Before the Race

If ever a team faced a grim test of nerve and character, GruppeM has certainly met one this weekend and emerged with honour - and that was even before the race had gone quarter distance, let alone half.

The team couldn't have asked for a better start. Earlier in the day Kenny Chen, team principal at GruppeM, had admitted that he'd been praying for rain, and exactly on cue, it arrived, twenty minutes before the start. There was frantic activity on the grid as teams changed slicks for their preferred choice of wet weather rubber. Most went for intermediates, but a handful opted for the full wet treatment. It was a risk either way. If the rain persisted, then the heavier tread would carry the day, but if it eased off, then inters would come into their own. As the cars headed off up Eau Rouge to begin the parade lap, those on full wets must have been rubbing their hands with glee, proverbially of course. The track was sodden, and there was standing water along many sections. Rooster tails of spray could be seen drifting skywards through the trees as the cars processed in line astern, and the first laps would be critical. Those with an eye to the clouds, however, must already twigged that the rain was easing off and there was brightness sky in its wake.

Kenny enjoys breakfast on the tailgate of the Porsche support vehicle
Back to top

The Start

The four o'clock start, given the circumstances, was remarkably clean. Scheider held the overall lead through Eau Rouge and up the hill towards Les Combes, but even this early into the lap, he was already under pressure from the first of the Astons. It was soon evident that the Maseratis were on inters and the Astons on full wets. Not far behind, Tim Sugden, taking the start in the #88 instead of the predicted Emmanuel Collard, had made a strong start and overtaken two GT1 cars and was bearing down on Justin Keen in the Lister Storm, struggling in the wet. Marc Lieb, driving first stint in the #66, was not far behind - and moved closer still when Sugden was pushed wide through Les Combes to get ahead of the Lister.

As we've seen so often in the past, given wet conditions a properly set-up GT2 Porsche is a fair match for most GT1 cars, where all that extra grunt makes traction difficult to control, and so it was proving in the opening half hour of the Spa 24 Hours. At first it was Sugden making the running, but before the lap was over his team-mate had surged through to take the lead in GT2. From there he continued to make up ground, peaking at seventh overall about twenty minutes into the race.

At first Sugden had clung tenaciously to Lieb's tail, but Keen was now regaining his footing in the Lister, and was the first to come back at the nimble Porsches, moving back ahead of Sugden just before the Yorkshireman made a discretionary detour around the top end of Les Combes (above). He went straight on at the end of Kemmel, regaining the track just before the second right-hander. He lost no ground, but when the #16 Maserati did the same thing a lap later, Sugden was close enough to take advantage, and regain a position.
Back to top

Hour One

The conditions were now changing rapidly, however. The rain had stopped some while before, and come half past four the track was significantly drier. This was enough to explain why those on wet tyres were no starting to struggle. Thomas Erdos in the GNM Saleen was one, having risen as high as third, yet imminently to slip back to tenth. Similarly, the advantage enjoyed by the GT2 Porsches was also being withdrawn, and having enjoyed the privilege of overtaking half the GT1 field, Marc Lieb now had to let them all back though again, one by one. Sugden, a little further back, was in the middle of a furious scrap with the Labre Ferrari 550s, and coming off better, for the time being anyway.

Forty minutes gone and Lieb was still eighth, but finding it increasingly difficult to keep the recovering GT1 cars at bay. He recognised the situation all too well, and offered no resistance when Hazemans arrived on his tail through Les Combes a few minutes later. It was rapidly becoming clear that wets were no longer the footwear to have, and with the end of the first hour already approaching, a number of teams were choosing to pit early and make the swap. Sugden was one of those, not only changing tyres and refuelling, but also handing the car over to Emmanuel Collard. Very briefly this allowed the #67b Autorlando Porsche through into second, and that's how it stood when the race officially entered its second hour, with Lieb still leading, Groppi second in the 67, and Collard third.
Back to top

