VSR Lamborghini Captures Lead After Eight Hours

Vincenzo Sospiri Racing and Lamborghini captured the lead of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa with eight hours completed, running at the head of a tight Pro field as night fell over the Ardennes circuit.

A quicker pitstop during the ninth round of stops allowed the No. 163 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, driven by Marco Mapelli, to leapfrog ahead of the No. 17 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Luca Stolz.

The Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed entry had itself ran at the head of the field after moving ahead of the polesitting No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo during a round of stops in the fifth hour.

A number of safety cars has kept the overall top ten tightly packed together during the start of the overnight hours, with the tenth-placed No. 98 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Jesse Krohn less than 30 seconds off the overall lead.

The No. 59 McLaren, which led the first four hours, has dropped back to fourth behind the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Eliseo Donno but remained ahead of Mattia Drudi’s No. 7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

Maro Engel held sixth in the No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, with that car briefly capturing the lead after committing to a shorter fuel stop in the seventh hour before dropping back as a result of going off-sequence.

Jordan Pepper ran seventh aboard the No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini, followed by the No. 96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Patric Niederhauser.

The Rutronik entry is the sole remaining Pro-entered Porsche in the race after the No. 911 Pure Rxcing machine retired due to a steering rack issue.

Meanwhile, the No. 9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG was also retired due to damage to the cooling system.

A Mercedes-AMG spokesperson indicated that that likely came due to debris picked up during the second-hour incident between the No. 22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche and No. 112 CSA Racing McLaren at Blanchimont.