Preview
The 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium’s Ardennes region celebrates its centenary this year. Six of the racing cars from Weissach will tackle the Pro class helmed exclusively by professional drivers – including many Porsche works drivers. Since 2011, the outright winner has always come from this top category. This year, a total of 24 vehicles will contest this class.
Porsche can reflect on a long and illustrious history at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps: to date, a racing car from Weissach has won eight of the 75 endurance classics. “This year, we’re once again heading to Spa with high hopes of a top result and realistic chances of clinching the ninth overall victory for Porsche,” states Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R. “Ten customer teams campaigning a total of twelve Porsche underline the trust that our GT3 racing car enjoys. We’re contesting the race with top-tier driver crews, particularly in the Pro category. This gives us the perfect basis for maximum success. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of this classic, we’ll do everything possible to achieve this.”
After Porsche conducted successful tests during the two-day prologue about a month ago, large sections of the Belgian Grand Prix circuit have been resurfaced. “This throws totally new conditions at everyone – the new asphalt will turn everything upside down,” asserts Golz. “The track surface is not as rough, and the bumps have changed. In terms of vehicle setup, this means that everyone is starting from scratch.” To explore parameters such as the optimal spring-damper setup and tyre wear, the drivers spent valuable time on the track on Tuesday as part of an additional practice session.
The race
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium’s east has thrown one of the greatest challenges at racing drivers from all over the world since 1921 – and for many, it is also one of their all-time favourite circuits. Measuring 7.004 kilometres and featuring 21 turns, the storied Grand Prix circuit is still the longest track on the Formula 1 calendar. The “Ardennes rollercoaster” still deserves its nickname, by virtue of the spectacular steep section “Raidillon/Eau Rouge” and the downhill passage with the notorious “Blanchimont”. At the end of the start/finish straight, however, drivers encounter the tight “La Source” hairpin – one of the slowest corners of the GT3 season. Teams and drivers must expect notoriously changeable weather, which makes racing in the Ardennes even more thrilling.
The first 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps was contested in 1924. This year marks the centenary edition. To date, a Porsche racing car has won the historic endurance event eight times. The last two victories came in succession: in 2019, Kévin Estre (France), Michael Christensen (Denmark) and Richard Lietz (Austria) brought home overall victory with the 991.2-generation 911 GT3 R. A year later, another works driver trio climbed to the top of the podium: Nick Tandy (Great Britain), Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium).
Free live stream of the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
The official YouTube channel of the GT World Challenge (www.youtube.com/@GTWorld) will broadcast all sessions of this year’s 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in a free live stream, starting from the pre-qualifying on Thursday afternoon. Viewers can choose between a commentary in German, English, French, Italian, Dutch or Portuguese. Porsche provides continuous commentary via the „X“-channel @PorscheRaces and the Instagram channels @porsche.customerracing, @porsche.motorsport and @porsche_newsroom.
24 Hours of Spa: the highlight of the GT World Challenge Europe
A 67-strong field of GT3 cars will tackle the 76th edition of the endurance classic. Teams can again earn points towards the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) at the 24 Hours of Spa. This year’s IGTC included the Nürburgring 24-hour race for the first time.
First and foremost, however, the longest Ardennes race of the year is part of the GT World Challenge Europe, one of the world’s most important GT3 racing series. The 2024 calendar encompasses ten races, which are divided equally into two separate championships: a Sprint Cup and an Endurance Cup. After the season opener in Le Castellet in early April, the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps event marks the second race in the endurance classification. In addition to the 55 GT3 teams registered for the Endurance Cup, twelve guest starters have also entered the classic.
The customer teams and drivers in the Pro category
Twelve Porsche 911 GT3 R fielded by ten customer teams will take on the challenge of this year’s 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Six of them, each with three drivers sharing the cockpit, will tackle the 24-strong Pro division. With only professional drivers eligible to contest this class, the big favourites for overall victory are in this category. Schumacher CLRT with the Frenchman Dorian Boccolacci and the two former Porsche Juniors Ayhancan Güven from Turkey and Germany’s Laurin Heinrich, represents one of the permanently registered teams in the GT World Challenge Europe. The same applies to Rutronik Racing with Patric Niederhauser from Switzerland, Sven Müller from Germany and the Frenchman Julien Andlauer. The latter two have also come up through the Porsche Junior ranks. Pure Rxcing rounds off the trio of registered Porsche customer teams in the Pro classification with drivers Alex Malykhin from the UK, former Porsche Junior Klaus Bachler from Austria and Joel Sturm from Germany.
Three other 911 GT3 R guest entries will tackle the Pro category with strong line-ups. Joel Eriksson from Sweden, former Porsche Junior Jaxon Evans from New Zealand and Porsche works driver Thomas Preining from Austria will share driving duties for the Chinese team Phantom Global Racing. Porsche brand ambassador Timo Bernhard is also strongly involved in this project. SSR Herberth puts its trust in an all-works driver-crew with the two Frenchmen Mathieu Jaminet and Frédéric Makowiecki as well as the Australian Matt Campbell. Jaminet and Campbell also benefited from the sports car manufacturer’s junior initiative. Two current and one former Porsche works drivers will share a HubAuto Racing cockpit: local hero Laurens Vanthoor from Belgium, and the French pair Kévin Estre and Patrick Pilet.
