Grasser Racing gives Lamborghini first ever 24 Hours of Spa victory, Verstappen run Aston Martin win in Gold Cup
- Aaron Carroll
- Jun 29
- 8 min read
Written by Aaron Carroll
The No.63 Grasser Racing Team (GRT) Lamborghini has won the 2025 24 Hours of Spa. Mirko Bortolotti, Luca Engstler and Jordan Pepper drove the car to Lamborghini's first ever win and podium in the event.
The 78th running of the 24 Hours of Spa got underway at 16:30 local time on Saturday the 28th of June, with Marvin Kirchhöfer in the No.59 Garage 59 McLaren leading the 74 car grid over the line to take the green flag.
Jules Gounon in the No.17 Mercedes followed him in second, with Vincent Abril in the No.51 Ferrari jumping up to third, from fifth on the grid. Aside from a spin at the final chicane for the No.58 McLaren, it was a clean start from all 73 cars that took the start.
The one car missing from the full 74 was the No.2 Corvette. The mechanics found a brake issue while on the grid, having to pull the car into the garage before the race started. That car eventually did re-join the race.
On the next lap however, the No.52 Ferrari tagged the No.60 Lamborghini at the final chicane, spinning them around. Antares Au in the No.97 Porsche came around the corner unsighted, and collected the Lamborghini.
Both cars came into the pits with damage, later reappearing down the order. The No.52 got a drive-through penalty for causing the incident. The Full-Course Yellow (FCY) made it's first appearance to collect the debris.
The green flags flew, and were followed by a relatively quiet period. The first round of pit stops for the leaders was triggered by the No.163 Lamborghini of Sandy Mitchell. They came in to avoid traffic, and benefitted.
By the time the rest of the field were in and out of the pits, the Italian car came out in second place overall. Nicki Thiim in the No.007 Aston Martin had a similar strategy and moved up to third, both cars still behind the No.59 McLaren.
The No.51 Ferrari had a slow stop, and Alessio Rovera brought the car into the garage briefly at the end of the out lap. The mechanics quickly solved the issue, but the AF Corse car had already gone a lap down on the leaders.
The No.112 CSA Racing McLaren slowed on track with a mechanical issue. The car was caught by the lead group on the exit of Blancimont, with Laurin Heinrich in the No.22 Porsche blinded by the No.48 Mercedes ahead going straight into the back of the McLaren at high speed.
The front of the Porsche and the rear of the McLaren were completely destroyed. Both drivers were sent to the medical centre, but both did also get out of the cars unaided. A long FCY followed to clean up the sea of debris that was spewed across the track.
There No.59 McLaren continued on in the lead for the next stint, before the No.97 Porsche found trouble once again. Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz in the No.4 Crowdstrike Mercedes tagged Au at Fagnes, spinning him into the gravel.
The ensuing FCY caused chaos for the No.70 Ferrari and No.270 Aston Martin. The Aston slowed quickly for the caution, catching the Ferrari napping. The Ferrari went straight into the back of the ComToYou car, significantly damaging both cars.
At the front, the No.59 McLaren held the lead throughout the next stints, ahead of the No.163 Lamborghini. Behind, further down the order, the No.35 Aston Martin went wide at turn seven, causing a chain reaction which put a BMW off the road and the No.12 Ferrari in the gravel. Everyone got going again though, no need for an interruption.
At this point in the race the No.51 Ferrari began to climb back up the timing sheets after going a lap down in the first hour. Alessio Rovera unlapping himself from multiple cars.
The leaders had one more round of pit stops before the next FCY for a stricken Mercedes. During these stops the No.17 Mercedes undercut its way up to second place, putting pressure on the No.59 for the lead.
The rest of the top five behind those too was nose to tail as well, the No.163 Lamborghini, the No.50 Ferrari and the No.48 Mercedes all in contention for the lead of the race.
On the next set of pit stops, Joseph Loake got in the leading McLaren, but after a slow stop they dropped to third. Then Arthur Leclerc in the No.50 Ferrari managed to muscle past the young Briton, leaving the former leader down in fourth.
Soon after, the No.611 Mercedes tagged the No.11 Aston Martin at the top of Radillion, sending the car into the barrier at high speed. The driver managed to get out of the car unaided, and only a FCY was needed, no barrier repairs. The Mercedes would get a 30 second stop-go penalty for causing the collision.
In the next pit stop cycle for the leaders, the No.48 had a slow stop. They dropped from fourth to ninth with their less than ideal pit stop. The Winward car did run slightly offset from the rest of the cars with its pit strategy, so it did lead for short periods of the race.
At this point in the race, the gaps between all of the leaders were small, but no one wanted to risk a move. It was generally very single file, as each driver just wanted to see the sun rise in the morning, before they began to get aggressive.
Through a couple of rounds of pit stops, the No.163 Lamborghini ended up at the front during the first few hours of full darkness. A couple of hours later, they would lose the lead to a strange incident in the pits, where they slowed in the fast lane, for no apparent reason.
