24H Spa Date Could Change to Open Door to Verstappen

Photo: SRO/JEP

The date of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa could be tweaked next year to avoid a clash with Formula 1 to pave the way for Max Verstappen’s participation in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS double-points round.

Series boss Stephane Ratel didn’t mention the four-time F1 world champion by name, but he conceded the effect that Verstappen’s participation in the Nürburgring 24 this year had on the crowd.

“Having been in the pace car at the N24 two years ago and this year, I know it has some effect,” said Ratel at his SRO Motorsports Group’s press conference ahead of the the race on Friday.

“If we could not clash with F1, we would be motivated [to change the date], very motivated — if there is something we can do, we will do it.”

Ratel admitted “there is one particular driver” that he would like to attract to the event.

Verstappen Racing is competing at Spa this weekend as part of a full GTWC Europe campaign with a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo run by 2 Seas Motorsport and driven by Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella and Chris Lulham.

Winward Racing ran the entry that Verstappen raced at the ‘Ring in May together with Gounon, Juncadella and Lucas Auer.

Verstappen’s enthusiasm for GT3 has fueled speculation that he could join his own entry for the 24 Hours of Spa in the future.

But Ratel suggested that avoiding a clash with a grand prix could entice “more than one” F1 driver to the Belgian enduro.

That is a reference to Lance Stroll’s participation in the Paul Ricard GTWC round in April in a Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

Ratel stressed that the 24 Hours of Spa would stay in its late June calendar slot to which it moved from its traditional dates on the last weekend of July in 2023.

“We are not going to run Spa in May and we are not going to run Spa in September,” he said.

“We have a very small window: we have built a success which grows year on year on this date, which I believe is the right date.

“It could move by a week, a week up or a week down.

“We can say basically the window is three weeks, so if there was no F1 on one of these three weekends, maybe we could envisage moving.”

Moving Spa would also avoid a date conflict with the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round for a second year in a row.

The F1 calendar had already been announced this time last year, but it remains unpublished for next season amid ongoing uncertainty over the geopolitical situation in the Middle East.

Spa moved from the end of July when F1 took that weekend in 2023 and has provisionally been allocated to June 24-27 next year.