Reminiscing About the History of the 24 Hours of Spa on the centenary of the great race

On the centenary occasion of the 24 Hours of Spa, not only was the main race the draw of the crowd who came to watch and the fans who tuned in on SRO GTWorld, there were also exhibition races honoring the history and the legacy of the great race, with classic touring cars and classic GT cars both being represented for each era of the Spa 24 Hours.  Remember, this race began as an event primarily for touring cars and that continued unabated pretty much from the 1960s right up until the year 2000, when, of all things, a Peugeot 306 diesel hatchback economy car won the race overall, not once, but twice.  Finally, in 2001, that is when Stephane Ratel and his group of visionaries decided that the Spa 24 Hours needed a refresh, and Grand Touring cars would become the central focus of the event as they have been now for the better part of two decades.

So, here are the qualifying sessions for, and the exhibition races themselves.  David Addison, John Watson, and a special guest, Pierre Dieudonne, call the action for these myriads of nostalgic trips down memory lane.  Enjoy.

🇬🇧 LIVE | 24 Hours of Spa Anniversary - Heritage Touring Cup, Qualifying

🇬🇧 LIVE | 24 Hours of Spa Anniversary - Endurance Racing Legends, Race 1

🇬🇧 LIVE 🔴 24 Hours of Spa Anniversary - Heritage Touring Cup | Race

🇬🇧 LIVE 🔴 24 Hours of Spa Anniversary - Endurance Racing Legends, Race 2

Qualifying and the feature race for the historic touring cars, and two races for the Endurance Racing Legends GT cars.  

24 Hours of Spa Race Recap & Post-Race News

The race recap and post-race news from a wild, thrilling centenary edition of the 24 Hours of Spa.

Race Recap:

Auer Captures Lead in 24H Spa Opening Hour

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/auer-captures-lead-in-24h-spa-opening-hour/

Drudi Leads 24H Spa After Four Hours

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/drudi-leads-24h-spa-after-four-hours/

Heavy Rain Triggers Safety Car After Seven Hours

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/heavy-rain-triggers-safety-car-after-seven-hours/

Racing Resumed; Jaminet Leads After Ten Hours

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/racing-resumed-jaminet-leads-after-ten-hours/

Van der Linde Leads 24H Spa at Halfway

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/van-der-linde-leads-24h-spa-at-halfway/

Bachler Passes Perera for Lead With Nine Hours to Go

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/bachler-passes-perera-for-lead-with-nine-hours-to-go/

Pure Racing's Sturm Crashes Out in Hour 17

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/pure-rxcings-sturm-crashes-out-in-hour-17/

Farfus Leads Sorensen Entering Final Hours

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/farfus-leads-sorensen-with-four-hours-to-go/

Comtoyou Aston Wins 24H Spa After AF Corse Pit Drama

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/comtoyou-aston-wins-24h-spa-after-af-corse-pit-drama/

Post-Race News:

Pier Guidi Unaware of Pit Lane Blockage During Final Stop

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/pier-guidi-unaware-of-pit-lane-blockage-during-final-stop/

Kurtz Hails Pro-Am Class Win in "War of Attrition"

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/kurtz-hails-pro-am-class-win-in-war-of-attrition/

Thiim: Comtoyou Did "Perfect Job" Despite Also Being "Lucky"

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/thiim-aston-squad-did-perfect-job-despite-also-being-lucky/

SRO boss Stephane Ratel explains the rationale for making the revival of the Suzuka, Japan round of the IGTC for next year, a 1,000-kilometer race instead of a ten hour event.  

Ratel Targeting 25-Car Grid for Suzuka 1,000km Revival

https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/ratel-targeting-25-car-grid-for-suzuka-1000km-revival/

Farfus: Puncture Timing "Bitter Pill" for ROWE

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/farfus-puncture-timing-bitter-pill-for-rowe/

Spa Post-Race Notebook

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/spa-post-race-notebook-20/

Watch the Full-Length Replay of Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa

The full race replay of the 24 Hours of Spa on SRO GTWorld.  David Addison, Ryan Myrehn, John Watson, Ben Constanduros (in the booth and the pit lane), Bruce Jones, and Martin Haven call all the action from the broadcast booth, with Ryan, Ben, and Antonia Rankin all reporting from the pit lane at various parts of the race action.

https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-europe/live-video-crowdstrike-24-spa/

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 24 (the finish)

Panis has pulled offline and out of the way but he cannot get the car started.  Will this be a restart?  Yes.  Karol Basz has also made a pass, a man we associate with Lamborghini's.  We need a breakdown truck.  But a safety car is going to not be enouygh and the Boutsen VDS team are heartbroken.  Full Course Yellow, now.  This is our 23rd Full Course Yellow.  The #10 car can be moved but we need to bring out the safety car and the #998 BMW could do a drive through to do a reset on drive time.  Porsche #92 and Mercedes #777 have also pitted with 54 minutes only, left on the board.  Everyone has done a reset.  

