Christian Mansell and Maxi Götz rounded a perfect weekend by taking an undisputed win in the GT Open 500 at Spa-Francorchamps. The Australian and the German, at the wheel of their Motopark Mercedes, were first from lights to flag, after topping the two qualifying sessions and conquering pole, and are now leading the provisional standings with a 12-point advantage, courtesy also of the misfortunes of their most direct rivals, as the ZRS Motorsport Porsche #911 had to retire and the Greystone GT McLaren #33 finished outside the top ten.
“It was a job well done throughout the weekend”, said Götz, who netted his second consecutive success at the Spa 500, while Mansell added: “The team gave us a mega car, which worked perfectly in the constantly-changing track conditions”.
The final battle for second was superb with the Elit Motorsport Ferrari of Tom Emson and Tom Lebbon successfully defending the position from the attacks of the Villorba Corse Lamborghini of Leonardo Moncini and Rodrigo Testa, who conquer a beautiful maiden podium.
It was a great weekend also for Fach Auto Tech, whose Porsches won in Pro-Am, with Alexander Fach-Alexander Schwarzer, and in Am, with Joel Monegro-Lucas Wolf, who were both equally dominating in their respective classes.
THE RACE - The track is humid when the start is given, and approached with caution by all cars. Götz keeps the advantage of the pole, with Emson second ahead of Testa, Siedler, Meakin, Cresswell, Darmetko, Müller, Veselaho and Durán. No big fights or changes in the first laps, except for Emson and Testa having trouble holding their position and Tillbrook spinning in lap 8. By lap 10, Götz leads by 3 seconds on Siedler, 6 on Meakin and 9 on Emson, with Cresswell, Schwarzer, Testa and Darmetko following. Monegro is first in Am ahead of Hahn and Lewandowski Jr. Shortly after, Noble stops along the track, and De Meeus spins at Eau Rouge because of a slow puncture, touching the tyre barrier gently. An FCY is declared, and a safety car is deployed. The stint also yields a spin by Vedelaho and a contact with the wall by Meaken.
After all driver changes, Mansell leads with 0.8 seconds on Fach, 2 on Macdonal and 6 on Lebbon, soon passed by Mosca for fourth. Moncini, Ye, Barnicoat, Kelly, Basz and Adam follow. No changes in Am either, with Wolf ahead of Osman and Lewandowski Sr. Basz and Adam pass Kelly to get in the top ten, but the second stint goes uneventful up to the second driver change in lap 32. There is contact between Ye and Basz at the chicane before entering the pit lane, while right after the driver change, the ZRS Porsche of Siedler stops at the chicane with a smoking engine.
The third stint sees Götz increasing the gap up to 20 seconds on Schwarzer, passed in lap 42 by Emson. Testa is fourth ahead of Meakin, Cresswell, Duran, Meakin and Bateman. Monegro continues in the lead in Am. In lap 45, Müller spins on the slippery track, followed shortly after by Marcin Jedlinski and Tillbrook.
The third and last driver window change (where handicaps are served) opens in lap 49. After all pit stops, Mansell leads with 15 seconds on Lebbon, 19 on Moncini and 26 on Mosca, then Kelly, Adam, Pla, Barnicoat and Basz. The pit stop also sanctioned the retirements of Müller and Ye. With the gap between Mansell and Lebbon increasing marginally, all the attention is on the fight for second as Moncini has closed on Lebbon and has Mosca right behind. Fifteen minutes from the end, only four seconds cover the three. But drama strikes as Mosca stops along the track with a technical problem while Lebbon resists until the end to secure P2.
