Rast's No. 9 Audi rounded out the top five. LMP2 was led by
Jonny Kane Jonny is a masculine given name, and pet name, in the English language. A pet form of Jon, the natural diminutive of given name Jonathan, in some cases it can also mean a condom. A variant form of ''Jonny'' is ''Jonnie''. People with the name *J ...
's No. 42
Strakka Racing Strakka Racing was a British auto racing team founded by Nick Leventis. The team was based at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire. The team made history at the 2010 1000 km of Hungaroring when they became the first team in Le Mans Serie ...
Nissan with a lap of 2:32.672; he battled with Tincknell for the quickest class time. Estre's Porsche was the quickest in LMGTE Pro while
Klaus Bachler Klaus Bachler (born 27 July 1991, in Unzmarkt) is an Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine ...
helped the German company to be the fastest in LMGTE Am. The session was disrupted when Nakajima drove into the back-end of Jarvis's car heading into Les Combes corner. Nakajima was unable to see Jarvis because of heavy spray reducing visibility on the Kemmel
straight Straight may refer to: Slang * Straight, slang for heterosexual ** Straight-acting, an LGBT person who does not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of the gay stereotype * Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture Sport and games * Str ...
. Nakajima complained of severe back pain and was transported to Verviers hospital where a check-up found he had fractured vertebra. He was deemed unfit to take part in the race. Toyota's test and reserve driver
Kamui Kobayashi is a Japanese professional racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR) and in the Super Formula Championship for KCMG . He previously competed in Formula One, Formula E, the GP2 Series, and the ...
was in Japan and unavailable, so the No. 1 car ran as a two-driver operation for the remainder of the event weekend. It missed the second practice session because it required
monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...
rebuilding. The No. 8 Audi also missed the second practice session because it was undergoing rear-end repairs. Heavy rain continued to affect the track in the second practice session. Conditions deteriorated as the session advanced, and several cars elected not to improve their quickest times to avoid driving off the track after going through standing water. Conditions allowed the fastest LMP2 and LMGTE vehicles to reach the top five quickest overall times. Bamber recorded the fastest time at 2:25.495, nearly half a second faster than Bernhard in the sister Porsche in second. Lotterer was third-fastest and had the fastest time early in the session. Evans achieved the only time under the 2:34.500 mark in LMP2 with a lap of 2:34.370. Lietz led LMGTE Pro with No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari of Rui Águas the fastest driver in LMGTE Am. The final practice was held on a dry race track which allowed for faster lap times. Lotterer set the quickest time of the weekend so far at 1:57.368 recorded in the session's final minute, and was 0.011 seconds faster than the second-fastest car of Hülkenberg. Jani was a further five-tenths of a second behind in third place, and was narrowly faster than teammate Hartley in fourth.
Sam Bird Sam Jamie Bird (born 9 January 1987) is a British professional racing driver who currently drives for Jaguar TCS Racing in the FIA Formula E World Championship. Career Formula BMW Bird made his name in single seater racing in the Formula BM ...
was the fastest LMP2 driver in the No. 26 G-Drive Racing car with a time of 2:08.415, four-tenths ahead of
Matthew Howson Matthew "Matt" Howson (born 25 August 1983 in Norwich, Norfolk, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest an ...
's KCMG
Oreca ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French racing team and race car constructor, founded in 1973 and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team AGS. Oreca has had success in many areas of motorsport. ...
.
Toni Vilander Toni Markus Vilander (born 25 July 1980) is a Finnish professional racing driver who currently drives for the Risi Competizione Ferrari team in various categories of sports car racing. After a single-seater career which reached the level of the ...
recorded the quickest LMGTE Pro time ahead of
Fernando Rees Fernando Rees (born January 4, 1985) is a retired Brazilian racecar driver. He started his career racing with go-karts back in 1993 at age 8. Fernando made his international single-seaters' debut in 2001, his endurance racing debut in 2007, a ...
in the No. 97 Aston Martin, while
Pedro Lamy José Pedro Mourão Lamy Viçoso, OIH, known as Pedro Lamy (; born 20 March 1972) is a Portuguese professional racing driver currently racing in endurance races teaming up with Mathias Lauda and gentleman driver Paul Dalla Lana. He was the fir ...
, driving the British marque's No. 98 car, was the fastest driver in LMGTE Am. A brief full course yellow flag was displayed when Bachler's back-end collided with the Pouhon corner tyre barrier, while Turner avoided going into the Les Combes wall and was temporarily beached in the turn's gravel trap. Both drivers returned to the track and continued.