Green flag, back to racing.  Some cars need to pit before the end.  Who is going to win this thing?  This race has had amazing twists and turns!  Tomaso Mosca has come from 66th place on the grid all the way up to 14th!  Holy moly!  That's wild!  Mosca sharing with Louis and Jef Machiels and Andrea Bertolini.  A battle now between Aston, Audi, and Audi.  Colin Braun and David Pittard up the road.  Pittard passes Ricardo Feller.  Mercedes #10, the drivetrain went out.  Massive disappointment.

Wow!  The #19 Lamborghini has stopped in the pit lane and the #51 Ferrari might lose the race because of this because of the fact that they are blocked to get into the pit lane!  Oh my God!  By criminy!  Ferrari will be so upset and the Aston Martin team goes mad!  They could win this race if they keep their noses clean!  The Lamborghini was plumb in the middle of the working lane, Hugo Cook at the wheel of the Lamborghini.  Oh man!  Oh man!   Oh man!  Alessandro Pier Guidi will have a wasp in his knickers and drive like a man possessed!

BMW #998 has passed by.  Pier Guidi will be driving like a madman for 45 minutes.  The lead is gone!  Oh my heavens!  Max Hesse will be ahead of Alessandro Pier Guidi.  Mattia Drudi is told, "zero risk, bring it home."  Comtoyou Aston Martin could possibly triumph.  But we have 43 minutes to go.  I am not going to give anything away.  You will have to read more about what happens.  

Pit stops las for two minutes and a flying lap is 2:17 and change.  Hesse must lap quicker than Drudi.  Hesse ,ust pull out 17 seconds.  Drudi to the pit lane.  The pit entrance is completely clear.  One last pit stop.  This is it.  The team will change to fresh Pirelli tires for the end along with adding the fuel.  Max Hesse pushng on as Mattia Drudi is just fine.  He could have the biggest victory of his career and could be Aston Martin's first win at Spa in the 24 hours since 1948.  

Max Hesse in the BMW will be pushing, pushing, pushing.  38 minutes to go.  Alessandro Pier Guidi cannot believe his luck, hustling behind the Walkenhorst Aston Martin of David Pittard.  Pier Guidi will be absolutely crushed.  He is doing all he can do to get ahead of David Pittard.  A parked car in the pit lane?  Never.  Never.  No penalty and all they could do is get a tow vehicle to it.  35 minutes left as the cars sweep through Pouhon.  You cannot but feel for Alessandro Pier Guidi having to sit still and wait for a vehicle to get out of the way.  This is worse than being set on fire or some other miserable torture.  

Drudi leads Hesse by 28 seconds.  Julien Andlauer getting a Porsche onto a provisional podium spot.  The Gold Cup duel is still going on in earnest with just over half an hour left.  The 24 Hours of Spa is part of Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli.  Ricardo Feller runs ninth right now.  At one point, I wouldn't have underestimated another Audi victory here at Spa.  They threw all their eggs in the Formula 1 basket.  Will they have a new GT3 car?  Yannick Mettler, Aaron Walker, James Kell, and Anthony Bartone, the four of them have kept out of strife.  Nick Catsburg, Ian James, Colin Braun, and George Kurtz are also going after it.

Alessandro Pier Guidi in fifth cannot pass David Pittard.  Pier Guidi cannot pass.  Pier Guidi right on Pittard and Pier Guidi went off the road and so, he will have to give the place back to David Pittard.  Side by side into Les Combes and there's come contact and that was a big clonk!  It is convergence of two cars from different angles.  Pier Guidi is now motoring hunting down Julien Andlauer.  You can cut the tension with a knife.  Nicki Thiim says he feels sorry for the Italians.  It is the first time for Comtoyou Aston Martin with the new Vantage AMR GT3 Evo.  

His dad Kurt Thiim never won this race at the 24 Hours of Spa.  Alessandro Pier Guidi reeling in Julien Andlauer and the incident has been noted but there is no action yet.  Hopefully they get around to it before the checkered flag.  Pier Guidi is going for a podium leaving nothing on the table, driving the wheels off that Ferrari 296 GT3.  David Pittard cops the rap for it.  He will have a ten second time penalty according to Race Director Alain Adam.  Pittard drove into the Ferrari.  Andlauer, Pittard, and Vanthoor are going to be battling and the other two best be told Pittard has a penalty in his future.

