Race: Kristensen and Ara victorious

The Dane got away well from pole position on a dry track, but it wasn't long before the rain started falling, sending most cars scurrying to the pits after just one lap. Some great pit-work allowed Andy Wallace to take the lead in the LMP675 DBA-Zytek he shares with Hayanari Shimoda.

Inevitably, it wasn't long before Kristensen was back in the lead in the Audi, from where he waltzed off to take a comfortable victory. The DBA was on course for a strong second before a brake problem with 40 laps to go led to Shimoda crashing into the barriers and out of the race.

This allowed Stephane Sarrazin and Frank Lagorce to take second after an untroubled run in the Courage-Peugeot, ahead of the Dome-Judd of Beppe Gabbiani and Felipe Ortiz. Justin Keen, Lary Oberto and Giovanni Lavaggi claimed fourth in their Lola-Judd, ahead of the Lucchini SR-2000 of Piergiuseppe Peroni, Mirco Savoldi and Francioni Filippo, who were comfortable winners of the SR2 class.

Jan Lammers and John Bosch retired their Racing for Holland Dome-Judd when Lammers crashed avoiding a spinning GT-class Porsche at Stavelot, but still claimed the FIA Sportscar title. It marks the second year in a row that the Dutch veteran has captured the honour.

It was the GT battle that captured the attention late in the race as Mosler factory driver Joao Barbosa, driving for the Rollcentre team, attempted to hunt down the Balfe Mosler of Thomas Erdos. The Balfe team had made their final pit-stop earlier, and Erdos was forced to conserve fuel over the closing laps. This wasn't a problem for Barbosa, who broke the GT-class lap record several times hunting down his rival, eventually taking the lead, and victory, when Erdos' fuel ran out near the end of the lap. Erdos was able to coast across the line and claim second.

Tom Kristensen/Seiji Ara Audi R8
Stephane Sarrazin/Frank Lagorce (Courage-Peugeot)
Beppe Gabbiani/Felipe Ortiz (Dome S101-Judd)
Justin Keen/Larry Oberto/Giovanni Lavaggi (Lola-Judd)
* Piergiuseppe Peroni/Mirco Savoldi/Francioni Filippo (Lucchini SR-2000)
** Martin Short/Tom Herridge/Joao Barbosa (Mosler MT900R)

* SR2 class
** GT class