Preview: 78th CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps – GT World Challenge Europe's Biggest Test

Text: Rick Kiewiet

Images: SRO

The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup season reaches its centerpiece this weekend as the GT World Challenge Europe heads to Spa-Francorchamps for the 78th CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. A 69-car field representing ten manufacturers will take the green flag at 16:30 (local, 15.30 BST) on Saturday 27 June, with the checkered flag due at the same time on Sunday afternoon. It is the biggest GT3 race on the calendar, and after two rounds that have served up anything but predictable results, the championship picture heading into Belgium is suitably open.

Favourites: Pro

The Endurance Cup standings entering Spa tell a clear story on paper, though the season so far has been anything but straightforward. The #48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter crew of Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and Lucas Auer leads the drivers' standings by ten points following their Paul Ricard win and Monza recovery to second, making them the obvious benchmark. The #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin of Nicki Thiim, Marco Sørensen and Mattia Drudi sits just behind — winners at Paul Ricard, they were in contention at last year's Spa before reliability ended their challenge, and arrive with the added confidence of having won this race in 2024.

Mercedes-AMG carries broader momentum into the weekend, with wins at the Bathurst 12 Hour and Nürburgring 24 earlier in the year underlining the marque's current form. Verstappen Racing brings Jules Gounon — a two-time winner here — alongside Dani Juncadella, who also has a Spa 24 Hours victory to his name. GetSpeed similarly fields a pair of former winners in Maxime Martin and Maxi Götz.

BMW's case rests largely on ROWE Racing, which has three overall wins since 2016, and the #32 WRT entry pairing last year's Sprint Cup champions Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde with defending Spa winner Jordan Pepper.

Porsche arrives in strong form through Lionspeed GP, where Ricardo Feller, Thomas Preining and Bastian Buus represent arguably the quickest pure-pace line-up in the Pro field — the question being whether they can manage 24 hours as well as a flying lap.

Comtoyou Racing's factory Aston trio aside, the Walkenhorst Motorsport entry adds another contender for the Aston camp, featuring 2018 winner Christian Krognes. After its sensational pole position at Monza — where its race was ended in the opening corner chaos — the HRT Ford Racing Pro entry will also be worth watching.

Favourites: Silver, Gold and Bronze

In Silver, Tresor Attempto Racing arrives as the class championship leader after its extraordinary Monza win. The #66 Audi crew of Ariel Levi, Sebastian Øgaard and Rocco Mazzola — joined by a fourth driver for Spa — were on course for second overall at Monza before fortune intervened in their favor; the question is whether they can translate that momentum into a clean 24-hour run. Pure Rxcing and Team WRT finished one-two in the Silver class at Paul Ricard, and both look capable of fighting for honours again, with WRT's all-Belgian three-car effort including Amaury Cordeel and Matisse Lismont generating particular local interest. Defending class winner Walkenhorst Motorsport returns with the majority of last year's winning crew aboard.

In Gold Cup, the #58 Garage 59 McLaren of Louis Prette, Tom Fleming and Benji Goethe is the obvious favourite. The trio won the class at Paul Ricard — finishing third overall — and were denied a class win at last year's Spa by a puncture ten minutes from the flag. The #998 ROWE Racing BMW of Jens Klingmann, Ugo De Wilde and Tim Tramnitz offers a genuine alternative, ROWE's three overall wins being the best record of any team during the past decade. Tresor Attempto's Gold Cup entry is also worth monitoring — the crew qualified second overall at Monza before the opening-lap carnage removed them from the equation.

In Bronze, defending class champion Kessel Racing leads the way, with Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall joined by two rapid young additions for Spa. Rutronik Racing, running under the Lamborghini banner this season, represents the most credible challenge, Sven Müller and Antares Au providing a combination of factory pedigree and class-winning experience. The Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, which was eliminated from a potential overall podium at Monza by a separate incident, will be motivated to make amends.

Last Year: Lamborghini's Long-Awaited Triumph

The 77th edition, run in dry and fast conditions, delivered a result many years in the making. The #63 GRT Grasser Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 of Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper and Luca Engstler gave the Italian manufacturer its first ever win at Spa-Francorchamps, seeing off a sustained challenge from the Rutronik Racing Porsche. The Porsche had used a well-timed full course yellow to move into the lead with around three hours remaining, before a slow puncture allowed Bortolotti to make the decisive pass at the Bus Stop chicane. A brief scare when the Lamborghini refused to fire instantly at the final stop didn't ultimately cost them — they took the flag by just over eight seconds.

AF Corse's #51 Ferrari completed the podium after recovering from an early brake issue, promoted there in the closing stages when a track limits penalty dropped the #98 ROWE BMW. In Gold Cup, Verstappen Racing's Aston Martin snatched class honours after the leading Garage 59 McLaren was struck by a puncture through Blanchimont inside the final ten minutes.

When and Where

The 78th CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa starts at 16:30 CET (15.30 BST) on Saturday 27 June, with the race concluding at 16:30 on Sunday 28 June. The race is broadcast free-to-air on the GT World YouTube channel, with commentary available in seven languages including English. Live timing is available at gt-world-challenge-europe.com.