BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS is fighting for first place – Numerous accidents makes for a turbulent initial phase.

Spa-Francorchamps (BE), 27th July 2014. In the early hours of Sunday morning, things are looking promising for BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. With eight hours to go in the endurance classic, Dirk Werner (DE), Lucas Luhr (DE) and Markus Palttala (FI) in the number 77 BMW Z4 GT3 are in second place and staging an exciting duel with the leading Audi.

Alexander Sims, Oliver Bryant, Andrew Smith and Alasdair McCaig (all GB) in the BMW Z4 GT3 of Ecurie Ecosse are currently in a good twelfth place, which sees them in fourth in the Pro-Am Cup, in which they are competing. After six hours the quartet was even in the lead, which means they will pick up valuable points in the interim standings. After six and twelve hours, points are awarded for the rankings in the Blancpain Endurance Series. Nick Catsburg (NL), Jens Klingmann (DE), Henry Hassid (FR) and Pierre Thiriet (FR) have been close to the top of the Pro-Am Cup for some time in the #12 BMW Z4 GT3 of Team TDS Racing. However, Hassid had to retire after about 15 hours.

The endurance classic on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps got off to an extremely turbulent start. In the first four and a half hours after the race got underway, the safety car was on the track five times. The 24-hour marathon even had to take a 60-minute break after a particularly nasty accident. Things were much calmer on the track after the restart. There were no major incidents in the race throughout the night or before dawn.

Eric Clément, Benjamin Lariche, Nicolas Armindo and Olivier Pla (all FR) staged an impressive chase in the second car for Team TDS Racing. After starting the race from position 46, the French quartet has worked its way up into 17th place. The BMW Z4 GT3 of BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS with Maxime Martin (BE), Augusto Farfus (BR) and Jörg Müller (DE) taking turns at the wheel, was less fortunate. After an incident early on in the race, the car was forced to pit for repairs and lost a lot of time. After 140 laps, Müller had to return the number 66 car to the garage early. The radiator suffered irreparable damage after a collision with a hare. Stefano Comandini, Eugenio Amos, Stefano Colombo and Michela Cerruti (all IT) from ROAL Motorsport are currently in 39th place.

Dirk Werner (BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS, #77 BMW Z4 GT3, 2nd place):
“We've managed to stay out of all the skirmishes on the track so far. There's no doubt that this is one of the reasons we are currently fighting for P1. An awful lot can happen in an endurance race. This has also been evident in Spa. It was important for us to make it through the night without damaging the car. That isn't easy. You have your hands full. You need to drive while looking ahead. You have to try to correctly second guess the other drivers, since they all have very different styles. The car is running well so far, we are in with a chance of a podium finish. But there is still a long way to go, anything can happen.” 

Jörg Müller (BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS, #66 BMW Z4 GT3, DNF):
“It was a very disappointing race. I feel sorry for the boys in the team that we had to retire. They did a great job. I drove into the back of a slower vehicle while I was battling with a Nissan. The race had just been restarted and I tried to overtake on the finishing straight. I looked to the right quickly to see where my opponent was. Then the cars in front of me suddenly braked hard because the yellow flags were out again. I didn't have any advance warning that the Safety Car was returning to the track. Sorry to my boys and to the crew of the car that I hit. Later on in the race I then had to retire after my collision with a hare. Very disappointing.”

Alexander Sims (Ecurie Ecosse, #79 BMW Z4 GT3, 12th place):
“The pace of our vehicle was particularly fantastic at night. It was very stable and gave me a good, safe feeling. We were leading the Pro-Am Cup after six hours and were in second place after twelve hours. That means our team will pick up valuable points.”