The second round of the 2009 Classic Endurance Racing season was held at Spa Francorchamps on May 8-9.
The historical layout of Spa Francorchamps, the 55 cars on the starting grid, the fierce battles and the very pleasant atmosphere in the paddocks, all contributed to make the second round of Classic Endurance Racing exceptional.
The field included such cars as the Matra 660, Porsche 936, 935 “Moby Dick” and 910, Ferrari 712 and 512 BBLM, Ford GT40, Lola T70 Spyder, BMW M1, Sauber C5, among others.
If the drivers enjoyed pleasant weather conditions all weekend, running each time between the rain showers, it is on Saturday morning, during the second qualifying session that the strengths in presence really imposed themselves. If the first line seemed from the beginning dedicated to Jean-Marc Luco and Jacques Nicolet, respectively on Porsche 936 and March 74S, their direct pursuers more than two seconds behind gave a beautiful battle with time differences between the 3rd to the 15th place of less than 3 seconds.
From the beginning, Paul Knapfield 3rd in his Ferrari 712 surprised both leaders in the “Source” hairpin and quickly imposed his Ferrari in first place, but just for a few laps as he retired with engine problems. Followed a long intervention of the safety car due to Bernard Thurner’s accident on Lola T70 MKIII B (gearbox shaft rupture) and to the accident of Richard Mille (Lola T70 MKIII B), spectators could appreciate an incredible show with very short distances between all categories.
One of the best competitions was in the GT2 category with a fierce battle between the McInerney’s BMW M1, the Porsche 935 “Moby Dick” of Yvan Mahé and two Ferrari 512 BBLMs of Christian Traber and Mr John of B. We cannot forget the incredible performance of John Sheldon in his Chevron B16 (7th Scratch & 1st in P1) fighting with cars from the P2 category like the Sauber C5 BMW of the Brunns.
With strong determination during the last three laps, Jacques Nicolet took the first place from Jean Marc Luco unable to defend his place with agonizing tires, but was obliged to stop a few meters after on electric problems. Olivier Cazalières third on his Lola T298 had to stop at the top of the “Raidillon” with a broken accelerator cable. Finally, during the last lap, Claude Nahum, strong leader in GT1, on Ford GT 40 had a spectacular spin on “Blanchimont.”
Due to the red flag shown on the last lap, the final result is calculated on the pre last lap. Consequently we find Jean Marc Luco, Jacques Nicolet and Olivier Cazalières on the podium
After two races on famous circuits known by all drivers, the third meeting of the season in Algarve is already close. Next stop in Portugal on July 31st and August 1st, with more than 45 cars already announced.
For more information, visit www.classicenduranceracing.com.
[Source: Classic Endurance Racing]
Europe has it so much better than the States…a Ferrari 712 and it was driven hard? Awesome.