BLANCPAIN GT SERIES — 24 HOURS OF SPA
during each stint, was fighting for top honors in their class. With hours to go, the team was confident in a good result, and each of the team- mates pushed hard to keep ahead of their class competitors. The four-man squad pushed through the entire 24 hours of the race and was able to score a strong podium finish at the Total 24 Hours of Spa. “It takes only one lap around Spa-Francorchamps,” Boulle says, “or even just one trip up Eau Rouge” — the circuit’s famous and fast down- hill-uphill switch over a river — “to realize how special this place is and how amazing this race is. The circuit is so demanding both physically and mentally because even the smallest mistakes are punished so severely, thanks to the many fast corners and the walls that surround the circuit.” Despite that, the Rinaldi Racing team and the No. 488 Ferrari GT3 car performed flawlessly through the whole weekend. “The car seemed to somehow get better and better through the race weekend,” Boulle said, after the race, “and so did the guys on each pit stop. To race here is an honor itself, but with our close relationship with the series’ primary sponsor, Blancpain, it has been even more special. I don’t think this will be my last time racing in the Blancpain GT Series, if I can help it.”
driver by the FIA (Federation In- ternationale de l’Automobile), was added under special rules of the 24-hour event that allow him to share the car with Rinaldi Racing’s three Bronze-rated drivers. The strong Rinaldi Racing drivers Pierre Ehret (Germany/USA), Rick Yoon (South Korea) and Murad Sultanov (Russia) would utilize Boulle for a maximum of six hours of driving, as they brought him in to complete the four-man lineup. Circle Y Holdings in Dallas helped make the weekend possible for Boulle. After a slow start in qualifying, thanks to an ill-timed red flag because of a wreck on the circuit, the No. 488 Ferrari would start the 24-hour race from eighth place in its class. Boulle would be the second driver in the car. He was able to push the car up into the fourth position after his one-hour stint moving into the race’s third hour. Eventually, the team, through consistency and a strong average pace “This is a race that you obviously bring high expectations into, especially for myself.” —Nick Boulle
After a strong run in the 24 Hours of Le Mans only a month before, de Boulle Motorsports’ driver, Nick Boulle, received a phone call asking if he could join another team for the 24 Hours of Spa. The Total 24 Hours of Spa is a part of the Blancpain GT Series that races around the globe. The series features only GT3-clas- sification cars, which are balanced through weight and power reduc- tions to achieve equal performance. Unlike the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the field is a mix of GT cars and superfast prototypes, the Total 24 Hours of Spa, held at the Circuit de Spa-Francor- champs, is the greatest GT-only event in the world. The race features the latest racing cars from most famous manufacturers: Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Nis- san, Bentley, Lexus, Honda, Jaguar, McLaren and Lamborghini. The Total 24 is considered the crown jewel of the Blancpain Endurance Series, which encompasses four three-hour, multi-driver events at Europe’s top circuits, including Autodromo Nazio- nale Monza, Silverstone, Circuit Paul Ricard and Circuit de Barcelona-Cata- lunya, in addition to the Total 24. Racing in the Am Cup category, Boulle, who is rated a Silver-level
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