WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 2023 - Hypercars

The Cadillac and Ferrari Hypercars showed promise.

 I went to the WEC race at Spa-Franchorchamps this year in order to see the large field of 13 Hypercars, as the World Endurance Championship enters a new golden era.  As expected Toyota dominated and took the top two positions, but Ferrari showed promise and had two cars in the lead at one point due to a better tyre choice at the start.  In the end Ferrari gained the final podium position on the last lap as Calado overtook the Porsche Penske.  

The Cadillacs were faster than the Porsches in qualifying and the No.2 Cadillac made a great start but eventually dropped to fifth.  The No.3 Cadillac unfortunately dropped out early due to a crash with Renger Van Der Zande at the wheel.  Luckily he was unhurt despite a heavy impact at Eau Rouge.

The Porsches were rather disappointing compared to the Ferraris but eventually had one car finish on the lead lap in fourth place

The Glickenhaus was faster than the Peugeots in qualifying and beat them in the race.

Both Peugeots suffered issues and delays and finished well down.

The Vanwall was slowest of all and was involved in a number of incidents including a spin on cold tyres and a clash with one of the GT Ferraris. 

All of the Hypercars present feature in this blogpost.

The winning Toyota Gazoo Racong Toyota GR-010 Hybrid driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez.

The lead Toyota leads a Pugeot Hypercar through Eau Rouge.

The second Toyota came second after passing the rest of the field after irs practice accident.  This GR-010 was driven by Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa.

Brendon Hartley's qualirying accident.  He was OK.

Toyota No.8 on the Kemmel straight.

Third was the Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi.  

The lead Ferrari.

Two Ferraris leading the race with the No.51 car in front as it negotiates Eau Rouge.

Fourth was the Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 driven by Dane Cameron, Michael Christensen and Frédéric Makowiecki.

The No.5 Porsche in qualifying at Radillion.

The Penske No.5 drivers - Makowieki closest to camera, then Cameron and then Christensen.

In fifth place was this Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook. 

The No.2 Cadillac.

The Cadillac drivers.  Richard Westbrook centre, Earl Bamber left and Alex Lynn right.

In sixth place was this Hertz Jeam Jota Porsche 963 driven by Antonio Felix Da Costa, Will Stevens and Ye Yifei.

The No.38 car in qualifying.

Seventh place in the Hypercar class (13th overall) went to this Glickenhaus Racing Glickenhaus 007 driven by Romain Dumas, Olivier Pla and Franck Mailleux.

Glickenhaus leads Porsche through Eau Rouge.

The Glickenhaus drivers.  Left to Right - Mailleux, Dumas and Pla.

Eighth place in the Hypercar class went to this Peugeot TotalEnergies Peugeot 9X8 driven by Paul Di Resta, Mikkel Jensen and Jean-Eric Vergne.

The No.93 Porsche.

Jean-Eric Vergne being interviewed whilst Paul Di Resta signs autographs.

Ninth place in the Hypercar class went to this Peugeot TotalEnergies Peugeot 9X8 

The No.94 Peugeot.

Tenth place in the Hypercar class went to this Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and  Nicklas Nielsen. 

The No.50 Ferrari leads some other Hypercars through Les Combes.

Eleventh place in the Hypercar class went to the Floyd Vanwall Racing Team Vanwall Vandervell 680 driven by Tom Dillmann, Esteban Guerrieri and Jacques Villeneuve.

The No.4 Vanwall.

Twelfth place in the Hypercar class went to the Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 driven by Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor.

The No.6 Penske Porsche enters the Kemmel Straight ahead of a Toyota and the Jota Porsche.

Last and a DNF in the Hypercar class went to this Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Sébastien Bourdais, Renger Van Der Zande and Jack Aitken.

Cadillac leads Peugeot.

Sébastien Bourdais nearest camera, Jack Aitken furthest away and Renger Van Zande with children in the middle.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web à condition de créditer le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com, et de fournir un lien vers cette page.

The No.50 Ferrari overtakes an Oreca LMP2 car.

Ferrari pit during Saturday's pitwalk.

WEC 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps 2023 - LMP2

Two of the LMP2 cars are about to fall into the clutches of a Toyota Hypercar.

There were eleven Oreca 07 cars entered by various teams in the 2023 WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.   Eight of these finished on the same lap.   The United Autosports car No.23 had taken pole in qualifying but in the race the No.41 WRT car took the honours after a faster last pit stop.  The racing was also close for third place but the Prema car made an error and thus Albert Costa and the Inter Europol team took the final podium spot.  The Alpine ELF cars were slowest in qualifying but the No.36 car took fastest lap in the race.

All eleven LMP2 cars are featured in this blogpost.  Photos are from the Friday practice and qualifying and Saturday's race.

The LMP2 Class winning Team WRT Oreca 07 driven by Rui Andrade, Robert Kubica and Louis Deletraz.

The winning WRT LMP2 car.

2nd in LMP2 was this United Autosports Oreca 07 driven by Josh Pierson, Olivier Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist.

The United Autosports car leading the Iron Dames.

The United Autosport drivers.

3rd in the LMP2 class was this Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 driven by Jakub Smiechowski, Fabic Scherer and Albert Costa.

The third placed Inter Europol Competition car.

Albert Costa.

4th place in LMP2 went to the Prema Racing Oreca 07 driven by Felip Ugran, Bent Viscaal and Andrea Caldarelli.

The Prema Racing No.9.

5th place in LMP2 went to the United Autosports Oreca 07 driven by Frederick Lubin, Philip Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque.

United Autosports No.22.

The No.22 drivers.

6th place in LMP2 went to the Team WRT Oreca 07 driven by Sean Gelael, Ferdinand Habsburg and Robin Frijns.

The WRT No.31 car.

7th place in LMP2 went to the Alpine ELF Team Oreca 07 driven by Matthieu Vaxiviere, Julien Canal and Charles Milesi.

The Alpine ELF Team No.36 car.

8th place in LMP2 went the Alpine Elf Team Oreca 07 driven by Andre Negrao, Memo Rojas and Ollie Caldwell.

Both Alpines were the slowest cars in qualifying.

9th place in LMP2 went to the JOTA Oreca 07 driven by David Heinemeier Hansson, Pietro Fittipaldi and Olivier Rasmussen.

The No.28 JOTA car.

Pietro Fittipaldi.

10th place in LMP2 went to the Prema racing Oreca 07 driven by Doriane Pin, Mirko Bortolotti and Danil Kvyat.

Prema Racing No.63.

The Vector Sport Oreca 07 driven by Ryan Cullen, Matthias Kaiser and Gabriel Aubry only lasted 14 laps.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web à condition de créditer le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com, et de fournir un lien vers cette page.

LMP2 cars come of to the Kemmel straight accompanied by some LMGTE AM cars.

Two LMP2 cars exit La Source.

The Alpine enters the start finish straight followed by the Iron Dames.