An unexpectedly dramatic end to the centenary 24 Hours of Spa!  Pittard sweeps right by the Porsche of Andlauer.  Dries Vanthoor was told by his crew to give them everything he's got to bring the WRT BMW M4 GT3 home.  Both the #32 and #46 cars for WRT have been through the wringer.  Patrick Kujala and Tomaso Mosca have their own battle.  Drudi to Hesse 25 seconds.  Eight cars on the lead lap at the end is the record, and we have seven.  Could we beat the record?  We'll see.  Stay tuned.  We aren't finished yet.

Nine cars, remember, would be a record of lead lap finishers in this event.  Nine on the lead lap.  Mattia Drudi leads.  Tomaso Mosca can't pass Patrick Kujala, the Italian vs. the Finlander.  Pier Guidi third but not gaining enough to improve.  In the Bronze class it is Kujala ahead of Mosca.  Kujala in the Barwell Lamborghini.  Mattia Drudi focusing on driving, relaxing a bit.  Be careful.  There are noises.  The Aston Martin does sound rumbly, off throttle.  Sounds fine at full throttle.  What about on deceleration?  It is a little jittery off throttle.  Is it the turbo?  Probably nothing significant.  15 minutes to go for Mattia Drudi.  He is bringing it home.

Don't lost your rhythm.  Listen to what the team is telling you.  He turns out of Brussels corner and toward Speakers' corner.  TF Sport and Nicki Thiim won the Pro-Am class at the 2019 24 Hours of Spa.  It would be the first 24 Hours of Spa win for Aston Martin since 1948 and there was a class win.  Julien Andlauer just pitted and he will fall down the order.  Mattia Drudi has 26 seconds in hand, with 12 minutes left on the board.  A maximum of five more laps.  Andlauer is a lap down on the road ahead of Max Hesse.  Only five cars now on the lead lap.  Throw a "new record" in the trash.  Recycle it.

The Ferrari team, this is just not their year at Spa this year.  There could be a fine or a points penalty but it is just bad luck.  Pier Guidi is pushing hard, absolutely going for it like mad.  But he knows he won't get there.  He has pulled back one second but he will not pull a rabbbit out of a hat, I don't think.  Pier Guidi is still pushing hard.  Mattia Drudi, 474 laps on the board.  2,062 miles as someone goes way off the road and through the grass, the eSports racer James Baldwin, way off the road, a race winner in the real world and a gold medalist in eSports in the FIA Motorsports Games.

Mattia Drudi has eight minutes left.  He has not found himself in clumps of traffic in the waning moments.  Lift and coast, reduce the RPM, hit your marks.  Bring it home.  Don't think about the checkered flag.  Stay focused.  Mattia Drudi switching from Audi and switching teams from Tresor Attempto to Comtoyou.  The GT3 lap record belongs to Marco Mapelli beating Tim Heinemann and Oliver Gavin maintains a GT3 class record.  Two more laps remaining.  Max Hesse will be marginal for completing his stint to the required time, I think.  The Full Course Yellow, he will be fine, there is a grace period to elongate the stint time from 62 minutes to 67 minutes.  

The BMW is still in second spot, quicker than the Aston Martin.  Two laps to go.  Three and a half minutes on the clock.  Destiny waits for Aston Martin.  Aston Martin looking for their first win in the 24 Hours of Spa since 1948, and now, the #998 BMW M4 GT3 is going to do a drive through and so this will move Alessandro Pier Guidi and Ferrari back to second place.  Ferrari #51 won't have enough to catch Drudi but Pier Guidi will drive the wheels off of it and on corrected time, the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 to third.  Nikki Thiim and Maco Sorensen looking on and they can't believe it.  Final lap.  The next time out of La Source, we will have new race winners.

For the first time since 1948, Aston Martin wins the 24 Hours of Spa!  1948 was the most recent win, 76 years ago, with British drivers St. John Horsfall and Leslie Johnson in an Aston Martin 2-liter Sports Car.  An Aston Matin DB-1.  Now, it is Mattia Drudi, Nicki Thiim, Marco Sorensen, and Comtoyou win the 24 Hours of Spa!  76 years!  76 years!  You have to feel for Alessandro Pier Guidi, Alessio Rovera, and Davide Rigon.  Record books do not record moral victories.  It is a travesty, sure, but it wasn't meant to be.  Comtoyou celebrates!  Team owner Jean Michel Baert is over the moon.  The team's relationship with Aston Martin began with a Facebook message.  Marco Sorensen, Nicki Thiim, and Mattia Drudi win the 24 Hours of Spa!

