Spa Wednesday Notebook

***Sixty-six cars are due to contest the centenary edition of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa this weekend, following Tuesday’s withdrawal of the No. 83 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2. Despite the team opting not to race, the car has traveled to Spa and is in the garage alongside the Pro-entered No. 63 car.

***The traditional pre-event parade to Spa town center and back took place on Wednesday, featuring all but one of the 66 GT3 cars entered into the race while cars from the GT4 European Series powered by Rafa Racing Club, McLaren Trophy Europe, Fanatec GT2 European Series and machinery from the historic GT and touring car support races also took part.

***The parade followed a different route compared to previous years, exiting the circuit at Les Combes and taking to the public roads that used to be part of the old circuit layout before rejoining at Blanchimont, exiting again at La Source and driving north towards Spa town.

***The result from the previous Intercontinental GT Challenge round at the Nürburgring 24 remain provisional amidst ROWE Racing’s ongoing appeal filed in the aftermath of the race.

***A combined 32 cars from the three registered manufacturers (BMW, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche) are eligible to score points towards the IGTC’s manufacturers’ standings. Click here to view the full list.

***Three drivers have been nominated to score Independent Cup points: points leader Prince Jefri Ibrahim, Lionspeed X Herberth driver Antares Au and Earl Bamber Motorsport’s Adrian D’Silva.

***Au, who took Pro-Am honors in the N24, is unconcerned about his points deficit to Ibrahim after he was provisionally awarded half points as less than 75 percent of the full race distance was completed. Au now trails Ibrahim by 12.5 points, but noted he has ‘two races to make up the difference.’

***Au’s No. 80 Porsche 911 GT3 R is sporting a new, striking livery compared to the red and white design Lionspeed carried at the Nürburgring, which he revealed was his idea.

***The Hong Kong driver is the reigning Bronze Cup winner at Spa, having triumphed last year with Huber Motorsport. This year, he is set to team up with Alexander Fach, Martin Rump and Alessio Picariello.

***The No. 11 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo missed Wednesday’s parade after it was involved in an accident involving the No. 30 OQ by Oman Racing BMW M4 GT3 during Tuesday’s Paid Test session. The team was allowed to forego the parade on the condition that the car remained under parc ferme while the parade occurred.

***BMW driver Sam De Haan was summoned to the stewards for allegedly causing the collision with the Aston Martin, but was not given a penalty after the stewards agreed that “none of the drivers involved were wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident.”

***In a change from last year, the three-hour test on Tuesday was open to all drivers as opposed to just those with a Bronze or Silver driver grading. Arthur Rougier topped the three-hour test session in the No. 111 CSA Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, setting a 2:15.748 and going 0.020 seconds quicker than Jules Gounon’s No.2 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

***In a bulletin issued to teams, SRO Motorsports Group sporting manager Antonio Cazzago explained that the test was opened up to all drivers due to “the decision to resurface a large part of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit after the official Spa Prologue.”

***Sportscar365 understands that as much as two-thirds of the track surface was resurfaced between the Prologue and this weekend’s race, although Raidillon and Blanchimont have remained unchanged. Resurfaced areas include the final chicane, La Source, roughly half of the Kemmel Straight, Les Combes, Bruxelles and the Campus-Stavelot complex.

***Mathieu Jaminet said he’s excited to be reunited with longtime co-driver Matt Campbell in the No. 92 SSR Herberth Porsche 911 GT3 R, nearly two years after last racing together in competition. The pair were entered together aboard a Car Collection Motorsport-run Porsche in last year’s N24, but the entry dropped out of the race after only 16 laps.

***Jaminet told Sportscar365: “It’s the first race since 2022, basically. It’s been one-and-a-half years. I’m very happy to finally be back together, to be honest. I don’t see Matt much anymore, obviously, because he’s now in WEC. It’s not like we can share some things like IMSA last year, even though we were in different cars. It’s always great to see a friend and share a car with him.”

***Two-dozen drivers are coming off last weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, including Jaminet, Colin Braun, George Kurtz, Ian James, Nicky Catsburg, Ben Barnicoat, Laurin Heinrich, Ollie Millroy, Bijoy Garg, Davide Rigon, Alessio Rovera, Kerong Li, Andrea Caldarelli, Matteo Cairoli, Zach Robichon, Nick Yelloly, Connor De Phillippi, Jordan Pepper, Franck Perera, Klaus Bachler, Toby Sowery, as well as Ross Gunn, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje, who were part of the GTD Pro and GTD class-winning lineups for Heart of Racing Team and Winward Racing, respectively.

***Of note, Bachler is the only driver that will have contested the Nürburgring 24, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Six Hours of The Glen and 24 Hours of Spa, all this month, while Jaminet, Catsburg and Barnicoat are all on four consecutive events as well, with the three drivers having been in Detroit for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race instead of the N24.

***Bachler’s Pure Rxcing team was given a warning after Tuesday’s test when it was discovered that the No. 911 Porsche was equipped with a ride height sensor. As a result, the team was ordered to arrange a new technical check before being allowed to join Thursday’s opening Free Practice session.

***CrowdStrike by Riley is once again utilizing support from SPS automotive performance, with the German team primarily supporting the effort through support equipment and logistics. The team also utilized its workshop in between the Spa test days and race week to prep the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo that’s driven by Braun, Kurtz, Catsburg and James.

***The team has an additional Mercedes-AMG on-site as a spare/show car.

***While CrowdStrike by Riley is the lone team from Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS this year, a number of drivers with roots in the series are entered in other entries including Jan Heylen (HAAS RT), Anthony Bartone (GetSpeed), Chandler Hull (Kessel Racing), Till Bechtolsheimer (Barwell Motorsport), and De Phillippi (Century Motorsport).

***Hull’s No. 74 Ferrari 296 GT3 has gone through a lineup change, with Matthew Bell replacing Phil Keen. The remainder of the lineup consists of John Hartsthorne and Ben Tuck.

***ST Racing and Nolasport have entries in the GT4 European Series powered by Rafa Racing Club this weekend, with Samantha Tan and Jon Miller at the wheel of a BMW M4 GT4 and the longtime pairing of Jason Hart and Matt Travis in a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.

***SRO America again has a large delegation of staff on-site this weekend, led by President and CEO Greg Gill as well as general manager Staci Langham, Vice President of marketing and communications Robbie Montinola, marketing and communications manager Taylor Bedell and Natasha Masterson, the senior manager of marketing and business development, along with video and content creators.

***Official track action kicks off on Thursday, consisting of Free Practice, Pre-Qualifying, qualifying and night practice. The opening 90-minute practice session starts at for 11:20 a.m. CEST (5:20 a.m. ET).

John Dagys contributed to this report