SMP Racing took third place in saturday's TOTAL Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, despite suffering a significant gearbox issue.
The #11 BR Engineering BR1-AER of Mikhail Aleshin, Vitaly Petrov and WEC debutant Stoffel Vandoorne encountered a gearbox issue in the closing two hours of the race, which left fifth and sixth gear unavailable.
Aleshin, who brought the car home in third place, told Motorsport Week: "It really wasn’t an easy race at all. Crazy conditions, rain, snow, dry conditions, all it could be. Plus, we had a gearbox issue, and we had only four gears in the last two hours. Last two hours, we were driving like this, so third place with that, it’s amazing."
The lack of top gears left Aleshin defenceless against Rebellion's Thomas Laurent, who passed the Russian after the penultimate safety car restart. Despite that, the former IndyCar driver was still positive about his car's performance in the rain.
"We could keep the good pace, because the rain helped us a lot. If we didn’t have the rain, it would have been different."
"But anyway, good team job, it’s a great result and we’re looking forward to Le Mans."
The third place finish meant a home podium for newcomer Vandoorne. Aleshin had high praise for his new team-mate:
"Stoffel did a very good job, and we’re pleased to have him on the team. I mean, his first race ever in endurance racing, and he did great."
