It feels strange heading to Spa for the second time in the same season. While still a dress rehearsal of sorts for the Le Mans 24 Hours, there’s very little in the ‘new’ department, as the teams continue their journey to the end of the 2018/19 ‘Super Season’ at Le Mans next month.

Nevertheless, there’s still plenty to look out for in the second edition of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps this term, with title battles raging and the Le Mans 24 Hours right around the corner.

Can the privateers finally make it a race in LMP1?

The LMP1 field should have been back up to eight with the return of the #4 ByKolles CLM, now powered by the Gibson V8 in place of the NISMO turbo V6. The car has had precious little testing, and with regular driver, Oliver Webb and Tom Dillmann joined by WEC returnee Paolo Ruberti Spa will likely provide the team with an extended pre-Le Mans test.

The last-minute withdrawal of the #10 Dragonspeed BR1 Gibson though sees us back down to seven, the team citing late delivery of required electronics to field their car after its damage at Sebring. DragonSpeed no doubt stretched thinly after the ELMS season opener and now in full prep mode for its Indy 500 debut.

Likely to be at the other end of the results sheets are the factory Toyotas, running 1-2 in the Championship with two rounds to go.

Away from the stratospheric performance of the Hybrids there’s been a potentially significant change in the LMP1 Equivalence of Technology with the latest technical bulletin scrapping one aspect of the suite of measures that have held back the privateers, for Spa at least.

The race in Belgium will see per-lap fuel allocation limits lifted, finally removing the need for any of the non-hybrid cars to lift and coast, finally fulfilling a promise made by rule makers after last season’s Le Mans 24 Hours.

Will that be enough to see the privateers going head to head with the Toyotas? No, but it is a step forward, and perhaps marks a willingness to develop a better balanced LMP1 competition next season.

There have been some minor weight changes too, a 6-kilo increase for the privateers with non-turbo power (in other words all bar the SMP BR1s)!

The Toyotas arrive at Spa with a successful endurance test at Paul Ricard under their belts, the 4000km run putting miles and data on their Le Mans spec aero, with a tweaked colour scheme to go with it.

Weather permitting both cars are expected to race with the Le Mans aero with the title points race at a critical point. The #8 crew lead by 15 points 135 to 120, but with 65 still to play for (Le Mans scores +50% this year). In theory, the title could be settled here, but that would need dominance from the #8 and a DNF from their sister car.

If it comes down to racing pace it will be rather closer than that with the #7 trio often showing the better pace, Mike Conway has been flying all season, ‘Pechito’ Lopez is finding form too and Kamui Kobayashi isn’t a lover of allowing the headlines to be written without his input!

There’s no doubt though that it’s the #8 crew that is the favourite here, title leaders, and providers of the best and most valuable headlines with Fernando Alonso aboard alongside the ever-rapid Kaz Nakajima and Seb Buemi. Here’s hoping it’s racing and not any other factor that determines the winner here.

Rebellion too has been out testing a low drag kit, in this case, a new for 2019 version (see below). There’s another change in line-up with Andre Lotterer returning after missing Sebring. The team need reliability as much as raw speed to deliver on the promise of the Rebellion R13 Gibson package, they look like the Privateer favourites here.

SMP Racing’s BR1 AER package has looked stone cold fast all year, but Spa last season saw real drama for the #17 car Matevos Isaakyan having a terrifying airborne ride at Radillon, the car’ handling still looks challenging at times, potentially a contributory factor to an accident-strewn super season thus far.

There’s yet another driver shake-up here too with Brendon Hartley stepping out, ex-McLaren F1 man Stoffel Vandoorne steps in and should be a good yardstick for the progress made this year. A potential appearance at the recent Aragon tyre test, where the solo SMP car ((just) topped the times) came to nought, so it’s understood that it has been sim testing only for the Belgian before this weekend!

Advantage Alpine in LMP2

In LMP2, the battle between Jackie Chan DC Racing and Signatech Alpine rages on as we head back to the Ardennes, after a season-long battle for supremacy in the second LMP category.

As it stands it’s advantage Alpine. For its trio of Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Pierre Thiriet, consistency has kept them in the fight this season. The highlight is still the Le Mans class win last year, but it’s been their trips to the podium at every other race that have them atop the standings with 125 points.

JCDC’s #38 crew of Gabriel Aubry, Stephane Richelmi and Ho-Pin Tung, meanwhile, trail by just two points after wins in the season opener at Spa, Silverstone and Shanghai as well as a second-place finish at Fuji. The big blow came at Sebring, where they could only muster a sixth-place finish after a troubled race on gruelling Floridian circuit.

Had they not had an off day in Florida, they would probably still lead the title race. But they can bounce back here and are a favourite to win at Spa for a second time.

Elsewhere in the full-season WEC LMP2 field, while there are no other contenders for the championship, there is the intrigue of DragonSpeed’s Pastor Maldonado and Anthony Davidson-led ORECA, which has finished on the podium the last two races and looks primed for a big result, and the new-look #37 JCDC squad.

A mid-season driver-crew change for the #37 car has eliminated it from the title race, but the addition of Britons Jordan King and Will Stevens, ace Gentlemen David Heinemeier Hansson means they are a threat to win again after emerging victorious at Sebring in their first race as a trio.

There is one guest-entry for the event, the G-Drive Racing crew bringing its ELMS-entered (ORECA-rebadged) Aurus 01 (on Dunlops) to the WEC for the first time as part of its Le Mans preparations.

