WEC | Ferrari celebrates double victory at 6h of Spa-Francorchamps with 499P and 296. Ferrari dominates the 6 Hours of Spa with a double victory in both Hypercar and LMGT3 classes,.

The Maranello cars managed to take the top spots in both the HYPERCAR class and among the LMGT3s with perfect strategic management, after a race-long battle involving nearly all manufacturers.

This marks the third consecutive win for the 499Ps in Belgium, while the 296 LMGT3 reaches the top of its category for the first time. Here’s a closer look at what happened in what was one of the most spectacular events in the history of the series.

HYPERCAR
Ferrari takes its third win in a row, this time outsmarting its rivals with strategic brilliance, in addition to the 499P’s natural potential and reliability.

After Imola, Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado, and Alessandro Pier Guidi repeated their success in the #51 Ferrari thanks to an excellent strategy in the final two hours. A restart following the Safety Car had bunched up the entire HYPERCAR class, turning the race into a battle of pit stop tactics.

Alpine and BMW fought hard against the Ferraris, but the Scuderia prevailed by saving energy until the final hour. Pier Guidi—who also engaged in an intense duel with Robin Frijns—made a lightning-fast stop to recharge energy and rejoined the track ahead of the #50 car.

Nielsen, Fuoco, and Molina followed the same approach and were equally sharp when needed, managing to outwit the strong Alpine #36 driven by Schumacher, Makowiecki, and Gounon. The French car had even led at mid-race and ended on the podium after a tight contest with the Prancing Horse.

Toyota climbed back to fourth place with the #8 of Buemi, Hartley, and Hirakawa, thanks to good pace and sharp pit wall decisions that allowed the GR010 Hybrid to finish ahead of the #12 and #38 Cadillacs of Lynn/Nato/Stevens and Bourdais/Bamber/Button, respectively—both of which had a slower start.

A final pit stop cost the #7 Toyota a better result, leaving De Vries, Kobayashi, and Conway in a frustrating seventh. The Alpine #35 of Milesi, Habsburg, and Chatin finished eighth after pitting with just a few laps remaining to recharge energy while closely following their sister car.

The best Porsche at the finish was the #6 963 of Estre, Vanthoor, and Wehrlein in ninth place, in a tough race for the Team Penske LMDhs, as the #5 of Christensen, Andlauer, and Muller ended up 12th.

It was a bitter result for BMW as well. The #15 of Marciello and Magnussen finished only 10th after losing time to a mid-race penalty, while the #20 of Frijns and Rast, after fighting hard with the #51 Ferrari, dropped out of podium contention in the final hour due to a brake issue.

Peugeot deserved more too, having been competitive for long stretches. The #94 of Jakobsen, Duval, and Vandoorne suffered rear-left suspension failure after a contact while running in the points. The #93 of Vergne, Jensen, and Di Resta fell to 11th in the second half, as their strategy didn’t pay off.

It was another anonymous race for the Aston Martin Valkyries #007 and #009, which finished 13th and 14th. The AF Corse Ferrari #83, due to an exhaust failure in the first two hours, saw Kubica, Hanson, and Ye return to the track with a 39-lap deficit just to finish the race and claim the win in the privateer category, as the #99 Proton Competition Porsche retired.

LMGT3
The LMGT3 class also saw nonstop action, with overtakes, battles, and chaos, but it was the Ferrari comeback from Vista AF Corse that stood out.

In particular, the #21 296 driven by Alessio Rovera, who started 10th in class with two hours to go, surged forward with a string of fast laps and overtakes. The driver from Varese, along with Simon Mann and François Heriau, claimed their first win of the season.

It was a pity for the #54 of Castellacci, Rigon, and Flohr, which had also led in the final two hours but was narrowly beaten—by just a few seconds—by the Proton Competition Ford Mustang #88 of Olsen, Levorato, and Gattuso.

The Mustangs were on form today, as shown by the #77 of Barker, Sousa, and Tuck finishing fourth, ahead of the Aston Martin #27 of Heart of Racing (Drudi, James, Robichon) and the #10 of Barrichello, Hasse-Clot, and Deboer (Racing Spirit of Léman), which recovered from a penalty after contact.

Pera, Hardwick, and Lietz came sixth after a hard-fought race in the #92 Manthey Porsche, ahead of the #78 Lexus (Gehrsitz, Nakayama, Robin – Akkodis-ASP Team) and the #46 BMW of Rossi, Van Der Linde, and Al Harthy (Team WRT), both of which finished in the points along with the #85 Porsche of the Iron Dames (Frey, Gatting, Martin).

Outside the Top 10 were the Iron Lynx Mercedes, the TF Sport Corvettes, and the United Autosports McLarens, despite showing fighting spirit in the middle stages of the race.