The first 2 hours
Hypercar
No.99 Proton Competition Porsche started by Julien Andlauer made huge impression in opening two hours of the race as he surged to the front to lead in customer Porsche 963 Hypercar
Andlauer made decisive move on polesitter and early leader Frederic Makowiecki in No.5 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar in to Bus Stop chicane after 38-minutes while lapping traffic
The French ace then pulled away and after first scheduled pit stop he led the No.51 Ferrari AF Corse driven by Antonio Giovinazzi.
But a stuck open door after Neel Jani took over the cockpit in second pit stop meant the Swiss driver struggled to close it for several laps under Safety Car. He eventually managed to shut it
Giovinazzi’s Ferrari 499P made excellent progress from 11th position on starting grid to sit behind Andlauer as the third hour arrived and race prepared to go green again.
No.5 Porsche Penske of Makowiecki placed third just ahead of the Laurens Vanthoor driven No.6 Porsche Penske. Vanthoor survived first hour incident in which Dutch driver took un-planned trip down the Bus Stop chicane escape road
No.83 Robert Kubica driven AF Corse Ferrari 499P placed fifth ahead of the No.50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P entry which came through, in hands of Nicklas Nielsen, from last in Hypercar field
No.2 Cadillac Racing dropped back in opening hour as team elected to save tyres for second phase of race. Alex Lynn struggled with grip issues and dropped back to edge of top 10 from second placed start
Safety Car was triggered after multi-car incident at Fagnes corner involving the No.38 Hertz Team Jota, No.20 BMW and No.46 WRT BMW M Hypercar. Barrier and fence repairs meant that when third hour arrived it was still under Safety Car
The rest of the top ten in Hypercar was made up of: No.35 BMW, No.12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche; No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing; No.93 Peugeot TotalEnergies.
LMGT3
No.85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan driven in first hours by Sarah Bovy built healthy lead to head the LMGT3 field by an impressive 41-second lead
The pole achieving Lamborghini enjoyed consistently extending advantage over chasing LMGT3 field which was headed by the No.59 United Autosports McLaren challenger driven by James Cottingham
But Iron Dames see their hard-won advantage reduced to nothing after Safety Car was deployed
Cottingham overtook the No.46 WRT BMW of Ahmed Al Harthy in first hour and built useful gap to the Manthey EMA Porsche 911 R LMGT3 driven by Yasser Shahin settle in to third
Al Harthy retired from race after 90-minutes when he is in collision with the No.38 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963 Hypercar. It occurred after the No.20 BMW M Hypercar of Rene Rast pushed the Jota Porsche in to the No.46 BMW on the approach to the Fagnes corner
That incident brought out an initial Virtual Safety Car before a full Safety Car was actioned
Fourth in LMGT3 sat the No.78 Akkodis ASP Lexus driven by Arnold Robin
Completing the top six are the No.54 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 started by Thomas Flohr and then Francesco Castellacci in fifth, and then the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin of Ian James in sixth
The 4 hour Mark
Hypercar
Mid-portion of race begins under lengthy Safety Car but returns to green with No.99 Proton Competition Porsche of Neel Jani holding off the No.51 Ferrari AF Corse driven by James Calado.
Calado stays within striking distance of veteran Jani but is also tailed by Michael Christensen in the No.5 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar.
But Christensen loses control at flat-out Blanchimont corner and slap the inside wall. The impact shutdown the hybrid system on the Porsche and rendered it a retirement immediately.
That promotes the No.50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P Hypercar of Miguel Molina in to third position. The Spaniard gives up the cockpit to Antonio Fuoco after 3hrs 20mins who runs third.
Calado ultimately claimed the lead from Jani with a move on the Kemmel Straight the lap before making the third scheduled pit-stop. The British ace then handed over to teammate Alessandro Pier Guidi who started to pull away in the lead.
Jani is caught by Fuoco in the No.50 Ferrari and the pair battle furiously with a close call entering the Bus Stop just before the fifth hour arrives.
Fuoco gets ahead shortly after to make it a Ferrari 1-2 at the four hour mark but the No.50 is placed under investigation for a potential technical infringement.
