10-05-2025
Alpine Leads at the Halfway Mark of the 6 Hours of Spa
The three Ferraris dominated qualifying to start first through third, but their qualifying dominance has not been followed by complete race dominance. The N0. 50 Ferrari 499P of Nicklas Nielsen led until the final pit cycle before the halfway mark. The No. 36 Alpine has had a wildly good start to the race, taking the lead on lap 63 on pace after starting in sixth.
Frederic Makowiecki took the start for Alpine and moved to second through the first two and a half hours, first making the move for fifth on the opening lap and to fourth by lap eight by passing the No. 94 of the Peugeot with Loic Duval behind the wheel at the time. On lap ten, Makowiecki set his sights on the Ferrari's first passing the No. 83 of Hanson and then moving to second by passing the No. 51 of James Calado down the Eau Rouge.
Makowiecki was the first group of leaders to pit as the No. 50 of Nielsen stayed out to extend the opening segment the longest of the leaders.
Two laps later, when the lead Ferrari pitted, the Alpine with its new driver, Jules Gounon, on hot tires was making his way around the circuit, and the No. 50 narrowly made it out of the pits ahead. With the speed and warmed tires, the Alpine was able to take the lead from Ferrari at pace to lead the next 30 minutes before, just a minute before the official halfway mark, the No. 95 United Autosports McLaren was turned in a high speed crash at the exit of turn six to bring out the second safety car of the race.
The No. 50 and No. 51 Ferraris run second and third at the half, with the No. 51 battling back after falling to fifth early. The No. 20 BMW M Team WRT is the first car outside the podium position in hypercars as they continue to run after the half behind the safety car.
The No. 93 and No. 94 Peugeot TE's briefly held third and fourth as they battled the second Ferrari before falling back to fifth and sixth, respectively.
The No. 7 Toyota Gazoo shortly was running in second behind the N0. 50 Ferrari as one of the last leaders to pit. Toyota had an abysmal one-lap pace in qualifying with the No. 7 starting 16th. After Mike Conway completed the first pit, the Toyota was still able to hold on to a top-ten at the half, running in seventh.
The NO. 38 Cadillac HTJ made a move by the No. 5 Porsche Penske on lap 74 to take eighth, and it's sister car of the N0. 12 rounded out the top ten.
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