Spa Wednesday Notebook

***Wednesday marked the return of the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa parade, which was omitted from the 2020 and 2021 schedules due to coronavirus regulations.

***Almost all GT3 cars in the field and some classic GT racing machinery ventured onto public roads for a six-mile journey from the circuit to Spa town center and back. Spectators lined the streets en route, eager to see and hear the machinery up close.

***Once in the town center, drivers took time to sign autographs for fans before heading to La Petite Theatre for the pre-event briefing.

***At least one car did not take part in the parade: the No. 10 Boutsen Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II was still in the garage as the rest of the field assembled and rolled off the grid toward town.

***Other cars in the demonstration included competitors from the GT4 European Series and Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe, as well as an Audi R8 LMS GT2 driven by the German manufacturer’s head of customer racing Chris Reinke.

***Most cars went through scrutineering on Tuesday, with the Bronze test participants doing so in the morning before their three-hour afternoon test session. All of the non-Bronze Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evos, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos and Porsche 911 GT3 Rs passed through technical checks on Wednesday.

***A report from the event technical delegate confirmed that all 66 cars completed scrutineering without issues.

***Despite being in full Turner Motorsport colors, the No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 is run entirely by the German squad. It features Turner drivers Robby Foley, Michael Dinan and Jens Klingmann plus Richard Heistand, who regularly races against the Turner BMW in the IMSA GTD class.

***The Audi Sport-backed Attempto Racing and Sainteloc Junior Team entries are sporting special liveries this weekend, in recognition of the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli race. The pair of Audi Sport Team WRT entries, however, are running in their normal Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS liveries this weekend.

***Mercedes-AMG has also introduced new liveries for some its Pro cars at Spa. The No. 88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo has a new grey design with backing from clothing brand Puma, while GruppeM Racing has a special livery commemorating 55 years of Mercedes-AMG.

***Another new design comes courtesy of Dinamic Motorsport, which has both of its Porsche 911 GT3 Rs decked out in bright green. The Italian squad’s No. 54 Pro car started the Endurance Cup season with a black, white and blue trim.

***Kevin Estre shared photos of a new helmet design on social media, featuring a Martini-inspired color scheme this weekend to match the retro livery on his GPX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. Similarly, co-driver Michael Christensen has also brought a special helmet to Spa.

***Ferrari will publicly unveil its new GT3 car in the paddock on Friday. The Ferrari 296 GT3 completed its first shakedown on April 12 and is expected to make its race debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.

***Pirelli has brought 17,000 tires to the 24 Hours of Spa. The Italian company also has 150 technicians, engineers, managers and other staff, as well as 40 support vehicles, on-site to coordinate one of the busiest sports car racing events of the year. Pirelli is also supplying the GT4, Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe, Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine and French F4 grids.

***Pirelli’s circuit racing activities manager Matteo Braga highlighted the new factors brought by off-season changes to the Spa facility: “The [partial] new surface has not only generated more grip but also eliminated some of the bumps, with the cars now able to hold higher speeds through the corners and straights,” he said.

***The installation of more gravel traps will add “another unknown” to the event, according to Braga. “Bigger gravel traps closer to the actual track [are] adding another unknown factor to a race where cars often go off the ideal line. Sticking to track limits will be crucial to keep the surface clean.”

***The CMR Bentley Continental GT3 is set to race in the Gold Cup category after starting the week as a Pro-Am competitor. It follows the signing of former Bentley factory driver Maxime Soulet to the lineup, alongside fellow Gold Antonin Borga, Silver-rated Stephane Lemeret and Bronze-rated Nigel Bailly.

***CMR’s Bentley participated in Tuesday’s Bronze test with Pro-Am stickers, however Pro-Am crews require two Bronze-rated drivers. CMR had this at Imola and Paul Ricard but Matthieu de Robiano is no longer in its lineup for Spa.

***Some Balance of Performance adjustments have been made since the last GTWC Europe Endurance Cup round at Paul Ricard, which like Spa is a category A circuit as defined by SRO. The Porsche 911 GT3 R has received a 10 kg weight increase while Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren have all gained 5 kg.

***Thursday is a busy day of track action, with four official 24 Hours of Spa sessions taking place. The first is Free Practice lasting 90 minutes from 10:50 a.m. CEST (4:50 a.m. ET), followed by a 60-minute Pre-Qualifying run that starts at 4:15 p.m. (10:15 a.m. ET).

***Average-based qualifying to determine the participants in Friday evening’s Super Pole shootout consists of four 15-minute sessions beginning at 8:40 p.m. (2:40 p.m. ET). The day is capped by a 90-minute Night Practice at 10:20 p.m. (4:20 p.m. ET).

***Live streaming will be available on the GT World YouTube channel from Pre-Qualifying onwards.

John Dagys and Davey Euwema contributed to this report