Roman Rusinov will, of course, lead the line-up, which for this weekend consists of Jean-Eric Vergne (who missed the ELMS opener due to a clash and was replaced by Norman Nato) and rapid Dutch up-and-comer Job Van Uitert, making his WEC debut here.

A big talking point will, of course, be the tyre war in LMP2. It’s still early days for Dunlop’s new C-spec compound, and after a dominant win over Michelin at Sebring but a loss at Paul Ricard in the ELMS season opener, the jury is still out. After fairing well over the bumps at Sebring, last time out at Ricard, the tyre struggled somewhat.

It looked strong over a single lap, G-Drive taking pole, but after much talk about its durability in the build-up, come the race the teams (in particular, G-Drive Racing) struggled with degradation and faded away. The temperature looked to have played a role.

What will we see at Spa? It’s not yet clear. While Dunlop has strength in numbers in the WEC, the Michelin tyres are strong, and in particular, DragonSpeed (which won at Ricard in the ELMS) and Signatech Alpine, are capable of taking a win in Belgium.

Dunlop though are very optimistic, in particular, if we see the predicted broad range of temperatures at Spa this weekend! Dunlop’s Trackside Support Engineering & Testing, Manager, Mike McGregor:

“The more aggressive track surface and layout will suit the Dunlop A & C tyres, Spa’s varying track temperature means teams should benefit from Dunlop’s wide operating window giving the teams more grip and performance.”

We’ll see!

Will Porsche’s dominance continue in Pro?

GTE Pro this year has had its ups and downs, and its fair share of drama up and down the field, but it’s been Porsche that’s led the way. The German marque, against such stiff competition, has taken control of the Manufacturers and Drivers’ points battles thanks to its two screaming-mid-engined 911 RSRs taking wins at Le Mans, Fuji and Sebring, and further podiums at every round.

As the other teams have struggled to find any sort of form, Porsche’s GT Team has been at times dominant, which is more than just impressive in a BoP-controlled formula. Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre in the team’s #92 911 RSR have been the stars here, and head to the finale with a 25-point lead over their teammates in the #91 and 44.5-point advantage over AF Corse’s James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi in third.

A catastrophic series of events this weekend and at Le Mans is the only thing that stands in the way of one of Porsche’s duos becoming World Champions.

The racing should still be worth the price of admission at Spa though, with this weekend’s encounter the final tune-up ahead of Le Mans for the five factory teams.

After a slow start to their lives as flagship models, Aston Martin will hope its Vantage AMRs can challenge for a second win this season while BMW will hoping for a first win with its M8 GTE in WEC competition.

Both teams will race with familiar drivers, though BMW has of course shaken up its line-up again. This time it’s Martin Tomczyk and Nicky Catsburg in the #81 and Augusto Farfus and Antonio Felix Da Costa in the #82.

Ford too has had driver news recently, but not concerning Spa. In the Ardennes, the GTs will race without third drivers at Spa, before Johnathan Bomarito and Billy Johnson join the crew for Le Mans.

The only remaining manufacturer to mention is, of course, Ferrari, with Corvette not present as a guest entrant this time. AF Corse will look to ensure the #51 488 GTE EVO of Calado and Pier Guidi finishes ahead of both Porsches in order to take the title race down to the wire.

At this point, earning a (long overdue) win at Le Mans will be the team’s main aim, but it will do everything in its power to pull off a true upset here and snatch another World Title as well.

GTE Am leader Project 1 pushing on

GTE Am’s points battle is somewhat tighter after six of the eight races this season. It’s been a rollercoaster in the pro-am division of GTE, with some of the best door-to-door action we’ve seen of any class, and a sprinkling of controversy to keep it all interesting.

It looked almost certain that the #88 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche was going to march to the title, after winning Le Mans and Silverstone last year and scoring well at Spa, but at Fuji, it all changed. A huge penalty was handed to the team for a data logger infraction in Japan, the WEC opting to dock the team all its points.

This hammering of the reset button for the class vaulted WEC debutant Team Project 1 into the title lead. Its drivers Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Lindsey and Egidio Perfetti have been strong all year, and as a trio getting stronger. They’ve shown consistency with five consecutive podiums, one of which was a win at Fuji.

Even when the team had its backs against the wall at Sebring, after a huge fire in the pre-event test forced it to freight a spare car from Europe on short notice during race week, it still finished third!

Another big result here could seal it, but Spirit of Race’s #51 Ferrari and the #98 Aston Martin Racing’s Vantage will be keen to keep the fight going until Le Mans and bring the end of the season to a fitting crescendo.

As it stands the Ferrari of Thomas Flohr, Giancarlo Fisichella and Francesco Castellacci are 25 points back from the Project 1 crew. Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda are 33 points adrift but did score their only win of the season at Spa last year.

They will be challenged by the Dempsey Proton Porsches, that are now playing for pride after losing their points. That knock to their title hopes certainly hasn’t affected their motivation to push for wins, as the #77 911 of Christian Reid and Matt Campbell (joined by Ricardo Pera for Spa) have won at Shanghai and Sebring since their Fuji disqualification.

Elsewhere in the class, TF Sport welcomes back Euan Hankey to the driver-crew to partner Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood, to reform the trio that finished second in class at Spa last year. And Clearwater Racing powers on with its new-look line-up of Matt Griffin, Matteo Cressoni and Luis Perez Companc, who are looking to rebound after failing to make the start of the race at Sebring due to a terminal shunt in Qualifying.