Overall/Pro: #007    Drudi/Thiim/Sorensen        Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR 

                                                                            GT3 EVO

            Gold: #777   Al Zubair/Baumann/Ellis/Grenier    Al Manar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG                                                                                           GT3 Evo 

            Silver: #3 Mettler/Kell/Bartone/Walker               GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo

            Bronze: #66 Mukovoz/Nesov/Pereira/Hofer        Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS Evo II.

            Pro-Am: #4 Kurtz/James/Catsburg/Braun            CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3

                                                                                          Evo

            IGTC: #32 Vanthoor/van der Linde/Weerts          Team WRT BMW M4 GT3

The winners of the Intercontinental GT Challenge section, Team WRT BMW and the #32 BMW M4 GT3 of Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde, and Charles Weerts.

The biggest, biggest celebration is about to start!  Holy cow!  Cue the dance music for the results.  The last time a British brand won the 24 Hours of Spa was 40 years ago in the touring car era.  That was Jaguar with the fabled V12 XJ-S with Hans Heyer, Tom Walkinshaw, and Win Percy. This was the Group A touring car era of the 24 Hours of Spa.  British brands win Spa, 40 years apart!  Mercedes did well in the subcategories, not overall, but in the subcategories.  Silver, Gold, and Pro-Am.  Audi wins in Bronze.  Fans stayed to the very end in spite of the wacky weather we had.  

What a classic race as the dignitaries are here for the trophy presentations.  The home anthem, the Belgian National Anthem plays.  The drivers get their medals and the IGTC winners reap their rewards.  Champagne!  I do feel for Alessandro Pier Guidi who has won the 24 Hours of Spa and the 24 Hours of Le Mans before, but he lost this one in a very trivial way.  

Now we celebrate the Gold Cup winners.  The 24 Hours of Spa is thriving in the GT3 era.  It is so great to have the famed drivers from the past here, too.  Trophies to the Gold Cup winners.  We have cued the dance music as usual, to check out the points.  You can check all of it out on the SRO Motorsports Group webpages.  More podiums, Silver, Bronze, and Pro-Am.  The champagne is sprayed for Pro-Am Cup.  Pirelli Circuit Activities Manager Mattia Braga presents the trophies.Checking out all the podiums and trophy presentations as well as the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap Award.  Marco Mapelli wins that.  

Well, we won't get to speak about all the podium finishers.  But stay tuned.  There is more post-race from Spa.  There is the race recap, and we will have plenty of bonus centenary coverage for you.  We will have some of the support races for you in due course including videos of races for some pretty cool historic cars that raced at Spa and celebrate the race's glorious past.  For now, Au Revoir from the Circuit de Spa Francorchamps in the Ardennes Forest of Belgium.  This centenary edition has been fabulous!  One for the history books!  Bye bye.

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 23

Raffaele Marciello in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 has a flappy bonnet and the gaffer tape is coming apart.  Hopefully it will not get worse, and we are inside the last two hours of the motor race here in the centenary 24 Hours of Spa with 428 laps completed, 1,863 miles.  Ford Performance's Mark Rushbrook said they are really targeting having a lot of customer teams getting the Ford Mustang GT3 into championships worldwide in Europe, America, Asia, and Australia.  More trouble for Raffaele Marciello in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 where Valentino Rossi had contact and this M4 GT3 has been through the absolute wringer.  The bonnett is a bodge job, and it is not fitting properly with some damage, shoving the darn thing into place.

The most important thing in your toolbox is gaffer tape but these poor blokes are hemmorhaging time in 22nd place, and they are fighting for nothing and the same is true for the #93 Sky Tempesta Racing Ferrari with Lilou Wadoux getting into the automobile.  We have also lost the #100 RJN McLaren with turbo boost issues although it may be back on the track it is badly, badly delayed.  16th in the overall and fourth in Bronze for Lilou Wadoux, new to the team for this weekend and she has fit in well.  

Al Faisal A Zubair and his team are leading the Golf Cup at Al Manar Racing by GetSpeed in the #777 Mercedes-AMG GT3.  Al Faisal Al Zubair is either laid back or he is totally cream crackered after this race.  It has taken a toll on everyone, even me.  Mikael Grenier leading the Gold Cup and are running sixth in the overall I believe.  Philip Ellis is British, Swiss, and German, and went to school in Mallorca, Spain.  Race leading Ferrari in the lane.  Philipp Ellis Googled how to be a racing driver, and racing teams and sent loads of emails, tested a go kart, and here he is in these endurance races.  