Hour Two

It was only a matter of minutes before Groppi also pitted, followed by Lieb, although the #66 never relinquished the class lead. Collard, however, moved comfortably back into second. Unfortunately, that situation was about to be changed radically and in no uncertain manner. At roughly quarter past five, give or take, it started to rain again. It was clearly not going to last long, and coming so soon into the second stint, few teams were keen to pit their cars immediately. This meant that most drivers were talking it carefully, wary of the greasy conditions. Incidents were probably inevitable, but what happened to Manu should never have happened. Coming out of the right-hander after Les Combes, he was faced with a spinning Jean-Denis Deletraz in the #2 GPC Ferrari 575. The Suisse had ended up broadside, partly on the track, and was almost stationary as Collard arrived. Manu pressed on confidently, intending to pass to the rear of the Ferrari, but just as he drew near, Deletraz suddenly found reverse. It was too late for Manu to do anything about it, and next he knew, he'd T-boned the rear end of the 575 with the nose of his GruppeM Porsche. It was a frighteningly heavy impact - Collard had been travelling at some speed - and the damage to both cars was significant.

Collard knew immediately that he had a serious problem. "I had to take it very gently," he said. "The radiator was damaged and the steering was like this," he mimed, holding his hands at ten to four. Even so, he was able to nurse the car back slowly to the pitlane, wary all the time of the rising engine temperature. He made it eventually, arriving outside the garage at about five-twenty. It was not a pretty sight.

The front of the car was totally stoved, while clouds of steam were rapidly engulfing the rear. It looked bad. In fact, it looked so bad that many a less determined team would have taken one look at the distorted tub and called it a day, there and then. The GPC squad did when their Ferrari limped back to the pitlane, but the GruppeM crew are clearly made of sterner stuff. There wasn't a moment's hesitation. The routine refuel completed, the car was swiftly hauled back into the garage and the true extent of the damage assessed. It really was bad! The whole of the front bulkhead, normally hidden away behind the carbon fibre bodywork, had been pushed in the best part of a foot, as if it was made of paper, forcing the side section, on the car's right, inwards at a bizarre angle.

The right wing, headlight unit and most of the valence was rendered nothing better than expensive scrap, while everything that might normally be bolted in and around was a tangled mess of coolant hose and splintered ducting. Undeterred, the crew started stripping everything away, revealing yet more destruction within.

An atmosphere of tense determination grew within the garage like an expanding cloud, everyone intent on the task ahead. The fact that Marc Lieb was still out on track, leading the class, was temporarily forgotten as the hacksaws were brought into action. The worst of the creases were cut through, and then a set of hydraulic spreaders were brought into action. For twenty minutes the guys struggled with steel rods, lengths of timber and the spreading jaws of their hydraulic jack, but with little obvious sign of success. "This is bloody crazy!" said one, but the observation didn't slow him down, or indicate any lessening in his, or anyone else's determination. But at six o'clock one of the crew did draw his fingers across his neck in that all too familiar gesture, but with the noise of passing cars drowning out all chances of verbal confirmation, it was readily misunderstood. Far from being a sign of resignation, however, it was merely the prompt to try something totally new, and somewhat radical. To the bewilderment of onlookers, the #88 car was suddenly put back onto its wheels and pushed backwards out of the garage and into the paddock.
Back to top

Hour Three

A crowd soon gathered as the car was positioned between one of the vertical steel girders supporting the stairway up to race control, and the loading ramp at the back of one of the GruppeM trucks. The toughened steel rods from the hydraulic spreaders were slotted into the damaged longitudinal sections of the tub and then a joined, by a series of orange webbing straps, to the girder one way and the back of the truck the other. "Start her up!" came the order, "and take it gently" The slack was taken up, and then the truck lurched forwards. There was a creaking sound from the Porsche, and then the offending section started to move. A couple more tugs, and there was a shout of "Woaah! Hold it!" (below), accompanied by a round of applause. Remarkably, the two lateral bulkheads suddenly looked perpendicular again. "American ingenuity!" exclaims Adam Deborre with pride, although the significance of America in this context is somewhat obscure.