Qualifying

Friday's late afternoon qualification session was divided into two groups lasting 25 minutes each. Cars in LMGTE Pro and AM were sent out first and, after a five-minute interval, LMP1 and LMP2 vehicles drove onto the track. All cars were required to be driven by two participants for one timed lap each, with the starting order determined by the competitors' fastest average times. The fastest qualifier was awarded one point which went towards the Drivers' and Manufacturers' Championships. The session took place in clear, mild and dry weather. Hülkenberg's first timed lap of 1:55.130 surpassed the LMP1 pole position record time only to be surpassed by Hartley's 1:54.777 lap time to place the No. 17 Porsche in provisional pole position. Bernhard took over from Hartley and recorded a lap that was 0.027 seconds faster than the latter lowering the car's two-lap average time to 1:54.767 clinching
pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
. It was the third consecutive event where Bernhard, Mark Webber and Hartley started from pole position. They were joined on the
grid Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to: Common usage * Cattle grid or stock grid, a type of obstacle is used to prevent livestock from crossing the road * Grid reference, used to define a location on a map Arts, entertainment, and media * News g ...
's front row by the sister No. 19 car after Tandy set a lap time at the session's conclusion that put him 0.257 seconds behind his teammates. Jani and Lieb qualified in third position, three-tenths of a second slower than the two sister Porsche cars. Lotterer twice went onto the track and improved his first lap time by 0.116 seconds to 1:55.114, while Fässler was unable to find a rhythm, and could not improve on his co-driver's fastest time, restricting them to qualifying fourth. Duval and di Grassi took fifth place with the latter stating that the team was not happy with the No. 8 car's setup, and that overnight work had to be undertaken. Davidson and Buemi held fifth place until di Grassi and Duval's lap times demoted them to sixth. Conway and Sarrazin secured seventh with the latter saying that he was held up by slower cars on his two timed laps. Albuquerque and Rast filled the grid's fourth row by qualifying eighth ahead of the No. 4 Team ByKolles car. In LMP2, Bird and
Julien Canal Julien Canal (born 15 July 1982 in Le Mans) is a French racing driver who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series with Panis Racing. In 2010 he made his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and won his class in , and . Career Single-sea ...
took the fastest two-lap average time of 2:07.761; Canal pushed hard on new tyres during his second timed run having disliked his previous attempt. The pair were two-tenths of a second faster than the second-place qualifiers, Howson and Lapierre, and held the class pole position until Canal's lap. Team SARD Morand's No. 43 car took third in the category, while the second G-Drive Racing entry was fourth, with fifth-placed qualifier Tincknell recording the session's best class individual lap time.
Richie Stanaway Richie Stanaway (born 24 November 1991) is a racing car driver from New Zealand. Career New Zealand Born in Tauranga, Stanaway was originally from a motocross background, before making the switch to speedway at the age of twelve. Following tha ...
and Rees, competing in the No. 99 Aston Martin, were the fastest LMGTE Pro qualifiers with a two-lap average time of 2:16.840.
Gianmaria Bruni Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni (born 30 May 1981) is an Italian Porsche factory auto racing driver who drove in the 2004 Formula One World Championship for Minardi. He is a GP2 Series race winner and is now racing in the FIA World Endurance Champion ...
was 0.070 seconds off the Aston Martin's pace, and started from second place in the category, displacing Turner and Mücke from the position. Turner's fastest lap was invalidated after he went off the track and was required to set another time.
James Calado James John Calado (born 13 June 1989) is a British professional racing driver from England, currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and other selected GT races for AF Corse. He won the LMGTE Pro class of the 2017 FIA World ...
and
Davide Rigon Davide Rigon (born 26 August 1986) is an Italian professional racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and other selected GT races for AF Corse. He is also currently part of the Scuderia Ferrari Formula ...
secured fourth in AF Corse's No. 71 Ferrari with Sørensen and Nygaard rounding out the top five. Aston Martin's No. 98 entry driven by Paul Dalla Lana and Lamy took pole position in LMGTE Am, more than a second faster than the No. 50 Larbre Compétition Corvette of Paolo Ruberti and Gianluca Roda.


