Pier Guidi was unaware of pit lane blockage during final stop – Sportscar365

Alessandro Pier Guidi ‘could have gone another lap’ if he had been informed that the pit entrance was blocked by the No. 19 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 in what proved to be the decisive moment from the CrowdStrike Centenary Edition. 24 hours spa.

The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, which Pier Guidi shared with Alessio Rovera and Davide Rigon, looked set for victory in the Belgian endurance classic, but the team’s race unravelled in bizarre fashion amid the final round of stops.

Television footage showed the No. 19 Lamborghini, driven at the time by Hugo Cook, stuck and stopped at the pit entrance just as Pier Guidi entered to make his final pit stop of the race.

With Cook blocking the road, Pier Guidi was unable to pass and was forced to wait for the Lamborghini to be towed away before he could pass and make his pit stop.

The delay cost Ferrari a second Spa 24H victory in four years, although Pier Guidi eventually returned to second place behind Comtoyou Racing’s winning No. 7 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

Speaking after the race, Pier Guidi explained that neither he nor the AF Corse team were aware of the blockage as the #51 approached the pit entrance.

He added that with what was left of his maximum allowed relay time, he could have gone an extra lap and completed an extra lap if he had been aware of the problem.

“Actually, I don’t have much to think about,” said Pier Guidi.

“I was trying to see if there was a space to go but there wasn’t. It was in the middle and then there was also the truck, a car from the organization tried to pull the car, so I had nowhere to go.

“I asked the guys if they didn’t see the message on the screen, but unfortunately nobody put the fucking message on the screen.

“The pit lane was blocked but I didn’t know it because in fact I could have done another lap.

“I was very tight with the driving time, but I could have done it.

“Ultimately, if we had been informed that the pit lane was blocked, we probably would not have pitted and we would have won the race.

“With the ifs and buts, as they say in Italian, ‘you’re not going anywhere’. We lost the race and that’s it.”

The #51 Ferrari had taken the lead of the race when Pier Guidi passed the #7 Aston Martin and the #998 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Dan Harper on their out-laps with just under four hours remaining.

“They told me we were close and that we had to push and try to get the undercut,” Pier Guidi remembers.

“Because at the end, normally with the degradation of the tires at the end of the stint, we are slower than at the start.

“So I attacked hard on the exit lap and in the first corner. Basically, it was enough to catch them coming out of the pits.

“I had more speed because I was coming from Eau Rouge at full speed and they had come out of the pits and I was able to take the lead.

“Actually it was good because it was very difficult to overtake, but in the clean air it was easier to manage the pace.

“Of course, when you’re in clean air, you always have an advantage. We had a little bit more pace, but just in clean air.

“I’m not sure it’s easy to overtake. Doing this kind of overtaking was a good thing. »