Spa Friday Notebook

***After a hectic Thursday, the main focus of track action for the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa on Friday was the Superpole shootout. Alessio Rovera proved to be the star as he topped all four sessions to take a dominant pole at the wheel of the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.

***However, Rovera wasn’t hopeful of his chances in qualifying at the start of the Superpole 1 session. “I was not confident when I went out of the pit lane, because I could feel the grip was not there,” he said. “But, because it was so hot, there was no grip. It was the same for everyone.”

***Alongside Superpole, the annual SRO Motorsports Group press conference was also held and, aside from various calendar announcements, Stephane Ratel also gave an update on several other topics.

***These included the future of the FIA Motorsport Games and GTX, for electric and experimental GT machinery, which have both been placed on hold. A new edition of the Motorsport Games was due to occur this year, outside of Europe per the FIA requirements, although the deal “collapsed” at the “11th hour” according to Ratel.

***He added: “Maybe having it every two years is too ambitious because it’s a very big event to put together. Maybe every four years, I don’t know, but at the moment it’s on a standby.”

***The GTX event, meanwhile, was due to be staged as a revival of the historic Targa Florio, incorporating Circuit Enna-Pergusa, which recently shut down operations. “We had everything lined up with a big promotion company, a media company that was very interested,” said Ratel. “Everybody was interested but we needed a circuit and unfortunately the circuit of Enna Pergusa went down and, without the circuit, we can’t do it.”

***Ratel added: “We think that electric mobility will continue to progress but it’s also true that in terms of electric sports cars, at reasonable prices, there are not really many of them on the market, so we first need the cars to re-engage. But we believe in the concept and I hope one day I will be standing here that we’re back, both for the Motorsport Games and GTX.”

***It was also announced that the winners of the expanded SRO GT Academy will be at the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in next year’s race, although the team has yet to be identified. The new-for-2026 initiative sees the top-selected FIA Silver-rated driver under the age of 30 in GTWC America, Asia and Australia, plus the British GT Championship’s GT3 class, all receive a fully-paid ride in the Belgian endurance classic.

***ACO President Pierre Fillon has been named as official starter of tomorrow’s race. Ratel stressed the importance of collaboration between the major organizers and promoters around the world to make “sports car racing as big as possible” and stressed that the antipathy of sanctioning bodies towards each other was now a thing of the past. “We can grow the sports car scene and grow the GT scene by working hand in hand,” he said.

***Ratel announced at the press conference that SRO will become a long-term supporter of the Obiettivo3 organization set up by the late Alex Zanardi in 2017. It was established to provide funding and training for Paralympic athletes. Zanardi, who died aged 59 in May, won a total of four Paralympic gold medals to go with his two CART Indycar titles. The Italian raced in the Blancpain Sprint Series, now the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, in 2014 with a ROAL Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3.

***The annual SRO Gala, meanwhile, will be held on Dec. 12 in New York City for the first time.

***This year’s event has been characterized by swelteringly hot temperatures so far and, even though thunderstorms and slightly cooler conditions are forecast for Sunday, two-time winner Maxime Martin believes the weather will have a major impact on strategy. “Depending on the conditions, it’s going to be a challenge to even double stint the drivers, so I think we will go to single stints because of the heat and the recovery,” said the GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo racer.

***Lamborghini factory driver Luca Engstler added: “On man and machine it’s a lot of pressure, also for the mechanics and the team. I’m feeling already like I would’ve done a 24-hour race yesterday!”

***But there’s one storied race car driver in the 24H Spa paddock taking the searing heat in his stride. Former Corvette Racing factory driver Andy Pilgrim is in Belgium working with GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG driver Anthony Bartone, but more than a quarter of a century ago he went beyond the call of duty in 100-degree Fahrenheit temperatures to give the Pratt & Miller Chevrolet Corvette C5-R its first victory at the Texas Motor Speedway American Le Mans Series round in September 2000.

***Pilgrim had to drive a double stint while co-driver Ron Fellows was being hosed down in the pits. Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan was famously asked on live TV if the wiry expat Briton was going to be able to double. Fehan’s response was to say, “He’ll be okay, he’s a frigging reptile!”

***One driver who had been due to take part in this year’s Spa contest was 2024 British Touring Car champion Jake Hill. The Briton had been listed alongside Kyle Tilley at the wheel of an Era Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo but this was withdrawn in the days building up to the event.

***A “gutted” Hill explained that the deal just didn’t quite come together with other drivers, not helped by it being “a super busy time of the year for everyone” including mechanics. “We were trying until the last minute to make it work,” he said. Hill’s focus is now on securing more outings in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie alongside his Michelin 24H Series campaign in an Era Ferrari.

***In addition to the No. 80 Lionspeed GP and No. 9 Pure Rxcing Porsches and the No. 12 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG that were ordered to start Saturday’s race from the pit lane after changing engines, a further two cars have also been penalized for the same reason. The No. 79 Tsunami RT Porsche will start from the pit lane for replacing the engine before qualifying, while the No. 56 Blackthorn Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo changed its engine after qualifying and has been handed a 150-second stop-and-hold penalty.

***Also penalized was the No. 66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II that Ariel Levi had provisionally guided to Silver Cup pole. It lost all of its Superpole times after the Audi was found not conforming to the correct Balance of Performance measurements in the shoot-out.

***Other grid penalties dished out include the deletion of all lap times in qualifying for the No. 111 CSA Racing McLaren after it also did not run to the correct BoP, while the No. 89 Lionspeed Porsche will also be starting at the back after its data logger was found to be disconnected during qualifying.

***Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing Porsche driver Mex Jansen has had his FIA driver categorization derogated for this weekend. The Gold-rated driver will be categorized as a Silver for this event when he shares the Bronze Cup entry with Gold-rated Eddie Cheever III, fellow Silver Christopher Froggatt and Bronze Jonathan Hui.

***The CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa gets underway on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. CEST (10:30 am. EST) with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel, which will be available everywhere in the world except in Australia, where the race will be streamed live on Kayo Sports in its entirety. Commentary will be provided by David Addison, Joe Osborne, Bruce Jones, Jonathan Grace and Ben Constanduros, while Bryn Lucas, Guanelle Longy and Nina Jade Paul will be in the pits.

Gary Watkins & John Dagys contributed to this report