McLaren 650S GT3 at the 2016 Total 24 Hours of Spa #WeWillBeBack

Factory Drivers starred in the Ardennes Forest, as Rob Bell, Côme Ledogar and Shane van Gisbgergen in the #58 Garage 59 McLaren 650S GT3 scored valuable points at the six-hour mark of the gruelling Spa 24 Hours to retain the lead in the Blancpain GT Series Drivers Championship for Bell, and Teams Championship for customer team Garage 59, as well as the Blancpain Endurance Cup Championships for all three drivers and the team. The trio led the race in the opening stages with Ledogar taking the the position with a bold move through the famous La Source / Eau Rouge section of the circuit, but dropped down the order to finish P32 after making heavy contact while negotiating backmarkers through the hours of darkness.

The other two McLarens in the race suffered similar bouts of bad luck. The #59 650S GT3 piloted by McLaren GT Academy Drivers Alex Fontana, Struan Moore and Andrew Watson all ran well – and as high as second at one point in the ultra-competitive 65-car GT field – but retired with accident damage after a head-turning 24-hour race debut performance.

McLaren P1™ GTR Driver Mentor Bruno Senna, alongside Duncan Tappy and ‘Pipo’ Derani in the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team-liveried #60 650S GT3 meanwhile had a competitive showing in terms of pace, but suffered at the hands of other cars multiple times in the night which required several visits to the pits. This prevented a fight through the standings in the second half of the race, and the trio finished P40.

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