As quickly as it had been wheeled out, the Porsche was trundled back inside once again. Within earshot, Marc Lieb roared past on his way through to Eau Rouge to complete another lap. For a while the #66 stood ninth overall, but it was of little consequence to those still intent on getting the #88 back into the race. The car had now been going nowhere for the best part of an hour, and there was still a massive amount to fix, and the scrutineers were about to add to the list. As the car had been pushed back into the garage the sunlight had been refracted in the windscreen, revealing a series of hairline cracks (below). It too would have to be replaced.

While the 88 was being fixed, the 66 came through for a routine pitstop, resuming its race 12th overall, narrowly ahead of Mike Newton in the GNM Saleen. These two cars, one GT2, the other GT1, would exchange positions regularly over the next three or four hours. Meanwhile, back in the #88 garage, work was continuing. New carbon-fibre brake ducts were first to be fitted, followed some short time later by the three front-mounted radiators. There was a lot less hurrying about than previously. These are the kind of regular tasks these guys do day-in-day out, and they can't be rushed. Slightly less routine was the sheet of steel - or perhaps it was aluminium - that was being bridged across the gap at the front of the tub. This is where the damage had been so severe that the worst of the buckled steel had had to be cut away. "I'm so proud of these guys," says Kenny Chen, watching their every move. "We agreed at the briefing this morning that, whatever happened, we would never give up, and we won't. If we get to the finish after this, it will be because of the quality of the people in this team."
Back to top

Hour Four

With the time fast approaching seven o'clock, and the end of the third hour, pieces of wood were being used to panel-beat the newly installed patch of sheet metal into shape. Drilled and riveted securely into position, the final components could then be fitted and the front of the car actually began to resemble a Porsche once more! Then, just as the bolt holding the towing eye into position was being tightened, the radiator hose immediately behind it blew. The two were unrelated, but a few moments later the geyser effect was repeated. With green coolant fluid swilling out across the garage it was time for some swift action with the blue paper towelling. "I'm not doing all this just for the engine not to run!" came the shout from the rear. It was a sentiment shared by everyone.

A strong smell of vinegar permeated the garage as the race entered its fourth hour. The sealant to secure the windscreen was being applied. A few minutes later, the glass was pressed firmly into position, while vast bundles of tie-wraps were being employed around the front of the car to ensure that the radiators, hoses and other ancillaries were now firmly secured. It wasn't an easy task. Nothing quite lined up any more, so there was a lot of drilling and fitting to be done.

Back out on track, Mike Rockenfeller pressed on regardless, maintaining the #66 in thirteenth place, just behind the GNM Saleen. He may possibly have been told over the radio that, at 7:08, the engine in the #88 was fired up again for the first time. There were some anxious looks, but it sounded fine and, with the vapour rising from the front radiators being due to the earlier spillage, there was no obvious sign of any problems.

Confident that the engine was fine, pace picked up again on finishing the repairs around the front. A new wing was fitted, complete with headlights. It was a bit reluctant to comply, but a few knocks with a hammer on a block of wood against the inner frame soon assured full cooperation. The spare bonnet and nose panel also needed some persuasion, especially as the front locking posts have been knocked well out of true, but by twenty past seven even the passenger door was back in position and the #88 GruppeM Porsche was starting to look like its old self again. With Tim Sugden strapping on his helmet, a restart was beginning to look imminent.

At just gone half-past, Mike Rockenfeller brought the #66 into the pitlane, handing over to Lucas Luhr. On the monitor in the garage a replay of Manu's original accident was being replayed. Then the feed cut live to the garage, showing GruppeM's hard-working crew nearing the end of their marathon rebuild. Catching sight of themselves on television, a spontaneous cheer erupted from the lads - fully deserved self-congratulation all round.

