Audi's diesel R18 ultra won the 2012 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

A non-hybrid diesel Audi won the 2012 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on 5 May 2012, finishing 46.801 seconds ahead of the hybrid car of Fassler, Lotterer and Treluyer. It was a result few had predicted on a track that was damp at the start and drying through the afternoon.

Who won the 2012 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps?

The No. 3 Audi R18 ultra of Romain Dumas, Loic Duval and Marc Gene won by 46.801 seconds from the No. 1 hybrid Audi. The No. 4 Audi R18 ultra of Bonanomi and Jarvis was third, one lap down.

Gene described the win as very unexpected, since he was not expected to be at Spa at all and his car had been slower in qualifying. It was his first race for Audi, and it gave Dumas and Duval the lead of the World Endurance Drivers' Championship.

Duval said Audi had not expected the ultra cars to be faster than the e-tron quattros in dry weather, and he was surprised by the result. The win came because the non-hybrid cars were better once the track dried out.

A diesel Audi won a damp, drying race that few had expected it to win, and the points gap at the top of the championship changed hands.

How did the race begin?

The race began at 14:30 local time on a damp circuit. Kristensen led the first two laps of the No. 2 hybrid Audi before Lotterer, in the sister car, passed him on the third lap.

Cioci's Ferrari took the LMGTE Am lead from Armindo's IMSA Porsche on the first lap, but Armindo regained it on the second. Ayari moved the Pecom Oreca into second in LMP2 before Bas Leinders' OAK Oreca passed him when Ayari ran wide.

Turner's No. 97 Aston Martin, then at the front of LMGTE Pro, suffered a gear selection fault. Because WEC rules prohibited mid-race gearbox changes, the car retired from the race.

As the circuit dried, Makowiecki's No. 59 Ferrari went ahead of Lieb's No. 77 Porsche for the LMGTE Pro lead, on intermediates.

What penalties and damage shaped the early laps?

Karun Chandhok hit the tyre barrier atop Eau Rouge on a reconnaissance lap, and he returned to the pit lane to start after repairs to his HPD. Makowiecki spun the pole-sitting Ferrari leaving La Source on the formation lap.

The Murphy Oreca was given a stop-and-go penalty for breaking the rule that requires an LMP2 or LMGTE Am team to start with the driver who qualified the car. Its driver had written permission to start, but the penalty still stood.

Kristensen lost almost a minute in the pits, when mechanics replaced his bonnet to repair a headlight that had a wiring fault. Ayari collided with IMSA's GTE Porsche and spun, and he later drove into the pit lane for six minutes to replace his detached front bodywork.

How did the race turn in the afternoon?

Duval took over the No. 3 Audi from Gene and passed Treluyer for the lead at La Source. Simon Dolan's Jota Zytek then used its fuel efficiency to pass the Oreca cars and take the LMP2 lead.

The race was slowed by two safety cars for nine minutes in the fourth hour, after a collision at La Source. No overtaking was permitted under the safety car, so the field closed up and several cars made pit stops.

Haezebrouck lost control of the Extreme Limite Aric Norma at Raidillon after leaving the pit lane on cold tyres. He was unhurt, and the wall was repaired while the safety car was out.

Hancock's Jota car received a 30-second stop-and-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane, which handed the LMP2 lead to Graves in the ADR-Delta Oreca.

How did qualifying set the grid?

McNish took pole at 2:01.579 on the debut of the R18 e-tron quattro, with Bonanomi's No. 4 ultra alongside him on the front row. Fassler qualified the No. 1 Audi third, and Duval was fourth in the No. 3 car.

Neel Jani's No. 12 Rebellion was the fastest petrol-powered car in fifth, and Danny Watts' Strakka HPD was sixth. The top four in LMP2 were separated by a small margin, and the class pole went to John Martin.

Martin took pole for ADR-Delta at 2:09.302, after the team removed aerodynamic parts to let him go faster on the straights. Rossiter's Lotus Lola was second in class by a small margin.

In LMGTE Pro, Makowiecki's No. 59 Luxury Ferrari set the class's fastest lap at 2:19.770, with Fisichella's No. 51 AF Corse car 0.373 seconds behind. In LMGTE Am, Armindo took pole in the IMSA Porsche at 2:21.660, pushing Cioci's No. 81 AF Corse Ferrari into second.

What did the warm-up show?

Overnight torrential rain eased to drizzle, leaving standing water on the track for the 20-minute warm-up. Treluyer's No. 1 Audi lapped in 2:22.121, and spray kept visibility poor.

