Bold choices early and clean air led the No. 20 BMW M Team WRT to its maiden Hypercar victory as it's sister car defended for a 1-2 finish in the 6 Hours of Spa. The No. 20 BMW M Team WRT didn’t make it to Hyperpole for the 6 Hours of Spa, being knocked out by its sister car the No. 15, but with the help of superior fuel mileage and a gutsy call to switch strategies early, Robin Frijns, Rene Rast, and Sheldon van der Linde found themselves the victors in the 6 Hours of Spa over their sister car and the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse.
With the No. 20 car stuck in traffic early, they went for the undercut to get out in front of the No. 8 Toyota on the same strategy; they under-fueled. From there, the driver trio was able to extend their mileage on every run, going 26 laps to the field average of 24-25. The No. 15 was able to join its sister car on the podium, as it made it to second at the end of each traditional strategy’s cycle.
View Price on AmazonWhen a slew of safety cars came out in the final hour, the Hypercar field was neutralized on even energy. With this 1-2 finish, BMW leads the World Endurance Challenge Hypercar standings for the first time in its four-year campaign. "Amazing," Magnussen said of BMW’s 1-2. "It couldn’t have been written better, a 1-2 BMW at the home track of WRT. This whole crew here, they’ve really deserved this so bad, the last couple of years they’ve worked their ass off to get on top of this incredible championship, and today we’re on top of it. So we just got enjoy it. There’s going to be a lot of beer floating around today, and everyone deserves it."
The final hour was filled with tight battles for podium positions, heavy multi-class traffic, and multiple race-ending crashes, first for the No. 51 Ferrari AF Course and the No. 009 Aston Martin Valkerie. The No. 51 Ferrari was hit by the No. 32 BMW, obliterating its right sidewall. The race resumes with 34 minutes remaining, but the restart is short-lived as the No. 009 Aston Martin piloted by Alex Ribera loses control and flies through the grass into the wall while running sixth.
In the final sprint to the end, four manufacturers were in the hunt for the podium, as the No. 20 BMW pulled away with the help of Kevin Magnussen in the No. 15, defending from second, the No. 50 Ferrari, No. 7 Toyota, and No. 007 Aston Martin all had chances. Tom Gamble made it by Toyota for fourth but didn't have the time to run down the Ferrari for a shot at the Valkerie's first podium. Kobayashi crossed the line fifth for Toyota in front of Kubicva in the No. 83 Ferrari, who overtook Vandoorne in the remaining Peugeot following the pole-stopping No. 94's crash in the fourth hour.
Source: roadandtrack.com