Disaster struck for a race long contender, the No.007 Aston Martin came into the pits with a drivetrain issue, spelling the end of the race for the reigning champions.
Very soon after, the leading No.17 Mercedes would collide with the No.991 Paradine BMW. The BMW was left missing a front left wheel and wheel hub, significant damage for Sean Gelael. This meant that the race leader got a drive-through penalty for causing the collision.
That wouldn't be the end of the trouble for that crew, as Fabian Schiller pulled it over to the side of the track with an issue after another collision, this time with the No.99 Tresor Attempto Audi. Both cars retired from the race due to the damage.
The FCY that followed helped spring the No.998 BMW of Max Hesse up the order and into the lead of the race. They led for an hour or so, before losing it to a move from the No.63 Lamborghini to give that car the lead.
Through a pit stop offset, the No.51 Ferrari led for a short period. A monumental feat from the AF Corse crew to get the car back into contention after being. At the halfway mark they sat third behind the No.63 and No.998 cars.
During the next hour, the lead changed hands multiple times via pit stop offsets, but the No.63 eventually cycled back to the front.
The No.48 Mercedes collided with the No.64 Ford, damage forcing the Ford to stop on the side of the road. The contending Mercedes was to blame for the incident, receiving a drive-through penalty.
Strategies continued to play out as the sun rose into the morning. Max Hesse in the No.998 BMW would find himself behind the No.63 Lamborghini for third place on the road at the time.
The German driver went for the move around the outside of the high-speed Blancimont, and managed to make it stick. That move ended up being for the lead of the race, when pit stops for the cars ahead played out.
The No.63 soon got them back through pit stop strategy, as they had done multiple times in the race so far. They soon played their cards right again, as the No.93 stopped on track. Just before the FCY was called (and the pits closed) the Grasser Racing Team called the car in. They gained 24 seconds of a lead through the cheap pit stop.
The No.15 BMW stopped in sector two, bringing out a FCY. This was perfect timing for the No.96 Rutronik Porsche, as they had just come into the pits when the caution was called. The stop cemented their place in the top 10 for now.
Back in fourth and fifth, there was a thrilling battle between the No.51 Ferrari and the No.998 BMW. The two went side by side from Les Combes, all the way down to Pouhon, where the Ferrari won out.
There was also a battle for the lead in the Gold category. The No.58 McLaren and the No.33 Aston Martin came in and out of the pits nose to tail, Adam Smalley leading in the McLaren.
Harry King in the Aston Martin went for a dummy move at Les Combes as they exited the pits, forcing Smalley to make a mistake and leave the door wide open. The Verstappen.com car took the lead with three hours to go.
Back in Pro, the leaders took another round of pit stops. The No.96 took Sven Müller on board, and the No.63 took on Mirko Bortolotti. The Italian began to close on Müller quickly, the gap coming down from five seconds, to just over one second.
The gap expanded a bit again through traffic, but Bortolotti was soon back on the charge. As he caught the back of the Porsche again, Müller slowed. He had a rear-right puncture, just 400 metres before he was due to pit. Some good driving from the Porsche man minimised the time loss, but they still lost track position.
The gap ebbed and flowed for the next while, before we came to the final stops. Both cars had to deal with traffic, slowing them down. Bortolotti had a slow getaway from his pit box, bringing the gap right down.
Meanwhile the lead in Gold swapped to the No.58 McLaren, after they overcut the No.33 Aston Martin.
When all the pit stops were said and done, the two overall leaders were split by about a second with 35 minutes to go, a straight shootout to the finish between Bortolotti and Patric Niederhauser.
The No.98 BMW and No.51 Ferrari were battling for third overall too, the gap under a second for the vast majority of their penultimate stint. But the BMW got a 30 second penalty for track limits, ruining their chances of a podium.
When the two came out of the pits after their finals stops, they met on the Kemmel straight. Marciello was squeezed onto the grass but he kept his foot in and got the position. Both drivers were given a black-and-white warning flag for dangerous driving.
Back at the front, Bortolotti had extended the gap out as time went on, Niederhauser with no reply for the pace of the Italian.
There was drama in Gold with less than 10 minutes to go. The No.58 class leader suffered a puncture, ripping a win from their grasp in the dying moments. The No.33 Verstappen.com car took over in the lead.
It was Mirko Bortolotti who took the chequered flag to win the 24 Hours of Spa, and give Lamborghini their first ever victory in the race.
The No.33 won in Gold, the No.35 in Silver, No.74 in Bronze and No.29 in Pro-Am.
Race Results
1st No.63 Lamborghini
2nd No.96 Porsche
3rd No.51 Ferrari
4th No.50 Ferrari
5th No.98 BMW
6th No.59 McLaren
7th No.32 BMW
8th No.31 BMW
9th No.33 Aston Martin (1st in Gold)
10th No.48 Mercedes
14th No.35 Aston Martin (1st in Silver)
15th No.74 Ferrari (1st in Bronze)
33rd No.29 Porsche (1st in Pro-Am)
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