Rattican and Lebbon extend their championship lead with first victory at Spa

Elite Motorsport duo Josh Rattican and Tom Lebbon celebrated their first GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club win of the season at Spa-Francorchamps, overcoming a race-long challenge from the Team Speedcar Audi to score victory.

Rattican controlled the first half of the outing with Benjamin Lariche right behind in the Audi, but the order was mixed when both lead cars pitted together and Robert Consani got a better exit onto the Kemmel Straight to power the German machine past Lebbon in the McLaren.

The British driver did not give up though, and a few laps later completed a superb pass to snatch the lead back into Les Combes. Once out front again, there would be no stopping the McLaren as Lebbon pulled clear to secure his and Rattican’s first win of the year and extend their championship lead in the process.

W&S Motorsport pair Finn Zulauf and Max Kronberg scored their second Pro-Am victory of 2024, assuming the lead when the JSB Competition Cayman that had led both the race outright and the class spun out of third overall with Julien Briché at the wheel.

Laurent Hurgon and Pascal Huteau made it four wins from five races in the Am class, taking the lead from the NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG of Andy Cantu and Guillermo Aso after a pit lane jumble delayed them.

Elite McLaren duo make the breakthrough

With three podium finishes from the opening four races prior to Spa, Rattican and Lebbon arrived in Belgium as championship leaders, and duly ended their wait for a first victory in a thrilling outing.

The British drivers took the #78 McLaren to twin pole positions, with Rattican starting the opening race, but both times Lariche and Consani were right behind in the times. This theme continued into the race with the McLaren and Audi being the class of the field.

However, when the lights went out both were put in the shade by the flying Julien Briché, who shot his JSB Competition Porsche into the lead from seventh on the grid by the end of the first lap. Briché held on until both Rattican and Lariche found a way past, and then suffered a huge spin at Raidillon that dumped the Porsche down the order.

Racing was interrupted by a Full-Course Yellow to clear cars from the gravel at half distance, which caused the pit window to be delayed. When the action resumed, Rattican and Lariche pitted together with just a second between them. Both teams completed clean stops and Lebbon rejoined ahead of Consani after the driver changes. This did not last long, however, as Consani drafted alongside on the Kemmel Straight before snatching the lead into Les Combes.

Lebbon piled pressure on the Audi, and eventually got his chance inside the final five minutes when he got a run on Consani through the first sector, and then pulled a great cutback to slice back ahead through the second part of the chicane. From there, Lebbon pulled a comfortable gap to grab what could be a huge victory for he and Rattican’s title ambitions, especially as closest challengers Enzo Joulié and Etienne Cheli retired their Matmut Évolution Toyota for the second straight race with damage.

Lariche and Consani were second, ahead of Hugo Sasse and Raphael Rennhofer’s PROsport Aston Martin. Jamie Day and Mateo Villagomez were fourth in their Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin, ahead of Misano winners Ricardo van der Ende and Benjamin Lessennes in the L’Espace Bienvenue BMW. Nelson Panciatici and Antoine Leclerc rounded out the top six in their Code Racing Developments Alpine.

Max Kronberg and Finn Zulauf bounced back from the pair of punctures that set them back at Misano with another Pro-Am win. Briché’s spin left the way clear for the W&S Motorsport pair to finish seventh overall, well clear of the class opposition. Ethan Gialdini and Stéphane Lemeret were second in their CMR Ginetta, with Briché and Jean-Laurent Navarro recovering to complete the class podium.

For the first half of the race Andy Cantu and Guillermo Aso were well in control of the Am class fight in their NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG. But during the stops a slow Porsche briefly blocked the pit exit, causing a traffic jam that delayed Aso rejoining. That allowed Huteau and Hurgon to sweep into the lead in their Schumacher CLRT Alpine and claim a fourth win of the year. Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud also slipped past the Mercedes-AMG to snatch second.