Post-qualifying

KCMG's No 47 car had its qualifying lap times disallowed after it was discovered in post-qualifying scrutineering that the vehicle's
skid block A skid block is a common term for a mandatory attachment to the underside of a racing car. Initially applied to Formula One cars in 1994, it has also been used in other categories including Formula 3000 and Formula Three. It is a flat rectangle ...
had insufficient rigidity and had been excessively flexible. The penalty meant Team SARD Morand's No. 43 car was promoted to second in LMP2 and the No. 47 entry was required to start from the
pit lane In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lan ...
with a 30-second time penalty.


Qualifying results

Pole position winners in each class are indicated in bold. – The No. 47 KCMG had all its laptimes deleted because of insufficient rigidity of the skid block and started from the pit lane.


Race

Weather conditions at the start of the race were dry and cloudy with an air temperature ranging from and a track temperature between ; a 50 percent chance of rain was forecast. 54,000 people attended the race weekend. The race began at 14:30
Central European Summer Time Central European Summer Time (CEST), sometimes referred to as Central European Daylight Time (CEDT), is the standard clock time observed during the period of summer daylight-saving in those European countries which observe Central European Time ...
( UTC+02:00). Hartley maintained his pole position advantage heading into the first turn. Lieb passed Tandy to take over second position, while Fässler moved to third, after passing Tandy at the Bus Stop chicane at the first lap's conclusion. Tandy reclaimed third from Fässler shortly afterward. Team SARD Morand held the LMP2 lead before its car was overtaken by Tincknell and Bird on lap two. Duval moved in front of Wurz for fifth and the Toyota driver dropped to seventh. Jota Sport was issued with a drive-through penalty after its car was adjudged to have jumped the start and rejoined in sixth in LMP2, allowing Bird to the front of the category. Tandy drove to the inside of Estre to lap him, but made head-on contact with his car and went straight into the Pif Paf corner barrier. Both drivers continued, but Tandy drove into the pit lane for repairs, falling to the rear of the field. Fässler battled with Lieb for second as the two moved through slower traffic, but the Audi driver spun at the Bus Stop chicane allowing Lieb to take over second.
Ryan Dalziel Ryan Dalziel ( ; born 12 April 1982), is a Scottish professional racing driver. Dalziel has seen the most success in his career in the United States, racing in the American Le Mans Series GT1 class and the Champ Car World Series, and winning t ...
brought the No. 30 Extreme Speed Motorsports car into the team's garage to allow his mechanics to replace a broken boost line falling to the rear of the LMP2 field. Most of the field elected to make their first scheduled pit stops before the first hour had passed. Hartley went straight on at the Bus Stop chicane after locking his front brakes. He rejoined the track by driving onto the escape road and through a
marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
's post. This prompted the stewards to call Hartley up to their office and he went up after he was relieved. Fässler crossed the white line at the pit lane entry, which led to Audi receiving a reprimand from the stewards. Tincknell moved back into second place in LMP2 and separated both G-Drive cars. Roald Goethe went backwards into the Eau Rouge corner exit barrier after taking over from Stuart Hall, requiring lengthy repairs to his car. Estre was issued with a drive-through penalty after he was adjudged to have caused the collision between himself and Tandy. Tandy stopped his Porsche briefly at the pit lane entry, while Bonanomi went wide driving up to Radallion corner battling Wurz for sixth. The incident involving Hartley handed the No. 17 Porsche a 15-second, stop-and-go penalty as he was deemed not to have respected track limits and causing danger to marshals. Bernhard took the penalty on the 17th lap, promoting teammate Jani to the lead. Evans moved to the front of the LMP2 field after overtaking Canal heading into the Bus Stop chicane. Fässler ceded third position to Duval at Les Combes corner. Bernhard was caught by Duval and used his car's hybrid boost system on the Kemmel straight, moving ahead of the German under braking for