As the clock was ticking round to the half way mark for the 24 Hours Spa in Belgium, the Gulf Racing UK team were quietly enjoying the sight of both their McLaren MP4-12C GT3 cars in the top 20. Car No.9 was in 17th position and No.69 was holding 19th after some strong performances by all six drivers.
However, within the 12th hour, the extreme darkness around the challenging, high speed 7.4km circuit, plus the rain-soaked astro turf and grass sections alongside the track, appeared to catch out both Mike Wainwright in the No.9 and Roald Goethe in the No.69. Both drivers made very small errors within an hour of each other and put a wheel off the tarmac. After six hours of torrential rain, however, the wet surfaces were unforgiving and equal to a skating rink and the Gulf Racing UK cars were propelled into barriers and subsequent retirement from the race.
The No.9 car of Bell, Meyrick and Wainwright had already overcome a considerable hurdle in the race as it had started the race in 51st position on the starting grid of 66 cars. McLaren GT factory driver Rob Bell drove an outstanding double stint from the start to make up an incredible 40 places, cutting through the field cleanly and decisively on his way to the top ten.
His impressive work was continued by both Andy Meyrick and Mike Wainwright, despite six hours of heavy rain and treacherous track conditions. The performance of the No.69 car has been equally as encouraging as Jamie Campbell-Walter, Roald Goethe and Stuart Hall survived the same rain storms and not been involved in any of the 10 safety car periods, although they had been unlucky to lose laps due to the timing of safety cars and pit stops – one of took place just one lap before the heavens opened.
Rob Bell spoke on behalf of all the drivers at the end of the team’s challenge for victory at the 24 Hours Spa when he said: “It’s obviously really disappointing for everyone, especially as we know how much hard work the Gulf Racing team put into preparing for and competing in the 24-hour event.
“In spite of the result, I think we should take away some real positives from the weekend. Our Gulf Racing McLaren GTs were running smoothly and completely problem free, and the engine was strong – it made it easy for me to overtake and cut through the field in the first couple of hours. The conditions after that were awful but we all did stints and got through it, and I think we should be very encouraged by the cars’ performance at Spa.”
Source : Gulf Racing UK