Fifteen minutes later and it was repeated even more enthusiastically, as Tim Sugden roared away down the pitlane. Two hours and twenty-five minutes after it had arrived, looking distinctly the worse for wear, the #88 Porsche was back in the race. OK, it was very nearly last (although not quite!), but this was a huge achievement by everyone involved. Even if the car doesn't reach the finish now, this squad can consider they did everything humanly possible to make such a result possible. "It makes a change to see a Porsche straightened against a truck instead of bent by it!" joked Steve Bunkhall. "Now we just keep our fingers crossed," added Kenny Chen.

Tim Sugden completed a single exploratory lap, came back in, was given the all-clear, and then headed back out again. The race was on to salvage pride -and valuable points. To prove his determination equalled that if his engineers, he promptly set the car's fastest lap of the race. "He's faster than the 66!" exclaimed a relived and delighted Emmanuel Collard. The green bar on the timing screen looked good, even if it did draw attention to the fact that the car was now fifty-six laps off the lead, and forty-odd behind Lucas Luhr, leading GT2 by 3 laps and thirteenth overall.
Back to top

Hour Five

For the next hour or more, everything reverts to plan, with both GruppeM cars circulating as you might expect them to, although following their progress on the timing screens is made considerably more difficult by the total failure of the listing to reflect the true occupant of each car. The #88, supposedly being driven by Emmanuel Collard, was lying in 33rd place overall by half past eight, sixty laps down on the leader, although Tim Sugden was the more likely occupant. A this stage Mike Rockenfeller was still trading places with the GNM Saleen, with Phil Bennett just having the upper hand, 10th. Both GruppeM drivers were lapping in the 2:28 bracket, but times generally were starting to fall as the track conditions improve with the setting of the sun and the departure of the rain clouds. It was actually turning into a beautiful evening, and perfect for the hot air balloons, which started to rise from the top paddock.

And what of the other runners in GT2? Second, four laps down on Rocky, was the #67 Autorlando Porsche, where it had been ever since Collard's unfortunate accident, and third, a further six laps behind, the British GT Embassy entry; Sascha Maassen having joined regulars Ben Collins and Neil Cunningham for the weekend. A few minutes later, just before nine, Phil Bennett pitted from 9th in the GNM Saleen, allowing both Gabriele Gardel (#11 Labre Competition Ferrari 550) and Mike Rockenfeller through to 9th and 10th respectively, albeit briefly. At almost exactly nine o'clock, Rockenfeller pitted to hand over to Marc Lieb, ensuring they'd start the sixth hour in twelfth place.
Back to top

Hour Six & Seven

Things were now going pretty smoothly for the two GruppeM machines, with both cars steadily making up ground. In Marc Lieb's case that meant moving into 12th place at quarter past nine, and then to 11th by twenty-past, just behind Bennett in the Saleen. That became 10th as the race approached it's seventh hour and the GNM car took to the pitlane. At least Marc had something specific to aim for. It must have seemed especially frustrating for Manu who, despite setting some very quick times and overtaking many of this rivals in GT2, was so far down that all his manoeuvring could possibly achieve was simply to unlap himself as often as possible. He languished in 33rd, sixty-two laps down on the leader and 20 laps down on his next target, the #105 Vertigo; the yellow car encountering problems after being a long-time front-runner in G2 but now slipping rapidly down the order. He tumbled past Manu at ten past ten, just as Marc Lieb moved, temporarily, into 9th. The GT1 cars tend to pit more frequently than the GT2 runners, prompting these changes in order, but they also come round again pretty quickly - this case being the #12 Ferrari, which relegated Marc back to 10th, just ahead of Newton in the Saleen, who then also passed him a few minutes later. Ninth had looked nice, but he was back in eleventh again before long - until Newton himself pitted at half-past, allowing Lieb back into tenth once more.

