2023 WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Fracorchamps - LMGTE -AM

 

Aston Martin and Ferrari during qualifying.

This post covers the LM GTE Class at the 2023 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. This was the third round of the 2023 World Endurance Championship following Sebring and Portimaõ.   The next stop is Le Mans so an important race in terms of preparation for the 24 hours.  I always like seeing the GT class and now the GTE Pro class has disappeared we are left just with the GTE AM competitors, but they are still worth watching.  There were GT cars from four manufacturers competing and three of them remained on the lead lap for the GTs (140 laps) and all of them was represented in the top four positions in the class.  Big congratulations to 22 year old French driver Lilou Wadoux who became the first woman to be a class winner in the WEC since it started in 2012.

GTAM cars late in the race with the leading Ferrari ahead of the field.

All of the LM GTE AM cars that were at Spa-Francorchamps for the 2023 WEC 6 hours and many of the drivers are shown below:

The GTAM winning Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO driven by Louis Perez Companc, Lilou Wadoux and Alessio Rovera during the race at Radillion.

The winning drivers. during the pit walk.  By finishing first Lilou Wadoux (centre) became the first woman to win her class in a WEC event. Louis to the left and Alessio to the right of her.

The sole Corvette at Eau Rouge early in the race.

Three abreast down the Kemmel straight with the Corvette closest to the camera.

Second in GT AM was this Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R driven by Ben Keating, Nicolas Varrone and Nick Catsburg.

The Corvette Racing team signing autographs during the pit walk, Bean Keating is on the left. 

The GT AM Aston Martin which took pole for the class in qualifying.

This Ort by TF Aston Martin Vantage AMR finished third driven by Ahmad Al Harthy, Michael Dinan and Charles Eastwood.

The drivers of the third placed Aston Martin.

The fourth placed GT AM Porsche in Raidillion..

The fourth placed Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR - 19 driven by Ryan Hardwick, Zacharie Robichon and Harry Tincknell going along the Kemmel Straight.

The Iron Dames Porsche closely followed by an Aston Martni,

Fifth place went to the Iron Dames Porsche 911 GTR - 19 driven by Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting and Rahel Frey.

The Iron Dames on the pit walk.

AF Corse Ferrari leading the Iron Dames at Eau Rouge.

The sixth placed AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO driven by Diego Alessi, Simon Mann and Ulysse De Pauw.

The No.21 Ferrari drivers.  Left to Right seated, Alessi, Mann, De Pauw.

The seventh placed Northwest AMR Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas.

The No.98 AMR drivers.  Left to Right - Mancinelli, Riberas, James.

The No.98 Aston leads the No.57 Ferrari.

The Kessel Racing Ferrari.

This Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE EVO driven by Takeshi Kimura, Scott Huffaker and Daniel Serra finished in eighth place.

The Kessel drivers.

The Dempsey-Proton Porsche leading a Ferrari through Eau Rouge.

The ninth placed Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR - 19 driven by Christian Ried, Mikkel Pedersen and Julien Andlauer.

Mikkel Pedersen.

The No.777 Aston leading a Ferrari.

The tenth placed D'Station Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR driven by Satoshi Hoshino, Casper 

Stevenson and Tomonobu Fujii.

The D'Station drivers.   Left to Right - Hoshino, Fujii, Stevenson.

The eleventh placed Iron Lynx Porsche 911 GTR - 19.

Iron Lynx Porsche exiting Radillion.

The Iron Lynx drivers -  Left to Right - Alessio Picariello, Matteo Cressoni and Claudio Schiavoni.

GR racing Porsche descending towards Eau Rouge.

The twelfth placer GR Racing Porsche 911 GTR-19 driven by Michael Wainwright, Riccardo Pera

and Benjamin Barker.

The AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO was not classified after an accident in the race.

The No.54 AF Corse drivers - Left to Right - Thomas Flohr (Mr Vista Jet), Francisco Castellacci and Davide Rigon.

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.

After this qualifying accident in tricky condition, the No.56 Project 1-AO Porsche didn't start.

The No56 drivers during Friday's pit walk and thus before the accident.

24 Heures du Mans - 2022 - LM GTE Am - 24 Hours of Le Mans

The GTE Am winning Aston Martin leading the Dempsey Proton on Saturday evening through the Esses.  A good consistent drive gave them the top place on the podium.

Great to see Le Mans regulars Ben Keating and Marco Sorensen take their first Le Mans class win this year.  Always nice to see two Aston Martin cars on the podium.  They had to beat a multitude of Porsches and Ferraris to get there.  GTE Am cars are similar to GTE Pro cars but must be at least one year old and have some Bronze rated drivers in the car. 

The LMGTE Am class at Le Mans always gives me some good photos to publish and this year was no exception.   A picture of every car in the class can be seen below:

Results of the LM GTE Am class:

1st No.33  TF Sport-Aston Martin (Ben Keating / Henrique Chaves / Marco Sorensen) 343 laps

For Ben Keating this year's win was some recompense for when he was disqualified in the Ford GT after crossing the line first in 2019.  It was also the first Le Mans win for Marco Sorensen after many years of trying.  A nice win for the Aston Martin Vantage AMR as well over stiff competition from the Porsches and Ferraris.  Here the car is in the Esses on Sunday morning when running third.

2nd No.79  WeatherTech Porsche (Cooper Mac Neil / Julien Andlauer / Thomas Merrill) 343 laps, 44 seconds behind

The WeatherTech Porsche remained on the same lap as the winner. Here it enters the start finish straight on Sunday morning.  It had looked a real contender early on but a few mistakes gave TF Sport the win.

