Winning the rain-affected ADAC GT Masters race at the Nürburgring was obviously the best possible preparation for René Rast. After posting the first victory of the season for Audi in the ADAC GT Masters - aided and abetted by partner Christian Mamerow - Rast has now won the Total 24 Hours of Spa in Belgium, the most prestigious endurance race for GT3 cars. In weather conditions that were every bit as challenging as those experienced during the first stint of the race in the Eifel, the Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by Rast and Phoenix team-mates Frank Stippler (also an ADAC GT Masters race winner) and Andrea Piccini emerged victorious.

On the way to his maiden win in a 24-hour race, Rast was up against some familiar opponents from the ADAC GT Masters scene, including second-placed Christopher Mies who shared an Audi R8 LMS ultra with Christopher Haase (first ever ADAC GT Masters Champion) and Frenchman Stéphane Ortelli.

"It's the first time I've competed in the 24-hour race at Spa and I wasn't expecting to win, especially as we didn't have the best of luck in qualifying and were back in 29th on the grid," said Rast. "We had great race pace, good pit stops and not even the slightest technical hitch. However, I don't think I've ever seen so much rain on a race track as we've had this weekend."

Frank Kechele will also be feeling well satisfied with a strong performance. The BMW Z4 GT3 driver together with Vita4One team-mates Mathias Lauda (ex-DTM) and Greg Franchi from Belgium finished third: "Unfortunately, we lost a bit of time at the start of the race when we changed to slicks just before a band of rain came in, but then we clawed our way back up the field and avoided any further mistakes."

ADAC GT Masters championship leader Maxime Martin dominated the first half of the marathon event in the Ardennes. After some minor problems in the early hours of the morning, the Belgian finished a frustrating fourth, missing out on a podium in his home race.

Taking sixth place in the amateur classification was reigning ADAC GT Masters Amateur Champion Marc A. Hayek who shared the cockpit of a Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+ with Blancpain Reiter team-mates Peter Kox, Albert von Thurn und Taxis and Jos Menten.

Black Falcon's Kenneth Heyer had a tough weekend - the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG driver was involved in various incidents and finished the race twelfth in his class.