Earl Bamber pushed Cadillac back in to contention with two excellent overtakes to gain place fourth. The first is on Yifei Ye as race goes green after a Full Course Yellow and the second is on Andre Lotterer driven No.5 Porsche Penske 963 for fourth position.
Lotterer runs fifth ahead of the No.12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche, which in turn runs just ahead of the No.83AF Corse Ferrari 499P in seventh position.
But the No.83 Ferrari gets a 5-second penalty for not respecting the race director’s instructions at Turns 5 and 6.
The rest of the Top 10 in Hypercar was made up of: No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing; No.35 Alpine and No.36 Alpine.
Lamborghini Iron Lynx SC63 Hypercar retires from race after damage is inflicted via a damaged tyre.
LMGT3
Battle in LMGT3 intensifies through the mid-part of the six hours as the No.85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan drive by Rahel Frey battles hard with the No.59 United Autosports McLaren driven by Nicolas Costa.
Frey puts move on Costa around the outside in to Les Combes but then loses lead at pit stop and starts chase all over again.
But the Manthey EMA Porsche comes to the fore in hands of young Dutch talent Morris Schuring, who takes the lead in the fourth hour.
He leads the No.59 McLaren and the No.85 Iron Dames Lamborghini as the trio circulate closely with just 6-seconds between them. But just as four mark arrives Schuring is put under investigation for gaining an advantage off track during an earlier overtaking manoeuvre.
The re-built No.92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 R. place fourth in hands of Joel Sturm. He heads the leading Proton Ford Mustang, the No.88 car which is driven by Mikkel Pedersen.
Completing the top six is the No.55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 with Simon Mann at the wheel.
No.95 United Autosports McLaren spends long time in the pits with a suspected gearbox problem.
Difficult race for the TF Sport squad as No.81 Corvette pits with a gearbox issue and the No.82 car is forced to play catch up following a puncture.
The Final 90 mins
Hypercar
Hertz Team Jota’s Callum IIlott and Will Stevens take surprise win at TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps
The gold Porsche 963 takes advantage of well-timed pit stop before a red flag to go out of synch with most rivals
The result is first ever overall WEC win for Jota squad after previously winning races and a title in LMP2
IIlott and Stevens become the first duo line-up to win a top class WEC race since 2014 and first all-British winners since 2017
Runners-up today was the No.6 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar driven by Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor
The No.50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P Hypercar of Miguel Molina, Antonio Fuoco and Nicklas Nielsen takes ahead of sister No.51 Ferrari AF Corse driven by James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi
Earl Bamber crashed spectacularly on the Kemmel Straight after tagging the No.99 Proton Competition Porsche of Neel Jani while battling for third position. The accident also collected Sean Gelael in the No.31 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3. Both drivers emerged unhurt in the red flag triggering incident.
Following the lengthy red flag period, necessary to repair armco barriers and catch fencing on the Kemmel Straight after the Earl Bamber/Sean Gelael accident, the race session was resumed at 19:10 local time for a period of 1h 44 minutes that was needed to make the necessary repairs and ensure the track is safe to race.
LMGT3
Taking the LMGT3 victory, and doing so on the last lap, is the No.91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 R LMGT3 of Richard Lietz, Yasser Shahin and Morris Schuring, which went from P3 to winners in the last 4-miles of the race
The No.92 Manthey PureRaxing Porsche 911 R LMGT3 took second place as Alaiksandr Malykhin, Klaus Bachler and Joel Sturm convert epic revival after qualifying accident which saw team completely rebuilding their car
That result sees the No.92 crew extend their championship points lead as they head to the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month
The No.60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini of Matteo Cressoni, Franck Perera and Claudio Schiavoni who take advantage of two-part aspect of race led until the last lap but are forced to splash for fuel
Perera had taken the No.59 United Autosports McLaren driven by Gregoire Saucy in final 20-minutes but the Lambo has to settle for third behind the Porsches
The United Autosports McLaren finished in fifth place just behind early leaders Iron Dames who seal fourth position.
