ROWE Takes First Major 24H Win for BMW M4 GT3 at Spa

Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann and Nick Yelloly won the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa for ROWE Racing, beating Akkodis ASP Team and Scherer Sport PHX to score the squad’s third overall victory in the Belgian endurance classic.

The No. 98 BMW M4 GT3 finished 11.129 seconds ahead of the No. 88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo piloted by Jules Gounon, Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy.

It marked the first time BMW has won the race since 2018, while ROWE returned to the top step of the podium after a two-year hiatus.

The Hans-Peter Naundorf-led stable took victory in the event with Porsche in 2020.

After it started the race outside the top-20, the No. 98 car became the leading BMW contender when its sister No. 998 machine and the No. 32 Team WRT car were eliminated after colliding on the Kemmel Straight just prior to halfway.

ROWE opted for an off-sequence strategy when it brought Eng into the pits during a brief Full Course Yellow with six hours to go.

Strategies then converged several hours later as the result of a FCY that became a safety car, triggered when Bailey Voisin brought the No. 35 Walkenhorst Motorsport machine to a halt on track.

After pitting under caution, the No. 98 BMW emerged as the race leader with Wittmann at the wheel.

Once the race resumed, Wittmann solidified the team’s lead by pulling a gap on the No. 17 Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Kelvin van der Linde, increasing the advantage to 15 seconds in just over half an hour.

Co-driver Eng was able to maintain the advantage even as Akkodis ASP Team moved into second place when Marciello completed a successful undercut on Nicki Thiim with three hours remaining.

Thiim, Van der Linde and Luca Engstler completed the overall podium, with the No. 92 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R of Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Julien Andlauer finishing fourth.

The Grello-liveried Porsche notably completed the closing hour of the race without a rear diffuser, but Estre still managed to challenge Thiim for third in a battle that saw the Frenchman run off the track at the exit of Bruxelles.

The No. 96 Rutronik Racing Porsche of Thomas Preining, Laurin Heinrich and Dennis Olsen finished fifth ahead of Team WRT’s sole remaining Pro-class entry, the No. 46 car of Maxime Martin, Valentino Rossi and Augusto Farfus in sixth.

Tresor Orange 1’s No. 40 Audi of Ricardo Feller, Mattia Drudi and Dennis Marschall faded to eighth at the end, behind the No. 11 Comtoyou Audi that snatched seventh on the final lap.

The overall top ten was completed the No. 777 Mercedes-AMG Team Al Manar crew and the Gold Cup-winning No. 5 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo driven by Sam de Haan, Charlie Fagg, Tom Gamble and Dean MacDonald. 

Ferrari and Lamborghini both hit trouble with their Pro-class entries at various stages throughout the race.

The No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 and No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 retired after victory bids were derailed early on.

Jordan Pepper was pushed into the garage with brake problems in the second hour that ultimately led to retirement, while Alessio Rovera suffered a puncture 30 minutes later that would be the starting gun on a race full of issues that included a fuel system issue.

The No. 71 AF Corse entry, piloted by Davide Rigon, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina, was Ferrari’s best placed Pro-car in 11th overall while the No. 6 K-PAX Racing Lamborghini battled alternator problems en route to 29th place result.

Iron Lynx would see all three of its cars retire, including the Iron Dames, while the No. 999 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing entry of Daniel Juncadella, Maro Engel and Mikael Grenier also failed to finish after falling victim to a wheel bearing failure.

SunEnergy1 Racing Turns Pitlane Start into Pro-Am Victory

SunEnergy1 Racing completed a comeback drive to take victory in the Pro-Am category after starting from the pit lane following a trouble-filled weekend.

The No. 75 Mercedes of Martin Konrad, Adam Osieka, Chaz Mostert and Nicky Catsburg finished 14.170 seconds clear of the No. 24 Car Collection Motorsport Porsche driven by Nico Menzel, Niki Leutwiler, Ivan Jacoma and Alex Fontana in second.

The Haupt Racing Team-operated entry started the race from the pit lane following a late chassis change after owner/driver Kenny Habul crashed in Pre-Qualifying on Thursday.

The accident left Habul unable to race. GetSpeed Performance team principal Osieka was tapped as a late replacement after initial plans to bring Liam Talbot fell through.

Catsburg brought the No. 75 Mercedes across the line ahead of Menzel, winning his third consecutive 24-hour race in the process.

The Dutchman already took overall victory in the Nürburgring 24 and was part of Corvette Racing’s GTE-Am class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Bronze Cup win went the No. 20 Huber Motorsport Porsche of Matteo Cairoli, Antares Au, Jannes Fittje and Tim Heinemann while GRT Grasser Racing Team’s No. 85 Lamborghini claimed Silver Cup honors.

RESULTS: CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa