Spa Post-Race Notebook

***Lamborghini became the fourth Italian brand to secure an outright victory in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa thanks to GRT Grasser Racing Team’s victory on Sunday. It joins Maserati (three wins), Ferrari (four wins) and Alfa Romeo (seven wins).

***The Ardennes endurance classic has now had six different winning manufacturers in as many years. Porsche was the last one to go back-to-back in 2019 and 2020, after which Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG, BMW, Aston Martin and Lamborghini all won in consecutive years.

***In addition to Lamborghini, GRT Grasser Racing Team and drivers Mirko Bortolotti, Luca Engstler and Jordan Pepper all picked up their first overall 24H Spa victories. Pepper notably came the first South African driver to win the event outright.

***Lamborghini’s previous best 24H Spa finish was fifth, which came last year, also with GRT and Pepper, who was joined by Marco Mapelli and Franck Perera.

***Lamborghini head of motorsport Maurizio Leschiutta said: “I am very happy, in my first year with Lamborghini, to win the Spa 24 Hours. I want to thank the drivers and the team who have done something truly special, and also to the extended team at Lamborghini Squadra Corse who have done a perfect job over the years. They have brought us to where we are today.”

***Bortolotti, who drove the No. 63 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 to victory, was absent from the post-race press conference. A Lamborghini spokesperson told Sportscar365 that the Italian was taken to the on-site medical center as a precaution due to dehydration. Harry King, who was part of the lineup for the Gold Cup-winning No. 33 Verstappen dot com Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, also did not attend the press conference for a similar reason.

***Pepper paid tribute to Bortolotti in the press conference, crediting the Italian’s contributions to the Lamborghini GT3 program over the past decade. “I think the effort he’s probably put into this program over the years is what came out there in the end,” Pepper said. “I’m sure he’ll make a speedy recovery. He’s strong and fit and young enough so I’m sure he’ll be good. He was standing there the podium, super happy, he was in good spirits and super happy so I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

***Immediately after the press conference concluded, Pepper was embraced and congratulated by compatriot and BMW driver Kelvin van der Linde, who had finished the race seventh. The two drivers share a close relationship, having lived together as roommates during the early stages of their respective careers.

***As Lamborghini is not a registered Intercontinental GT Challenge manufacturer, Porsche scored 25 points towards the manufacturers’ standings as the No. 96 Rutronik Racing car was the highest-placed IGTC-eligible car in the results. However, the German marque, which notched up 31 points in total, was narrowly outscored by Ferrari. The Prancing Horse picked up 33 points, courtesy of its two AF Corse-run Pro entries.

***BMW still remains the leader in the manufacturers’ standings with two rounds to go, having collected 90 points across the first three rounds. Porsche is second with 76 points, followed by Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG on 61 and 57, respectively.

***In the drivers’ standings, Augusto Farfus has narrowly pulled clear of van der Linde as the two drivers were not on the same car for the first time this season. Farfus leads by 62 points over van der Linde’s 60, followed by Raffaele Marciello, Jesse Krohn and Sheldon van der Linde. Alessio Picariello, joint fifth with the younger van der Linde, has climbed to become the best-placed Porsche driver as the early retirement for Schumacher CLRT caused Ayhancan Guven to drop to seventh.

***Three drivers (Ralf Bohn, Antares Au and Jonathan Hui) scored points towards the Independent Cup standings. Bohn collected the maximum haul of 25 points and pulls level with Kenny Habul.

***Alessio Picariello noted post-race the challenges that he and the Rutronik Racing team faced in the race, particularly with Pirelli’s new-for-2025 P-Zero DHG tire, which made its 24-hour race debut.

***Picariello told reporters: “It was definitely a challenge for everyone at the moment but Pirelli is aware about it. You struggle with pickup, it’s a bit inconsistent from lap to lap and corner to corner from stint to stint. This was the biggest challenge for everyone. I think that’s why also it’s so hard to drive for everyone because you’re tense all the time because you don’t know what to expect. But Pirelli is a great brand and I’m sure they will improve it. It’s the first year of the tire so it’s also normal that it needs a bit more work.”

