ELMS: G-Drive leads the championship as the ELMS arrives in Spa-Francorchamps

Round 5 for the European Le Mans Series this weekend on the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the Belgian Ardennes.  All is still to play for in the penultimate race of the championship, especially in LMP2 and LMP3 where both title contenders are just a few points apart.  Luzich Racing has a more comfortable lead in the LMGTE class and might be able to clinch the title already this weekend. 

Earlier this summer, LMEM - organiser of the FIA WEC and ELMS - has renewed its contract with Spa-Francorchamps for another 4 years, up to 2023. Entry is free all weekend, including paddock access, pit and grid walk for all the fans.  And with a dry weather forecast & temps up to 25 degrees over the weekend, there's no reason not to pass by Francorchamps if you're around!  Except maybe that "little" chance of rain during the race on Sunday ... 

G-Drive Racing leads the championship in the LMP2 class with their #26 Aurus 01, after two victories in Monza and Barcelona and a second place in Silverstone. With 81 points the Russian team has an advantage of 9 points of IDEC Sport who won their first-ever ELMS race at Silverstone.  Graff is third so far in the championship with 53 points with their #39 Oreca, followed by Le Castellet winners Dragonspeed (40 points) and Duqueine Engineering (35 points) in the #30 Oreca 07.  

Inter Europol Competition arrives with a new and very ambitious line-up for the race in Francorchamps this weekend. Belgian driver Sam Dejonghe who has been racing in LMP3 with the team so far, makes his debut in the LMP2 class in his home race next to regular driver Jakub Smiechowski.  They will be joined by the experienced Mathias Beche who makes his return to the ELMS after racing with High Class Racing at Le Mans. 

Sam Dejonghe said: “I’m thrilled to make the step up to LMP2! The car and way of doing things in the top class of ELMS is new to me, so it’s a big challenge with limited tracktime. But I know Spa very well, know how the championship works and I feel comfortable in our team. The focus is there, and I will do everything I can to adapt quickly and deliver a performance on Sunday. Can’t wait to get behind the wheel!”

United Autosports waived its second Ligier goodbye and now has 2 Oreca’s on the grid for the 4 hour race on Sunday.  Missing on the grid will be Carlin Racing after Jack Manchester’s fierce crash at Silverstone.  The team used Cetilar’s spare chassis to race in Silverstone with Harrison Newey taking Manchesters’ seat. Fractured ribs prevent Manchester from racing in Spa, so the team decided to sit out this race and will return at the final race of the season in Portimao next month. 

At Cool Racing, Alexandre Coigny hasn’t completely recovered yet from his crash during the race in Silverstone which caused him to miss the teams’ maiden race and victory in the FIA WEC on Sunday.  He won’t be replaced in the #37 Oreca, which will be driven by Nico Lapierre and Antonin Borga. The #35 BHK Motorsport is also back to a 2 man line-up with season regulars Francesco Dracone and Sergio Campana. In the #23 Panis-Barthez Oreca, Leonard Hoogenboom is absent for the race in Spa. 

In LMP3 the difference between both championship leaders is even tighter than in LMP2; just 7 points between the leaders in the #13 Inter Europol Competition (76 points for Martin Hippe and Nigel Moore) and the second-placed #11 Eurointernational of Mikkel Jensen and Jens Petersen with 69 points.  The #2 United Autosports of Garett Grist, Tommy Erdos and Wayne Boyd sits in third place with 53 points, followed by the #17 Ultimate Norma and the #7 Nielsen Racing Norma of Anthony Wells and Colin Noble. 

With Sam Dejonghe moving up to LMP2 at Inter Europol Competition, Constantin Schöll, a very promising 21 year old Austrian Driver will take his place.  He will join Paul Scheusner in the #14 Ligier JSP3.  Mike Guash is still recovering from his accident in Spa where he went hard into the wall, ending up with a fractured vertebra.  He will be replaced by Andrew Bentley in the second United Autosports Ligier. 

Nicholas Adcock takes Nobuya Yamanaka seat in the #8 Nielsen Racing Ligier while the #19 M Racing Norma will also have a two-man crew for this weekend, since Yann Ehrlacher and Yvan Muller are absent due to other racing commitments. Lucas Légeret and Laurent Millara will be up for double duty in the #19 over the weekend. 

