Fernando Alonso, Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi have won the 2019 TOTAL Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
In a race which saw several safety cars due to bad weather and which saw the #7 Toyota lose several laps in the pits with an electronics issue, the #8 Toyota stayed well clear of the chasing privateer LMP1 entries to take the victory in the penultimate round of the 2018/2019 FIA World Endurance Championship.
The race got off to a rocky start, as a snowstorm forced the first safety car out after just an hour of racing. After the race resumed, it was the trio of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez that set the pace early on, before it was hit with a sensor issue right at the halfway mark.
That left the championship leaders clear to take victory ahead of the #3 Rebellion of Thomas Laurent, Gustavo Menezes and Nathanaël Berthon. The pair of SMP Racing BR Engineering BR1-AERs came third and fourth, headed up by the #11 of Stoffel Vandoorne, Vitaly Petrov and Mikhail Aleshin.
ByKolles had a forgettable first outing with their new Gibson engine. Tom Dillmann was pushed into the tyre barrie on the outside of La Source and was damaged, but was able to continue. Jordan King, who was responsible for the damage, served a penalty in the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA.
Racing Team Nederland lead in LMP2 early on following an inspired opening lap by Giedo van der Garde. But in an incident eerily similar to the King/Dillmann collision, Frits van Eerd forced Aston Martin's Nicki Thiim into the wall at the exact same spot. The Dutchman also received a stop and go penalty for his troubles and was dropped to the back of the LMP2 grid.
In the end, it was Pastor Maldonado who took victory for Dragonspeed, ahead of G-Drive and Signatech Alpine
In GTE Pro, Aston Martin capitalized on their fine form in practice and qualifying. The pair of Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin, who had predicted their car would be quick in wet conditions, held off pressure from BMW, Ferrari and Porsche to take the second victory for the Aston Martin Vantage AMR.
In GTE Am, it looked like an Aston Martin and Ferrari affair for much of the race, with Clearwater Racing leading for large stints at the hands of Matteo Cressoni and Matt Griffin. Polesitters TF Sport and four time-winners Aston Martin Racing were also in the mix and held the lead at different stages. The close battle was eventually decided in favor of the #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Riccardo Pera, Matt Campbell and Christian Ried. TF Sport came second, and the podium was completed by Clearwater Racing.
