TCR Spa 500: Swiss on the podium

PLACE 3 FOR CUPRA TEAM In the endurance race for TCR touring cars on the Belgian GP circuit, Julien Apothéloz and Fabian Danz came third overall with the Cupra from TOPCAR sport. The "TCR Spa 500" was an endurance race held for the first time on the famous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, reserved for touring cars under TCR regulations. The length was limited to [...]

Editorial - October 10, 2019

Only 17 TCR touring cars took part. The orange Cupra TCR #101, which started from row 2, emerged as the winner (Photos: Petr Fryba).

The "TCR Spa 500" was an endurance race held for the first time on the famous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and reserved for touring cars under TCR regulations. The length was limited to 23 hours or 500 laps.

Strong crew in mini field
Among only 17 vehicles, TOPCAR sport was the only Swiss team with a Cupra TCR. At the end of August, the Bernese celebrated class victory at the 24 Hours of Barcelona. As then, the driver crew in Belgium included the Swiss Julien Apothéloz and Fabian Danz as well as the Finn Antti Buri. For the race in Belgium, Cupra factory driver Mikel Azcona from Spain and Kari-Pekka Laaksonen as the second Finn were added.

For a long time, the Cupra TCR held on to second position. The Swiss team started the race a bit too defensively in order to spare the tires. But because it was relatively cool, they were soon able to increase the pace. The eventual winning team from the Netherlands, also driving a Cupra TCR, was already clearly in the lead from the 14th lap.

At times, almost apocalyptic conditions prevailed. But the five drivers on the Swiss Cupra #131 did not allow themselves to make any mistakes.

Catching up
The Swiss Cupra team held on to second place until deep into the night, before a faulty fuel pump necessitated a repair stop lasting around 30 minutes. The consequence was a drop to 11th place.

In the course of the remaining hours, the quintet fought its way back to third place overall with fast lap times in drizzle and sometimes heavy rain. At the end of the 23 hours and 454 laps, that was all the winning team could do.

Season not yet over for all
For Julien Apothéloz, the Young Driver of 2018, this marked the end of his first full racing season. For Fabian Danz, the 24 Hours of COTA USA in mid-November is still about the overall victory in the 24H Series.

Julien Apothéloz: "Even without the time-consuming defect, victory would have been difficult under normal circumstances, but second place would have been quite possible. Nevertheless, we are satisfied with the result. I learned a lot, especially in the rain. And a podium is always a nice way to end the season, which you can build on for the following year."