An untimely Safety Car period put paid to Larbre Competitions victory chances at the 6 Hours of Spa- Francorchamps on Saturday, although a second consecutive podium finish maintained their strong start to the FIA World Endurance Championship campaign.

Spirited performances from Patrick Bornhauser, Julien Canal and Fernando Rees ultimately helped the #50 Corvette C6.R come home third in the GTE Am class after a late-race battle with the #96 AMR Aston Martin. The result, along with second position at the Silverstone season opener, sees the French squad occupy third in the standings.

The team was nevertheless disappointed to miss out on an even better result thanks largely to the unfortunate timing of the Safety Car being deployed just one lap after Larbres first pit-stop. In order to pick up the races overall leader, the class front-running #81 8Star Motorsports Ferrari was waved through by the Race Director, picking up a lap over its rivals in the process. No further incidents during the remaining five hours ensured there was little chance of making up the deficit.

Jack Leconte, Team Manager: The accident that triggered the Safety Car ultimately killed our victory chances at the end of the first hour. Theres always a chance that will happen during the season though, especially as European organisers do not use Safety Car intervention as a means of spicing up the racing. I do not like that sort of manipulation and prefer that the talents of the driver and team are the deciding factor. On this occasion events did not play out in our favour, but the wheel keeps on turning.

Spas FIA WEC round was run over two days instead of the usual three, which was very interesting. The reduced format included a pair of two-hour free practice sessions, which is great as they allow us to conduct better work with the drivers. The intensity is higher which calls for greater concentration while costs are also reduced, so Id like to see this adopted in future.

Next up is Le Mans, where we have won for the past three years. Well be entering our second, #70 Corvette meaning there will be the same number of Chevrolets as Porsches, Ferraris and Aston Martins.

Patrick Bornhauser: I didnt have much opportunity to drive during free practice so it wasnt until the race that I was really able to hit my strapsand set good, consistent times. The car was quite well balanced but the high track temperature hurt the tyres. It was almost a perfect race from everyone in the team and the drivers.

Julien Canal: Following quite a good qualifying performance I joined the race after good stints from my two team-mates and didnt make any mistakes. I came out of the pits right behind one of the Aston Martins and, despite making several passing attempts, initially had to settle for fourth place behind it. Then, during my second stint, I managed to overtake it and hold on to third position until the finish.

Fernando Rees: It was a difficult race but, in the end, the result was very good. It was the best we could have achieved, so congratulations to thewhole team. Everyone gave their all and we did not make a single mistake during the race. I hope well be a little quicker at the next race so that I can achieve my first win of the season.

Larbre Competitions attention now switches to the Le Mans 24 Hours, with the Official Test Day taking place at Circuit de la Sarthe on June 9 followed by the race itself two weeks later on June 22/23.

6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps GTE Am result:1. 8Star Motorsports Ferrari Potolicchio/Aguas/Malucelli 147 laps2. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Nygaard/Poulsen/Simonsen +12. Larbre Competition Corvette Bornhauser/Canal/Rees +24. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Goethe/Hall/Campbell-Walter +35. Proton Competition Porsche Ried/Roda/Ruberti +46. IMSA Performance Porsche Narac/Vernay +47. Krohn Racing Ferrari Krohn/Jonsson/Mediani +58. AF Corse Ferrari Mallegol/Bachelier/Blank +99. AF Corse Ferrari Gerber/Griffin/Cioci +18

GTE Am teams classification:1. Aston Martin Racing 44 points2. 8Star Motorsports 403. Larbre Competition 334. Aston Martin Racing 255. Proton Competition 206. Krohn Racing 147. IMSA Performance 148. AF Corse 8