Alessio Rovera in the lead with the Aston Martin boys are chasing them down.  Now, we could very well see some reain, maybe.  Your guess is as good as mine.  Find a forecast you like.  Our Italian colleagues are buzzing about it.  So, Alessandro Pier Guidi heads back on track.  432 laps completed, 1,880 miles.  Thiim leads over Max Hesse in the BMW.  Max Hesse might go to the end of the race for an hour and 48 minutes to go.  You need a fresh driver if we see a late race safety car.  Maybe the Brazilian veteran Augusto Farfus, keeping his poweder dry, the old soul at 40 years old.  He has been around the BMW camp for a long time after a cople years in touring cars with Alfa Romeo.

Nikki Thiim cutting personal best laps in sector one on the road.  An hour and 46 minutes left on the board.  Short pitting and putting Pier Guidi in the Ferrari, he has held it together for a good while now.  Max Hesse is 18 seconds down now on the Ferrari and the Aston Martin I believe.  The #4 Pro-Am leading Mercedes looking good.  George Kurtz is still nervous, the CEO of CrowdStrike, the sponsor of this race.  If it stays green that is what their team wants.  They are doing what they need to do.  Keeping the car safe, minding track limits.  

He won in class in 2022.  The 24 Hours of Spa is a bucket list race.  Max Hesse in the lane.  No driver change.  They will have one more stop to come yet.  New tires for Max Hesse as Julien Andlauer's Porsche has been teasing us and Mattia Drudi will take over the #007 Comtoyou Aston Martin, a longtime Audi factory driver.  In 1948, that was the last Aston Martin win in the 24 Hours of Spa.  We talked about it a few hours ago.  Max Hesse is getting back up to speed.  The #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche are 35 minutes into a stint.  The maximum stint time is 62 minutes.  BMW Team WRT #32 are in the pit lane doing their brisk pit work.

Ross Gunn will finish the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports Aston Martin he shares with David Pittard, and Henrique Chaves.  Jordan Pepper is back up into the lead and I'll tell you what, Mercedes-AMG's races have gone completely pear shaped.  So strange.  It sometimes goes acorss a year that works out well and you need to enjoy them whille you have them.  We have passed a decade since WRT won this race which was in 2014.

Jordan Pepper has bailed out of the Lamborghini with an hour and 35 minutes to go.  So, Ryan Myrehn will head to the podium to meet the winners and we have David and John's company for the final hour and a half.  Marco Mapelli will finis the race for GRT Grasser.  Alessandro Pier Guid leads the motor race, still.  Everyone else is making no mistakes and keeping a pace.  Dan Harper and BMW were very worried about light and numb steering.  

The RJN McLaren is back on track after their power loss and turbo boost issues.  Max Hesse passes Julien Andlauer for third place.  Pit entry is blocked.  Oh dear.  We don't know.  It is a Lamborghini, car #19 which has expired at pit in.  That car running in 35th spot.  Haytham Quarajoli at the wheel of it sharing with Matteo Llarena, Hugo Cook, and Baptiste Moulin.  Yannck Mettler leads the Silver class over Aurelien Panis.  One more pit stop for most and Julien Andlauer might do two more pit stops I'm afraid instead of one.  

I wonder how the new pavement has survived the GT3 cars hammering it.  With high downforce single seaters, those open wheel cars can break up new tarmac.  Henrique Chaves is inow in the #34 Walkenhorst Aston Martin.  The best placed McLaren is the car of Tom Gamble.  One of the Barwell Lamborghini's in the Bronze Cup, Mattia Michelotto with a punctured tire.  Steady, mate.  Slow down.  Michelotto got the message and drove slowly to the lane.  We are watching Job van Uitert, Marius Nakken, and Markus Paverud as Barwell are at the pit in.  Something must be fragging on the back of that car or it is gravel or carbon fiber.

Dylan Pereira, the Luxembourg driver is now at the top of the shop in the Bronze Cup.  People run over the curbs because it is quicker but don't do it too much or you will cut down a tire.  The Ferrari has barely missed a beat and run metronomically.  The Rutronik Porsche pits for the second to last time.  They would have to do a clock reset and a dplah and a dash.  Julien Andlauer drove through pit lane probably to do a reset.  The Porsche and the Mercedes running to the very limits of the circuit.  

This is the Alan Valente driven Mad Panda Motorsports Mercedes sharing with Karol Basz, Patrick Assenheimer, and Ezequiel Perez Companc.  Romain Leroux and Niccolo Rosi are retirements from this race reducing the field to 42 cars and 24 retirements of the 66 cars that started the race.  Max Hesse told he is catching up but only for third place.  Stay on your toes and keep going.  

