Nick Catsburg, Lucas Luhr, and Markus Palttala won the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in the #46 Z4 GT3 entered by Belgium-based BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS. While the Z4’s margin over the second place Audi R8 LMS was over a lap at the end of the race, the team’s journey to the top step of the podium was a difficult one.
The car fell out of the top thirty early in the race because of its tire choice in the rainy opening stages, and it had to serve a drive through penalty on Sunday morning for passing under yellow. It recovered to take over in the nineteenth hour and went on for the win.
Catsburg said afterward, “That was an emotional rollercoaster. During the night I was ready to throw in the towel, we were so far off the lead. But we pushed like crazy and suddenly found ourselves leading the race. I am totally happy. The team has been trying everything to win here for years. The fact that it achieved that goal on the last big outing for the BMW Z4 GT3 is just fantastic. Let the celebrating begin!”
The race was a heartbreaker for the second Marc VDS Z4; Augusto Farfus, Dirk Werner, and Maxime Martin seemed destined to win until the car’s rear wheels locked and it went off course while it was leading with less than six hours remaining in the race. The issue has been reported as a power steering problem that led to engine failure. But while the #45 car’s race ended at that point, the #46 Z4 was ready to step into the breach.
Two other Z4s finished in the top ten. The Ecurie Ecosse car driven by Alexander Sims, Alasdair McCaig, Devon Modell and Oliver Bryant finished seventh overall, just ahead of the Team Russia by Barwell Z4 driven by Leonid Machitski, Jon Minshaw, Jonathan Cocker and Phil Keen.
The ROAL Motorsport Z4 ran as high as fifth, but it exited the race a mechanical problem with just an hour remaining. BMW Motorsport engineers had developed special controls that enabled double amputee Alex Zanardi to co-drive with Bruno Spengler and Timo Glock.
Zanardi said “That was quite an exciting 24-hour race and a great experience for me. It is a shame that we had to retire with one hour remaining, but that kind of thing can happen in such a long race. As far as the performance is concerned, we were the fastest car on the track at times. I would like to thank BMW Motorsport and the guys at ROAL. I have made two new friends in Timo Glock and Bruno Spengler, who are extraordinary racing drivers. The BMW Z4 GT3 is a fantastic car. We will miss it. Its successor, the BMW M6 GT3, will undoubtedly be even better, otherwise BMW would not send it into action.”
Over the years BMW has taken 22 overall wins in the 24-hour race at Spa. The first came a half-century ago in 1965, when Pascal Ickx and Gérard Langlois won in an 1800 TI/SA.—Brian S. Morgan