Luzich Racing arrives in Spa as the points leader in the LMGTE class.  The #51 Ferrari 488 leads the class with a total of 77 points. Alessandro Pier Guidi, Fabien Lavergne and Mikkel Mac won the 4 Hours of Le Castellet and Monza, finished third in Barcelona and fourth in Silverstone a few weeks ago. 

The Swiss team has a lead of 21 points over three teams who share second place after 4 rounds. The #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR, #66 JMW Ferrari and #83 all-female Kessel Racing Ferrari all have scored 56 points so far in the championship. Further down is the #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari (41 points) and the #88 Proton Competition Porsche. 

There are a few changes in the driver line-ups to be noted compared to the 4 Hours of Silverstone. In the #60 Kessel Racing Ferrari, Nicola Cadei will be replaced by South African David Perel.  In the #88 Proton Competition Porsche, Thomas Preining will be joined by … 

The #56 Project 1 Porsche of Egidio Perfetti, won’t race at Spa due to the team’s participation with 2 cars in the FIA WEC and the logistics needed for the upcoming 6 Hours of Fuji. The team has a third car in order at Porsche, but apparently, it hasn’t been delivered yet.  As in Silverstone, the Ebimotors Porsche also didn’t make it Francorchamps this weekend. 

Kristof Vermeulen.
Pictures: Kristof Vermeulen & Jellybaby.Media

ELMS: Nato fastest in the first wet practice at Spa-Francorchamps.

It would’t be Spa if the weather gets unpredictable … setup day on Thursday was warm and sunny with the same forecast for the weekend, today’s first practice session was wet, if not very wet at times. 

Tricky conditions on track caused several drivers to go off track, and an early full course yellow.  In the final 30 minutes the session was red flagged when 3 incidents occurred at the same time.  Thanks to very efficient work of the Belgian Marshalls, the track was freed up quickly so the session could restart for the final 15 minutes. 

© Bob Ten Kley

Norman Nato in the #24 Racing Engineering Oreca set the quickest time in the damp Ardennes.  His laptime of 2.19.745 with an average speed of 180,4 km/h was just under a second faster than Gustavo Menezes in the #31 APR-Rebellion Racing Oreca 07. Another clean sweep for Toyota this afternoon with the #21 Dragonspeed of Nico Lapierre in third position (2.21.224). Quickest of the non-Oreca’s was Konstantin Tereschenko in the #30 AVF by Adrian Vallés Dallara in fourth place.  Wayne Boyde in the #32 United Autosport Ligier completed the top 5. 

© Bob Ten Kley

In LMP3 it was Antonin Borga in the #4 Cool Racing Ligier who took the honours in 2.34.085, half a second quicker than Jakub Smiechowski in the #13 Inter Europol. Yann Clairay in the #9 AT Racing completed the top 3 in the class. The Ligiers took the top 7 spots in the session with the Norma’s on place 8 to 10.  David Droux was the fastest Norma driver in the #19 M.Racing-YMR with a best time of 2.35.986.

© Bob Ten Kley

Matteo Cairoli was unstoppable again in the LMGTE class, completing a lap in 2.31.555, beating not only all other LMGTE runners but also the whole LMP3 field with his #88 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR. Impressive stuff from the young Italian. Christian Ried in the #77 Proton sister car was second fastest, 1.369 seconds slower than Cairoli. Fabio Babini completed a Porsche top 3 in the #80 Ebimotors.  Duncan Cameron was the quickest of the non-Porsche drivers in the #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari. 

There’s a few last minute driver changes that are to be noted in the LMP2 class. Sean Rayhall couldn’t make the flight over to Belgium this weekend due to illness and will be replaced by Scott Andrews in the #2 United Autosports Ligier. In the #25 Algarve Pro Racing Ligier, Ate Dirk De Jong is being replaced by Matt McMurry who returns to the team for the first time this season. 

© Bob Ten Kley

Roberto Lacorte set the fastest time in the bronze driver collective test.  Weather conditions changed late afternoon, with a dry track and even a hint of sunshine … welcome to Spa-Francorchamps !  His time of 2.06.565 in the #47 Cetilar Villorba Corse Dallara was over 2 seconds faster than Dennis Andersen in the #49 High Class Racing.  Third quickest in was Henrik Hedman in the #21 Dragonspeed Oreca, with a time of 2.08.713, only 6 thousands of a second short from Andersen. 