Sugden, meanwhile, was gaining places mostly by default. His next was Jamie Campbell-Walter in the #17 Russian Age Ferrari, stationary in the pits after a coming-together with the 56 Porsche at the Bus Stop. The car would retire, and Sugden would inherit 31st spot at 10:40. Such advances over GT1 cars have little bearing on the championship, of course, but with only eight GT2 entrants this weekend (and twelve G) there were generous points available. Throughout this entire period, Tim and Manu would be gaining points for sixth in class. His next target would be the #107 Maserati Tofeo, but the honour of claiming the white G2 car's scalp would not fall to Sugden. Not long afterwards, at about 10:45, he pitted to hand over to Stéphane Ortelli. The Frenchman living in Monaco would soon be into the swing of driving for GruppeM, and within ten minutes had established a new fastest lap for the car. It was an encouraging start.
Back to top

Hours Eight, Nine & Ten

There was a massive firework display exploding high above the treetops beyond the upper paddock as the race entered its eighth hour. It was not in celebration - at least, not as far as Marc Lieb was concerned. He'd been growing increasingly worried by a vibration emanating from the front right hand-wheel and growing steadily more pronounced. It eventually became so bad that it was affecting the car's handling and he headed into the pitlane. "We decided to stop him a few laps early rather than jeopardise our position," explained Karl Patman, chief mechanic on the #66. "We found a problem with the damper, but it was something we could fix on the car, so we also took the opportunity to complete a pad and disk swap." It was quickly done, but not before they'd lost a couple of laps, leaving Rockenfeller, now at the wheel, just two clear of the #67. Third in GT2 remained the Embassy Porsche, although eight laps behind with Maassen at the wheel.

Ortelli's position continued to improve. Not only was he circulating faster than many - if not all - of those immediately around him, he was also picking up places as others fell by the wayside. He had two targets to aim for; the #107 Maserati and the #56 Vonka Porsche, both of them stationery in the pits. The Maser got out first, but at 11:43 he passed the #56, just before it also came back out onto the track, Konopka at the wheel. For the first time the #88 had moved up a position in GT2, but it was to be a short-lived pleasure.

At five to midnight Ortelli was trundling down the pitlane once again, this time with a punctured front radiator. To make matters worse, just as the car was being lifted off the ground, Steve Haggar, chief mechanic one of the inspirational mechanics on the #88, was scalded by the hot fluid. Thankfully a doctor was on hand to dress the burn, but Karen Coombes was quick to don a pair of overalls and step into the breach.

Rockenfeller, meanwhile, had recovered some of his lost ground and was soon enjoying a three-lap advantage once again. Even his next routine stop at 12:20 did little to dent the advantage he and his co-drivers then enjoyed, and this was made more emphatic by a new fastest lap from the German at half past midnight; a best of 2:24.495. Car 88, now being driven by Emmanuel Collard again, was still in 31st position, but a succession of trips through gravel traps at various points around the track had not done the #14 Lister any great favours. It was heading for retirement, and Collard was a beneficiary, moving ahead at 12:35. Almost simultaneously the #66 car had an unexpected but brief spin of its own, out at turn 18, but immediately rejoined.

Twenty minutes later Manu overtook the #16 Maserati, the JMB car being on the point of retirement, making the Vonka Porsche #56, three laps ahead in 28th place, his next target once again. It would be a long time coming. Two steps forward, one step back.

That seems to be the rule for the #88 this weekend, since we were only fifteen minutes into the tenth hour when Manu was back down the pitlane for remedial repairs to the Porsche. The rigours of Spa were taking their toll on the tie-wraps and tank-tape that were holding together the front of the car, but five minutes in the pitlane would prove to be insufficient. Despite a fastest GT2 lap of the race from Manu immediately after his brief pitstop, he would be back in again soon after. Actually, the team was expecting Mike Rockenfeller to arrive first, and had his tyres out and ready in the pitlane when Collard swept down between them, drawing to an abrupt halt outside the second garage. This time more effective repairs would be necessary, and the car was dragged back into the garage to allow more people to work on the car at the same time.

