The Peugeot factory team took first and second place in the second round of the Le Mans Series championship, the Spa 1000 Kms, after a chaotic race which included a red flag caused by a major power blackout!
The incident, which knocked out the timing screens and monitors, forced the organizers to stop the race after two hours, while Kristensen-McNish-Capello’s Audi R15 was running first.
After the restart, Capello was challenged by Sebastien Bourdais’ Peugeot 908 for the lead. After a great fight with the Italian driver, the Frenchman took the lead when Capello had to change tires during his pit stop.
One hour before the end of the race Christopher Nygaard’s GT1 Aston Martin heavy accident brought a full-course caution one hour to the end. Half an hour later rain appeared. Simon Pagenaud, who took over from Bourdais in the leading Peugeot, went wide in the grass, but was still able to keep the lead ahead of Kristensen’s Audi.
The Dane found himself under attack from the Peugeot 908 driven by Stéphane Sarrazin. The #2 French car, that suffered a crash right before the red flag, was rebuilt, and then had a great catch-up in race. Sarrazin eventually overtook Kristensen for P2, which gave Peugeot a great 1-2 at the finish line.
"I hope there are not too many races as crazy as this or I won't live for very long!" said Bourdais afterwards. The #3 Peugeot he and his team-mates drove to victory survived a first lap spin, an unprecedented red flag caused by a power blackout, a late-race storm and a trip across the gravel in the final hour to win the most chaotic race in the history of the Le Mans Series at Spa.
Next stop is the classic Le Mans 24 Hours race, scheduled for June 12-13.
Spa 1000 km – Race classification:
Pos Drivers Cl Car Time/Gap
1. Lamy/Bourdais/Pagenaud P1 Peugeot 6h00m39.012s
2. Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian P1 Peugeot + 1m08.308s
3. Capello/Kristensen/Mcnish P1 Audi + 1m26.215s
4. Gene/Wurz/Davidson P1 Peugeot + 1 laps
5. Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller P1 Audi + 2 laps
6. Amaral/Pla P2 Ginetta-Zytek + 9 laps
7. Erdos/Newton/Wallace P2 Lola HPD + 9 laps
8. Moreau/Hein P2 Pescarolo-Judd + 10 laps
9. Lahaye/Nicolet P2 Pescarolo-Judd + 11 laps
10. Geri/Piccini/Piccini P2 Lola-Judd + 11 laps
11. Belicchi/Boullion P1 Lola-Rebellion + 12 laps
12. Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer P1 Audi + 13 laps
13. Ragues/Mailleux/Ickx P1 Lola-Aston + 14 laps
14. Zacchia/Kaufmann/Moro FLM FLM ORECA + 15 laps
15. Lieb/Lietz GT2 Porsche + 15 laps
16. Schell/da Rocha P2 Courage-ORECA + 16 laps
17. Leinders/Palttala/de Doncker GT1 Ford + 16 laps
18. Kraihamer/de Crem/Delhez FLM FLM ORECA + 16 laps
19. Bruni/Melo GT2 Ferrari + 16 laps
20. Alesi/Fisichella/Vilander GT2 Ferrari + 16 laps
21. Priaulx/Muller/Farfus GT2 BMW + 16 laps
22. Pilet/Narac GT2 Porsche + 16 laps
23. Mutsch/Hirschi/Beche GT1 Ford + 16 laps
24. Kirkaldy/Mullen GT2 Ferrari + 17 laps
25. Dumbreck/Coronel GT2 Spyker + 18 laps
26. Ragginger/Ried/Long GT2 Porsche + 18 laps
27. Holzer/Westbrook GT2 Porsche + 18 laps
28. Allemann/Frey/Zimmer GT1 Ford + 18 laps
29. Farnbacher/Simonsen GT2 Ferrari + 18 laps
30. Perez Companc/Russo GT2 Ferrari + 19 laps
31. Gardel/Goueslard/Rees GT1 Saleen + 19 laps