***Team WRT boss Vincent Vosse labeled the Belgian squad’s performance in its home race as “disappointing” as none of the team’s three Pro cars finished the race inside the top five. Most notably, the No. 31 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, which came home in eighth, had its rear bumper ripped off after contact with a CSA Racing McLaren 720S GT3 Evo with that damage later requiring a a diffuser replacement.

***CrowdStrike by SPS automotive performance came back from multiple early race issues and penalties to score a third place Pro-Am class finish for last year’s category winners George Kurtz, Colin Braun, Nicky Catsburg and Ian James.

***The team’s No. 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo started from the pit lane before an incident with the No. 97 Rutronik Racing Porsche of Antares Au that resulted in a penalty and trip to the garage. The car slowed late in the race, in the hands of Braun, who along with Catsburg, limped it home in 36th overall.

***Kurtz said: “Being on the podium is a huge win for us. We had a few incidents that set us back, but we came back and even led at times. The SPS team did a fantastic job and gave us a very good car. It feels great to be on the podium.”

***While the No. 81 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG also collected a podium in Bronze Cup, the Stuttgart brand only had one car in the overall top ten as head of customer racing Stefan Wendl commented that the brand ‘wasn’t able to realize its potential.’

***Wendl said: “As expected, this year’s 24-hour race in Spa was a major strategic challenge. Congratulations to the winner at this point. Many Full Course Yellow phases unfortunately came at the most unfavourable times for our teams. But that’s just part of Spa. Under the given circumstances, we were as well prepared as possible. We had the speed, especially in the conditions during the day. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to realise our potential over the distance.”

***A week after taking its first European 24-hour race win at the Nürburgring 24, HRT Ford Performance suffered a double non-finish with its two Ford Mustang GT3s. The No. 64 machine was retired after a collision with the No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, while the sister No. 65 machine had its radiator punctured by a stone in the late stages.

***Romain Leroux said the Silver Cup victory for himself, Matteo Villagomez and Oliver Soederstroem served as the “perfect gift” to Walkenhorst Motorsport at the end of a challenging weekend in which its flagship No. 34 Aston Martin was withdrawn after a crash in Superpole.

***Leroux said: “It’s definitely not been the easiest week. There was definitely a lot of pace in the Pro car, so to lose it even before the start of the race is always very tough. The team bounced back very well. We didn’t lose focus and we showed the pace the car had and us as drivers gave the result the team deserved.”

***AO Racing engineer Chaz Cleland served as the race engineer on the second place overall-finishing No. 96 Rutronik Porsche. Alessio Picariello, who serves as AO’s third driver in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races, was also a common link between both programs.

***Another veteran U.S.-based strategist, Thomas Blam of Flying Lizard Motorsports fame, meanwhile, was with the No. 33 Verstappen dot com Racing Aston Martin, which was victorious in Gold Cup.

***Members of the Belgian royal family, Princess Louise and Princes Nicolas and Aymeric, waved special 24 Hours of Spa-themed Belgian flags as cars pulled off the grid for the start of the race.

***A new record attendance of 128,000 spectators for the week was reported for this year’s event, up from the 99,500 fans from the 2024 event.

***Ginetta’s recently announced GT2 car was on display in the paddock over the weekend. The British constructor is targeting to have six examples built by the end of the year according to Ginetta’s head of sales and marketing Kevin Simpson, who said the G56-based car will cost £325,000 ($445,000 USD) plus VAT, making it one of the most affordable GT2 offerings.

***After back-to-back weekends at the Nürburgring 24 and Spa, the IGTC will now go on a multi-month hiatus, with the Suzuka 1000km the next round on the calendar on Sept. 12-14.

John Dagys contributed to this report