Mike Rockenfeller - Spa victory

Mike Rockenfeller celebrated his fourth GT2 win in six FIA GT Championship
races this season with a dominant performance in the Proximus 24 Hours of
Spa. Rockenfeller, of Monaco, teamed with fellow Porsche factory drivers
Marc Lieb of Ludwigsburg, Germany, and Lucas Luhr of Monaco for a six-lap
margin of victory in the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.

 

Lieb qualified the No. 66 GruppeM Racing Porsche 996 GT3 RSR second in the
GT2 class with a lap time of two minutes 24.5 seconds on the 6.968-kilometre
road course. Lieb drove the first double stint of the race, taking the class
lead in the second hour. Rockenfeller and Luhr followed, and the three held
the class lead for most of the race.

 

They were slowed by a brake vibration during the eighth hour, but held the
class lead despite a long pitstop to repair the right-front suspension and
change brake discs and pads. In the 11th hour, Luhr spun on oil dropped on
track by another car and backed into a barrier. The team lost the GT2 lead
during a pitstop to change the car's exhaust and rear bumper, but Luhr
quickly regained it. Rockenfeller encountered a broken throttle cable in
hour 17 and dropped back to second while the cable was replaced. Lieb
regained first in class just past the 20-hour mark and the trio held fast to
finish first in GT2 by six laps and seventh overall.

 

Because they led the class at six and 12 hours, Lieb and Rockenfeller earned
maximum series points (20), giving them a 30-point lead in the GT2
championship. They will carry 75 kilograms of extra ballast at the next race
because of their success.

 

"It was quite exciting to win!" Rockenfeller said. "The other [team] car
crashed quite early and had to stop for two hours to repair the car. I feel
bad, it's not how you want to win the race. I thought we could just relax
and bring the victory home, but that didn't happen. The weather was a bit
exhausting and it's very dark at Spa during the night. Other than that, it
was a normal 24-hour race. It was my first time at Spa, so I'm happy with
the result."