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Right up there with the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Daytona 24, and maybe the Nurburgring 24, one of the biggest twice-round-the-clock sports car races in the world is surely Spa.
The iconic track in the Ardenne Forest of Belgium is both beautiful and unique. The track was built in 1921 and hosted its first Grand Prix in 1924. It was one of the original circuits of the inaugural F1 championship in 1950. It first hosted a 24-hour race 99 years ago. Since then, with interruptions for wars, etc., it has featured a 24-hour race at least once a year.
While Le Mans and Daytona feature exotic prototypes along with race-prepped sports cars, the Fanatec GT World Challenge features GT3 cars only. This year’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa featured every supercar you ever wanted to have in your garage, or at least on a poster. Earning a spot in the grid were an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II, BMW M4 GT3, Ferrari 296 GT3, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, McLaren 720S GT3 EVO, Mercedes-AMG GT3, and Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). This year 70 cars took the green flag under cloudy skies but dry weather. None of the rain for which Spa is so well known fell during the race. That left the racing to the teams and drivers and not Mother Nature.
There were numerous lead changes throughout the day, night, and into the next day, with Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, and BMW taking turns at the front. When the checkered flag flew after a long night and a grueling day, BMW had taken its 25th win at the Spa 24 Hours (sponsored this year by cyber security specialist CrowdStrike). Top step on the podium went to the BMW factory Rowe Racing team, which had already won at Spa twice before, in 2016 with BMW and 2020 with Porsche, and podiumed another two times, in 2018 and 2019.
“After the Nürburgring and Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is the third iconic endurance race in the space of just a few weeks,” said head of BMW M Motorsport Andreas Roos. “Spa is the biggest pure GT3 race in the world, meaning it is held in very high esteem. Winning there is the ultimate accolade for drivers, teams, and manufacturers.”
The win for the M4 GT3 came under warm temps of 68 degrees F at the end and, surprisingly, none of the rain that had disrupted qualifying, scrambling the order all up and down the 70-car grid. The Rowe team therefore qualified 26th but fought steadily through the field to take the lead in the 20th hour. Driver Philipp Eng was behind the wheel for the long final stint, taking over the car after stints by co-drivers Nick Yelloly and Marco Wittmann. Eng stretched his lead to a steady 11 seconds over the field after the last of nine full-course yellows. It was Eng’s third win at the Spa 24.
“It feels incredible,” Eng said when he got out of the car. “It was such a roller coaster, this race, for us. We were let down at one point (qualifying 26th). Everybody was down and sad. But what Rowe Racing and BMW Motorsport stand for is dedication. We never give up. And we always continue to chase our dream, which is a victory here in the best GT3 race in the world.”
Second place went to the Auto Sport Promotion Mercedes-AMG GT driven by Raffale Marciello, Jules Gounon, and Timur Boguslavskiy. Third place went to Audi in the Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8 driven by Kelvin van der Linde, Nicki Thiim, and Luca Engstler. Just to show how well-rounded the racing was, Porsche finished fourth with the Manthey EMA 911 GT3 piloted by Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Julien Andlauer.
The weekend was marred by the death of a young Belgian driver and F1 aspirant in a multi-car crash in wet conditions with limited visibility Saturday morning, hours before the main race started. Dilano van t’ Hoff, 18, was killed during a high-speed accident during a Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine race on Saturday morning. The accident took place at the beginning of the Kemmel Straight, uphill from the dangerous Radillion section of the track and just after the high-speed, down-up kink known as Eau Rouge. Numerous drivers, including many from F1—which will be racing here in three weeks—called out the unsafe section of track, where fatalities have occurred in years past. The death hung over the 24-Hour race and dampened the usual post-race celebrations.
“But most of all was a very sad day and the last few days,” said Eng. “My condolences, deepest condolences go out to Dilano’s family. It was a horrible accident. We all think about him and I want to dedicate this victory to him.”