The WeatherTech Porsche is chased by an LMP2 Oreca as it heads up to the Dunlop Bridge on Sunday morning.

3rd No.98  Northwest AMR Aston Martin (Paul Dalla Lana / David Pittard / Nicki Thiim) 342 laps

The second Aston Martin on the podium was the Northwest AMR car, seen here at Tertre Rouge after the sun has gone down. The Aston Martin Vantage has a four-litre, twin-turbo-charged V8 engine.

4th No.86  GR Racing Porsche (Michael Wainwright / Ricardo Pera / Benjamin Barker) 340 laps

Bumping over the kerbs early on  Sunday morning is the GR Racing Porsche.

5th No.88  Dempsey Proton Porsche (Fred Poordad / Maxwell Root / Jan Heylen) 340 laps

The No.88 Dempsey Proto Porsche leading the Spirit of Race Ferrari through the Dunlop Chicane.

6th No.54  AF Corse-Ferrari (Thomas Flohr / Francesco Castellacci / Nick Cassidy) 340 laps

The No.54 AF Corse Ferrari enters the start finish on Sunday morning.

7th No.85  Iron Dames Ferrari (Rahel Frey / Michelle Gatting / Sarah Bovy) 339 laps

The three Iron Dames, Rahel, Michelle and Sarah did very well and finished seventh especially as the Ferrari seemed the car least favoured by the BOP (Balance of Performance).

8th No.21  AF Corse-Ferrari (Simon Mann / Christoph Ulrich / Toni Vilander) 339 laps

As the night starts at Le Mans the No.21 AF Corse Ferrari rounds Tertre Rouge.

9th No.61  AF Corse-Ferrari (Louis Prette / Conrad Grunewald / Vincent Abril) 339 laps

The Ferrari had taken the GTE Am hyperpole but couldn't do as well in the race.

10th No.55  Spirit of Race Ferrari (Duncan Cameron / Matthew Griffin / David Perel)  339 laps

The Spirit of Race Ferrari leads the AF Corse Ferrari through the Esses on Saturday afternoon.

11th  No.99  Hardpoint Motorsport Porsche (Andrew Haryanto / Alessio Picariello / Martin Rump) 338 laps

The Hardpoint Porsche in the Esses on Sunday morning.   Later it was to lose any hope of a podium when it got stuck in the gravel trap for a number of laps.

12th No.57  Kessel Racing Ferrari (Takeshi Kimura / Mikkel Jensen / Frederik Schanorff) 336 laps

The Kessel Ferrari exiting the Dunlop Chicane on Sunday morning.

13th No.80  Iron Lynx Ferrari (Matteo Cressoni / Giancarlo Fisichella / Richard Heistand)  336 laps

The Iron Lynx Ferrari after sunset in Tertre Rouge.

14th No.77  Dempsey Proton Porsche (Christian Ried / Sebastian Priaulx / Harry Tincknell)  336 laps

We follow the Dempsey Proton Porsche down the pit straight as the visibility begins to get affected by the heat haze as the sun has risen.  This car looked set for a podium finish until it suffered broken suspension late in the race.

15th No.66  JMW Motorsport Ferrari (Renger Van der Zande / Mark Kvamme / Jason Hart) 331 laps

Too close for comfort as the Ferrari squeezes the Aston Martin on the entry to the Dunlop Chicane on Sunday morning.

The resulting light contact sends the Ferrari to the inside of the second past of the chicane.  It is still relatively early on Sunday morning and there are not too many people in the Grandstands.

16th No.93  Proton Competition Porsche (Michael Fassbender / Matt Campbell / Zacharie Robichon)  329 laps

It is Saturday evening at the Esses and the No.93 Porsche leads some protoypes.  This was the car which had actor Michael Fassbinder as one of its drivers and he had a difficult race with two incidents during the night.

17th No.75  Iron Lynx Ferrari (Pierre Ehret / Christian Hook / Nicolas Varrone) + 19 rounds  324 laps

It is very early on Sunday morning, just before sunrise but after dawn, when the No.75 Ferrari follows a number of GT cars onto the start finish straight.

DNF  No.60 Iron Lynx Ferrari (Claudio Schiavoni / Alessandro Balzan / Raffaele Gianmaria) DNF

The Iron Lynx Ferrari in the Dunlop Chicane on Saturday afternoon.

DNF  No.56  Project 1 Porsche (Brendan Iribe / Oliver Millroy / Ben Barnicoat) DNF

The No.56 Porsche was still going early on Sunday morning but later retired.

DNF  No.59  Inception Racing Ferrari (Alexander West / Come Ledogar / Marvin Klein) DNF

The No.59 Ferrari early in the race at Tertre Rouge but it was destined not to finish.

DNF  No.71  Spirit of Race Ferrari (Franck Dezoteux / Pierre Ragues / Gabriel Aubry) DNF

The Spirit of Race Ferrari in the Esses on Saturday afternoon.

DNF  No.777  D’station Racing-Aston Martin (Satoshi Hoshino / Tomonobu Fujii / Charles Fagg)  DNF

The No.777 Aston Martin in Tertre Rouge late on Saturday evening.  They later retired with suspension damage.

DNF  No.46  Project 1 Porsche (Matteo Cairoli / Mikkel Pedersen / Nicolas Leutwiler)  DNF

AS the sun gets low in the sky, the No.46 Porsche leads an LMP2 car and an Aston Martin through the Esses.  This was the car at le Mans that completed the least laps this year.

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 aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page.

The Marshals at Le Mans did a superb job over the whole week as usual.  Here the marshal waves a blue flag as the No.71 Ferrari passes under the Dunlop bridge.