Rutronik Porsche Leads With Three Hours to Go

A well-timed pitstop before a Full Course Yellow allowed Rutronik Racing to solidify its lead in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa with three hours of racing left to be completed.

The No. 96 Porsche 911 GT3 R had been running off-sequence when the car pitted moments before a neutralization, caused by a stoppage for the No. 15 BMW Italia Ceccato Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO at Pouhon.

The time saved allowed Alessio Picariello to leapfrog the No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 and move into the lead of the race, with the Belgian since pulling a gap of 5.986 seconds over Jordan Pepper.

Augusto Farfus ran third in the No. 98 ROWE Racing BMW, followed by the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessandro Pier Guidi and the sister ROWE car piloted by Dan Harper.

Pier Guidi and Harper came to blows battling for fourth position, with the Italian passing the No. 998 BMW at Les Combes on his outlap

He was briefly investigated for forcing another driver off the track, but no penalty was issued.

Arthur Leclerc and Benjamin Goethe held sixth and seventh for AF Corse and Garage 59, respectively, with Dean MacDonald’s eighth-placed No. 58 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo leading Thierry Vermeulen in the battle for the Gold Cup lead.

Garage 59 moved to the head of the field after MacDonald’s co-driver Frederik Schandorff passed Vermeulen at La Source with just under five hours remaining, but the cars continued to run closely together.

Maro Engel rounded out the top ten overall in the No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, while Walkenhorst Motorsport, Kessel Racing and AV Racing by Car Collection led in Silver Cup, Bronze Cup and Pro-Am, respectively.