Spa 24hrs 2012. The Phoenix Rises

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Christopher Haase, Christopher Mies and Stephane Ortelli in the #1 Audi R8 – who would go on to secure an Audi 1-2 with their second place – were by mid-race in a no-holds barred battle for second with the #3 Marc VDS BMW, the #36 and #66 BMWs lying ready to pounce in third and fourth. Suddenly, having been nowhere in the opening few hours, the battle for German marque supremacy was very much in the four ring corner.

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There was nowhere to hide though as darkness fell, the #69 Gulf Racing UK McLaren MP4-12C, the #21 Mtech Ferrari 458 Italia and numerous others falling foul to accident damage (or just falling asleep). For the survivor who picked his way through the carnage, dawn brought only the realization that there was still nine hours and over 200 laps left to run.

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Despite the high attrition (24 entrants were unclassified in the final standings), the #16 car’s healthy lead suggested that this wouldn’t be a run to the flag. Yes, late race challenges from the #1 and #3 cars had only just been rebuffed, but with only four hours to go and a 2m margin in their pocket, all that remained was for the #16 crew not to make a mistake.

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A late-race slow puncture may have whitened a few Audi knuckles on pit road, but come 3pm Central European time Piccini, Rast and Stippler duly brought the #16 R8 home in one piece to take the chequered flag, a full lap ahead of Haase, Mies and Ortelli in second. Lauda, Franchi and Kechele were a satisfied third after a hectic race, but sixth-place for Marcel Fassler, Tom Kristensen and Andre Lotterer in the sister #6 Audi Phoenix R8 was a bittersweet return from a race in which technical hang-ups and delays on pit road meant they never really got out of the blocks.

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As the only Pro-Am runners in the overall top six, Niek Hommerson, Louis Machiels, Andrea Bertolini and Pier Guidi Alessandro secured category victory for AF Corse in the #52 Ferrari 458 Italia some five laps ahead of Hans Guido Riegel, Mike Stursberg, Christian Menzel and Uwe Alzen in the #8 Haribo Racing Team Porsche 997 GT3 R. Sometime leaders Marc A. Hayek, Peter Kox, Jos Menten and Albert von Thurn und Taxis would never recover from engine management issues that struck their Lamborghini Murcielago, their demise benefitting former Formula One driver Olivier Panis, Fabien Barthez, Eric Debard and Morgan Moulin Traffort, who came through to take the final Pro-Am podium spot in the #10 SOFREV ASP Ferrari 458.

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