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GT Racing
GT: Phoenix Audi Wins Spa 24
Andrea Piccini, Rene Rast, Frank Stippler give Audi back-to-back victories in 24 Hours of Spa...
Audi Sport Team Phoenix took its third major endurance victory of the season following a grueling Total 24 Hours of Spa. (Photo: Markus Berns/SRO)
Following victories at Bathurst and Nurburgring earlier this year, Audi continued its streak of success in GT enduros, as Phoenix Racing took a dominant win in the 64th Total 24 Hours of Spa, the fourth round of the Blancpain Endurance Series.
The factory-backed No. 16 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Andrea Piccini, Rene Rast and Frank Stippler led home a 1-2 for the German manufacturer, which scored back-to-back wins in the twice-around-the-clock Belgian classic.
After a challenging opening half of the race, which saw periods of heavy rain and numerous safety car periods, both the leading Phoenix entry and the No. 1 Audi Sport Team WRT came to life and exchanged the lead into the closing stages.
However, the Belgian squad lost the better part of a lap during the final hour when Stephane Ortelli was penalized for making a late move into the pit lane while under the 16th and final full-course caution of the race.
It handed a considerable advantage to Stippler, who cruised to his second 24-hour race victory of the year after his Nurburgring triumph in May.
"The start was quite difficult because we were in 28th position," said an exhausted but elated Stippler. "With the strong competition, it was really difficult to get through the field. We had contact with other cars three or four times and of that reason; some issues with the wheel bearing. At least the Audi R8 was a tank and I'm very thankful."
The winning Audi Sport Team Phoenix entry completed 509 laps, logging more than 2,200 miles in the mixed-condition race.
"After ten years trying to win this race; I'm really happy for all of the boys because they did an incredible job," Piccini said. "It was very hard, especially last night when the conditions were very difficult. But we won, so that's important."
Ortelli and co-drivers Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies finished more than two minutes ahead of the pole-sitting No. 66 Vita4One BMW Z4 GT3 of Frank Kechele, Greg Franchi, Mathias Lauda, which enjoyed a rather quiet run inside the top-three until a last lap puncture.
Despite the drama-filled final lap, Kechele managed to get the car across the line in third.
The No. 3 Marc VDS Racing BMW of Maxime Martin and Bas Leinders led for much of the opening hours, with third driver Markus Palttala not getting into the car until past the halfway point as part of a strategic call to maximize their season-long BES points.
While often being the quickest car on track, the BMW was hit from behind by a Ferrari overnight and had problems refiring during pit stops, which dropped the rapid trio more than two laps behind and to a fourth place result.
AF Corse scored the Pro-Am class victory with its No. 52 Ferrari F458 Italia GT3 of Niek Hommerson, Louis Machiels, Andrea Bertolini and Alessandro Pier Giudi, which came home fifth overall.
The Italian squad finished one lap ahead of the No. 6 Audi Sport Team Phoenix entry of Le Mans veterans Tom Kristensen, Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler, one of the pre-race favorites which spent nearly 30 minutes in the garage in the opening hour after an clash with a McLaren at the entrance to the pit lane.
"It was a perfect weekend in the end with having the two cars in front," said Head of Audi Motorsport, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "At the end, even having the third car with our guys from Le Mans that made it from last place in the first hour to place sixth, I think is an impressive comeback. The teams did really good jobs and they deserve a reward."
Audi's fourth factory bullet, the No. 2 WRT R8 LMS ultra of Marco Bonanomi, Edward Sandstrom and Laurens Vanthoor was poised to make it a sweep of the podium for the four rings, but a high-speed crash by the Swede at Eau Rouge resulted in retirement with four hours to go.
Roughly half of the 66 starters finished, in what turned into a grueling race that included more than five hours under the safety car, including two long periods for heavy rain.
RESULTS: Total 24 Hours of Spa
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
The factory-backed No. 16 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Andrea Piccini, Rene Rast and Frank Stippler led home a 1-2 for the German manufacturer, which scored back-to-back wins in the twice-around-the-clock Belgian classic.
After a challenging opening half of the race, which saw periods of heavy rain and numerous safety car periods, both the leading Phoenix entry and the No. 1 Audi Sport Team WRT came to life and exchanged the lead into the closing stages.
However, the Belgian squad lost the better part of a lap during the final hour when Stephane Ortelli was penalized for making a late move into the pit lane while under the 16th and final full-course caution of the race.
It handed a considerable advantage to Stippler, who cruised to his second 24-hour race victory of the year after his Nurburgring triumph in May.
"The start was quite difficult because we were in 28th position," said an exhausted but elated Stippler. "With the strong competition, it was really difficult to get through the field. We had contact with other cars three or four times and of that reason; some issues with the wheel bearing. At least the Audi R8 was a tank and I'm very thankful."
The winning Audi Sport Team Phoenix entry completed 509 laps, logging more than 2,200 miles in the mixed-condition race.
"After ten years trying to win this race; I'm really happy for all of the boys because they did an incredible job," Piccini said. "It was very hard, especially last night when the conditions were very difficult. But we won, so that's important."
Ortelli and co-drivers Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies finished more than two minutes ahead of the pole-sitting No. 66 Vita4One BMW Z4 GT3 of Frank Kechele, Greg Franchi, Mathias Lauda, which enjoyed a rather quiet run inside the top-three until a last lap puncture.
Despite the drama-filled final lap, Kechele managed to get the car across the line in third.
The No. 3 Marc VDS Racing BMW of Maxime Martin and Bas Leinders led for much of the opening hours, with third driver Markus Palttala not getting into the car until past the halfway point as part of a strategic call to maximize their season-long BES points.
While often being the quickest car on track, the BMW was hit from behind by a Ferrari overnight and had problems refiring during pit stops, which dropped the rapid trio more than two laps behind and to a fourth place result.
AF Corse scored the Pro-Am class victory with its No. 52 Ferrari F458 Italia GT3 of Niek Hommerson, Louis Machiels, Andrea Bertolini and Alessandro Pier Giudi, which came home fifth overall.
The Italian squad finished one lap ahead of the No. 6 Audi Sport Team Phoenix entry of Le Mans veterans Tom Kristensen, Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler, one of the pre-race favorites which spent nearly 30 minutes in the garage in the opening hour after an clash with a McLaren at the entrance to the pit lane.
"It was a perfect weekend in the end with having the two cars in front," said Head of Audi Motorsport, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "At the end, even having the third car with our guys from Le Mans that made it from last place in the first hour to place sixth, I think is an impressive comeback. The teams did really good jobs and they deserve a reward."
Audi's fourth factory bullet, the No. 2 WRT R8 LMS ultra of Marco Bonanomi, Edward Sandstrom and Laurens Vanthoor was poised to make it a sweep of the podium for the four rings, but a high-speed crash by the Swede at Eau Rouge resulted in retirement with four hours to go.
Roughly half of the 66 starters finished, in what turned into a grueling race that included more than five hours under the safety car, including two long periods for heavy rain.
RESULTS: Total 24 Hours of Spa
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
FIA GT Nogaro
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