7.08.08 Out while in the lead

On Sunday morning, a fire in the back of the turbocharged Porsche ended the dream of a class win.

Kenneth Heyer, Wolfgang Kaufmann, Phillipe Ullmann, Alexander Talkanitsa

PMB Porsche 996 Turbo GT1

Even before the race, Wolfgang Kaufmann, Alexander Talkanitsa, Kenneth Heyer and Philippe Ullmann had to cope with a number of set-backs.

Just before the start of free practice, the race officials put an additional 60 kgs of ballast on the car: "we spent half the first practice session loading the weight into the car, and then our set-up was all wrong", Wolfgang Kaufmann explains the lack of running on Thursday morning.

"Engine wise, we then opted for durability. Boost pressure, RPM and engine mapping were adjusted to the 24 hour distance. Together with the big turbochargers, this meant the engine was not very responsive. Out of the tighter corners, we hardly had any power – but we had all the more of it at the end of the fast sections."

Wolfgang Kaufmann put the 996 Turbo GT1 on pole position. For the race, the Belgian team PMB relied on the well-known Michelin tyres from the Belgian GT championship. The sportscar professional from Westerwald also drove the initial stint of the 60th Spa 24 Hours, and then handed the car over to Kenneth Heyer. Into the night, the only remaining 996 turbo in international racing went like the proverbial closkwork – until one of the three clutch disks seized to operate during the night, and had to be changed.

After the conclusion of this repair job, the car went rejoined the race. Very surprisingly, the race was over at 8am: "It was probably an oil leak that lead to a fire in the back of the Porsche.

Sadly, Kenneth couldn't manage to come into pit entrance, so he had to park the car at the exit of the former Bus Stop chicane", Kaufmann recounts the unfortunate end of the race.