Ferrari dudes James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Alessandro Pier Guidi totally crushed it at the Spa 6 Hours on Sunday, snatching the win by a cool 4s from their sister 499P Le Mans Hypercar squad with Nicklas Nielsen, Miguel Molina, and Antonio Fuoco. Oh, and the Alpine A424 LMDh team with Frédéric Makowiecki, Jules Gounon, and Mick Schumacher were like a second behind in third place.
Qualifying was all about Ferrari, man. The three 499Ps were just owning the track, locking in the top spots in Hyperpole. But when it came down to the actual race, things got real tight. Alpine, BMW, and Peugeot were all up in Ferrari’s grill, giving them a run for their money.
The second-place Ferrari was looking pretty fly after the second safety car sitch, which ended with like an hour and 51 minutes left on the clock. But then, things took a turn.
When the two AF Corse Ferraris hit the pits like a lap apart with a little over an hour to go, Pier Guidi in #51 was like, “Not today, bro.” He managed to make up a 6s gap to his teammate Nielsen in #50. Both Ferraris got passed by the WRT BMW M Hybrid LMDhs, but Pier Guidi was quick to bounce back while Nielsen fell behind the Jota Cadillac V-Series.R LMDhs.
The strategies of the two Ferraris went in different directions in the final hour. Pier Guidi was all about pushing hard, knowing he had to make a last-minute splash. Nielsen, on the other hand, was in fuel save mode. Pier Guidi made his stop with 12 minutes left, coming out with an 11s lead over his teammate.
Alpine was holding it down as the best of the rest, even though they couldn’t catch up to Ferrari. Those slow pokes at Alpine had a rough time with a slow puncture, messing up their game plan. But hey, at least it let Schumacher get some fuel earlier.
BMW was like, leading the pack with the #20 ride driven by René Rast and Robin Frijns. But then, a brake issue took them out of the running in the final hour. Peugeot was also in the mix for a podium finish until they got into a little tussle with another car and had to call it quits.
Toyota snagged fourth place with the GR010 HYBRID LMH team, even though they started behind the Aston Martin Valkyries LMHs. The Jota Cadillacs rolled in fifth and sixth, with the #12 car just edging out the #38 squad.
The second Toyota crew claimed seventh, leaving the second Alpine team in eighth. Porsche salvaged a ninth-place finish, while BMW closed out the top 10.
Over in the LMGT3 world, AF Corse and their Ferrari 296 GT3 were the kings of the hill. Despite an early penalty, they still came out on top, leaving the Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 in their dust.
In conclusion, the Spa 6 Hours was a wild ride with Ferrari showing their dominance, Alpine putting up a good fight, and a bunch of other teams battling it out for a piece of the action. Can’t wait to see what goes down in the next race!
