Sascha Maassen - Spa 24h

Sascha Maassen scored another victory on 30 July, topping the G2 class in
the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa. Maassen, of Raeren, Belgium, combined with
Lucas Luhr and Marcel Tiemann, both of Monaco, to record the first victory
in a 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (type 997).

 

Luhr qualified the No. 197 Manthey Racing Porsche second on the G2 grid,
13th overall, with a lap of two minutes 22 seconds on the 6.968-kilometre
Spa Francorchamps circuit. He drove the first stint and took the class lead
after 40 minutes of the 24-hour race. Maassen drove next, followed by
Tiemann. The trio continued to lead the class – and moved up to ninth
overall – until the 13th hour. The car's undertray came loose, breaking the
radiator and forcing a long pitstop for repairs.

 

The car returned to the track second in class, seven laps behind the class
leader and 18th overall. The drivers steadily worked back up through the
field to take the class lead in the 22nd hour.  Maassen drove the final
stint, made more difficult as the car had only fifth gear for the last 30
minutes of the race. He finished first in G2 with a six-lap lead, 14th
overall.

 

"We had a lot of trouble during the race, but this was a test race for the
new RSR," Maassen said. "Now we have a lot of knowledge so we can develop
this car before we sell it to customers next year."

 

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Sylvia Proudfoot
HYPERLINK "mailto:sylvia@spurcom.ca"sylvia@spurcom.ca
403 287 3945