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A fleet of twenty-one British cars crossed the channel to Belgium last weekend, to take on a total of one
hundred and thirty three Fun Cup teams from Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Germany. However, it was
car 131 with drivers Steve Harris, Paul Rose, Franck Pelle and Gilles Debrus, of JPR Frenchstone, who
stole the show, with a phenomenal overall victory, to finally shatter the Belgians run of invincibility
and take the honour for Britain.
On 12th and 13th July, the phenomenon of the 25 hour race began, around what is arguably one of the world's
most famous circuits. Set in the beautiful Ardennes forest in Belgium, it is considered one of the most
challenging race tracks in the world and is famous for it's unpredictable weather, which surprisingly
produced no rain for the race.
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Many believe that the circuit demonstrates the importance of driver skill, more than any other in the world. Fun Cup teams from across Europe flock to the event to battle for their country's honour. With twists and turns such as the famous Eau Rouge, which launches drivers steeply uphill, combined with the high speed left hand turn of Blanchimont and not forgetting the epic Raidillon, Les Combes, Stavelot and La Source, it is no surprise that there is always a staggering amount of Fun Cup teams competing.
JPR Frenchstone dominated from the start, with Franck Pelle taking the first stint. After starting 25th on the grid, he was in the lead after a mere thirty-four minutes of racing, in front of a massive 35,000 spectators. In fact, the early pace of the front runners gave no indication of a 25 hour race, but more that of a ten lap sprint. In fact, this was the case from the green light to the chequered flag.
First place was where the team stayed, until the following morning, when Steve Harris, who was three laps ahead by this time, was forced off the circuit by two fellow competitors. He smacked into the barrier at Blanchimont and was forced to pit, losing a massive six minutes, while the mechanics worked frantically to replace the rear wheel and repair the rear suspension.
Franck Pelle took over and rejoined the track a sickening four seconds behind the Belgian 129 Astur car, driven by Pierre Piron, Alain Delrez, Jean-Francois Olivier and Vincent Vosse, who are highly regarded as Belgium's 'dream team'. In fact, Vosse had planned to leave the circuit on Saturday for his annual holiday, but had to postpone it when the team came under threat from JPR Frenchstone in the first hour of the race.
After losing 3rd place overall last year, on the last lap, the JPR Frenchstone team were on a mission and it was not long before Pelle had stormed into the lead again.
'Last year we lead for around twelve hours, but it was cruelly snatched away from us due to gearbox trouble. Vincent Vosse in the 129 car is a professional driver and has raced Le Mans and FIA GT amongst other high profile series, he is regarded as one of the best in Belgium - they were all extremely serious about winning, but we wanted it badly', informed Franck Pelle.
After more than twenty three hours of racing, the Belgian guest driver for JPR Frenchstone, 24 year old Gilles Debrus, handed over to Paul Rose with a one lap lead over the Astur car, for the final stint of the 25 hour race.
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Victory seemed inevitable and there was a sense of British pride floating around the JPR Frenchstone pit garage, until disaster stuck and Rose had to pit with only three laps to go. Having lost a rear wheel stud earlier in the race, a second wheel stud had broken off, but at this late stage, there was nothing that the mechanics could do, so Rose left the pits with only two wheel studs holding the wheel to the car.
It was a tense time for the JPR Frenchstone team, but Rose managed to cross the line still a lap ahead of the 2nd placed Astur car, despite the wheel trouble. In 3rd place it was team VW total, with the Belgian's Bertrand Baguette, Ruben Maes, Gregory Servais and Benoit Galand behind the wheel.
British pride took over the podium as 'God Save the Queen' boomed over the tannoy and Steve Harris, Paul Rose, Franck Pelle and Gilles Debrus made history, with the first ever win at Spa 25 hours for a British car. Since the famous race began in 1999, never has any team other than the Belgian's taken victory. Finally, Belgian supremacy is no longer.
'We are so happy to have made history here this weekend. We have been trying to win this race since we first raced here in 2002. Last year we were devastated to have been so close yet so far, but this year it was our time! This was the big one for us and as a team we were so passionate about winning it! Thank you to Big Rick, Arran and the rest of the pit crew. Finally, we did it!' revealed Steve Harris.
Franck Pelle also set the fastest lap of the race with a staggering 3:06.359 on lap six.
In 2nd place for the UK was JPR Motorsport car 102, who finished in an extraordinary 12th place, in their first ever Spa race. The team consisted of Fun Cup regulars Mark Burton and Graham Pattle, along with James Sumsion and Ben Lack, who are competing in their first Fun Cup season this year in a JPR Motorsport rental car.
Having qualified 54th, James Sumsion braved the start of the race and pushed his team into 46th place. However, they were struck with two punctures, which forced them back to 122nd, after only an hour and a half of racing. After rejoining the circuit, with a new wheel, the strategy was to 'stay out of trouble' and so, they slowly crept back up the field with consistent, steady laps.
Luckily, their progress was not halted too much when Sumsion was handed a 'stop and go' penalty for driving through the red light in the pit lane and they managed to hold onto their strong finish on the podium.
In 3rd UK position, finishing 27th overall, it was Mark Owen, Austin Reynolds and Richard Ince for Team Ram, car 245. The team have been strong contenders in the UK races this year and proved that they are on form for 2008, taking the final UK podium spot.
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Final Results (top 15 overall)
- Rose-Harris-Pelle-Debrus (JPR Motorsport) 411 laps
- Piron-Delrez-Olivier-Vosse (Astur Car) minus 1 lap
- Baguette-Maes-Servais-Galand (Team VW Total) minus 3 laps
- Marie-Aparici-Lombard-De Murard-Lemonnier (Orhes Marie Racing) minus 4 laps
- Pulinx-Soulet-Verbist-Dumarey-Fumal (MPM) minus 6 laps
- Nava-Gressens-Vanhakendover-Colman (Cornelis Racing Quick) minus 7 laps
- Bentchikou-Roosens-Van Impe-Estievenart-Leenders (Arabian Sun Horses) minus 8 laps
- Detre-Henrotte-Vroman-Mathieu (Contact)
- Heider-Scheiff-Gazon-Haugg-Toussaint (Black Panther)
- Eburderie-Guyard-Pascal-Martin (Tetris) minus 10 laps
- Poussel-Dufour-Goudchaux (Over Drive / JEF Competition)
- Lack-Palle-Burton-Sumsion (JPR Motorsport) minus 10 laps
- Cabirou-Tranier-Tranier-Faure-Guillaume (Defournoux/Optic 2000)
- Albanese-Pellegrinelli-Galdini-Cefis (Fun Girasole 3)
- Robin-Robin-Bonnet-Faurie (Defournoux-Groupe Dirob) minus 11 laps
To view a full list of the final results, please Click Here
To view a clip of the start of this awesome event, please Click Here
To see pictures from the Spa 25 hour race, please Click Here
To see more pictures from the Spa 25 hour race, please Click Here
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