Ferrari’s Nicklas Nielsen told Motorsport Week that he doesn’t want to take an unnecessary risks lapping traffic at Spa, after last year’s crash involving Cadillac’s Earl Bamber and WRT’s Sean Galeal.
Extensive barrier repairs led to a 1-hour and 45-minute race extension during last year’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, a key incident involving Hypercar-LMGT3 contact.
The Cadillac Hypercar driver collided lapping the then-BMW WRT LMGT3 driver on the Kemmel Straight during an intense battle with Proton’s #99 Porsche 963 driver Neel Jani.
“From my side, I go whenever I feel it’s okay to go,” Nielsen told Motorsport Week as a #50 AF Corse Ferrari 499P Hypercar driver.
“Otherwise, in a six-hour race, there is no need to take any unnecessary risk, and it’s better to lose one second than to end up in a wall with someone else.
“It’s easier said than done, because we had a few close ones in Imola as well when I was coming from the back, so in the end, when these accidents happen, it’s never because somebody wants to do it.
“Most of the time it’s misunderstandings, and I think it’s pretty easy to misunderstand each other on track sometimes, but even here on the straight with so many cars around and when you get past the GTs, you’re fighting with another Hypercar sometimes.
“We try to avoid [it], but of course, unfortunately, it happens.
“You need to pick your fights. Basically, get past them where you lose less.”
Ferrari AF Corse performed strongly during last year’s race and reaffirmed their strengths with Spa’s mid- and high-speed corners.
Spa contrasts with the narrow Imola venue as a faster circuit, leading to a higher speed differential between Hypercars and LMGT3s, which raises the risk of contact when Hypercars put an additional lap on the LMGT3 cars.
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