007 Aston Martin Wins Spa 24 Hours after Leading Ferrari Blocked at Pit Entrance

• The Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa is the fourth round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe.

• The series was developed by Stephane Ratel in 2011 but traces its roots back to touring cars and numerous classes of GT—or gran turismo before the computer game—in a showcase for GT3 cars.

• It's a fascinating series for those willing to search it out and watch it on YouTube.

So much drama packed into 24 hours.

Aston Martin claimed its first victory at Spa since 1948 Sunday as a Vantage numbered 007 benefitted from the terrible luck of the leading Ferrari 296 GTB.

Seasoned veteran driver Alessandro Pier Guidi, who has won at Spa before, was at the front of the field in an AF Corse Ferrari 296 GTB with less than an hour to go when he pulled into the pits for one last splash of fuel. That was when he discovered a stalled Lamborghini Huracan blocking the narrow, labyrithian pit entrance road.

It was an agonizing 55 seconds before a tow vehicle could hook up the Huracan and haul it out of the way. By then, and after the fuel splash, Guidi re-entered the race in fifth place.

One can only imagine the Italian radio chatter.

Guidi emerged with less than 45 minutes left in the race, and with five cars ahead of him before he had any chance of retaking the lead. Despite a heroic effort that saw the Italian climb all the way back up to second place, the math just did not add up and it was Aston Martin that took the win.

“I actually feel really sorry for the Italians,” said one of the winning Aston drivers, Nicki Thiim, after witnessing the Lambectomy on pit entrance. “What a crazy situation. This would be awesome to bring it home.”

And bring it home they did, with teammates Marco Sorensen sharing driving duties and with fellow driver Matthew Drudi piloting the car across the finish line.

The Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa is the fourth round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Presented by AWS, a 10-race series that pits the best of European GT cars against each other at the best tracks the Continent has to offer.

The series was developed by Stephane Ratel in 2011 but traces its roots back to touring cars and numerous classes of GT—or gran turismo before the computer game—in a showcase for GT3 cars. While the cars you see at the front of the grid at Le Mans are space-age prototypes, the cars in this series are based on production GTs any Jean or Jacques can buy off a showroom floor. Think of it as NASCAR for wealthy Europeans, except that the GT World Challenge cars are much closer to production trim.

Spa was the fourth round of the series, which runs at tracks from Europe to the season-ending 6 Hours of Jedda in Saudi Arabia. There’s a Fanatec GT World Challenge America, too, at tracks like VIR, Road America and Indy.

It's a fascinating series for those willing to search it out on YouTube or motorsports.tv. Those who did saw drama galore.

Four hours into the race, in still mostly dry conditions, there was a terrifying crash that saw the No. 12 Aston Martin of Nikola Bart get squeezed into the wall at the fast downhill straight leading to Eau Rouge by a Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3. The Ferrari then spun back to the middle of the track and stopped, facing downhill at one of the fastest spots on the circuit. Double yellow flags were out, and, remarkably, 26 cars managed to get by the stalled 296, all seemingly not having slowed at all for the yellows. Then Adrian DaSilva in a Pro-Am Porsche GT3 at 125 mph whacked the left rear corner of the Ferrari, scattering parts all over the track and causing the 296 to hit the wall again and burst into flames.

The fact that no one was hurt is a miracle.

Then the rain came, the same storm that had earlier that evening had delayed the Eurocup match between Germany and Denmark 125 miles south in Dortmund. Exactly as the weather forecasters had predicted, the deluge arrived at 11 p.m. and turned the dark night into inky blackness, speared by headlights.

Lightning began to strike the surrounding hills of the Ardennes, so often that they even evacuated the big ferris wheel across from the pits. The safety car came out and cars then circulated behind that for much of the night, the logic being that stopping the race would have taken longer once the skies cleared again. The soggy, plodding parade was almost dangerously boring.

"Don't fall asleep," was the advice one driver gave to his teammate after they switched seats at a pit stop amidst the downpour. Another asked his crew chief to start playing music on the radio and he would guess each song title within three seconds, "Just to keep him awake."

But the rain eventually stopped and racing on slicks resumed, with multiple lead changes throughout the day, leading up to the AF Corsa Ferrari 296 of Piero Guido finally taking the lead for what seemed like good late in the day Sunday. But nothing's guaranteed in racing.

"Actually I never lose a race like this," said a dejected Guido. "The team should be informed by the race director (of the blockage in the pits). I could have done another lap without issue. (But) Ferrari gave us a superquick car. Its just a shame to lose the race."

Aston Martin, for their part, was delighted with the win, no matter how it came.