Ronny Gabriels Photography

On the 10th of May, the Spa-Francorchamps circuit was filled with the roaring sounds of the Le Mans Series.  After the F1 Grand Prix and the 24h of Spa, this was maybe the third most important event of the racing season at Spa.  It’s hard to describe what makes the Le Mans Series so attractive, but for me it stands a lot higher than F1.  Sure F1 is impressive, but with 20 cars on the grid that all look and sound more or less the same, it gets boring real fast.  I think that’s where the Le Mans Series have the edge.  Not only can you see a lot of the incredibly impressive machine that are the LP1 en LP2 cars (bigger and heavier sounding than F1, except for the Diesels when it comes to sound) there are also a lot of GT cars in the mix, so even after hours of racing, boredom is not something you think of.

The day in Spa started of misty and damp in the morning for the race of the European GT3 and GT4 cars. Basically this was a race of the Belgian GT extended with some cars from the British GT championship.  The conditions were less than optimal especially for taking pictures.  Sad surely, but in the end this day was not about the GT championship.

Audi R8 GT in the mist

By the end of the GT race, the skies and the damp cleared and it was time for the Formula Le Mans.  A championship contested by a lot of LP2 prototype cars prepared by Oreca in France.  It’s supposed to be a springboard to the actual Le Mans Series for young drivers.  In my opinion it’s the best opener for the Le Mans Series you could think of.  A lot of young eager drivers in some awfully fast machine make for some very exciting racing.  By then the sun had also come out in full force and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day at the races. The cars glistening in the sun gave for some very nice crisp shots that you can check out at the website of course.

 Formula Le Mans

Finally it was time for the big boys.  The Le Mans Series took the stage for a 1000km race, or 143 laps around the most beautiful circuit in the world.  With the two Lola Aston Martins from Aston Martin Racing (in nostalgic Gulf orange and blue) and the two official Peugeot Diesels the field was pretty well equipped for a dry test run of the actual 24 du Mans.  Sadly the new Audi R15’s were absent because for reasons beyond any European racecar fan, the only test in the American Le Mans Series.  Nevertheless, the race was on.  And although the racing was interrupted by several safety car procedures, the race was very exciting the entire afternoon.  The sun was burning, literally, and the racing stayed pretty close right up to the end.  I got some fantastic shots out of it and although I had sunburn on my face and arms, I got to go home knowing that I had seen one of the big events of the season. 

 Lola Aston Martin

The photos of that day are now finally up on the website, so have a look (Photos menu and subcategory racing season 2009) and let me know what you think!  And check back here later this week for a report of the BTCS Zolder star festival last weekend in Zolder.