In the LMP3 class, it was Kay Van Berlo who set the best time in 2.16.351 with his #11 Eurointernational Ligier. Alexey Chulkin in the #5 NEFIS by Speedfactory (2.16.593) and Anthony Wells in the #3 United Autosports Ligier (2.17.063) completed the top 3.  Romani Ricci in the #19 M.Racing-YMR was the quickest of the Norma drivers. 

The #88 Proton Competition was fastest again in the LMGTE class, this time with Gianluca Roda at the wheel in 2.19.023. Christian Ried put the second Proton Porsche on second place, just under 1.4 seconds after the Italian. Bret Curtis in the #86 Ebimotors completed the Porsche top 3. 

The second practice session is bound to go green Saturday morning at 9h05, qualifying starts at 13h10 with the LMGTE class to open the debates.

Results FP1
Results Bronze driver test

Kristof Vermeulen

Pictures: Bob Ten Kley.   

ELMS: Bumper grid of 40 cars for Spa-Francorchamps this weekend

The title race for the 2018 European Le Mans Series is heading into its deciding stage with the penultimate round of the season in Spa this weekend. Two out of the six titles could already be decided on what is probably the most beautiful track in the world, in the Belgian Ardennes.  A (very) healthy grid of 40 cars features the entry list for the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with teams returning to the competition and several driver changes to be noted in the LMP2 and LMP3 class. 

The #26 G-Drive Racing Oreca 07 of Roman Rusinov, Andrea Pizzitola and Jean-Eric Vergne won the last three races of the championship and beat all the FIA WEC LMP2’s in the 6 Hour race earlier this year.  No wonder the Russian team arrives as favourite in Spa this weekend, eager for a fourth consecutive victory and claiming this year’s ELMS title.  With 87 points scored so far, Rusinov & co now have an advantage of 34 points over the #24 Racing Engineering Oreca of Norman Nato, Olivier Pla and Paul Petit who see Pla returning to the team after racing with Ford in the FIA WEC. A win or second place finish could seal the championship for G-Drive on Sunday. 

The battle for second place in the championship is still open and will go down to the wire with three teams battling it out.   Third place at this moment is for the #28 IDEC Sport of Memo Rojas, Paul Lafargue and Paul Loup Chatin.  The French team has scored 50 points so far, being right on the tail of Racing Engineering.  The #21 Dragonspeed of Henrik Hedman, Nico Lapierre and Ben Hanley sits in fourth place at the moment with a total of 41 points.  Despite a DNF at the first race of the season, the American crew is still in contention for a top three finish.  TDS Racing, currently fifth in the standings won’t return to the European Le Mans Series this season, as their car is already underway to Fuji for the next race in the FIA WEC. 

Returning to the grid is the #27 Ligier of IDEC Sport which missed the race in Silverstone last month. Aurélien Panis - son of Olivier - will make his debut in the European Le Mans Series and the LMP2 class alongside Patrice Lafargue and Eric Maris.  The #35 SMP Racing Dallara won’t race at Spa this weekend, after a disappointing race at Silverstone where they had to retire just over an hour into the race. The #40 Graff run G-Drive racing has a revised driver line-up for Spa. James Allen stays on board of the Oreca,  joined by Frenchman Julien Fanchero and Swedish driver Henning Enqvist.  Enqvist raced in the LMP3 class with DKR Engineering and Team Virage and will now make his debut in the LMP2 class. Julien Falchero has been racing in GP3 so far and will make his debut in the prototype class. 

LMP3 racing has been exciting and very close all season long so far, with seven cars still in contention for the 2018 title.  Leading the championship is the #15 RLR M-Sport Ligier of John Farano, Job Van Uitert and Rob Garofall.  Van Uitert didn’t miss his debut in prototype racing, the young Dutchman showing his outright speed from the prologue on and leading the team to two victories in France and Austria so far.  With a total of 58,5 points the RLR crew has an advantage of 12 points over the #11 Eurointernational of Kay Van Berlo and Giorgio Mondini who are joined by Mattia Drudi at Spa.  The #3 United Autosports of Anthony Wells, Garett Grist and Matthey Bell, is tied with the Eurointernational in second place, both on 46,5 points. 

Behind those three, it’s all too close to call at the moment.  360 Racing sits in fourth place with 46 points so far, immediately trailed by the #13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier with 45 points. The #7 Ecurie Ecosse (39 points) and the #17 Ultimate Norma (35 points) are mathematically still in contention for the title.  

DKR Engineering returns to the grid in Spa, after missing out Silverstone but with a whole new driver line-up; the #8 Norma M30 now in the hands of Christian Vaglio and Martin Klein. Other driver changes are to be noted at Eurointernational where Matteo Drudi steps over from the #11 and the #12 Ligier. Andrea Dromedari is the only driver confirmed in the #12 Ligier so far.  Antonin Borga returns to the cockpit of the #4 Cool Racing after missing out Silverstone last month. Martin Hippe won’t be at the wheel of the #14 Inter Europol Competition, he will be replaced by Moritz Müller-Crepon. Romano Ricci stays on board of the #19 M.Racing-YMR Norma for his second race of the season after Silverstone last month. 


The LMGTE class has given us some nailbiting races so far this season with a few dramatic finishes right onto the wire. Gianluca and Giorgio Roda in the #88 Proton Competition lead the championship with 72 points, and are joined by young Porsche ace Matteo Cairoli again in the Ardennes this weekend.  The #66 JMW Ferrari is second in the championship, 9 points behind the Porsche with 63 points so far.  Miguel Molina, Liam Griffin and Alex McDowall. 5 points behind the JMW crew is the green #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Duncan Cameron, Aaron Scott and Matt Griffin who took victory in Monza.  All is still to play for in this class, but Sunday’s winner might be able to take a decisive lead in the championship before heading to Portimao for the season finale at the end of October. 

The action in the Ardennes starts Friday lunchtime with the first 90 minute practice session at 12.00h and the Bronze driver collective test at 16.30h.  The Michelin Le Mans Cup and Alpine Europe Cup will be this weekends support races. 

Entry list 

Timetable

Spotter Guide

Kristof Vermeulen 

Pictures: Jellybaby.media/Red Firecracker

Amelia Island Concours d'élégeance: 1929 Duesenberg and 1963 Ferrari win best of show

A 1929 Duesenberg J.SJ Convertible and 1963 Ferrari 250/275P have won the best of show awards on Saturday at  the 23rd annual Amelia Island Concours d'élégeance. 

© JellyBaby.Media

As in 2017, the Amelia Island Concours d'élégance was moved one day earlier, due to bad weather forecasts for Sunday. That late day change didn't scare off any visitors, with thousands of car enthousiasts attending the concours under sunny skies. 

© JellyBaby.media

Guest of honour this year was Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi, double Formula 1 World Champion and two-time winner of the Indy 500. The concours showcased some impressive racecars of Fittipaldi, including a 1970 Lotus 72/5, 1974 McLaren M23/5, 1974 Porsche 911 RSR IROC, Renault Dauphine "Gordini"and 1977 Chevrolet IROC Camaro Z28.

© JellyBaby.media

More than 300 cars and motorcycles, split up into 35 classes were presented at the Amelia golf club. Highlights next to Fittipaldi's race cars was an impressive line-up of "Martini race cars", N.A.R.T Ferrari's, several one-off and unique automobiles, Steve McQueens original "Bullit" Mustang and an almost complete collection of Auburns. 

© JellyBaby.Media

The highly valuated Best in Show Concours d’Elegance Trophy was presented to a 1929 Duesenberg J/SJ Convertible owned by Harry Yeaggy from Cincinnati, Ohio. This Duesenberg J/SJ Convertible has Murphy roadster-style coachwork that was restyled in period by Bohman & Schwartz of Pasadena, California. Styling changes included a lengthened hood, slotted fenders and more modern bumpers. One of the early owners of this car was Edward Beale McLean, who owned the Hope Diamond and whose family owned The Washington Post.

© JellyBaby.Media

A 1963 Ferrari 250/275P from The JSL Motorsports Collection in Redwood City, California, took home the prestigious Best in Show Concours de Sport Trophy. The winning Ferrari 250/275P won the overall at the 1963 ADAC Nurburgring 1,000Kms with John Surtees and Willy Mairesse and the 1964 Sebring 12 Hours with Mike Parkes and Umberto Maglioli driving.  This car finished second at the 1963 Sebring event and won the first race at Mont Tremblant as a NART entry with Pedro Rodriguez driving. The car was campaigned as a NART entry in 1964 and 1965.

“I could not be more pleased with the judges’ decisions for the 2018 Amelia Island Concours winners,” said Bill Warner, Chairman and Founder of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. “We are overjoyed to present the Duesenberg and Ferrari with these honors. These cars are prime examples of automotive prestige and we are proud to recognize them.”

© JellyBaby.Media

In the power-driven age, a special class of electric horseless carriages highlighted the renewed enthusiasm for the 120 year old technology.  IMSA GTP celebrated its GTP -- Grand Touring Prototype -- racers from the 1981 through the 1993 IMSA Championships. A quarter century has passed since IMSA’s GTPs last raced in anger. They were the spiritual descendants of the mighty, unlimited Can-Am racers of the 1960s and 1970s and the vanguard of a new generation of automotive performance and technology. By the end of the GTP era in 1993 they had eclipsed every major record the fabled Can-Am racers set.  Another spectacular display was the collection of Martini race cars, including 2 Porsche 917's. 

A few further impressions of this years concours at Amelia and an overview of some class winners and a rundown of Le Mans cars will be published in the upcoming days. 

Kristof Vermeulen.

ELMS 2017 - 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps review

4 days before the title deciding race in Portimao this weekend, let's take a look back at the European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps last month.

French team GRAFF took their first European Le Mans Series victory at Spa-Francorchamps in spectacular style when Richard Bradley survived a last-lap drive-through penalty to cross the line in first at today’s Four Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

The Briton crossed the line just 0.581 seconds ahead of G-Drive’s Ryo Hirakawa after having his 20 second lead virtually wiped out when he served a drive-through penalty for track limits abuse during an overtake on the #27 SMP Racing Dallara earlier in the race.

The team dodged a second bullet when a post race stewards enquiry found them guilty of using multiple tyre guns during an earlier pitstop, however, it was deemed no advantage was gained and the team merely received a 300 Euro fine. The win gave GRAFF not only their first win in the 2017 season, but their first overall win in the Series to date. Hirakawa also fell foul of the stewards when his #22 car was handed a drive through penalty for a safety car infringement whilst Leo Roussel was driving – the penalty effectively ending their hopes of victory today. G-Drive continue to lead the series, however their lead has been cut to just one point.

Despite all the Dallaras having a tough time in qualifying their race pace appeared improved and the #27 SMP Dallara of Matevos Isaakyan and Egor Orudzhev that won last time out at Circuit Paul Ricard finished third, 15.488 seconds behind Hirakawa to complete the overall podium. United Autosports’ Filipe Albuquerque finished fourth in the highest-placed Ligier JS P217 some 17 seconds shy of the winning time.

In the LMP3 class, Austrian team AT Racing led the majority of the race in the distinctive black and orange ‘World of Tanks’ Ligier JS P3 of Alexander Talkanitsa Sr.and Jr. and Mikkel Jensen and, like GRAFF, survived the steward’s wrath and a Stop/Go (with engine off) penalty to take the class victory. David Droux brought Duqueine Engineering’s #7 Norma M30 over the line a lap adrift for second, four seconds ahead of the #2 United Autosports Ligier of Sean Rayhall and John Falb.

Moving on to GTE, Spirit of Race took the win in a Ferrari 488 GTE 1-2 with the #51 car of Gianluca Roda, Rino Mastronardi and Andrea Bertolini taking it’s first win of the season. Will Stevens brought home the #66 JMW Ferrari in second a lap down with the ageing #99 Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage coming home in third, just under 33 seconds behind the yellow Ferrari.

It was an incident packed race in which we saw six full course yellow/safety car periods to recover cars, debris and in one of the most noteworthy incidents, repair barriers following a high speed crash into the tyre barriers by Andrea Roda in the #25 Algarve Pro Racing Ligier which resulted in the car coming to rest upside down. Roda was taken to the circuit medical facility and later released, unhurt by the incident.

This article was originally published on Sportscarglobal.com

ELMS 2017: Title showdown kicks off at Spa-Francorchamps today

The title showdown of the 2017 European Le Mans Series kicks off this weekend with the 4 hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the penultimate race of the season. With a packed grid of 35 cars, the iconic track in the Belgian Ardennes is set for another weekend of great endurance racing. 

Weather-wise it seems like we dodged a bullet again at Spa, with sunny forecasts and a hint of an indian summer in the air, temperatures rising up to 20 degrees on race day.  It's still Spa though, so our raincoats won't be too far away. 

