Thrilling victory for Phoenix Racing in 12h Spa

For the second time this season, an Audi R8 LMS won a round of the 24H Series. After the 24-hour victory of Team WRT at the season opener in Dubai, Phoenix Racing prevailed in the third race, the Spa 12 Hours.


The GT3 sports car driven by Audi Sport driver Pierre Kaffer and his privateer teammates Michael Doppelmayr, Elia Erhart and Patryk Krupinski fought a thrilling three-way battle with a Mercedes-AMG from CP Racing and a Ferrari from WTM Racing.


Since Phoenix Racing relied on a different strategy than its rivals in terms of fueling intervals, the lead changed several times between the Audi team and CP Racing in the second half of the race. After CP Racing had to save fuel at the end and WTM Racing dropped back due to two punctures and a driver change shortly before the end, Phoenix Racing had the advantage.


Elia Erhart also passed the final stage: a rain shower in the last eight laps demanded everything from the drivers. Doing the final stint in the easily controllable Audi R8 LMS, the driver from Franconia remained uncatchable even on slicks and won with a one-lap advantage.



Third place in the GT3-Am classification went to the Audi customer team Car Collection Motorsport with drivers Dr. Johannes Kirchhoff, Max Edelhoff and Tim Müller, who had led the race for a time.





Eva-Maria Becker - photo  Creventic