Cameron, Griffin, Vilander and Mortimer on top in Pro Am at 24 Hours of Spa

SPA, July 29th – Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin, Toni Vilander and Alex Mortimer, in their AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 #59, won the “24 Hours of Spa” (Pro Am category). Ferrari, AF Corse and its drivers have achieved another milestone in the motorsport endurance world thanks to this memorable victory.

#59 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia: Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin, Alex Mortimer, Toni Vilander

Photo by: XPB Images

The quartet was able to fight for the top spots from the very beginning. But at the end of the first hours a technical problem slowed their pace. Thanks to an extremely quick repair by a fantastic pit crew, which enabled the car to continue in but a few minutes, they were soon back in contention. From that moment on, Cameron-Griffin-Vilander- Mortimer relentlessly closed the gap to first place and were second at the 11th hour. At the 18th hour, the crew took the lead among the Pro Am cars and never lost sight of the highest step of the podium.

Still in the Pro Am category and among the real class-victory pretenders (Hommerson, Machiels and Bertolini having won the “2012 Hours of Spa” edition running for AF Corse in the 458 GT3), last year’s winning trio were joined by Marco Cioci in their AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 #50 They too were continuously in the top positions of the standings. However, during lap 445, at the 20th hour, car #50 crashed heavily into the tire wall at Eau rouge due to a tire problem. End of the race.

There was further disappointment regarding the two AF Corse Ferrari 458’s Italia GT3 engaged in the Gentlemen’s Trophy. Howard Blank, Yannick Mallegol, Jean Marc Bachelier and Francois Perrodo, in their Ferrari 458 #49, were undisputed key players of the 24 Hours race fighting in the top five. Their race unfortunately ended in lap 136 after a surprising nighttime collision from an Audi. The same holds true for the AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 #51 driven by Peter Mann, Filipe Barreiros, Francisco Guedes and Cedric Mezard: the drivers could aim for the podium but had to abandon at the 67th lap due to a technical problem.

AF Corse