Les Combes corner. Fässler briefly pressured Bernhard before entering the pit lane for a scheduled stop and Lotterer took over his seat. Lotterer lapped in the 1:58 second range which allowed him to run 12 seconds behind leader Dumas. Bonanomi's left-hand window became detached on the Kemmel straight, necessitating an extra pit stop for a replacement window. Patrick Dempsey spun the No. 77 car at the Bus Stop chicane, forcing several drivers to take avoiding action. Trummer drove into his garage with back-end technical problems with his car and retired. Dempsey's co-driver Marco Seefried spun and heavily struck the left-hand turn tyre barrier before Pouhon corner. Dumas extended his advantage over Lotterer to 19 seconds, while Canal reclaimed the LMP2 lead when Evans made a scheduled pit stop. Lotterer made a pit stop for tyres and fuel. Dumas and Jarvis reacted shortly afterwards. Di Grassi took over from Jarvis, while Lotterer gained five seconds on Dumas. While switching drivers from Bernhard to Webber, Porsche changed a problematic
damper A damper is a device that deadens, restrains, or depresses. It may refer to: Music * Damper pedal, a device that mutes musical tones, particularly in stringed instruments * A mute for various brass instruments Structure * Damper (flow), a mechan ...
on the No. 17 car. Approaching Blanchimont corner
Kristian Poulsen Kristian Poulsen (born 18 November 1975) is a Danish auto racing driver, who currently competes in touring car racing. Career He made his debut in the FIA World Touring Car Championship in 2008 with a part season. For 2009 he will compete a ful ...
went backwards into the barrier after colliding with a G-Drive Racing car that was
lapping Lapping is a machining process in which two surfaces are rubbed together with an abrasive between them, by hand movement or using a machine. Lapping often follows other subtractive processes with more aggressive material removal as a first step ...
him. This prompted a localised yellow caution flag, and enabled Aleksey Basov and Khaled Al Qubaisi to inherit second and third places in LMGTE Am. Rigon was lapping Al Qubaisi at the Bus Stop chicane, but the Porsche driver drove defensively and both cars spun. Bruni reduced his speed to avoid colliding with the stationary cars. Webber passed Rast for sixth place, while Poulsen retired because of accident damage while attempting to return to the pit lane. Dumas held a 24-second advantage over Lotterer with di Grassi in third, while Evans moved back into the LMP2 lead. Both Toyota cars were battling for fourth position with Webber close behind. Webber overtook Davidson for fifth at the Radillion corner exit moving ahead of Sarrazin on the Kemmel straight one lap later. Di Grassi slowed with technical problems and limped into his garage for an
engine control unit An engine control unit (ECU), also commonly called an engine control module (ECM), is a type of electronic control unit that controls a series of actuators on an internal combustion engine to ensure optimal engine performance. It does this by re ...
and front-left nose change. Toyota's No. 1 car was pushed into its garage with mechanical problems; it rejoined the circuit for a few laps until a throttle problem emerged, causing the car to run at a reduced pace. Lotterer retook the lead after the No. 18 Porsche driver switch took longer than expected. Rast passed Conway around the outside for fourth at the Bus Stop chicane. Vilander challenged Lietz for second in LMGTE Pro until Vilander was issued a track limit abuse penalty. Lotterer and Lieb battled each other for first place. Lotterer drove defensively after passing slower traffic going into Les Combes corner to keep the position. Lieb ran wide off the track at the Stavelot corner exit while lapping a slower car. Tréluyer took over from Lotterer during a pit stop and Lieb regained the lead. Tréluyer caught Lieb and passed him around the outside at La Source corner, holding the lead until Lieb reclaimed it by employing his car's hybrid boost system to overtake him on the Kemmel straight. Tréluyer managed to take over the first position when he got ahead of Lieb around the outside of Pif Paf corner, despite the two making earlier contact at Pouhon corner. Lieb made a pit stop for new tyres and Jani climbed aboard the No. 18 car. Bruni passed Bell to move into second in LMGTE Pro. Smoke bellowed from the left exhaust of Bird's car, and he drove to his garage for diagnosis. Bruni reduced the time deficit to
