Adam Prescott
Mar 29, 20232 min
There will be a record number of 13 Hypercars on the entry list for the forthcoming TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps (27-29 April), round three of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
At the Belgian WEC event, Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande will co-drive a second Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar entered by Cadillac Racing. The extra No. 3 Hypercar will be used by the US team as a crucial part of their preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans the following month. Spa-Francorchamps is the penultimate chance for teams to test their cars in competitive conditions before Le Mans.
GM's sports car racing programme manager, Laura Wontrop Klauser, was enthusiastic about entering a second Cadillac in the Spa race. We'll take advantage of any time we have to get ready for Le Mans that doesn't violate WEC restrictions. The team will be better prepared for the race and more people will be able to afford Cadillacs to participate in the European race if they hear about this.
After competing in two races with the Oreca 07 Gibson LMP2 car at Sebring and Portimao, the British team, No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA, will move up to the Hypercar class with their Porsche 963. Antonio Felix da Costa, Will Stevens, and Yifei Ye are the drivers listed for the team's inaugural Hypercar race.
With a dominant one-two finish at Sebring, Toyota Gazoo Racing took the WEC season's opening victory, with Ferrari AF Corse taking third. Although Toyota has established a high standard with the speed and reliability of the Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar, the WEC's headline category is extremely competitive, as Ferrari's pole position at Sebring revealed.
With Belgian driver Laurens Vanthoor at the wheel of the No. 6 Porsche 963, Porsche Penske Motorsport may expect a surge in enthusiasm from the home crowd. Andre Lotterer, a teammate of Vanthoor's, was born and reared in Belgium. In addition to the two Peugeot 9X8 Hypercars fielded by Peugeot TotalEnergies, Floyd Vanwall Racing Team and Glickenhaus Racing will bring their own Hypercars to Spa to compete.
Eleven Oreca 07 Gibsons, competitors in the fiercely contested LMP2 class, will race against one another around the world-famous circuit, whose famous sections include La Source, Blanchimont, Stavelot, and, of course, the classic Eau Rouge. Team WRT, located in Belgium, is the team to watch as they try to win for the second time in a row on their home track. Vector Sport, JOTA, and Inter Europol Competition will all enter with a single car each, as will the aforementioned United Autosports (Filipe Albuquerque and Tom Blomqvist return to the squad for Spa), Alpine Elf Team, and Prema Racing.
At Spa, fourteen vehicles compete in the LMGTE Am class, with three drivers from the host country. Iron Dames' Sarah Bovy, who recently won pole position for the women's field in the 1000 Miles of Sebring driving a Porsche 911 RSR, will be eager to repeat that performance. Alessio Picariello (Iron Lynx) and Ulysse de Pauw are two other Belgium drivers (AF Corse).
Race Timetable
Thursday 27 April
Free Practice 1: 11h30 – 13h00
Free Practice 2: 16h20 – 17h50
Friday 28 April
Free Practice 3: 11h00 – 12h00
Qualifying: 17h00 – 18h05
Saturday 29 April
Race: 12h45 – 18h45
Below is the full entry list