The FIA World Endurance Championship 2024 took place in Spa Francorchamps, Belgium, from May 7th to 11th, 2024. Will Stevens, who emerged as the winner of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in the FIA World Endurance Championship 2024, shared his thoughts during the post-race press conference. Stevens, along with his teammate Callum Ilott, mentioned that JOTA faced difficulties in overtaking their rivals on track. According to Stevens, the early stages proved challenging, especially the second stint, when they struggled to pass the Toyota due to the decision not to change tires. The team faced difficulties in the final corner and at Eau Rouge, making overtaking initially difficult. However, once they found clean air, their pace improved, allowing them to eventually pass the Toyota. Stevens emphasized the importance of being aggressive and making gains to stay ahead in such fierce races.
Stevens found himself in a battle with Mike Conway’s Toyota #7 after coming out of the pits. However, this battle was not a true fight for the win, as the race was interrupted by a long red flag after an accident involving Earl Bamber and Sean Galael on the Kemmel straight. Stevens’ teammate, Ilott, expressed uncertainty about their chances of winning without the red flag, stating they were hovering around positions 5, 6, and 7. Ilott believed that with better management of GT traffic, they could have advanced. Despite losing time trying to overtake the competitor in sixth place, Ilott showed strong pace once in front and continued to close the gap.
In the final stretch of the race, when the race resumed after the red flag, with one hour and 40 minutes remaining, Ilott found himself leading Kevin Estre’s Porsche #6. He mentioned not feeling pressure from behind during this period and described his performance as being in the zone. Ilott maintained a consistent pace, staying focused on his engineer’s reminders. The 25-year-old driver expressed his satisfaction with his performance in the race.
