Herberth Motorsport (#911) claimed its second win of the season at the 20th running of the Hankook 24H BARCELONA, and its second at the event in three years. Having qualified 9th, and despite mild contact with a True-Racing KTM, it was a charge through the field the 24H SERIES has come to expect of the 2017 Champions of the Continents.

Fittingly, series nemesis – oh come on, we like being theatrical! – Bohemia Energy racing with Scuderia Praha (#11) secured 2nd overall, albeit three minutes behind following two unscheduled stops and brake issues that forced a full system reset of the Ferrari 488 GT3 in the garage. 

The Czech outfit though was far from the only GT team to hit brake trouble, but even a locked rear calliper was not enough to derail PROsport Performance (#85) from claiming its third consecutive A6-Am class victory. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 finished 4th on the road just behind IDEC SPORT RACING (#17), maintaining its lead in the European Championship standings in the process. 

Although unable to claim the rostrum spot it craved, Hofor-Racing (#1) secured 2nd in A6-Am after a solid run at a race it won outright in 2013. Further back, Car Collection Motorsport (#34) secured 3rd place in-class to keep its championship hopes alive. An early puncture and accident damage meant the #33 had a tough race to recover, the badly weathered Audi R8 LMS eventually clawing its way into the overall Top 10.

Disappointment abounded at ROFGO Racing (#31) when the Mercedes-AMG GT3, which had been running 3rd in the closing stages, threw an alternator belt, leading to severe overheating issues that dropped the Silverstone GT winners out of the top 10. After a sensational qualifying session, in which Tom Onslow-Cole took pole position on the last lap by just 0.015s, and after leading the event outright in the early going, RAM Racing (#5) lost several hours in the garage replacing a broken gearbox. But even with a broken front splitter, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 fought back to finish 16th overall.  

Leipert Motorsport (#10) collected its first SPX class win of the season at Barcelona, despite strong running from both the #116 True-Racing KTM – which finished the race with its passenger side ‘escape door’ taped up – and the sister #117 X-Bow, both of which were light on fuel and tyre wear around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. In a humbling twist of irony, and having already survived two big crashes in the first 18 hours, Vortex 01 (#204) were forced to retire after their third incident due to a lack of spare parts.

Porsche Lorient Racing took its first 1-2 finish of the year in the 991-class, the #64 991-II Cup taking the chequered flag 15 laps ahead of its sister #65 entry following an early spin and handling issues for the latter. IDEC SPORT RACING (#75) was left heartbroken when engine failure ultimately curtailed its run after 221 laps, dropping the team out of overall European Championship contention. EBIMOTORS meanwhile (#73) suffered enormous damage after a high-speed collision with the Synchro Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R (#76). The Honda was out on the spot with a twisted chassis. The Porsche would recover but ultimately fell foul of an overheating engine, allowing QSR Racingschoool (#94) to nab 3rd in-class and endurance racing legend Jim Briody his 50th 24-hour race podium.

Even with an ailing transmission, local heroes NM Racing Team (#215) collected GT4 class victory at an event it won outright one year prior, the first TCE-only 24-hour at Barcelona since 2009. 2nd in-class went to fellow Ginetta runners Nova Race (#227), although, in an odd example of déjà vu, Luca Magnoni managed to lose a left rear wheel on-track heading out of turn 9, exactly replicating the incident he suffered at the same race in 2014.   

Words – James Gent

Images – Petr Frýba