Pier Guidi is 13 seconds to the good over Drudi.  Hesse goes off the road and back on but he made the pass stick.  In a Group C prototype some drivers could not take the final corner flat.  Right now, the Ferrari of Pier Guidi is still ahead of Drudi and Hesse and I think the weather will stay as it is until the end of this race today.  Max Hesseis back in and he has only done a 36-minute stint.  An horu and four minutes left on the board.   Maybe BMW are rolling the dice.  One hour and three minutes to go.  A stint is an hour and two minutes for Rower Racing.  This could be a roll of the dice.  

Max Hesse for Rowe Racing has indeed rolled the dice.  Whey land, we don't know.  Clear track running Harry Flatters down the straightaway.  He will need to drive the best laps he has ever driven.  Mercedes #10, Aurelien Panis has gone off the road with a technical issue down the main straight.  One hour to go.  

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 22

Kobe Pauwels, the Belgian is chasing the sole Ford Mustang GT3 in the field.  No rain expected before the end of the race.  That is wonderful news!  We got thrashed by the rain last night!  It was unbelievable!  That being said, everyone was still in the grandstands in the wee hours last night.  Alessandro Pier Guidi is still the leader of the motor race by five seconds over Nicki Thiim.  Just under three hours remaining now.  Thiim is having issues with ABS as the brakes are locking and he has turned off the traction control.  The GT3 cars have power steering but so is the antilock braking system.  Antilock brakes are a part of what GT3 cars are all about.  But if you become reliant on too much of it, it can be a detriment.  Alessio Rovera has pitted and had a tearoff taken off the windscreen for clear vision.

Alessio Rovera has taken over the #51 Ferrari.  Thiim and Harper now run 1-2.  I don't know if the #998 BMW has enough left in the locker to keep up with the Aston Martin or the Ferrari.  Sheldon van der Linde is having issues trying to get on terms with Ross Gunn in the Walkenhorst Motorsports Aston Martin, the #34 car.  Christopher Haase in the pit lane for service in the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS Evo II.  Nikki Thiim and Dan Harper are both coming to the pit lane for scheduled service.  The competition is Alessio Rovera at the wheel of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.  Rowe Racing BMW and Comtoyou Aston Martin are going to have trouble getting in touch with the Ferrari.  

Max Hesse now gets into the #998 BMW M4 GT3 and we have just over two hours and 45 minutes to go.  Ferrari #51 is now in the lead of this motor race.  BMW are down and away off the air jacks down the pit lane and the Ferrari just gobbles them up like Pac Man gobbling marbles.  Porsche #92 will suffer the pain of a drive through penalty and Jaminet had missed his driver stint length time and he went one lap too long.  We speculated there was a communication issue and now, the BMW has dropped back into traffic, as the #32 BMW M4 GT3 has just pitted and the #998 has just given 10-12 seconds away.  Well, well, well.  

Al Manar Racing checking the air intakes on their Mercedes, and Mikael Grenier, the Canadian, takes over the car and is back on track in the heritage pit lane near pit exit.  Up in the F1 pits with the rolling resistance on both pit lanes, the tires will be stone cold.  Being closer to pit out is better.  If I were a team boss, well, the old pits don't have the space, but, they would be easier to get out of.  Formula 1 and sports cars used those pits.  The #92 of Matt Campbell, he did serve the penalty we were wondering about and I think it might drop him only into the clutches of Christopher Haase and Ross Gunn.  

Marco Sorensen says that things are very tight, and it will come down to strategy or a good overtake and that Comtoyou Racing are hoping for the best and maybe playing out the ideas of what could happen from a possible Full Course Yellow situation.  British racer Darren Turner and Danish racer Christoffer Nygaard were part of the "Dane Train" Aston Martin team in FIA WEC and in GT3 alike as I recall.  Ross Gunn has brought in the #21 Aston Martin to the lane, excuse me, that is Charles Clark at the wheel of it.  This is not the Walkenhorst entry.  

A nasty accident during the night took the #12 Comtoyou Aston Martin out of the race, the Nicolas Baert, Sebastian Ogaard, Esteban Muth, and Erwan Bastard entry.  Leading the Bronze Cup is the #72 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Gabriel Rindone, Mattia Michelotto, Patrick Kujala, and Casper Stevenson.  The GT3 cars are so incredibly evenly matched thanks to Balance of Performance, but, it could be mitigating overtaking, possibly, as controversial as that sounds.  Max Hesse is struggling to find a way by Patrick Kujala in the Lamborghini.  

Speaking of Lamborghini, well, han on a minute.  There was a pass between Alessio Rovera and Patric Niederhauser in the Porsche.  We've got a smoky Lamborghini with oil residue burning on the hot exhaust system.  That car has led this race on and off and that is Jordan Pepper, the South African, taking over from Frenchman Franck Perera.  The humidity isn't great but it creates denser air for aerodynamics mostly.  I think that smoke was just residue.  It isn't venting anymore.  Thank you, Ben Constanduros for your contribution to this coverage of the race.  Hello to Ryan Myrehn before we hand off to David Addison to bring it home.

