SPA 24 MEMORIES
The perfect place for an enduro
Ahead of the 70th Spa 24 Hours, some of the event’s key players reveal their top memories
Before he was a multiple Le Mans winner with Audi, the Swiss was a persistent thorn in the side of the all-conquering Maserati MC12 at Spa. After a near-miss in 2006, he won the following year with a Carsport Corvette after pressuring Eric van de Poele into a mistake in the closing stages.
HE SAYS
2006 was my very first 24-hour race at Spa, and also my first time in the Aston Martin. At night one of my team-mates had a little contact and after that we had too much toe-out, so the front tyres were wearing too hard, but the biggest issue we had was a broken exhaust, which meant we needed to run rich to cool everything down. This meant fuel consumption was too high, but it was the only way to make it. In the end it was close, but we didn’t have a chance because our car was not 100%. I remember it was super-hot in the car and I was dehydrated in the morning because I was inexperienced at 24 hours, so I was not really drinking after my stints. I got cramps and I had to drink salt water! I was completely fucked after the race…
I wouldn’t say we were lucky in 2007; I think it was well deserved because we had the pace to win – and my driving time was 11 hours or something. The conditions were really tough – it was raining a lot through the night, just pissing down the whole time. There was a lot of aquaplaning and it was super-easy to do mistakes, but we did none.
I was much, much faster than everyone else; my pace was sometimes three seconds faster per lap. We were one lap behind the [Michael] Bartels Maserati, knowing if we kept the pace high, we could unlap ourselves and go for the lead. So I overtook, was on the same lap and started catching up. Then van de Poele put himself into the gravel and after that we were leading. It definitely was one of my highlights, the feeling was amazing. It’s a win I will never forget.
The Corvette guys were so clever in their design – for every problem they had a solution. I remember in 2007 the right-rear rain light was failing and so we had to pit. The guy just changed the light, put the battery on and we were driving with a battery until the end. If you would have to change the whole light system, we would never have won. The GT1S were really amazing race cars; it was good fun.
The WRT team boss had a mixed history as a driver, only managing a solitary victory with a Larbre Viper in 2002 – despite losing a wheel – in 16 appearances before starting his own squad, which won in ’11 and, memorably, in ’14.