24 Hours of Spa Preview: 69 GT3s set for battle at the Circuit de Spa Francorchamps
- Benjamin Crundwell
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
The third round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) will take place this weekend at the Circuit de Spa Francorchamps, deep in the Ardenne Forest. 69 GT3 cars will race in the 79th running of the 24 Hours of Spa, attempting to beat Maro Engel and Maxime Martin, who remain undefeated so far in this year's Championship.
The 24 Hours of Spa has been held as an annual event since 1924. The event has been missed a few times but not since 1963. The race was initially held on local roads around Malmedy and Stavelot, a fearsome 15km circuit which left no room for error.
Nowadays, the race is held on the modern, purpose built, circuit. Despite being an FIA Grade 1 circuit, the track has still claimed the lives of eight drivers in the 21st century.
Part of the challenge of racing at Spa is the weather, which can be unpredictable regardless of the season. Fortunately for the drivers, the sun should be out on Saturday, but rain may arrive come Sunday morning.
The race is split into five separate classes, but each class uses GT3s, so classes are differentiated by their driver rating. The Pro class is the top class and has 18 entries.
Engel and Martin are returning to defend their Championship lead, however in different cars. Engel will race in the No.48 Team Mann-Filter Mercedes, with Luca Stolz and Lucas Auer. Martin meanwhile, will race with Maximilian Götz and Fabian Schiller in the No.17 Team GetSpeed Mercedes. Mercedes struggled last year, only just breaking into the top 10 with the No.48.
This year things are looking better for the German brand, as the No.17 topped the fourth Qualifying session on Thursday. This does not mean they will start from pole though, as Superpole will take place this afternoon (Friday) at 15:05 local time (14:05 BST). To qualify for Superpole, a car must have been in the top 32 of the Combined Qualifying session, which averaged times from the four actual sessions.
Off the back of a disappointing Nürburgring 24h, the No.3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes will go again at Spa. The No.3 will be manned once again by Joules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella, but they will be joined by Chris Lulham this time. The car was leading the Nürburgring until it was forced to pit with mechanical issues in the morning and lost heaps of times to its competitors.
Of the 15 Porsches competing in the race, three of them are in the Pro class with some ominous driver line ups. Ricardo Feller, Bastian Buus and Thomas Preining will arm the No.80 Lionspeed GP Porsche and Morris Schurring, Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Picariello will race the No.2 Boutsen VDS Porsche.
Perhaps the most brutal of Porsche's line ups is the Schumacher CLRT No.22 car, but it did the worst in Thursday's Qualifying. Ayhancan Güven, Matt Campbell and Frederic Makowiecki finished a disappointing 14th in Qualifying, but will get another chance in Superpole as they were in the top 32.
BMW also have three Pro entries. The highest finisher in Qualifying was the No.32 WRT BMW of Kelvin van der Linde, Jordan Pepper and Charles Weerts, which finished only 17th. BMW has another entry from WRT and their third Pro entry is by ROWE. A lot of people will have their eyes on the No.46 WRT car, because Valentino Rossi be driving it.
The final German car in the Pro class is the No.84 Eastalent Audi R8 LMS. Audi have won the 24 Hours of Spa four times, but not since 2017, with only one Pro entrant, their chances of winning are already lower than the rest. Equally, there is only one Ford Mustang competing in the Pro class, it will be driven by Fabio Scherer, Thomas Drouet and Arjun Maini, who crashed out of the previous IGTC round at the Nürburgring.
Another manufacturer with a single entrant to the Pro class is McLaren. Despite only having one car in the top class, the Garage 59 car is not a contender to be discounted. Joseph Loake, Dean Macdonald and Marvin Kirchhöfer managed sixth in Qualifying, matching their finishing position in last years race.
Another British manufacturer, Aston Martin have two cars, the No.34 Walkenhorst entry and the Comtoyou Racing car, which is wearing the famous No.7 number.
Last year's winners are returning this year, but Grasser Racing Team will have a different driver line up. Mirko Bortolotti is returning to the car, joined by Franck Perera and Maximilian Paul in the No.63 GRT Lamborghini. Bortolotti's previous team mates are also racing, but in separate cars. Luca Engstler is driving the No.96 Rutronik Lamborghini and Jordan Pepper is driving the No.32 WRT car, since he signed as a BMW factory driver this year.
The Pro class is rounded out by two AF Corse Ferraris, another two cars with seriously quick drivers. Lilou Wadoux, Arthur Leclerc and Sean Gelael are racing the No.50, and Alessio Rovera, Tommaso Mosca and Nicklas Nielsen are racing the No.51, which topped Combined Qualifying yesterday but has to go fastest again this afternoon to retain pole position.
The starting order will be decided in Superpole, which starts at 15:05 local time (14:05 BST), and the race will start on Saturday at 16:30 local time.
