Porcu Takes Spa-Francorchamps and the Championship Lead
Simone Porcu led all 28 laps of THR's seventh-anniversary Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, defeating FMG and Florian Masse in a race whose double points lifted the Italian two points clear at the head of the Championship.
A full-distance anniversary prize
THR marked its seventh anniversary in its established fashion, with a full-length Grand Prix rather than a token celebratory sprint. The 28 laps at Spa-Francorchamps amounted to 395.4 kilometres on the old Ardennes road course, a place of long flat-out runs, severe changes of level and very little indulgence for a lapse of judgement. To give the occasion its proper weight, double Championship points were offered.
It was, therefore, an afternoon on which a good result could alter the shape of a season. Florian Masse arrived as Championship leader, ten points ahead of Simone Porcu, with FMG another two points behind the Italian. By dusk, it was Porcu who had converted the anniversary race into the most substantial result of his campaign.
The Eagle T1G was at the head from the opening lap and never surrendered that distinction. Porcu governed the race from start to finish, setting the fastest lap as well, a 3:23.977 that stood only 0.118 seconds clear of Masse's best effort. Yet the character of his victory lay less in a single rapid lap than in the unbroken authority with which he kept his rivals behind him across the long Spa-Francorchamps lap.
FMG finds second place
Behind the leader, the first laps rearranged the men who might have been expected to dispute the honours. Masse was second at the beginning, with Elia Porcu close behind, but an incident on lap two cost Masse one place and set FMG on his way forward. By the end of that lap the BRM P83 had moved ahead of both Masse and Elia Porcu.
It was a timely advance. FMG maintained the position to take second place, completing all 28 laps behind Porcu's Eagle. The result was a substantial one in its own right, but it could not quite equal the consequence of Porcu's victory. Masse, though repeatedly in the picture, had a more turbulent afternoon. A further incident on lap 11 dropped the Honda RA300 from third to sixth, leaving him with ground to recover over the remaining distance.
Porcu, meanwhile, was able to preserve the rhythm at the front. On a circuit where the lap was long enough to give a leader both room and responsibility, he allowed none of the interruptions behind to compromise his command. His was not a finish decided by a final exchange of places, but a carefully maintained advantage over a demanding full Grand Prix distance.
Masse's return to the podium
Masse's recovery gave the final third of the race much of its interest. Gilvil77's Ferrari 312 had taken advantage of the Frenchman's lap-11 loss and moved ahead. Their contest was renewed in the closing stages, with the two running close between laps 21 and 23. Masse reclaimed the advantage on lap 21 and held it through to the end, securing third place from the Italian, who finished fourth.
Thus the Honda was back on the podium, a result which might have been judged a useful limitation of damage in ordinary circumstances. But this was no ordinary points round. The anniversary award doubled the return, and Porcu's win carried a correspondingly sharp effect at the head of the table.
Rolf Biber provided one of the steadier recoveries beneath the leading battle. The Swiss driver had fallen to tenth after lap three, but brought his Eagle back through the order to finish fifth, ahead of pitman's Lotus 49 and Alex Senna's Ferrari. Senna's seventh place followed a particularly difficult second lap, on which incidents dropped him eight positions. He nevertheless completed the full distance and salvaged a meaningful result from an unpromising early position.
The table turns
The immediate Championship reckoning is plain enough. Porcu's 80-point anniversary haul has carried him from second place to the lead, with 184 points. Masse, whose third place added handsomely to his own total, is only two points behind on 182. FMG remains third on 176, his Spa-Francorchamps second place keeping him firmly in touch before the final round.
There was a certain fitting logic to the change. Masse had arrived with the points advantage, but Porcu had the race in hand from the first lap and never permitted a rival to take it from him. In a season regulated by a dropped-score rule, the figures have their own complexities, but the present order is simple: Porcu leads, Masse pursues closely, and FMG is not far away.
The anniversary Grand Prix had supplied more than its share of distance and difficulty. It has also given the Championship its clearest possible final-round instruction: the advantage now belongs to Porcu, but only just.
Spa-Francorchamps has often rewarded those able to combine speed with patience over its immense lap. Porcu supplied both qualities when the occasion demanded them, and the last Championship race will begin under a new leader's shadow.