Global Endurance Championship Weekend Recap - 10/6/2024

For this round of the COSPIT Global Endurance Championship, hosted at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps, Worx Sim Racing had two entries competing: the WorxSimRacing.Com #16 in the LMP2 class, driven by Michael Billon and Corbin Lenaway, and the #33 Mclaren 720S EVO in the GT3 class, driven by Kevin van den Oetelaar and Marius Marz. While both teams faced challenges during their respective races, each team demonstrated moments of greatness despite the hardships, reflecting the growing culture of resilience and hard work at Worx Sim Racing.

WorxSimRacing.Com #16 - Dallara P217

After qualifying P6, the #16 LMP2 started with plenty of time on the clock to fight their way up the field and improve upon their starting position. Corbin Lenaway began the race with that goal in mind. As the green flag waved over the Belgian circuit, Corbin made aggressive moves, allowing the team to pick up two positions and placing the car in P4 before the first lap concluded. He drove the remainder of his stint cleanly, keeping out of trouble and maintaining P4 until a minor spin dropped them back to P7. He then brought the car into the pits to complete a driver change, where Michael Billon took over the helm. With Michael behind the wheel, the #16 fought its way back into P5 after making several skilled passes during the second stint, and as Michael continued to drive consistently, the hope of regaining P4 was on the horizon and, with the speed of the two Worx drivers, was soon within reach.

Unfortunately, the #16 encountered a stroke of bad luck at the end of Michael’s stint. After coming into contact with the pit wall due to an obscured view of the pit entry, the #16 suffered substantial wheel damage and was forced to park in the pits for repairs. Despite the setbacks, Michael went on to complete three more stints, finding a solid groove and setting a competitive pace as he logged the laps before handing the car back to Corbin. With Corbin in the seat to finish the race, he completed two stints, maintaining a competitive pace and setting the fastest lap in their class (2:03.173). As the checkered flag dropped, the WorxSimRacing.com #16 crossed the finish line in P7, a result that was disappointing to the drivers, who knew a podium finish was possible without the repairs. Despite the dissapointing finish, the team understood that the result did not truly reflect their skill and looked forward to redemption in the next round of the Global Endurance Championship.

WorxSimRacing.Com #33 - McLaren 720S GT3 EVO

After not setting a lap during qualifying, the #33, driven by Kevin van den Oetelaar and Marius Marz, started towards the back of the pack in P21 of 24. With an uphill battle ahead, the #33 steadily worked its way through the field, with both drivers completing a stint by the halfway point. Upon reaching the third hour of the race, the #33 was fighting for a podium position and eventually claimed P3 with less than an hour to go. As the race continued, the #33 claimed another step on the podium, moving up to P2 and still in hot pursuit of the race leader, who ultimately found the barriers, giving the lead to the #33. This marked a fantastic effort from both Kevin and Marius. Unfortunately, later in that same lap, the team encountered hardware issues, forcing them to pit to remedy the problem, which set them back to P17. 

After rejoining the race, the team fought back up to P10 as the checkered flag fell at Spa-Francorchamps. While the win was compromised by a disconnected wheel, the team still demonstrated their skill by setting the fastest lap for their class by almost half a second, and with the competitive pace set by the #33, the win slipped away through no fault of their own. Similarly to the #16, Kevin and Marius look forward to the next round of the Global Endurance Championship for a chance to showcase their skills, hoping to reach the top step once again.

Written by Liam Kilton - 10/12/2024