63 Entries for 24 Hours of Spa

Sixty-three cars feature on the provisional entry list for 66th running of the Total 24 Hours of Spa, released by SRO today, as the 40-car Blancpain Endurance Series field gets reinforced by some high profile teams for the blue riband event.

ENTRY LIST: Total 24 Hours of Spa

Only three cars short on last year’s 66-car entry, the list holds no big. But with 18 competitors entered in the Pro Cup, there’s no shortage in potential favorites either.

Furthermore, SRO is confident that the total number of entries will increase, with still two months to go before the entry deadline.

As was previously announced, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT will field a third Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3 in the top class for 2012 LMP1 World Champions André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler and Benoit Tréluyer.

The Belgian Audi specialists and overall winners in 2011 will face stiff competition from the two M-Sport factory Bentleys and reigning Blancpain Endurance Series team champions Marc VDS Racing, fielding a pair of BMW Z4 GT3s.

Last year’s winners, HTP Motorsport, return with their two full season Mercedes, with a third SLS under consideration.

After a strong showing at Monza with a victory and a third place finish, both ART GP McLarens will also be amongst the favorites.

Reiter Engineering will once again enter a car in the Pro Cup, though not with the newly developed Camaro, but with the proven Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 GT3 for Peter Kox Tomas Enge and Albert von Thurn und Taxis.

Together with Oman Racing Team, Beechdean AMR will represent Aston Martin in the top class, with last year’s polesitter Stefan Mücke joined by fellow factory driver Jonny Adam, Daniel Lloyd and team principal Andrew Howard.

However, for now, there is no sign of a factory entered Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, despite AMR announcing its presence at the beginning of the year.

Some other big names also do not feature on the list. While battling for the overall victory until the final hour last year, Nürburgring specialists Manthey Racing are only fielding a Porsche under the Wochenspiegel banner in Pro Am this time.

2012 winners Phoenix Racing as well as Vita4One and Prospeed Competition are also absent, while there are no Ferraris or Nissans entered in the Pro Cup either.

With 31 entries, the Pro-Am Cup once again makes up the bulk of the field. Besides the usual suspects, there’s a whole batch of new teams on the list.

Lago Racing makes the long trip from Australia to field a Lamborghini for Roger Lago, David Russell, Steven Richards and Steven Owen in the Ardennes classic.

AF Corse ramps up its efforts with no less then three extra Ferraris in the Pro-Am Cup besides its three full season entries in the series.

Brussels Racing (Aston Martin), Fortec Motorsports (Mercedes), Fach Auto Tech (Porsche), United Autosports (Audi), Manthey Racing (Porsche) and Sofrev ASP (Ferrari) will all make guest appearances in the class.

The grid is completed by a 14-car strong Gentlemen Trophy, featuring Delahaye Racing, Speedlover, WRT and GDL Motorsport from Italy amongst others.