Drivers’ pre-race comments
Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 911 GT3 R #992): “Spa-Francorchamps will be my third 24-hour race in just four weeks. I live about an hour from the racetrack and I’ve won my home race twice. I think that Kévin Estre, Patrick Pilet and I make an excellent crew – although it’ll be tough, especially against the permanently registered teams in the championship. I’m curious to see how it is out on the track after the major resurfacing work. We’re determined to bring home a podium result. If the chance to win presents itself, we want to be in a position to grab it.”
Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 911 GT3 R #92): “I missed last year’s 24 Hours of Spa for the first time in ages, so I’m thrilled to be back. SSR Performance and Herberth Motorsport – the two teams with whom I’ve achieved successes in the past – have joined forces for this race. The teamwork with Matt Campbell and Frédéric Makowiecki always runs beautifully. We have everything we need to hold our own against the strong competition.”
Thomas Preining (Porsche 911 GT3 R #23): “As the world's biggest and toughest GT3 race, the 24 Hours of Spa are always extremely entertaining. For us drivers, it’s particularly tricky to manage the traffic in such a huge field of racing cars that are almost equally competitive. Joel Eriksson, Jaxon Evans and I make a strong squad and we have a great team behind us. I can’t wait.”
Laurin Heinrich (Porsche 911 GT3 R #22): “I always look forward to the 24 Hours of Spa. We finished fifth at my Spa debut last year. With the new asphalt, everyone is starting from scratch before this weekend, which makes things particularly interesting. Dorian Boccolacci, Ayhancan Güven and I form a young and dynamic driver crew. With the second grid spot and a strong start at the season opener in Le Castellet, we demonstrated that we’re a force to be reckoned with.”
Porsche’s customer teams and their drivers
Pro class
Schumacher CLRT (#22)
Dorian Boccolacci (F) / Ayhancan Güven (TR) / Laurin Heinrich (D)
Phantom Global Racing (#23)
Joel Eriksson (S) / Jaxon Evans (NZ) / Thomas Preining (A)
SSR Herberth (#92)
Mathieu Jaminet (F) / Matt Campbell (AUS) / Frédéric Makowiecki (F)
Rutronik Racing (#96)
Patric Niederhauser (CH) / Sven Müller (D) / Julien Andlauer (F)
Pure Rxcing (#911)
Alex Malykhin (UK) / Klaus Bachler (A) / Joel Sturm (D)
HubAuto Racing (#992)
Kévin Estre (F) / Patrick Pilet (F) / Laurens Vanthoor (B)
Pro-Am class
EBM (#61)
Adrian D’Silva (MAL) / Kerong Li (CHN) / Earl Bamber (NZ) / Brendon Leitch (NZ)
Silver Cup
Dinamic GT (#55)
Theo Nouet (F) / Jop Rappange (NL) / Marius Nakken (N) / Axel Blom (FIN)
Bronze Cup
Dinamic GT (#54)
Philipp Sager (A) / Guilherme Moura de Oliveira (P) / Christopher Zöchling (A) / Marvin Dienst (D)
Lionspeed X Herberth (#80)
Antares Au (HK) / Alessio Picariello (B) / Martin Rump (EST) / Alexander Fach (CH)
Herberth Motorsport (#91)
Ralf Bohn (D) / Robert Renauer (D) / Morris Schuring (NL) / Alfred Renauer (D)
Rutronik Racing (#97)
Dustin Blattner (USA) / Dennis Marschall (D) / Loek Hartog (NL) / Zacharie Robichon (CAN)
The schedule for the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (all times CEST)
Thursday, 27 June:
11:20 – 12:50 hrs: Free Practice
16:30 – 17:30 hrs: Pre-Qualifying
20:35 – 21:55 hrs: Qualifying
22:25 – 23:55 hrs: Night Practice
Friday, 28 June:
15:45 – 16:15 hrs: Superpole
20:10 – 20:40 hrs: Warm-up
Saturday, 29 June:
16:30 hrs: Green light 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
Sunday, 30 June:
16:30 hrs: Chequered flag 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps – all overall wins with Porsche
2020 Tandy / Bamber / Vanthoor (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
2019 Lietz / Christensen / Estre (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
2010 Dumas / J. Bergmeister / Ragginger / Henzler (Porsche 911 GT3 RSR)
2003 Ortelli / Lieb / Dumas (Porsche 911 GT3 RSR)
1993 C. Fittipaldi / Jarier / Alzen (Porsche 911 RSR)
1969 Chasseuil / Ballot-Léna (Porsche 911)
1968 Kremer / H. Kelleners / Kauhsen (Porsche 911)
1967 Gaban / Van Assche (Porsche 911)
