Ferrari 6 Hours of Spa race report

FIA WEC - Ferrari on the Spa 6 Hours podium
Fisichella and Bruni second after an exciting final

#51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia: Giancarlo Fisichella, Gianmaria Bruni

Photo by: Ed Fahey

Maranello, 5 May – The Spa 6 Hours, one of the most famous endurance races on the calendar, took place today, as the second round of the new FIA World Endurance Championship. There were seven Ferraris entered and the best result was a second in the GTE PRO class for the well established duo of Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni, the reigning champions in LMS and ILMC. In their AF Corse 458 GT2, they were involved in an engrossing battle with the winning Porsche of Richard Lietz and Marc Lieb. A tightly run fuel strategy saw Bruni actually run out of fuel on the slowing down lap, after the AF Corse driver had changed his rival down to the final corner, crossing the line just a few tenths behind.

Third was the Luxury Racing car of Frederic Makowiecki and Jaime Melo who both drove an attacking race, followed by the second AF Corse car of Andrea Bertolini and Olivier Beretta, who also rain competitively throughout the six hours. In the GTE-AM class, a third place for another AF Corse Ferrari, crewed by Piergiuseppe Perazzini, Matt Griffin and Marco Cioci, who did well in the difficult conditions with rain making for a slippery track that required two appearances from the Safety Car.

Apart from the race, Ferrari was also involved, with its 599XX in an exhibition featuring some of the most innovative cars of the current auto scene. Fitted with the new aerodynamic kit which further increases its performance, this sports car, not homologated for racing, is conceived purely for track use and was one of the most admired of those cars assembled at the Ardennes track.

The next round of the championship takes place at another famous circuit, Le Mans, which on 16th June is the backdrop to the 24 Hours of the same name.

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