Endurance Weekly: 26th June - 2nd July
- DIVEBOMB Endurance Team
- Jul 2
- 4 min read
This week on Endurance Weekly, the DIVEBOMB endurance team look back at the 24 Hours of Spa, as well as looking forward to the upcoming ELMS (European Le Mans Series) race at Imoll and reporting on any of the breaking news stories you may have missed over the past week.
24 Hours of Spa - Review
Early on in the twenty four-hour spectacle at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps deep in the heart of the Ardennes, it was McLaren who led the way, specifically the No.59 Garage 59 car at the hands of Marvin Kirchhöfer.
Strategy played out among the leaders through the opening stints, but the McLaren still led the way. Another McLaren, the No.112 CSA car, ran into mechanical troubles, slowing and limping back to the pits at low speed. He was caught by the unsighted No.22 Porsche on the exit of Blancimont, where the two collided. The monumental incident brought out the FCY (Full-Course Yellow), with debris strewn across the track. Thankfully, both drivers were unharmed.
During a later set of pit stops for the leaders, the No.59 was caught by the No.17 Mercedes as the German car put the No.59 car under pressure. At the next round of pit stops, the British marque lost the lead and with a better stop for the Mercedes, the former race leader was down in fourth. Driver Joseph Loake was caught out on cold tyres, losing second and then third place.
Through more pit stop strategy, the No.163 Lamborghini took the lead of the race as we headed into the dark. At this point, some of the main contenders began to drop out. We lost the No.007 Aston Martin to a mechanical issue, and the No.17 Mercedes, which had sustained damage in a collision with the No.991 BMW.
After the ensuing FCY, the No.998 BMW jumped up the order thanks to its pit strategy, before the No.63 Lamborghini went down the inside to take the lead from them. The No.51 Ferrari sat in third, after an issue which left them 61st and a lap down after an hour.
Max Hesse in the BMW lost the lead again in the pits, but pulled off a move around the outside of Blanchimont to retake the lead. The Grasser Racing Team managed to perfect their strategy however, taking back the lead of the race.
From there, the Lamborghini held off a late charge from Sven Müller in the No.96 Rutronik Porsche to take the Italian brand's first ever victory and podium at the 24 Hours of Spa.
Read the in-depth race report here.
4 Hours of Imola - Preview
The European Le Mans Series (ELMS) will resume after a two-month break. The third round of the season takes place at the Imola Circuit in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The race commences on Sunday, 6 July at 12:00 local time.
Qualifying for all classes is held on Saturday, 5 July, starting with the LMGT3 at 14:30, followed by the LMP3 at 14:55, LMP2 Pro/Am at 15:20 and LMP2 at 15:45 local time.
This year’s edition would be the seventh time the series visits Imola, featuring 44 cars with 130 drivers and 33 teams. In particular, six teams and ten Italian drivers are looking to impress in front of the home crowd.
The No.18 IDEC SPORT leads both the LMP2 Drivers’ and Teams’ championships after winning the first two rounds in Barcelona and Le Castellet.
Just a point separates the leader of the LMP2 Pro/Am championships, with the No.27 Nielsen Racing having a slight upper hand over the No.29 TDS Racing.
The No.17 CLX Motorsport is standing strong at the top of both LMP3 championships, with 22 points separating them from the No.68 M Racing in second place. The championship leader also won the first two rounds.
And finally, with 31 points, the No.85 Iron Dames leads the LMGT3 championships over the second-placed No.50 AF Corse by four points. Both teams are looking to put on a show in front of their home fans.
Breaking News
Ferrari unveil 296 GT3 Evo
The newer, updated model of the Italian marque's current GT3 flagship was shown off for the first time on Friday.
The updates include a new gearbox, some relatively significant aero updates aimed at making the car more stable in all types of race conditions, and some changes to make the car easier to set up for teams.
The car will be made available as an upgrade kit for the current model to customer teams for the 2026 season.
Tom Blomqvist to race for United Autosports at Canadian Tyre Motorsport Park
Tom Blomqvist will join IMSA LMP2 championship leader Daniel Goldburg in the No.22 United Autosports Oreca 07 at the upcoming Canadian round.
Regular driver Paul Di Resta will be away on WEC (World Endurance Championship) duties with Peugeot in their Hypercar in Brazil for the 6 Hours of Interlagos.
The Anglo-Swedish driver will be available for the weekend, as the CTMP round does not feature GTPs. This means he will not be needed in the Meyer Shank Acura.
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