The 71st edition of 24 Hours of Spa, the world-famous endurance race, will go down in history for having the most challenging race conditions ever. However, it will be remembered in the UAE for a very different, very exciting, reason. GPX Racing, the young team from the Middle East, supported by Porsche, won against all odds in a Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Despite having only a few months’ experience in the Blancpain GT Series and with the 911 GT3 R, world-title winning racing drivers – Michael Christensen, Kévin Estre and Richard Lietz – surprised doubters by putting the #20 Porsche among the top 20 cars – out of 72 entries – into the Superpole shoot-out. Driver, Estre, clinched 11th place on the grid and then set the fastest time in night practice, which must have given the team the final boost needed to nail it. This is also Porsche’s first victory in the Ardennes classic since 2010.
Earlier, the race was interrupted by a red flag due to torrential rain, and later during a pit stop the racers in car number 20 was handed a penalty but they managed to pull back the time lost, especially by taking advantage of a neutralisation to carry out the obligatory 5-minute technical stop. Even as rain lashed out at the world’s biggest endurance race for Grand Touring cars, Kévin edged his way up to the front of the pack. The French driver steadily put his rivals behind him, one by one, and finished his first stint in the lead. At 16:30 came the moment when the Porsche flashed past the chequered flag followed by the UAE national anthem ringing out across the circuit for the first time.
Pierre-Brice Mena, Team Principal for GPX Racing said: “We made a great start to the race and then we had a drive-through. Above all, we had to avoid falling a lap behind. We fought our way back among the few teams capable of winning in the final hours. When you have such an opportunity to go for victory you have to grasp it with both hands and not be content with second place.”
