Top 4 finish for KCMG in closely fought WEC battle at Spa

Spa-Francorchamps – KC Motorgroup Ltd. (KCMG) took fourth place in the GTE-Am category at Spa-Francorchamps over the weekend. FIA World Endurance Championship’s action-packed second round saw the #78 Porsche 911 RSR, shared by Joel Camathias, Wolf Henzler and Chris Ried, cross the line after a closely-fought race on a glorious day in the Belgian Ardennes.

The team finished on a positive note in a weekend that had been challenging due to set-up issues resulting from a contact during the final Free Practice session. Despite this setback, the team managed to move up several places up the field after starting the race from the back of the grid. Ultimately, the blue and white-liveried Porsche 911 wrapped up the world championship’s second six-hour round in the top four. 

Joel Camathias: “It was a difficult weekend, but everybody in the team did a fantastic job to keep going and obtain a good result. The car performed well in the first free practice sessions and we were working to reduce the oversteer, quite natural on this track. Unfortunately, in the final practice session, the car was hit laterally by an LMP car. There was no big apparent damage but something got flawed in the aerodynamics and the car’s behavior deteriorated drastically. Despite much work and changing a few elements, things did not improve much and we struggled throughout qualifying and the entire race. Still, we were in contention for the third spot on the podium, but eventually were beaten by one tenth of a second! Competition is really tough this year in the WEC and we still have a lot to do on the car – especially for Le Mans. Still, it is nice to see that even under difficult circumstances, we can do well.”

Wolf Henzler: “We expected a lot in the race at Spa – but the track conditions have a challenge. As much as I was happy about the good weather for the many fans, it wasn’t the ideal conditions for our 911 RSR. Overall, it didn’t go bad altogether. We know what we have to do for Le Mans – that’s what we are focusing on right now.”

Chris Ried: “After the qualifying for the race, we made some changes concerning the balance of the 911 RSR. This had a positive effect. The start was a bit hectic because of an incident involving a prototype after La Source. But luckily, I got through all the traffic. We were aiming for the podium but I think that we did quite well. Looking forward now to the next challenge at Le Mans!”

The third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship will be the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which will take place at the Circuit des 24 Heures in La Sarthe on June 18-19.

To know more about the FIA World Endurance Championship, please visit: www.fiawec.com 

For more information about KCMG, visit www.kcmg.com.hk. To keep track of latest updates, please like KCMG’s Facebook page or follow @KCMotorgroup on Twitter and Instagram.