32. Jousse/Gregoire/Hart GT1 Corvette + 19 laps
33. Schroyen/Van Dam/Lacko GT1 Saleen + 19 laps
34. Muller/Werner/Alzen GT2 BMW + 19 laps
35. Van Splunteren/Hommerson/Machiels GT2 Porsche + 20 laps
36. Kutemann/Basso/Hartshorne FLM FLM ORECA + 22 laps
37. Daniels/Slingerland/Lanik GT2 Porsche + 23 laps
38. Ehret/Quaife/Kaffer GT2 Ferrari + 34 laps
39. Frey/Meichtry/Bruneau P2 Radical-Judd + 36 laps
Retirements:
Bell/Turner GT2 Aston Martin 86 laps
Enge/Nygaard/Mucke GT1 Aston Martin 82 laps
Noda/de Pourtales/Kennard P2 Lola-Judd 77 laps
Leventis/Watts/Kane P2 HPD 69 laps
Toulemonde/Zollinger/Zampatti FLM FLM ORECA 67 laps
Prost/Jani P1 Lola-Rebellion 65 laps
Pillon/Verdonck/Capillaire FLM FLM ORECA 30 laps
Barlesi/Cicognani/Chalandon FLM FLM ORECA 23 laps
Ojjeh/Greaves/Ebbesvik P2 Ginetta-Zytek 15 laps
Panis/Lapierre/Duval P1 Peugeot 4 laps
1. Lamy/Bourdais/Pagenaud P1 Peugeot 6h00m39.012s
2. Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian P1 Peugeot + 1m08.308s
3. Capello/Kristensen/Mcnish P1 Audi + 1m26.215s
4. Gene/Wurz/Davidson P1 Peugeot + 1 laps
5. Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller P1 Audi + 2 laps
6. Amaral/Pla P2 Ginetta-Zytek + 9 laps
7. Erdos/Newton/Wallace P2 Lola HPD + 9 laps
8. Moreau/Hein P2 Pescarolo-Judd + 10 laps
9. Lahaye/Nicolet P2 Pescarolo-Judd + 11 laps
10. Geri/Piccini/Piccini P2 Lola-Judd + 11 laps
11. Belicchi/Boullion P1 Lola-Rebellion + 12 laps
12. Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer P1 Audi + 13 laps
13. Ragues/Mailleux/Ickx P1 Lola-Aston + 14 laps
14. Zacchia/Kaufmann/Moro FLM FLM ORECA + 15 laps
15. Lieb/Lietz GT2 Porsche + 15 laps
16. Schell/da Rocha P2 Courage-ORECA + 16 laps
17. Leinders/Palttala/de Doncker GT1 Ford + 16 laps
18. Kraihamer/de Crem/Delhez FLM FLM ORECA + 16 laps
19. Bruni/Melo GT2 Ferrari + 16 laps
20. Alesi/Fisichella/Vilander GT2 Ferrari + 16 laps
21. Priaulx/Muller/Farfus GT2 BMW + 16 laps
22. Pilet/Narac GT2 Porsche + 16 laps
23. Mutsch/Hirschi/Beche GT1 Ford + 16 laps
24. Kirkaldy/Mullen GT2 Ferrari + 17 laps
25. Dumbreck/Coronel GT2 Spyker + 18 laps
26. Ragginger/Ried/Long GT2 Porsche + 18 laps
27. Holzer/Westbrook GT2 Porsche + 18 laps
28. Allemann/Frey/Zimmer GT1 Ford + 18 laps
29. Farnbacher/Simonsen GT2 Ferrari + 18 laps
30. Perez Companc/Russo GT2 Ferrari + 19 laps
31. Gardel/Goueslard/Rees GT1 Saleen + 19 laps
32. Jousse/Gregoire/Hart GT1 Corvette + 19 laps
33. Schroyen/Van Dam/Lacko GT1 Saleen + 19 laps
34. Muller/Werner/Alzen GT2 BMW + 19 laps
35. Van Splunteren/Hommerson/Machiels GT2 Porsche + 20 laps
36. Kutemann/Basso/Hartshorne FLM FLM ORECA + 22 laps
37. Daniels/Slingerland/Lanik GT2 Porsche + 23 laps
38. Ehret/Quaife/Kaffer GT2 Ferrari + 34 laps
39. Frey/Meichtry/Bruneau P2 Radical-Judd + 36 laps
Retirements:
Bell/Turner GT2 Aston Martin 86 laps
Enge/Nygaard/Mucke GT1 Aston Martin 82 laps
Noda/de Pourtales/Kennard P2 Lola-Judd 77 laps
Leventis/Watts/Kane P2 HPD 69 laps
Toulemonde/Zollinger/Zampatti FLM FLM ORECA 67 laps
Prost/Jani P1 Lola-Rebellion 65 laps
Pillon/Verdonck/Capillaire FLM FLM ORECA 30 laps
Barlesi/Cicognani/Chalandon FLM FLM ORECA 23 laps
Ojjeh/Greaves/Ebbesvik P2 Ginetta-Zytek 15 laps
Panis/Lapierre/Duval P1 Peugeot 4 laps
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