The second round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup took place in Belgium, and even though the Audi R18 took to the starting line for the first time, Peugeot was able to take the top two spots on the podium after six hours of racing.
Interestingly, the qualifying results were the opposite of the race results: Audi racers occupied the first three positions on the grid, and although a Peugeot 908 was in fourth, it wasn’t a team car, it was that of the Oreca squad. Due to an incident-strewn and red-flagged qualifying session, the first Peugeot Sport Total car was back in 13th, the second was in 18th, and the third wasn’t even classified and started at the back of the grid.
In the race, however, it was Audi’s turn for bad juju. The pole-sitting car spun at the first corner on the first lap, one of the drivers accidentally hit the pit-lane speed limiter button during the race, unscheduled stops for new tires and collisions ate away at their positions. Come the checkered flag, team Audi rallied to take third, fourth, and fifth positions, but first and second went to The Lions – that second-place car being the one that started at the back of the grid.
Even with the copious amounts of shenanigans pre-race and in-race, the results aren’t totally surprising: Peugeot has a knack for emerging victorious at Spa – this was the team’s fifth consecutive win in the Ardennes. Have a look at some of the action in the high-res gallery below.