Winward Mercedes-AMG Heads Four-Car 24H Spa Lead Fight

Luca Stolz held a narrow lead in the Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG with six hours of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa left to go as the top-four ran line astern.

The lead quartet were separated by just 1.5 seconds after 18 hours of racing, with Stolz fractionally ahead of Tommaso Mosca in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo that had lost over a lap earlier in the race when it suffered a puncture while leading.

However, a pair of Porsche 911 GT3 R Evos — the No. 80 Lionspeed GP and No. 22 Schumacher CLRT machines — were right on their tails amid an entertaining battle at the front.

The No. 51 Ferrari completed its remarkable return to the lead in the 15th hour having benefited from a series of cautions during the night that brought it back into the fight.

Alessio Rovera was able to jump both the leading No. 46 WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO and the No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO during the stops and began to pull away.

But it was during this stint that Thomas Preining climbed aboard the Lionspeed Porsche that had been forced to start from the pit lane after an engine change and began setting a blistering sequence of laps that included the fastest of the race.

He took the wheel of the Porsche in fourth place but soon dispatched Dan Harper in the WRT BMW before jumping Maro Engel in the Winward Mercedes-AMG in the next round of stops.

Preining then had Nicklas Nielsen’s Ferrari in his sights and reeled in a seven-second lead before diving ahead into the Bus Stop chicane to take first place.

However, the Porsche lost out in the 17th hour when it had pitted shortly before a full-course yellow to clean the track and the Mercedes-AMG was able to jump both Bastian Buus in the Lionspeed car and Nielsen after completing its whole stop under the caution.

Nielsen pitted twice during the FCY, the first to take on a splash more fuel and the second time to change a tire with a slow puncture, but only fell to fourth and soon passed Valentino Rossi in the No. 46 BMW on the restart, before Mosca continued the charge.

Rossi was unable to keep pace with the leaders and fell behind a storming Ayhancan Guven in the Schumacher CLRT Porsche who blasted ahead on the run out of La Source to progress into fourth.

Another Porsche occupied fifth spot after 18 hours, the No. 2 Boutsen VDS machine that had picked up a penalty for contact during the night, while Max Hesse relayed Rossi in sixth.

The No. 34 Walkenhorst Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO — that suffered a puncture after being collected in the pile-up on the opening racing lap — held seventh and the second of the AF Corse Ferraris was eighth having struggled to keep pace with the sister machine.

Ninth was the No. 32 WRT BMW that was on an alternative strategy having pitted again under the safety car that followed the 17th hour FCY, while the top-ten was completed by the No. 98 ROWE Racing BMW that had pitted just before the FCY and fell a lap adrift of the leaders as a result.

Several notable contenders had fallen by the wayside, including the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo that had run second in the opening hours before it struck the back of the No. 22 Porsche shortly after the race’s mid-point and picked up significant damage, losing 28 laps in the pits for repairs.

Also in strife was the No. 7 Comtoyou Aston Martin that had climbed to sixth and was seeking to make further progress when Nicki Thiim lost control at Raidillon in the 15th hour, spinning twice and striking the barriers.

Although he was able limp the car back to the pits, it was subsequently confirmed as a retirement due to the extensive front-left suspension damage.

An hour later, the No. 64 Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang GT3 EVO, which had been in the podium fight before a drive-through penalty for speeding during an FCY, stopped on track with gearbox woes and was also a retirement.

The No. 3 Verstappen Racing-badged 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG was another casualty with a loss of power due to high engine temperatures following overnight contact when heading into the pit lane.

Outside of the top-ten, the No. 998 ROWE BMW held the Gold Cup lead by some four laps in 11th overall.

The Silver Cup-leading No. 65 HRT Mustang was another to lose out after pitting shortly before the 17th hour FCY and fell a lap behind.

The No. 5 Optimum McLaren that had briefly led the race overall overnight before falling back with a sequence of penalties including for its technical pit stop being too short that dropped it to second in class but was right on the tail of the Mustang after the caution.

The pair came to blows at the Bus Stop chicane as the clock was about to tick on to 18 hours with the Mustang sent spinning.

The No. 991 Paradine Competition BMW had vaulted to the front of the Bronze Cup order thanks to good stints from David Pittard and James Kellett, while it made its technical pit stop several hours later than the majority.

But Mathys Jaubert then guided the No. 74 Kessel Ferrari that led the class for much of the race back into top spot approaching the end of the 18th hour with the cars up to 13th and 14th overall.

Further back, the depleted Pro-Am Cup division was headed by the No. 0 JMR Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R but it was eight laps adrift of the leaders.