Spa Wednesday Notebook

***The entry list for the 75th edition of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa now stands at 70 entries following the publication of the latest entry list on Wednesday. The McLaren 720S GT3 Evo from 7TSIX is no longer shown. It was signed up for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup season-opener at Monza but is yet to appear in the series.

***Wednesday featured the traditional pre-event parade to Spa town center and back involving all 70 GT3 cars, as well as cars from the GT4 European Series powered by Rafa Racing Club, Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe and McLaren Trophy. An autograph session was held in the evening as fans were able to get up close to the drivers and machinery that will be on track this weekend.

***Christopher Mies drove the all-electric Audi S1 e-Tron quattro Hoonitron in the parade. The car featured tribute messages for the late Ken Block, for whom the car was developed. Block died in a snowmobile accident earlier this year.

***Moto2 riders Sam Lowes and Tony Arbolino joined the parade in support of the Boutsen VDS squad which is running a pair of Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo IIs. The Marc VDS pair will perform demonstration laps ahead of the race start on Saturday.

***Track action started on Tuesday with a three-hour Bronze driver test. The session was led by Alex Malykhin who posted a time of 2:17.851 in the Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R. The top Bronze competitor was GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG driver Florian Scholze on a 2:18.180. The results show Klaus Bachler as the pace-setter but this was due to a transponder issue.

***DTM driver Tim Heinemann has replaced Dennis Fetzer in the No. 20 Huber Motorsport Porsche. The German driver, who broke onto the GT3 scene after winning last year’s DTM Trophy title, is set for his 24H Spa Spa debut and his first GTWC Europe race.

***Heinemann told Sportscar365 that he only received the call to drive for Huber on Tuesday afternoon. His only previous racing experience at Spa has been in a GT4 car.

***Gerhard Tweraser is a late addition to the No. 58 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 which now has a four-man crew for the Silver Cup class. Tweraser last did the 24 Hours of Spa in 2019 with the same team.

***GRT team principal Gottfried Grasser said: “After two podiums [this season], we really want the class win here and I’m confident that we have all the ingredients for a successful race.”

***The No. 87 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo is sporting a new white and silver livery with sponsorship from gaming company MSI. Mercedes-AMG and MSI penned a multi-year partnership at the end of May.

***ASP has adjusted the driver lineup of its additional No. 89 Mercedes-AMG in Bronze Cup. Allan Hellmeister, a multi-time Porsche Endurance Brazil champion, has joined the French squad joins Rodrigo, Adalberto and Bruno Baptista in what remains an all-Brazilian driving crew.

***Four drivers have received one-off driver rating derogations from event organizer SRO Motorsports Group to ensure their entries comply with certain classes. Samantha Tan, who is Silver-rated by the FIA, will be assigned as Bronze* for Spa to enable ST Racing with Rinaldi to have the two Bronze drivers required for Pro-Am.

***Other driver rating adjustments include Antonin Borga (Gold to Silver*) for a Bronze Cup crew, Hubert Haupt (Silver to Bronze*) for a Bronze Cup crew and Xiaole He (Silver to Bronze*) for a Pro-Am lineup.

***ST Racing is debuting its own Ferrari 296 GT3, after running a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 in the opening GTWC Europe Endurance Cup rounds. ST sampled a 296 GT3 at the test days but it was a borrowed chassis.

***The Canadian squad, which is run under the ST Racing with Rinaldi banner, is competing with a new livery that pays homage to the No. 112 Ferrari 250 GTO “Lady in Blue” from the 1960s.

***The 24 Hours of Spa marks the third round of both GTWC Europe Endurance Cup and the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli. Seventeen of the cars are racing for IGTC points, according to the series entry list for Spa.

***The IGTC has a fourth challenger in the Independent Cup this weekend, with Huber Motorsport driver Antares Au joining the category alongside Kenny Habul, Stephen Grove and Jonathan Hui. Habul and Hui are matched at the top of the table with 25 points.

***BMW, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche have each nominated the maximum of five IGTC points-scoring cars, however only the top two will score points. IGTC-nominated cars are distinguishable by white windshield banners. Two of the entries in contention to score IGTC points – SunEnergy1 Racing and Grove Racing – are also registered for the Independent Cup.

***SRO Motorsports Group founder and CEO Stephane Ratel indicated to Sportscar365 that calendar-related announcements could in fact be made during SRO’s annual press conference, which has been scheduled for Saturday morning this year. That is despite Spa being moved forward two weeks

***Ford Performance global motorsports director Mark Rushbrook has not ruled out the possibility of building a GT2 car in the future, following the recent announcements of GT3 and GT4-spec Mustangs. The GT4 was revealed at Spa on Wednesday. “We’re always looking at what’s in the landscape,” Rushbrook told Sportscar365. “But there’s nothing for us to announce about GT2.”

***Porsche North America Selected Driver Kay van Berlo is “super excited” to be part of Herberth Motorsport’s lineup alongside Alfred and Robert Renauer and Rolf Bohn. The Miami-based Dutchman races the Porsche 911 GT3 R full-time in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Kellymoss by Riley.

***Van Berlo said: “[Spa] is among the big four endurance races, including Le Mans, Daytona, and the Nurburgring. Obviously, I’ve done Daytona, been to the Nurburgring, and now to get to race in the Spa 24, which is one I’ve always wanted to do.”

***Track action ramps up on Thursday with Free Practice, Pre-Qualifying, qualifying and night practice all on tap. The opening 90-minute practice session is scheduled for 11:20 a.m. CEST (5:20 a.m. ET). The 20 fastest cars on average across the qualifying sessions will determine the candidates for Friday’s Superpole shootout. Qualifying begins at 9:20 p.m. (3:20 p.m. ET).

John Dagys & Davey Euwema contributed to this report