Manthey Porsche takes epic one-two in LMGT3 at Spa
The No.91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 R LMGT3 of Richard Lietz, Yasser Shahin and Morris Schuring went from third to winners over the final lap in a thrilling LMGT3 race at the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa on Saturday.
Lietz was placed third behind the No.60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini of Franck Perera and the sister Manthey run No.92 Porsche driven by Klaus Bachler and confessed to being confused when he took the chequered flag a few minutes later as the winner!
Once Perera had been forced to give up the lead by having to pit for a splash of fuel, Lietz found himself in second and closing on stablemate Bachler.
The Austrian pounced at Les Combes as Bachler tried to juggle diminishing fuel and the Manthey EMA 911 R LMGT3 led home the similar PureRaxing of Alaiksandr Malykhin, Klaus Bachler and Joel Sturm by just over a second.
Malykhin, Bachler and Sturm converted an epic revival after a huge qualifying accident at Raidillon saw team completely rebuilding their car after an all-night effort.
The 18-points for second place ensures that the No.92 crew extend their championship points lead as they head to the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month.
The No.60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini of Matteo Cressoni, Franck Perera and Claudio Schiavoni, who take advantage of two-part aspect of race re-joined after their last lap ‘splash and dash’ pit-stop to fill out the podium in third.
Taking fourth was the No.85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan driven by Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting and Rahel Frey.
They led much of the race but were ultimately shuffled back after a slow pit stop in the final hour after the re-start.
The No.,59 United Autosports McLaren of James Cottingham, Gregoire Saucy and Nicolas Costa finished in fifth place after also leading at stages of the race.
Completing the top six was the No.54 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 of Davide Rigon, Francesco Castellacci and Thomas Flohr, who also spent a time at the head of the LMGT3 field during the race.
The Imola winning No.31 Team WRT BMW M4 of Sean Gelael, Augusto Farfus and Darren Leung saw their race end after being collected by Earl Bamber’s red flag causing accident in the fifth hour.
Their teammates in the No.46 BMW, Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin and Ahmed Al Harthy also retired after also being innocent participants in an accident at the Fagnes corner when the Rene Rast tagged Phil Hanson earlier in the race.
