Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi lead 1-2 sweep for Ferrari at Spa

Ferrari AF Corse has scored a third win in three races to start the FIA World Endurance Championship season for the Italian brand, with the No. 51 499P leading a 1-2 finish for the Italian factory cars at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

From third on the grid, Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi, who won last time out in Imola, extended their championship lead with a near flawless drive in front of almost 100,000 spectators trackside.

In the final two hours of the race, after a third and final safety car restart, the No. 51’s strategy desk managed to execute a perfect strategy. The car pitted from the lead and emerged in the same position with 10 minutes remaining, after a number of other contending cars required longer final splashes of fuel.

The winning margin in the end was just 4.2s, as Pier Guidi led home the pole-sitting No. 50 of Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina, which finished the race with next-to-no virtual energy left in the tank.

It was touch and go as to whether the No. 50 would need to make a seventh stop like every other car in the top 10. But Nielsen put in a calculated drive and was helped by two late brief FCY periods, which allowed him to save virtual energy. Ferrari may have had the ultimate pace all week, but this race was far from simple for the Prancing Horse and kept everyone up and down the pit lane guessing right to the end.

“I still can’t believe it,” Pier Guidi said. “At the start of the weekend it was difficult, and at the end, I was pushing on every lap. I gave everything — I am finished.

“I tried to be as quick as I could before the splash (to build enough of a gap to hold onto the lead after a seventh visit to the pits). The guys worked so hard repairing the car earlier in the weekend (after the car’s off at Raidillon in second practice).

Calado added: “I didn’t expect that. It was a mental race, so up and down with so many incidents. The car was clearly super strong, the team were also spot on with strategy — they have improved so much and it’s made such a big difference.”

Alpine’s No. 36 A424 challenged for a surprise first win for the brand’s LMDh program but came home third. Mick Schumacher finished within a second of the No. 50 and 5.1s off the leading car after taking 16 more seconds of fuel at its final pit stop with 29 minutes remaining.

Off the podium, Toyota Gazoo Racing found a way to strategize a shock fourth-place finish for the No. 8 GR010 from 15th on the grid at a weekend when the team struggled for outright pace. The team pitted the car out of sequence to avoid a late splash, and it proved to be a masterstroke as the car ended up just 32s behind the No. 51.

Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA’s pair of V-Series.Rs took fifth and sixth after was easily the British team’s strongest showing since becoming the GM brand’s Hypercar service provider.

LMGT3 felt like a touring car race throughout, delivering constant door-to-door action, with plenty of contact and close shaves. Vista AF Corse added to Ferrari’s big day in Belgium with a double podium. The No. 21 296 LMGT3 of Francois Heriau, Alessio Rovera and Simon Mann scored its first win of the season by 40 seconds, and the No. 54 sister car took third.

“I’m delighted — we got our revenge after Imola. We got the win right before Le Mans — it’s a big moment before the big one,” Heriau said after he and his teammates took second in the points standings, closing the gap to the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette, which finished outside the points in 13th.

Splitting the two Ferraris was Proton Competition’s No. 88 Ford Mustang GT3 in second. It was the German team’s best result since becoming a Ford partner team, which was made even sweeter as the No. 77 finished just off the podium in fourth.

Heart of Racing’s No. 27 Aston Martin bounced back nicely from its retirement in Imola by completing the top five.

More details to follow.

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