2023-07-03 22:19:30
The 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps has been held since 1924. The record man for victories with five is a well-known name from the recent past: Eric van der Poele, ex-BMW junior and not very successful F1 driver. With Jean-Michel Martin and Thierry Tassin, two Belgian compatriots have come closest to him – they have each achieved four overall successes. Eight drivers have three victories, including Philipp Eng, the youngest since Sunday, who, together with his BMW works driver colleagues Marco Wittmann and Nick Yelloly, ensured the first 24-hour marathon victory for the M4 GT3. Previously, Eng’s Austrian compatriot Dieter Quester, a BMW icon, had triumphed three times in the Ardennes – as had Marinoni, Dieudonné, Ravaglia, Duez, as well as Hans Heyer and Michael Bartels.
Eng (33) managed the hat trick within seven years: The first success came in the first year as a BMW works driver in 2016 with ROWE Racing, the second in 2018 with Walkenhorst Motorsport, now again with the ROWE team. And Salzburg made a statement with which he recommended himself for a new contract with Munich.
“We had problems refueling at the beginning and therefore had to make an unscheduled stop. Thanks to a good strategy and the safety car phases, we caught up the lap deficit and made it to the front. But the last two hours were a test of nerves, »said the man from Salzburg. In the end, after 537 laps, they were eleven seconds ahead. “It’s a great achievement,” admitted the 33-year-old pro, “and, hmmm, it’s not bad for the future either.” Because his BMW contract expires this year, “but we’re already talking about the extension, it’s just about details,” said Eng. For Munich it was the 25th victory in the classic. “An unbelievable weekend gave us the first 24-hour victory for the M4 GT3,” said BMW motorsport director Andreas Roos.
But Philipp Eng hardly has time to celebrate or even to relax, because on Wednesday he, like his victorious colleague Yelloly and Augusto Farfus, gets on the plane to Toronto, where the next commitment in the IMSA series with the race in Mosport (over the regular 2:45 hours) in the new M Hybrid V8 prototype in the Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan team. In the IMSA, the man from Salzburg has had little luck so far despite strong performances, “that has to change one day”. Because: “In terms of speed, we are on par with the sister car and the competition from Porsche, Cadillac and Acura, but so far we have had more problems than the others.”
Most recently, in the Six Hours of Watkins Glen, Eng didn’t even race because colleague Farfus “lost” the car on the first lap after a problem with traction control. That should be completely different in Canada.
You can find out more about Philipp Eng’s victory in the legendary 24-hour race on the Ardennes rollercoaster here.
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