The #34 machine that South African van der Linde shared with David Pittard and Marco Wittmann had run third within the early laps after a bullish begin from Pittard, however dropped again down the order with a puncture.
Nonetheless by dusk the crew have been again in rivalry for a podium, just for an engine failure to power Pittard out within the early hours.
The sister #35 automotive pushed by Timo Glock, Martin Tomczyk and Thomas Neubauer was dominated out with suspension issues after a prolonged spell within the storage to restore harm incurred whereas 2011 DTM champion Tomczyk was on the wheel.
The double DNF signifies that the M6, which bows out after six years of service on the finish of the season with the brand new M4 due subsequent season, ends its profession with two Spa wins – achieved in 2016 with Rowe Racing and 2018 with Walkenhorst.
Walkenhorst workforce supervisor Niclas Koenigbauer described the consequence as “a bitter disappointment”.
“The truth that two unlucky conditions meant we didn’t end with both automotive makes us very unhappy – significantly because it was the BMW M6 GT3’s farewell race right here at Spa-Francorchamps,” he mentioned.
Van der Linde, who completed an in depth second alongside Wittmann, Tomczyk and Connor de Philippi within the Nurburgring 24 Hours earlier this 12 months with the Rowe workforce, mentioned the failure was made extra galling as a result of he believed the M6 had the tempo to claw again into the lead struggle with the race-winning Iron Lynx Ferrari.
#34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3: Sheldon van der Linde, Marco Wittmann, David Pittard
Picture by: SRO
“It’s a really bitter capsule to swallow after such a powerful begin to the weekend,” mentioned van der Linde, who had certified fifth within the superpole.
“We have been up there in each single session and I actually suppose we had all of the elements to win this race however sadly we needed to retire the automotive early within the morning. It’s a giant disgrace, particularly as each automobiles have been out.
“It hurts twice as a lot if you find yourself in such a great place and know you could have a powerful package deal and all you might want to do is to convey it dwelling.
“However Spa is such a tough race to win, you want a lot luck and you’ve got so many alternative components concerned that each one must fall into place and sadly that wasn’t the case this 12 months.”
Glock added that the #35 crew had loved “a flawless race” till the contact, with “no monitor restrict warnings”.
“Earlier than the accident we have been at a really, excellent degree and have been in a extremely good place for getting a powerful consequence,” he mentioned.