Jordan Pepper, the South African, he is really showing his skills as an endurance sports car driver during his stint.  Hello, to Ryan Myrehn, and to our guest, Dan Harper, the Ulsterman. There is a slight steering wheel issue where it is getting light randomly, and they are looking at it.  It is happening through Eau Rouge or Raidillon, and could be very disconcerting, but the car is still in one piece and Dan could not keep up with the Ferrari or the Aston Martin.  Max Hesse at the wheel of the BMW now.  Max Hesse will take it to the finish in a triple stint.  

BMW #46 in the lane and of course last night with the heavy rain was very difficult and a lot of standing water.  The new tarmac was far slipperier, but it is very grippy in the dry.  The grip in the surface is coming back now that the rain has moved on.  If we were to see a safety car again, the BMW team could be right in the mix again except if there is traffic ahead that could get in the way, things would add up too quick.  But now, under green things could still get interesting.  Harper says he has not thought about how to improve BoP to equalize the cars.

We can see the size difference of the GT3 cars and their shapes and sizes but you lose momentum and lose lap time unless you have an extternal force involved so it is down to the drivers and the #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 is in while the BMW has the speed but the Audi or the Lamborghini are better under braking.  Great to hear from Dan Harper this morning.  Just over two hours as we are getting to the nitty gritty with Alessio Rovera at the top of the shop.  Rovera leads Thiim by 7.3 seconds.

Two hours and 15 minutes to go.  This has been a really tought race from the very start.  Max Hesse has lost 22 or so seconds and behind him is the #32 BMW M4 GT3 of Charles Weerts, Dries Vanthoor, and Sheldon van der Linde.  I think BMW were unhappy with their qualifying efforts, trying to mitigate errorsmandnso on.  The BMW has strengths in high-speed corners but not as efficient in the braking zones.  The top three look fairly solidified.  However, safety cars can breed safety cars.  Bob Neville's #100 McLaren is back out as Joel Eriksen blows a right rear tire, or cuts it down.

Fortunately, it happened close to the final chicane and the pit lane entrance at the top, the Formula 1 pit lane as opposed to the heritage pit lane, they are 27th in the overall and 14th in the Pro class, the #23 Phantom Global entry which will also be at the Indianapolis 8 Hours at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the fall, in October.  Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles is here at Spa before the IGTC and GT World Challenge come to Indianapolis in October.  

James Kell leads in the #3 Silver leading car with Cesar Gazeau second in Silver.  That is the Mettler, Kell, Bartone, Walker car.  The Bob Neville Team RJN McLaren has had troubles but could earn a class podium as Alessio Rovera leads the race overall approaching two hours to go.  Ferrari won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and scored a win in IMSA at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in GT Daytona Pro.  Ferrari has the one victory in Formula 1, but the AF Corse chaps with the prototypes and the GT3 cars have been very successful and the drivers who have the privilege love the 296 GT3 is built by the Oreca firm in France.  The silhouette of the 296 GT3 is very much similar to the 250P prototype that won Le Mans in 1965 which was the last time Ferrari won Le Mans before their wins last year and this year.

It was the first rear engine GT race car that won with Masten Gregory, and Jochen Rindt.  Mikael Grenier leads the Gold class with Jordan Pepper right on his six.  Julien Andlauer has passed Jusuf Owega Porsche on Mercedes.  The gap between first and third has grown.  Rovera, Thiim, Hesse, the top three.  Our race leader might hit the lane within the next 10-15 minutes.  The WRT BMW's have had a massively tough race especially in last night's rainstorms.  Dries Vanthoor had no grip available whatsoever.  

24 Hours of Spa: Hour 21

Pit stop time is coming closer and closer for many of these teams.  Davide Rigon is less than a second behind Marco Sorensen and now David Pittard is running well aboard the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports Aston Martin.  Second guessing the weather, and we have had tons of interruptions throughout with the safety cars and the Full Course Yellow procedures.  So many cars on the lead lap.  Walkenhorst new to Aston Martin and things are fitting together very well in an Aston Martin for one of their drivers, for Henrique Chaves.  The drivability of the car is very important.  Davide Rigon in the pit lane for an unscheduled pit stop because his stint isn't quite done.  Arjun Maini is in the lane and we were watching a battle, a four-way battle.  Ellis, van der Linde, Feller and Pittard I think and Jaminet is way up the order.