Rain returned midway through the warm-up and caught some drivers out. Brian Vickers lost control of the AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari on the wet track and damaged its rear corner on the barrier, and the car was withdrawn from the race because the chassis was bent.

Why did the hybrid and diesel Audis perform differently?

On the damp track the hybrid Audis had more grip, and their four-wheel drive system drove the front wheels at 120 km/h (75 mph) five times in a single lap under WEC regulations. As the track dried, the hybrids developed more oversteer because their front tyres wore faster.

Gene switched to slick tyres when his teammates stayed on intermediates, and the diesel car began to gain on the leaders. The non-hybrid cars were then able to attack on a drying surface, which is what gave them the advantage.

How did the leaders hold on to the lead?

Duval took over from Gene and passed Treluyer at La Source to claim the lead. The No. 3 Audi held the race lead for the final 98 laps, and Dumas said low fuel consumption had let the team build its advantage.

Fassler drove wide at Les Combes and struck a kerb, and a puncture forced an unscheduled pit stop for a precautionary set of tyres. The No. 1 Audi still finished second overall.

Capello's sister No. 2 Audi took a stop-and-go for restarting its engine before the team had finished working on it, which dropped the car to fourth.

How did the LMP2 contest end?

Robbie Kerr's ADR-Delta led LMP2 for much of the late afternoon until its final fuel stop with five minutes to go. Dolan's Jota car then took the class lead and held it to the finish.

Hartley's Murphy Oreca was faster than Hughes's car and was gaining on Dolan. Dolan had taken over from Hancock, and his car lacked radio communication for its final stint.

Hughes had endured two slow laps trying to conserve fuel, which stopped his tyres from building up temperature. The top four LMP2 cars were separated by 55 seconds, with Hancock closing on the class leader.

What happened in the GT classes late in the race?

Fisichella led ten laps in LMGTE Pro before Richard Lietz replaced him at the No. 77 Felbermayr-Proton car's final pit stop. Lietz then got ahead of the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari to regain the class lead.

The No. 31 Lotus Lola of van der Zande ended its race in the barriers during the final hour. Meanwhile Dolan, who had taken over from Hancock, was closing on Kerr's ADR-Delta by three or four seconds a lap.

Did the race weather change?

The race started on a damp circuit after the morning rain, with air temperatures between 8.1 and 8.8 degrees C. An anticipated race-long downpour did not materialise, although the track stayed wet at the start.

On the damp surface the hybrids gained traction from front-wheel assistance during parts of each lap. Once the track dried, the picture changed and tyre choices became decisive.

How did the LMP2 leaders fare in the wet early laps?

The wet early laps also reshuffled the order further down. Leinders' tyres gave his OAK Oreca decent grip and let him attack while keeping tyre temperature up, which pushed Hancock's Jota car to fifth.

Martin's ADR-Delta car spun after colliding with Chandhok's HPD near the pit lane entry, but it stayed third in LMP2 after he regained control. Ayari later lost the class lead to Martin when he collided with IMSA's GTE Porsche and spun.

What did the Audi drivers say about the race?

Lotterer, despite his disappointment, praised the start of the e-tron quattro project. Treluyer blamed excess oversteer, driver errors and a lack of front tyre heating for preventing him from attacking Duval.

Fassler said he had finished second to gain vital championship points. Bonanomi called it a great race, and Jarvis said the team's main goal had been to avoid mistakes and cover as much distance as possible.

Class results

Jota won its first international LMP2 race, and Dolan claimed his first global victory in the category, calling it a dream come true at a track the team had always liked. Hancock said a setup change after free practice had made the car hard to control in the wet.

What did the result mean for the championship?

Dumas and Duval moved two points clear of Capello, Kristensen and McNish at the top of the drivers' table. Audi had no rival among LMP1 manufacturers, and Porsche was a single point ahead of Ferrari in the LMGTE standings.

Rebellion and ADR-Delta moved to the top of the team trophies in LMP1 and LMP2. Felbermayr-Proton shared the LMGTE Pro team lead with AF Corse, with six races still to run, and kept its LMGTE Am lead.

What did the drivers say afterwards?

Dumas said low fuel use let the team build its advantage, and that the tyres wore well enough to avoid a change at the last stop. Duval said the result surprised Audi, which had expected the e-tron quattros to be quicker in the dry.

Lieb said Porsche would not have had a chance in LMGTE Pro if the event had been fully dry, but he praised the car's performance on a drying course. Lietz said the crew had to double-stint its tyres and refuel to stay ahead of AF Corse.

Armindo said his crew's aim had been to finish, since racing too quickly on the wet track would cost tyre grip. Kerr said his late fuel stop was made because a championship was at stake.