SRO Reveals 65-Car Entry list for 24H Spa

SRO Motorsports Group has issued a 65-car entry list for next month’s TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa, confirming most of the driver lineups for the event’s 74th edition.

The entry is headlined by a field of 23 cars with Pro driving squads, along with a record 18 entries in the Silver Cup class, 14 entries in Gold Cup for the category’s Spa debut, eight Pro-Am contenders and a pair of Bronze Cup crews.

Spa forms round three of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup, but several teams from outside that series have committed to the race on July 30-31.

They include Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing, K-PAX Racing, KCMG, EMA Motorsport, Toksport WRT, The Heart of Racing with TF Sport and 2019 winner GPX Martini Racing.

GruppeM Racing adds a third Pro-class Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo into the mix alongside the full-season entries from GetSpeed Performance and Akkodis ASP.

The No. 55 GruppeM car will be driven by the factory lineup of Maro Engel, Maximilian Buhk and Mikael Grenier.

Engel moves across from the GetSpeed entry, with reigning DTM champion Maximilian Goetz swapping in for his fellow AMG works driver in the No. 2 Mercedes-AMG.

As reported by Sportscar365, Toksport WRT will enter the race with a single Porsche 911 GT3 R. The German squad, which ran Mercedes-AMGs until this year, lines up with Julien Andlauer, Marvin Dienst and Sven Mueller.

K-PAX Racing, KCMG, EMA Motorsport, The Heart of Racing and GPX all announced their Pro driver lineups ahead of the entry list’s publication.

Toksport, KCMG, EMA Motorsport and GPX form part of a five-car contingent of Porsches in the top category, along with Dinamic Motorsport’s Endurance Cup car.

Iron Lynx will seek to defend its Spa victory from last year with two cars that race full-time in the long-distance GTWC Europe series.

Nicklas Nielsen is the only retained member of that winning No. 51 crew and will aim to repeat his 2021 success by teaming up with Miguel Molina and James Calado.

Come Ledogar is now with Porsche squad Dinamic Motorsport, while Alessandro Pier Guidi is no longer racing in GTWC Europe.

The No. 71 Iron Lynx Ferrari lineup of Davide Rigon, Daniel Serra and Antonio Fuoco won the most recent Endurance Cup race at Paul Ricard.

There are five Pro-class Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo IIs, however none of them are entered under the ‘Audi Sport Team’ banner which in previous years has denoted extended factory support.

Team WRT is fielding two cars in the top category, including one for 3 Hours of Imola winners Dries Vanthoor, Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde, and the other featuring Spa debutant Valentino Rossi alongside Nico Mueller and Frederic Vervisch.

Attempto Racing, Sainteloc Racing and Tresor by Car Collection are the other Audi representatives in Pro. All four of the Audi teams involved in the top class also have cars entered in other categories.

Lamborghini’s quest for overall Spa honors is headlined by the two full-season Huracan GT3 Evos from Emil Frey Racing and the additional car from GTWC America points leader K-PAX.

Beechdean AMR and The Heart of Racing form Aston Martin’s attack, with each outfit drawing on factory driver experience for their single-car Pro efforts.

Roman de Angelis, who competes for The Heart of Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, has slotted into Beechdean’s No. 97 Gold Cup crew.

BMW has two full-season Endurance Cup entries in the Pro division courtesy of ROWE Racing, with the manufacturer’s target of an additional entry not materializing.

However, Walkenhorst Motorsport will rejoin SRO Motorsports Group competition at Spa with two BMW M4 GT3s in Gold Cup and Bronze, respectively.

Of note, American racers Robby Foley, Michael Dinan and Richard Heistand will be joined by BMW M factory driver Jens Klingmann in the team’s Gold Cup effort.

JOTA is the sole McLaren 720S GT3 operator in Pro and will be aiming to improve on its seventh-place result at Spa last year. Garage 59, which finished third overall last year with Aston Martin, will run two McLarens across Silver Cup and Pro-Am.

Inception Racing completes the McLaren stable with its Gold Cup entry.

Elsewhere in the other classes, Canadian squad ST Racing will make its 24 Hours of Spa debut in Silver with Samantha Tan, Nick Wittmer and Harry Gottsacker confirmed to drive so far.

As reported earlier this month, 2020 Spa winner Earl Bamber will compete in Pro-Am with Singha Racing Team, which is supported by Earl Bamber Motorsport.

Another EBM-assisted entry is the Pro-Am Porsche involving Grove Racing’s Stephen and Brenton Grove who contested the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in May.

Bathurst overall winner SunEnergy1 Racing is on the Spa grid as part of its Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli commitment, with Kenny Habul and Martin Konrad supported by Mercedes-AMG aces Dominik Baumann and Philip Ellis.

Herberth Motorsport has two additional Porsches in Pro-Am to complement its full-season Gold Cup example.

Alessio Picariello, Jaxon Evans and Dylan Pereira are among the Pro names joining the German squad for its multi-car commitment.

Sam De Haan and Ahmad Al Harthy, who drive for TF Sport in the European Le Mans Series, have signed with Barwell Motorsport to share the British team’s No. 77 Lamborghini with Sandy Mitchell and Alex MacDowall in Pro-Am.

Doriane Pin has joined the Iron Dames Ferrari setup, while Lamborghini Super Trofeo world champion Karol Basz adds to the No. 563 Vincenzo Sospiri Racing crew in Silver Cup alongside Yuki Nemoto, Michele Beretta and Benjamin Hites.

Mercedes-AMG is the only manufacturer with cars competing in all five categories and shares the title of the most represented brand with Porsche on 13 entries each.