Aston Martin have been chasing BMW for hours on end.  It is a cat and mouse game between BMW and Aston Martin.  Farfus and Sorensen run 1-2 and both are turning the wick up.  These two brands did not feature too much in qualifying or in Super Pole.  It is now dry.  I don't think we need to be worried about the rain.  Matthieu Jaminet needs to be in the lane now or he will be in boiling hot water and have to serve a drive through penalty.  I wonder if he is trying to get on terms with both Farfus and Sorensen.  

Jaminet has done 66 minutes, and he will be out of time.  This is the SSR Herberth car and I think there might be a radio problem.  Maybe Matthieu Jaminet cannot hear the team.  When he gets to the start/finish line he'll be out of time.  He comes out of Les Combes.  He may have to serve a drive through penalty.  Pit stop time for Nicki Thiim to take over the #007 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin.  New boots, and full load of fuel.  Comtoyou made their name in Fun Cup, then touring cars, and then, GT3 racing.  

Dan Harper will be challenging Nikki Thiim, and now the Ferrari #51 of Alessandro Pier Guidi zooms into the lead of the motor race throug Brussels corner and Davide Rigon, no, Alessnadro Pier Guidi, and now, Jaminet is late, 68 minutes in his stint.  Pier Guidi really giving Nikki Thiim all he can handle.  Matthieu Jaminet serving his penalty for the elongated stint time.  That's a major shame, and he'll perhaps lose a whole lap, potentially.  Now, the #57 Mercedes passes Max Hofer.  Hofer and Colin Caresani, the Dutchman, both pit as well.

Some drives are cutting it very fine to get it to the limit on stint length.  New boots and fuel for Sheldon van der Linde who is in attack mode in the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3.  Philipp Ellis leads the Gold division.  Dan Harper is told to stick with the Aston Matin and in this replay, through Bruxelles, it was just hard racing between Thiim and Harper.  Thiim matcheds Pier Guidi in sector one.  David Pittard is having trouble with the air jacks on that Aston Martin.  They need to do something with a hydraulic jack.  Maybe the air jack is low on pressure.  Alessandro Pier Guidi has run 383 laps, 1,667 miles.  

Marco Mapelli is the race leader and Christopher Haase could have a possibility of moving up.  I think Ross Gunn took over the Aston Martin.  Mapelli now has the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap of the motor race thus far.  Casper Stevenson leads the Bronze Cup class in another Barwell Motorsports Lamborghini, the #72 and he could lose a place, lose the lead, to Alexey Nesov.  Car #46 penalized for an unsafe rejoin onto the circuit, Valentino Rossi might just be the culprit.  A ten second stop and go penalty.  That will be costly.

The #100 Alex Buncombe McLaren is taking the five-minute technical pit stop, although it is very late to get it finished.  The #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 is in the pit lane right now.  More penalties I believe for the Sven Mueller Porsche I want to say.  The Ferrari has really come out of all the pit and penalty confusion looking pretty good with their pit work with three and a half hours remaining.  Sven Mueller had a repair on the Porsche and it s running well as the #3 car of Aron Walker has done well and now, the #63 Lamborghini is geting back out there.  

We could be seeing dark clouds in the sky again.  I wonder if there will be rain.  The Rutronik Porsche team is c Cleaning the radiator out with the compressed airine getting into the system.  That is the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3R.  No investigation from RaceControl over the #92 SSR Herbeth Porsche.  A battle for sixth between Christopher Haase, Ross Gunn, and Sheldon van der Linde.  Has Sheldon van der Linde got a run into the final chicane?  I don't know.  He had a head of steam through Paul Frere curve.  

Phillip Ellis is doing a great job leading by eight seconds in the Gold Cup, the #777 car for Al Manar Racing ahead of the #77 Haupt Racing Mercedes.  We have 40 cars still in the race.  Alex Buncombe and the RJN McLaren team are still working on the car.  26 cars have retired of the 66 starters.  One of the Mercedes' looks disheveled from contact.  The #163 Lamborghini and the leading Ferrari, they look immaculuate currently.  The splitter I think is disheveled on Ellis' Mercedes, the little winglet, the turning vane.  

The #3 Mercedes' front grille is littered with grass as well.  Aaron Walker is leading in the Silver Cup class in one of the other GetSpeed Mercedes'.  Theo Nouet is closing on Cesar Gazeau as well.  Dinamic vs. Boutsen VDS.  Last night's rain, safety cars and so forth were unbelievable!  There is a calm that has fallen over this race, with a good pace from all of the top six or seven contenders.  Everyone must be saving everything up.  400 laps x 7 kilometers is 2,800 kilometers.  400 laps, 1,741 miles.  With the gravel being spat upwards onto the windscreens, many of the cars have their windscreens damaged.