Alex MacDowall Alexander "Alex" Hay MacDowall (born 22 January, 1991) is a British auto racing driver. He is currently competing in the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship season for Aston Martin Racing. Racing career Early career MacDowall was born in Car ...
and passed him by using the Bus Stop chicane
kerb A curb (North American English), or kerb (Commonwealth English except Canada; see spelling differences), is the edge where a raised sidewalk or road median/central reservation meets a street or other roadway. History Although curbs have ...
s to claim the LMGTE Pro lead. Tréluyer was under eight seconds in front of Lieb as the final hour began. Lapierre moved ahead of
Paul-Loup Chatin Paul-Loup Chatin (born 19 October 1991) is a professional racing driver from France who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series with IDEC Sport. He won the European Le Mans Series LMP2 class title in 2014 and 2019. Career Karting Born ...
to take over fourth place in LMP2, while Jani reduced the time deficit to two seconds in arrears of Tréluyer on lap 154. He passed him with hybrid boost assistance on the Kemmel straight on the following lap. Audi elected to keep Tréluyer on track when Lieb made a pit stop for fuel. He remained there until lap 164 when he stopped for fuel but not tyres. Jarvis went straight into Stavelot corner's barriers in the event's closing two minutes. Tréluyer maintained the lead for the rest of the race winning after completing 176 laps at a track record-breaking distance of . Jani finished second, 13.424 seconds adrift of the No. 7 Audi, and Bernhard completed the podium positions by finishing third, albeit one lap behind. It was Audi's second consecutive overall series' victory of the season. Unchallenged in the closing stages, Jota Sport were victorious in LMP2, one lap ahead of the second-place G-Drive Racing car of
Gustavo Yacamán Gustavo "''El Tigrillo''" (English: Ocelot) Yacamán Aristizabal (born February 25, 1991) is a Colombian racing driver from Santiago de Cali. Yacamán began his career in open-wheel racing, but switched to sports car endurance racing in 2012. He ...
, Ricardo González and
Pipo Derani Pipo is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Pipo (actor) (1933-1998), Mexican actor * Pipo Nguyen-duy (born 1962), Vietnamese photographer * Pipo of Ozora (1369–1426), Italian soldier * Pipo (footballer, born 1992), P ...
, and third-position finishers Webb, Ragues and Amberg of Team SARD Morand. It was Evans's first LMP2 victory in the World Endurance Championship, while it was Tincknell and Dolan's second in the series. Bruni was issued with a one-minute, stop-and-go penalty because his mechanics did not check one of his tyres at his final scheduled pit stop. Rees took over the class lead which he maintained to clinch victory in LMGTE Pro. Turner held third, but made a pit stop, allowing Lietz and Muller to finish in second and third places in the category. This was Rees's, Stanaway's and MacDowall's first class victories in the World Endurance Championship. Aston Martin finished as the winners in LMGTE Am, ahead of the No. 83 AF Corse of
François Perrodo François Perrodo (born 14 February 1977) is a French billionaire businessman, racing driver, and car collector. He is the chairman of Perenco, an oil and gas company with operations in 16 countries, which was founded by his father. In December 2 ...
,
Emmanuel Collard Emmanuel Collard (born 3 April 1971) is a French professional racing driver. He is a former member of the Porsche Junioren factory team, but also drives for other marques. Born in Arpajon, Essonne, Collard is the winner of the Le Mans Series f ...
, and Agias with SMP Racing's No. 72 entry of Viktor Shaitar. Aleksey Basov and
Andrea Bertolini Andrea Bertolini (born 1 December 1973, in Sassuolo) is an Italian professional racing driver currently driving for AF Corse in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is the official test driver of the Maserati factory. Bertolini began racing at ...
completed the class podium positions. Dalla Lana,
Mathias Lauda Mathias Lauda (born 30 January 1981) is an Austrian racing driver currently racing for Aston Martin Racing as a factory driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is the son of the late three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda a ...
's and Lamy's win was their second consecutive in LMGTE Am.


