Ratel: “Nothing We Can Do” About Packed June Schedule

SRO Motorsports Group founder and CEO Stephane Ratel described next year’s packed June schedule as a “one-year problem” insisting there is “nothing we can do” about the prospect of having three 24-hour races on three consecutive weekends.

SRO confirmed the date of next year’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa as part of a five-round Intercontinental GT Challenge calendar on Friday, with the event due to take place on June 28-29.

The 53rd running of the Nürburgring 24, also an IGTC round, will be held the week prior on June 21-22, while the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been scheduled for June 14-15.

That means that all three major 24-hour races will take place on consecutive weekends, resulting in significant logistical and personnel challenges for several teams and manufacturers.

While Le Mans has traditionally always been held in the middle of June, the N24 is in the same month next year as a result of the public holiday Corpus Christi falling on June 19.

The Eifel endurance classic is traditionally always held around that holiday as a necessity to secure enough marshals to allow the event to go ahead.

Ratel, meanwhile, indicated that SRO has its hands tied with regards to the 24H Spa date because of its close proximity to Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix, which is held on July 25-27 next year.

“It is a problem,” Ratel said. “But I was again with our friends from Nürburgring, and there is nothing we can do. We have this date.

“The distance between Spa and Formula 1 is exactly the same. We have these four weeks and it’s what they need.

“We were even pushed to evacuate the paddock very rapidly on Monday and Tuesday [last year] because they start preparations for Formula 1.

“There is nothing we can do. Of course we would have liked to push it for us but it was impossible.

“We have this very constrained calendar. Out of the WEC calendar, us together with ADAC with DTM, we build three calendars that are non-clashing, which is a huge benefit for the manufacturers, the drivers, to be able to run these different championships.

“If we were moving also, you’d have a clash for Norisring. It’s a domino effect. It’s very complicated to change what becomes the traditional rhythm.

“What’s important is that the Nürburgring 24 has published the published their calendar for the next four years… But we know that for the next three years: 2026, 2027, 2028, they will be in May.

“It’s a one-year problem.

“I don’t know if it was directly with us, I heard it’s also NBC, but we’re very happy not to have a clash with IMSA [at Watkins Glen].

“I know it’s not ideal but I think we’ll manage.”

Ratel indicated that it would be unlikely for the 24H Spa date to change, as the late June slot for SRO is already a diversion from the calendar spot the event previously held but has since been taken over by F1.

“We have already moved from our traditional end-of-July date,” he said. “We want to set this one in stone and we really much agree with that with the management of the circuit.

“It’s a perfect rhythm. You have WEC in May, the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa in June and Formula 1 in August. It’s three beautiful months covered by three amazing events. It’s the right reasons.”

When asked by Sportscar365 if he was concerned that the compact schedule might force manufacturers to scale back its involvements in either of the IGTC rounds, Ratel said: “You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.

“We hope not but we had no choice. We’re not going to go to September.

“We’re building the event. Pre-sales [for this year’s race] are up 25 percent. Look at the parade, you see this event is growing. We have a main target.

“I used to say the 24 Hours of Spa is the best 12-hour race in the world, which means that everybody came on Saturday morning and leaving after the party.

“Our objective and effort [is] to bring it into a four-day event. We’re pushing very much of camping. The little concerts on Thursday night, Friday night, we want to give it an atmosphere that is no longer a one-day event and it becomes a four-day event.

“That takes time and if you want to build an event over time, you don’t want to move it to September.

“We have to stay there. It’s an investment for us. We’ve done promotion in the North of France, in Germany, and we will continue that.

“We set up a three-year goal to double the number of tickets sold, from last year. Last year we had 80,000 fans over the four days. But the vast majority is on Saturday.”

John Dagys contributed to this report