The race in Spa changed from a 6-hour race to an 8-hour race due to circumstances, and the British private team Jota, racing on Porsche 963 hypercars, won the race.
Due to a serious accident that occurred when more than two-thirds of the distance was already behind, the race was suspended and two Ferrari hypercars were in the lead at the time. The red flag period lasted a very long time: two hours, during which time the damaged fences on the highway were being repaired.
Then the race management decided to extend the time lost due to this dramatic incident, which is completely unusual for the WEC, and this situation was in Jota’s favor.
The fact is that the crew of Porsche No. 12 made a planned pit stop shortly before the race was suspended – accordingly, Will Stevens and Callum Ilott had to spend significantly less time in the pits than their rivals before the finish of the race.
As a result, they crossed the finish line first, 12.3 seconds ahead of the Porsche Penske factory team of Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer, who took second place. The #50 Ferrari 499P hypercar, driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, finished the race in third. This is only the first podium for the Ferrari factory team this season.
Jota’s victory is important for a number of reasons: firstly, this is this team’s first achievement since competing in the Hypercar category; secondly, this is the first time in 10 years that the race has been won by a two-man team; third, a private team won for the first time since 2020.
The next WEC round will take place in mid-June and it will be the legendary 24-hour race at Le Mans.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
