Winners and losers from WEC's big Le Mans dress rehearsal

Despite strong performances from Alpine, Peugeot and BMW, Ferrari claimed its third win in three races this year at Spa-Francorchamps, its first top-class victory at the Belgian circuit since the Brian Redman/Arturo Merzario 312 PB triumph in 1972.

Ferrari continues to lead the manufacturers‘ championship with 136 points. In the drivers’ standings, Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi consolidated their lead with 75 points, followed by the sister crew of Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen, who are 18 points adrift.

But that's not all there is to remember from the Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours, which served as a dress rehearsal for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Winner: Ferrari

Three wins and three pole positions in as many races, plus a 1-2 finish. Could Ferrari have dreamed of a better start to the season? Impossible.

While the #51 car triumphed here, it owes part of its success to a strategic misstep by #50, which had seemed to have the upper hand.

“As expected after what we saw in FP2, Cadillac, Alpine and BMW were extremely strong,” said Giuliano Salvi, head of test and racing GT & prototype. “So there was no straightforward strategy possible. The two cars had to decide whether or not to make a final splash, to go for a long stint or to opt for a performance strategy. The two crews set off in opposite directions.”

Ferrari is no longer making strategic blunders, even if car #50 owes its second place to two full course yellows that allowed it to save enough fuel to reach the end. The hallmark of a champion?

With the 499P having already won the Le Mans 24 Hours twice, the Italian team says it has focused on the other circuits visited by the championship. This seems to be paying off, especially as it now appears to have mastered the Evo Joker upgrade rules adopted last year at the Sao Paulo 6 Hours. But while we can talk about a dominant car, it must be said that Ferrari AF Corse is increasingly flawless in terms of operations and is in control of its weekends, barely disturbed by two major crashes in FP2.

The bad news comes from the reliability issues encountered by the #83 AF Corse car, which was forced to stop for one hour and 26 minutes to replace a stubborn turbo. This reliability issue is causing concern with just one month to go before the Le Mans 24 Hours. It's not necessarily reassuring, and neither are the statistics.

Only six drivers - three of them as a trio - have won both the Belgian race and the Le Mans 24 Hours in the same year: Fernando Alonso/Sebastien Buemi/Kazuki Nakajima in 2018 and 2019, Tom Kristensen in 2003, Jacky Ickx in 1982 and Paul Frère in 1960.

Furthermore, Ferrari's last overall victory at the Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours (formerly known as the Spa 1000 km) dates back to 1972, the season in which Ferrari won its last world endurance title in the top class. That year, the 312 PB won every race on the calendar except the Le Mans 24 Hours. To believe in a third consecutive Le Mans victory, the Italian camp will have to shake off any superstitions.

Loser: Porsche

Porsche Penske Motorsport is unique in that it competes in both IMSA and WEC with the same car. But while the 963 claimed its fourth victory in as many races this season at Laguna Seca on Sunday, its best result in the WEC in three races is an eighth place in Qatar. This is difficult for your average viewer to understand.

In Belgium, the 963s never existed, all eliminated in qualifying before hyperpole, with the best conceding 1.4 seconds to the benchmark. This was a significant deficit that was confirmed in the race, albeit to a lesser extent. While some suggest that the manufacturer is hiding its hand in order to influence the governing bodies as they are working on the BoP for the Le Mans 24 Hours, we find this hard to believe given the huge gap.

In the end, the #6 finished ninth, three places ahead of the #5, while the #99 Proton Competition car retired due to a powertrain failure.

What does Thomas Laudenbach think? 

“Quite simply, we need to acknowledge that the conditions for a better result weren't there,” said the vice president of Porsche Motorsport. “As always, we will analyse why, especially since the Le Mans 24 Hours is up next. But I think there is also a massive need for action outside of our organisation. The race speaks for itself.”

Once again, by 'need for action' the German is obviously referring to the BoP, It-That-Must-Not-Be-Named, which competitors are prohibited from discussing, as stipulated in Article 6.2.1 of the WEC sporting regulations.

Winner: Alpine

Already third in the Imola 6 Hours, Alpine Endurance Team did it again, once more with Mick Schumacher, Jules Gounon and Frederic Makowiecki. The latter delivered two stellar opening stints, allowing Gounon to take the #36 A424 to the front of the race for 21 laps. 

Despite a slow puncture on the rear right in the final quarter of the race, Schumacher stayed in contention until the end. Having at one point taken the lead from the #7 Toyota, he went on to take the chequered flag in third place, less than a second behind second place.

“We were fighting for the win until a slow puncture compromised our chances,” said Schumacher. “We had to settle for the podium, but we can be happy with that. The trend is really moving forwards and upwards, and the team is getting better and better every weekend. Fred did an amazing stint to start the race, Jules took over and got into the lead, and it was a proper battle right up to the finish. We're on the right track, and there is a lot to take away from this weekend.”

Alpine was pleased with third at Imola but frustrated with third at Spa. That says a lot about the ambitions of Bruno Famin’s squad heading to Le Mans.

Loser: Peugeot

Why did Peugeot have such a good time in Belgium? “The fact that we came for testing and therefore arrived with a car that was already pre-set helped us a lot,” explained Jean-Marc Finot.

If the Senior VP of Stellantis Motorsport is right, he is forgetting to mention a very advantageous BoP (39 kg less and 40 kW more below 250 km/h compared to Toyota), but it is mainly the resurfacing of half the circuit that also favours the 9X8.

The French LMH suffers from a lack of mechanical grip, which is greatly compensated for by the grip offered by the new asphalt. “The fact that there are fewer bumps also works in our favour,” explained Loic Duval. “We know that's not our strong point.”

For the first time since the 2024 Qatar 1812 km race and for only the second time ever, both 9X8s made it into Hyperpole, with #93 even securing a spot on the second row of the starting grid behind the three untouchable Ferraris.

In the race, #93 led the way for 10 laps, thanks to a questionable strategy that in the end did not work out in its favour. It finished 11th, while #94 was forced to retire after contact with the #20 BMW with 1 hour and 50 minutes to go.

Peugeot puncture for the #94