Post-race

The top three finishers of all four classes appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and in a later press conference. Tréluyer was delighted with the victory, saying: "What a race, It was a tough lights-to-flag job, just like at Silverstone, but it was huge fun and we’re already looking forward to Le Mans." He further stated: "We did it and I am very happy for the team because we had a really strong weekend and it feels great to win in this fashion." Lotterer said of the result: "It's no holds barred all the time and is very fun, especially at Spa-Francorchamps. It's for this type of race that we hit track." Dumas, who finished in second alongside Lieb and Jani, stated he found driving in dry weather conditions difficult because he was not experienced participating in such conditions. Lieb said his battle with Tréluyer was "great" and said the contact between the two drivers was part of motor racing. Jani stated while he did not win the race he praised his car. Third-place co-finisher Webber said that his team had "too many own goals" and that they did not wanted to be "gifted results" if they were not performing at the highest level. Bernhard said that despite taking the stop-and-go penalty his team did not give up and gave it their best effort to stand on the podium. Following the first free practice crash between Nakajima and Jarvis, Davidson called for cars to be equipped with brighter flashing rain lights and that what happened to his co-driver was "every driver's worst nightmare". He suggested Formula One rain lights provided by
McLaren Electronic Systems McLaren Applied Limited is a British technology company that works in conjunction with companies such as GSK, NHS and more. Its electronic division, McLaren Electronics, manufactures parts such as engine temperature and pressure sensors for F ...
were brighter than those employed in the World Endurance Championship. Toyota's technical director
Pascal Vasselon Pascal Vasselon (born 20 March 1963) is a French motorsport engineer.In the 1980s Vasselon was involved in development for Renault F1, but subsequently moved to Michelin following the team's withdrawal as a constructor.He held many positions in M ...
believed Nakajima's lack of reaction time along with the absence of flashing rain lights contributed to his injury. Christopher Reinke, Audi Sport's Le Mans Prototype manager, stated such a measure had been discussed but the issue was complex, while the
Automobile Club de l'Ouest The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (English: Automobile Club of the West), sometimes abbreviated to ACO, is the largest automotive group in France. It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the organ ...
's (ACO) sporting manager, Vincent Beaumesnil, said he was unsure that brighter lights would have assisted Nakajima. In early June, the sport's governing body, the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
(FIA) and the ACO, required all Le Mans Prototype cars carry additional flashing rain lights at the rear of their cars from the 24 Hours of Le Mans onward after the FIA's Endurance Committee observed their usage under wet weather conditions and felt there was an improvement in visibility. The result meant Lotterer, Fässler and Tréluyer increased their Drivers' Championship advantage to 14 points ahead of second-placed Lieb, Jani and Dumas. Wurz, Conway and Sarrazin moved from fourth to third with 22 points, three in front of their teammates Davidson and Buemi. Bernhard's, Webber's and Hartley's third-place finish meant they rounded out the top five with 17 points. Audi increased its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship on 70 points, 17 ahead of their nearest rivals Porsche in second, and a further six in front of third-placed manufacturer Toyota with six races left in the season.


Race result

The minimum number of laps for classification (70 per cent of the overall winning car's race distance) was 123 laps. Class winners are denoted in bold.


Standings after the race

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for the Drivers' Championship standings.


References

{{Portal bar, Belgium, Sports
Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...
Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...
6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps