The demanding 24 Hour of Spa-Francorchamps concluded Sunday 30 July. After an entire day's racing, the Maserati MC12 fielded by Vitaphone Racing Team and with Andrea Bertolini-Michael Bartels-Eric Van de Poele in the driving seat, claimed the win. The victory was obtained in the final 45 minutes of racing.
This after 589 laps and a close battle with the Aston Martin DBR9 driven by Piccini-Deletraz-Lemeret-Fassler that finished 1'41"452 off the pace. In third, and ten laps down, was the Corvette C6R with Longin-Kumpen-Hezemans-Mollekens on board. Having started from third on the grid, the MC12 was always challenging for first in a duel that lasted the whole race.
Photo: Maserati/Studio Mazzi
The decisive moment came two hours from the end when rain began to fall on almost the whole of the seven kilometre circuit. The strategy for the final two pit stops proved crucial as the Maserati managed to close the gap of around a minute to the Aston Martin before overtaking it in the last half hour to claim a second consecutive win in this famous old race. With one hour and forty five minutes of racing, the second Maserati, driven by Vosse-Davies-Biagi, was forced to retire when Thomas Biagi was in the lead. A water leak that led to liquid coming into contact with oil caused the car to catch fire when it came into the pits. The damage caused by the flames ruled the car out of the race.
At the green light, the two Maserati MC12s maintained their positions with Jamie Davies in second and Andrea Bertolini in third. By the end of lap two, the Tridents were in the lead after they had overtaken Lemeret-Deletraz-Piccini-Fassler's Aston Martin. After three hours of racing and many changes of position owing to the pit stops, a duel for first place began between the Maserati MC12, with Van de Poele-Bartels-Bertolini on board, and Lemeret-Deletraz-Piccini-Fassler's Aston Martin.