It was a couple of minutes later, at 1:37, that Rockenfeller drew up in the pitlane and swapped places with Lucas Luhr. It was slick and efficient, ensuring a quick return to the track for Luhr, and no ground lost. No such luck for Manu, who wouldn't rejoin the fray until gone twenty-to-two. They'd cleaned the area around the damaged panels to ensure a better fix for the tape, and then completed a routine brake pad change while the car is stationary, just for good measure. "Pump the brake pedal, pump the brake pedal!" were probably the last words Manu heard as he headed for the pitlane. He would resume in 29th position overall, having lost three laps to the Vonka car.
Back to top

Hours Eleven & Twelve

The next couple of hours proved quite eventful for both GruppeM cars. The night was cool (cold, actually) and the track dry, so lap times were generally good, once tyres were up to temperature. Some cars were setting their best times of the race during this period, although it would start to get even quicker towards dawn. Under those conditions, prospects should have been looking good for GruppeM, with both cars were starting to recover some of their lost ground, but that was about to go awry as Tim had only been in the car a few minutes when he was making his way through traffic, and entered Pif Paf; the fast right-left after Pouhon. "I got edged, simple as that," he said. "I was trying to pass a guy through the second part of the corner. I thought he was letting me through, but he moved across and pushed me wide instead. It wasn't a bad off, and normally it wouldn't have been a problem, but with the car held together with bits of string and sticky tape, it all fell apart."

He coaxed the battered and bruised 88 back to the pitlane, trailing a steady stream of coolant from the holed radiator, but it was not a straightforward repair. With the car already distorted by the earlier contact with the #2 Ferrari, nothing would fit without a struggle - plus yet more tie wraps and tank tape. It was all credit to the resourcefulness of these GruppeM mechanics that the car was still moving at all, and each time it came back in again must have been doubly distressing. Finally, after another forty minutes in the garage, the car was ready to head out on track once again.

By contrast, everything was continuing smoothly for Lucas Luhr in the #66. He was maintaining a steady pace in tenth position, holding on to the class lead and looking strong. He kept that up for the next hour, but as the race approached the start of the twelfth hour, it all went wrong for Lucas. We've not yet been able to speak to Lucas, but his co-drivers suggest he went off backwards into the barriers. Whatever the cause, the #66 had encountered its first significant mishap, and the repairs (mainly involving a new exhaust) would cost the trio almost forty minutes in the garage and the lead in GT2. Sure enough, at just gone ten past three on Sunday morning Luigi Moccia steered the Autorlando Porsche into the class lead - the first time in this race that a GruppeM car hadn't held that honour. He'd had to make up a lot of ground to get there, though, and that had been almost time enough for the dedicated hard-working GruppeM mechanics to make good the #66. Sure enough, Moccia was hardly clear of Raidillon before Luhr was heading out of the pitlane in keen pursuit.

While the 88 remained stranded in the garage, Luhr was closing fast on the #67, but for the time being still held second place, 12th overall. When the #88 finally headed back out on track again at a tad before half-past three, it would be to take up 29th place overall, just as Luhr moved to within a handful of seconds of the class leader. Sure enough, with the clock showing 3:33am, GruppeM reclaimed the lead in GT2. Two steps forward and one back. This was starting to look like a pattern.

Once in front of the Autorlando Porsche, Luhr started to ease away comfortably, and as the race neared its halfway stage, the #66 Porsche was already more than a minute clear. It was perfect timing for Mike Rockenfeller and Marc Lieb, who crossed the line at four in the morning leading the class once again. Having lead at six hours, and then again at twelve, they had picked up a maximum of ten championship points each, taking their totals to 56 points each. The news for Tim Sugden and Emmanuel Collard was not so good, however. After their various mishaps they were too far behind the leaders to be classified at either six hours or twelve, so would earn nothing for their own, or their team's hard work. To gain any reward for some pretty personal sacrifices this weekend, they would have to press on and hope for a classified finish, and that looked a tall order with the race half gone.
Back to top

Marcus Potts