With just 2 races to go, the battle for the 2017 championship in LMP2 is likely to be battled out between the #22 G-Drive Racing Oreca and the #2 United Autosports Ligier.  G-Drive Racing leads the championship with 80 points; winning at Monza and scoring second place on all other races. United Autosports follows with 68 points, after winning at Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring. Losing out their podium finish at Paul Ricard last month due to a full course yellow infringement cost the American team 5 points in the championship, so it could have been even closer. Graff Racing is third in the standings right now with the #39 Oreca, but with 49 points already 19 adrift from United Autosports in second place.  A DNF or bad result by one of both leading teams might bring them back in contention though with 25 points for grabs for a race win. The first Dallara is the #49 High Class Racing on fourth place. 

Last months winners, Russian young guns Mates Isaakyan and Egor Orudhzev in the #27 SMP Racing Dallara will be one of the teams to watch this weekend. Spa-Francorchamps should be a track that suits the Dallara's with its high speed sections and corners. 

A few driver changes are to be noted in the LMP2 class: 

Ryo Hirakawa is back in the #22 G-Drive, joining Memo Rojas and Léo Roussel again in the Oreca07 after missing out the races at the Red Bull Ring and Le Castellet due to his commitments in the Japanese Super GT Championship. He was replaced by “quick Nick” Minassian who scored two podium finishes in the past 2 races. 

Absent on the #28 IDEC Sport Raicng Ligier is Olivier Pla. The Ford GT factory driver is bound to race in the IMSA race at Laguna Seca this weekend. Pla will be replaced by Paul-Loup Chatin, who returns to the European Le Mans Series for the first time since last season. Chatin raced with Signatech Alpine and Panis-Barthez competition in the past 3 seasons in the FIA WEC and ELMS and will team up with Paul and Patrice Lafargue.. 

Another driver missing this weekends race is Eric Trouillet in the #39 Graff Oreca. He will be replaced by Jonathan Hirschi who drove with Manor in the FIA WEC earlier this season and at Le Mans. 

The LMP3 field will be the biggest one on the grid again with 17 cars ready to tackle the Ardennes. Compared to the race at Paul Ricard, just a few driver changes are to be noted in the class. 

Giorgio Mondini will be joined by Marco Jocaboni in the #12 Eurointernational Ligier.  Jocaboni replaces season regular Davide Uboldi. Erwin Creed won't race the #19 M.Racing-YMR Norma M30, he is replaced by Australian Neale Muston. No sign either of Tristan Viidas on the #5 BySpeed Factory Ligier which will be driven by Tim Müller and Jurgen Krebs. 

The #2 United Autosports arrives at Spa as leaders in the championship with 70 points after a win at Silverstone and Le Castellet and second place at the Red Bull Ring. Second so far is the #18 M.Racing-YMR Ligier with a total of 58 points, 12 points behind the leaders. The #18 hasn't won a race so far this season but scored four podium finishes in a row.  The red/white #3 Ultimate Ligier is in third place with 53 points.  The #11 Eurointernational and #13 Inter Europol Competition are currently fourth and fifth in the championship and not to be counted out for a top 3 finish by the end of the season.  Especially the Inter Europol team who came in second at Le Castellet and won their last race in the VdeV series.

One major change to note in the driver line-up of the LMGTE class: Will Stevens returns to the JMW team in the #66 Ferrari F488GTE. It's the first time Stevens will drive the car again after winning the GTE-Am class at Le Mans. He will join Robert Smith and Jody Fannon in the yellow Ferrari.  Stevens will also race with the team at the season finale in Portimao next month. 

TF Sport leads the LMGTE championship in their #90 Aston Martin Vantage. After 4 rounds they have scored 77 points so far, winning the first race in Silverstone and finishing on the podium of every other race so far. JMW Motorsport is second with 68 points and one win so far at Monza. The #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari climbed to third place in the standings with 64 points. After a though start of the season, not scoring any points at Monza, the Swiss team of Thomas Flohr & co has scored two successive victories at the Red Bull Ring and Paul Ricard and is in full contention for the title. Spa is a track that should fit the Ferrari's more than the Aston Martin, the title showdown on the GTE class will probably be very close until the final laps in Portugal next month ! 

Track action starts today with the Bronze driver test at 11h20. The first 90 minute free practice session for the ELMS is scheduled at 15h20 this afternoon. 

Useful links: 

Timetable

Entry List

Spotterguide

Kristof Vermeulen.