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ISRS : Spa Francorchamps : Baldi & Redon Take the Win
After the retirement of the DAMS entry, due to wheel hub failure with just under one-hour remaining, the two Ferrari cars went head-to-head in a fight to the flag, with the Target 24 entered Riley and Scott driven by Alex Caffi catching up to within one-second of Sospiri during the battle. The race was finally settled in Baldi/Redon's favour after Sospiri was forced to make a 'stop-go' penalty following an indiscretion while the field was circulating behind the Safety Car.
Winners of the opening two rounds of the 1999 series, Sospiri and Collard, had to settle for second best this time, and Sospiri reflected afterwards on the pit-stop penalty that prevented a memorable hat-trick of victories. "It was very unfortunate to have to visit the pits. It stopped us from winning the race."
Rounding out the top six places were three more Ferrari 333SP's, driven by Emanuele Moncini/Christian Pescatori, the Zadra duo of Angelo and Marco, and Enzo Calderari/Lilian Bryner. The SR2 Class was won by Arturo Merzario and Paolo Maccari in their Tampolli RS2 car, with current SR2 Class leader Pierre Bruneau finishing second with Jean-Francois Yvon in their Debora-BMW.
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The DAMS Lola-Judd of Gounon/Bernard confirmed the promise shown at the previous round, when it took pole position for the third round of the ISRS - now to be named the SportsRacing World Cup. Reigning champions and winners of the opening two rounds, Collard and Sospiri, were second with their J B Geisse F333SP. The second Geisse car of Baldi/Redon qualified third, with the BMS Scuderia Italia 333SP driven by Moncini/Pescatori fourth. The top six was completed by the Riley & Scott Judd of Caffi/de Lorenzi and the second BMS Scuderia Italia 333SP of brothers Marco and Angelo Zadra
Starting third on the grid, the Baldi and Redon car was involved in a frantic battle during the early stages with the Ferrari of their JB Giesse team-mates Vincenzo Sospiri/Emmauel Collard, the pole position qualifying DAMS Lola-Judd of Jean-Marc Gounon/Eric Bernard, and the rapidy improving BMS Scuderia Italia 333SP of Christian Pescatori/Emanuele Moncini - the first three swapping places with only three seconds covering all three cars most of the time.
Redon was behind the wheel of the winning car as the chequered flag fell, scoring his first SportsRacing WORLD CUP victory, saying afterwards, "I am really pleased to win today. The start of the race was really mad, and I am quite happy that it was Mauro driving at that point! I feel that we had a very strong car all day, and although Sospiri was catching me at the end I knew that I could win - although I did have one spin when I lost concentration earlier in the race." Baldi commented, "It is really good news for the JB Giesse Team Ferrari. It was another impressive 1-2 finish, and this time it was us at the front. We are now in a very strong position for the championship. A lot of the season remains."
Completing the podium was the Target 24 Riley and Scott-Judd of Alex Caffi/Andrea de Lorenzi, which was lucky to start the race following a dramatic fire in the pits prior to the race starting. The car was engulfed in flames when it was being fuelled to take to the track. The fire was quickly extinguished, and team mechanics hurriedly prepared the car for action, starting the race from the rear of the field.