After promising practices, the beginning of the race of the TDS Racing confirmed all the hopes. Quickly in the second position in its category, the magnificent BMW Z4 kept its position until two opponents decided otherwise and forced the team to retire #25 BMW Z4: Ludovic Badey / Henry Hassid / Mathias Beche / Pierre Thiriet
Throughout the practices of the 24 Hours of Spa, the #25 BMW Z4 did not stop to gain ground in a hierarchy composed of 64 cars among which twenty-four lines-up are 100% professional! In the qualifying session, the car grabbed the 17th position (10th in Pro Am category in which all the lines-up are made of a professional and a gentleman driver). As a result, the team was allowed to participate at the Friday Superpole (only the 20 quickest cars are accepted). Mathias Beche was in charge of qualifying the car and signed the 6th quickest time in Pro Am (13th overall)!
On Saturday at 4.30 pm, Ludovic Badey, the most experienced driver of the line up in GT, started the race and quickly entered into the top Ten! After two consistent stints which enabled the #25 to be in the 6th position, he passed the wheel onto Henry Hassid. The latter maintains the car in the first ten positions with a very good lap times. The stints strung together between the four drivers and the car was regularly between the 1st and 2nd position. At 10.45pm, Mathias Beche took the wheel on for the second time since the start of the race. After one lap, the Swiss driver was hit by a car at La Source corner. Mathias went back to his pit where the mechanics awaited him. The splitter had to be changed and the supports were twisted. Fifteen minutes were needed to fix the car.
Once back on the track, Mathias could only run four more laps as he was once again hit by an opponent. He drove back to his pit very slowly with a rear right puncture and a damaged shaft. At the pit, the verdict was quickly given: the team had to sign the official retirement of the BMW Z4.
Now, the crew which once again did a great job is going to have its summer break. They will then, go to the Blancpain Endurance Series finale, the 1000 kms of Nurburgring (21st and 22nd September).
Mathias Beche : “The beginning of the race went well. We fought for the first position in the Pro Am category but a car hit me on the rear right, I spinned and the car was damaged. The mechanics did a great job and the car was back on the track. Another car coming out from its pit let me then overtake it but the driver tried to overtake me again at the next corner! I could not see him, I just felt the impact! All in all the 24 Hours of Spa was not overly amazing as we didn’t manage to complete the race. It is a very tough race with so many gentlemen drivers where you have to survive and finish. Yet, from my point of view, I cannot see how I could have done things differently from the way I did them. I am disappointed for the whole team because we had showed we had the performance during the practices and at the beginning of the race. We had a big part to play but that is motor racing!”
Pierre Thiriet: “My first stint went well despite the difficulties to find the right pace due to my lack of time in the car since the beginning of the week. My driving habits of a prototype are hard to change. In spite of this I managed to do a reasonable stint avoiding the traps in the traffic. I am a bit disappointed as this is my first time in the 24 Hours of Spa and we were unable to get good results. The line-up was very homogeneous and we managed to avoid all the traps up until the incidents. But the two incidents changed everything, such is life. We have to keep in mind the positive aspect, we did a really great job and we all drove well!”
Ludovic Badey : “At the start, I was able to avoid the incident in the Raidillon. I was quickly in the right pace because the car was great to drive. All the four drivers did their job gaining positions stint after stint. We proved the line up was consistent. It is a pity we finished the race the way we did but such are race incidents, it is a 24 hour race and anything can happen. It is a small disappointment regarding the championship but we showed our presence and that we could drive with Pirelli tyres!”
Source : TDS Racing