Spa 12 Hours: Last-minute victory for Scuderia Praha's Ferrari

Racing at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps is always exciting but the finish of this weekend’s 12H Spa race, the second round of the 24H Series European Championship, produced one of the most thrilling endings ever in the 24H Series.

After twelve hours of racing, the gap on the finish line between the winners and the second-placed car was just 7.871 seconds, following the change of the lead on the penultimate lap of the race. The winners are Jiri Pisarik, Josef Kral and Matteo Malucelli in the #11 Ferrari 488 GT3 of Bohemia Energy Racing with Scuderia Praha, completing 250 laps on the 7km circuit. It’s their second win this year, following a victory three weeks ago at 12H Mugello.

Victorious crew of the #11 Ferrari 488 GT3

The unfortunate drivers that lost a victory on the penultimate lap are Daniel Allemann, Ralf Bohn and Robert Renauer in the #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Herberth Motorsport. The #91 Porsche was in the lead five minutes before the end but a suspected problem during the team’s last-minute splash and dash for fuel caused a delay that allowed #11 Ferrari to retake the lead.

As a consolation, the #91 crew took the victory in the A6-Am class. The third place overall went to  Phoenix Racing’s Frank Stippler, Vincent Kolb, Kim-Luis Schramm and Ivan Pareras in the #5 Audi R8 LMS. The CP Racing #85 Mercedes-AMG GT3, driven by Charles Putman, Charles Espenlaub and Joe Foster, finished the race fourth overall and second in A6-Am class.

Modena Motorsports’ #916 Porsche 991-II Cup, driven by John Shen, Francis Tjia, Philippe Descombes and Benny Simonsen, finished ninth overall and first in 991 class. Francis Tjia took scored two victories in the same race. He was also a part of the winning crew in the TCR class, sharing the #101 Cupra TCR of Red Camel-Jordan.nl with Ivo Breukers and Rik Breukers.

Scuderia Praha converted pole position into victory

Photos: Petr Fryba/24H Series,