PESCAROLO'S SPA SUCCESS The Pescarolo Sport pairing of Jean Christophe Boullion and Sebastien Bourdais emerged triumphant from a day of high drama in the 6th round of the FIA Sportscar Championship at Spa Francorchamps this afternoon. The Courage C60 Peugeot led from the first lap and only lost it again at the pit stops with Sebastien Bourdais driving a flawless first portion of the race to come home just under a lap ahead of Jan Lammers and Val Hillebrand, who were crowned champions just before the race. Spa's fickle climate however dealt it's usual unpredictable hand, when with twenty minutes of the race to run the heavens opened and deposited a colossal storm on the 4.329 mile track, causing a red flag and a premature end to the race. "I have only experienced conditions like those at Le Mans last year," said winner Jean Christophe Boullion. "It was just a wall of water and impossible to use the throttle at all. It was absolutely correct to stop the race at that stage. But today it was all about Sebastien, because he did all the hard work at the start of the race and got the advantage that we needed." Having taken over from his team mate Bourdais, Boullion controlled the gap to Val Hillebrand who had taken over from his mentor Lammers at the halfway stage. Jan had started from the front row but most atypically dropped back immediately and was running an uncompetetive 5th in the early stages. "We just chose the wrong tyres today," said the Dutchman. "The conditions at the start were fully dry, but off line it was still damp and treacherous so I was very conservative, maybe too much so, but from there on the tyres came back to life before I handed over to Val." Jan also lost more time when he spun at Les Combes on his in-lap. Securing third place was the R&M Judd of Mauro Baldi and Vincenzo Sospiri who had their best race of the year, dicing with the leaders in the action packed early exchanges. Baldi enjoyed an exciting dice with fellow Judd powered Italians, Durango, in the first half an hour of the race, that saw Gianmaria Bruni gamely hold off Mauro to protect a well earned second position. However, when Bruni lost time due to a slow pit stop, Mauro went clear in second place before relinquishing it to the recovering Lammers. "It was our best race of the championship," concluded Mauro. "We are developing well and just ran our own race today, but it was also nice to battle at the front for a while." An excellent 4th was the Bob Berridge Lola with Bob himself bringing the car home despite arriving back to the pits on foot after an accident involving Thed Bjork and Fabio Mancini blocked the pit lane entrance during the downpour. Berridege's team mate Jason Plato, driving the car for the first time this weekend gave an exceptional account of himself with a solid middle stint that was only spoilt by a recalcitrant starter motor at the second pit stop. The Durango Judd was eventually classified 5th despite pulling off the track at Raidillon with a broken gearbox on the lap that the race was red flagged. After Bruni's heroics in the early stages it was Alessandro Battaglin who took over but he was unable to resist the Lola in the closing stages. In a troubled sixth place came the second of the Racing For Holland Dome's of Beppe Gabbiani and Felipe Ortiz. After consolidating an early 5th place the pair made multiple pit stops to diagnose a mysterious vibration that turned out to be a broken driveshaft. After replacing it, Felipe rejoined for the final few disrupted laps to score more points for the Racing For Holland cause and secure the teams title as well as the already secured drivers crown. The final classified finisher in SR1 was the Riley & Scott Chevrolet of Robin Smith and Richard Jones who completed their first race of the year despite also breaking a driveshaft and losing over ten laps in the pits. The SR2 Championship finally went to Italy with Lucchini Engineering's Mirko Savoldi and Piergiuseppe Peroni who took the title with a second place behind their team mates Gianni Collini and Fabio Mancini who scored their second win of the year despite ending the event in the barriers. The accident, with the SRTS Lola of Thed Bjork took place after the red flag was shown in the biblical rainstorm that turned the track in to lake, so the team were still classified as victors. But it was Peroni and Savoldi who were celebrating the most after sealing the title with a solid second place after an early battle with both their team mates and the Team Jota Pilbeam. "It is a fantastic feeling for me and the team," said Peroni, who made his championship debut back in 1998. "We have raced so well this year and I have a fantastic team mate in Mirko, because he is so quick and consistent. We are all delighted and very much looking forward to the party tonight." Collini and Mancini were also delighted not only for themselves but also their team mates. "It is a great result for Lucchini Engineering and a nice way to finish a very successful season. The race was a tough one between us both and also the Pilbeam early on but Fabio did his usual brilliant job and was the fastest gut on the track when he needed to be." Taking third position was the SportsRacing Team Sweden Lola B2K/40 of Thed Bjork and Niklas Loven. The all Swedish pairing ran 4th from the start but a spin by Loven at the Bus Stop chicane saw there chances of a win dive. Bjork encountered more problems later when he lost first and second gears. "It was a tough day for us today but I tried to make up the time and to finish 3rd after all those problems was very pleasing," said the Swede. "Then after they brought the red flag out I could not see anything at all and coming in to the Bus Stop I hit a Lucchini. After that the track was totally blocked and some of the cars had to stop and many of the drivers were walking back to the pits with me. It was just chaotic." Team Jota were disappointed not to push Lucchini all the way to the flag after their suspension collapsed just after the hour mark. Sam Hignett had put in a typically committed display until then despite losing a cylinder and being frustrated by the Simpson Riley & Scott of Richard Jones who fought for position with the three litre leaders in the early stages. "It was a real shame because we were all having a great race but going through Eau Rouge the car just sat down at the rear and all I could see was sky!" said the 23 year old. A season best 4th in SR2 went to the Bonnet Debora raced by Frenchman Xavier Bich and Swiss Roland Bossy. The BMW engined car ran consistently throughout the race and reaped a full deserved clutch of points after battling gamely with the Team SCI Lucchini and the JCI Tampolli who finished fifth and sixth respectively despite delays for both cars. It was a very bad day at the office for the PiR Competition team who saw their cars crash out before half distance. Paul Daniels lost his Peugeot Sodemo powered Pilbeam at La Source nosing in to the barrier before making it back to the pits where he was forced to park. The teams other chassis, the Debora driven by the all Belgian line up of Christophe Geoffroy/David Sterckx and Frederic Bouvy followed suit just two laps later when ex Radical champion Geoffroy deposited the Nissan powered car in to the Rivage barriers. Mike Millard was the first retirement of the day on lap 11 when his Team Sovereign Rapier 6 Nissan succumbed to gearbox problems.