The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps delivered fourth place for the #59 McLaren LMGT3 EVO with EDGE driver James Cottingham putting on a fantastic display of speed and consistency during his stint. This P4 was the strongest result of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship so far for the Mclaren powered outfit.
James had a fantastic qualifying session, getting the #59 into hyper pole once again and setting a time that would see him line up in P4 for the 6 hour race. It was a strong start with James upgrading P4 to P2 in his opening double stint. Just after the two-hour mark, Nicolas Costa took over and within four laps, he was leading the race. Thrilling battles ensued, with the #59 running consistently within the top three. Gregoire Saucy joined in a strategically strong position, before a lengthy red flag just four laps into his stint brought the race to a halt.
Almost two hours later, the race was extended and restarted with one hour and 44 minutes on the clock. For Saucy and the #59 crew, however, the timing of the red flag threw out the fuel strategy, reducing a likely podium to P5 at the checkered flag – which was later upgraded to P4 after a post-race ruling.
James Cottingham: “We’ve progressed massively over the weekend. The spec we raced in was, for me, spot on. I had a mega first couple of hours, I felt very comfortable in the car. I’m now very used to it in terms of procedures and controls … I didn’t feel stressed at any point and I was really happy with our pace. To come into the pits in second place and handover the car felt great. The other guys did a great job too. We weren’t unlucky … we just lacked a bit of luck when it came to the red flag and the splash and dash at the end, which we had to do. I think we can all go to Le Mans confident in our understanding and feeling for the car. Hopefully we’ve saved all the luck we need for there!”
Next up, it’s the big one. The 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place on 15-16th June at Circuit de la Sarthe. Stay up to date with the team on social @edge_management.