Spa 24 Preview: Runners and Riders

There’s always something magical about a 24 Hour race and this weekend’s Spa 24 promises not to disappoint. The bumper 60 car entry for the fourth round of the Blancpain Endurance Series features representation from 11 manufacturers, with drivers from as far afield as Australia and Oman, including a few Le Mans, Nurburgring and Bathurst winners to boot, a combination that is sure to make for captivating viewing around the legendary 4.3 mile Belgian circuit. James Newbold takes a look at the ones to watch.

Pro Cup

Treluyer, Lotterer and Fassler could become the first trio in history to win
Le Mans and the Spa 24 Hours in the same year. (Credit: FIA WEC)

It simply wouldn’t be an endurance race without an Audi heading the billing and the Spa 24 Hours is no exception, with three entries from 2011 winners Belgian Audi Club WRT. Nurburgring 24 Hour winners Rene Rast and Markus Winklehock, co-driven by Belgium’s own Blancpain Sprint Series champion Laurens Vanthoor, will carry the number one on their door and on paper stand an excellent chance of delivering Audi their third 24 Hour title of the year. 

But despite having less experience of the R8 LMS than their team-mates, you wouldn’t bet against the formidable partnership of Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler becoming the first trio in history to hold the Le Mans and Spa crowns simultaneously (Luigi Chinetti in 1949 and Romain Dumas in 2010 are the only drivers to achieve this feat so far) in their first race together since clinching their third win at La Sarthe in June. Full-season trio James Nash, Franck Stippler and Christopher Mies complete WRT’s lineup.

Further Audis are entered by Sainteloc Racing – who currently sit third in the Blancpain standings – for Stephane Ortelli, Gregory Guilvert and Edward Sandstrom, fresh from an eye-opening run in the World Rallycross Championship in Mettet, while Czech single-seater team ISR make their first foray into GTs with Marc Basseng joining Filipe Salaquarda and Fabian Hamprecht. The Audi teams will all be hoping for a performance break after struggling badly on the Mistral Straight at Paul Ricard, with the Sainteloc crew the best-placed of the R8s down in fifth.

Spa marks the first 24 hour race for the Bentley Continental, which has won
twice already this season. (Credit: Brecht Decancq Photography)

Bentley are very much the in-form team heading to Spa after two consecutive wins at Silverstone and Paul Ricard that see Guy Smith, Andy Meyrick and Steven Kane atop the Pro Cup standings. The new Continental GT3 is an unknown quantity over twenty four hours, but should certainly be in contention for as long as it remains reliable. The sister car of ex-F1 racer Jerome d'Ambrosio, Antoine Leclerc and Duncan Tappy has yet to hit the same heights, but without the bad luck that has dogged them throughout the season they have the pace to challenge.

The British team’s closest rivals this year have been the ART McLarens, often the class of the field over a single lap in the hands of Alvaro Parente. The Portuguese, who won at Monza with regular team-mate Gregoire Demoustier, will again be joined by Toyota WEC racer Nicolas Lapierre, the Frenchman eager to resume his rivalry with the Audis, while Kevin Korjus, Kevin Estre and Andy Soucek will look to get their title challenge back on track after a scoreless weekend at Ricard.

Von Ryan Racing have also entered an MP4-12C in the Pro Cup, with Kiwi V8 Supercar ace Shane van Gisbergen looking to recapture the electrifying pace shown at the Bathurst 12 Hours alongside experienced team-mates Tim Mullen and Rob Bell.

Mercedes won the 24 Hours in 2013 with Schneider, Gotz and Buhk (Credit: Eric Fabre)

It’s been a relatively quiet season so far by the lofty standards of HTP Motorsport, but the 2013 Spa winners have assembled a strong three-car team of Mercedes SLS AMGs to tackle the 24 Hours.  Bernd Schneider, who turned 50 this week, moves across to partner Harold Primat and Nico Verdonck, while Malaysian single-seater racer Jazeman Jaafar slots in alongside Blancpain Sprint Series championship leaders Maximillian Buhk and Maxi Gotz. A further change sees Xavier Maassen replace Lucas Wolf alongside Stef Dusseldorp and Sergey Afanasiev. Mercedes are also represented by Black Flacon Racing, who could be a dark horse to look out for with Adam Christodoulou, Yelmer Buurman and Mike Parisy poised to drive.

The Marc VDS BMW team also have a very strong entry in the Pro class as they attempt to make up for a disappointing Nurburgring 24 where both cars failed to finish. DTM racers Maxime Martin and Augusto Farfus will partner Jorg Muller, with Markus Palttala, Dirk Werner and Lucas Luhr, who replaces team principle Bas Leinders, sharing the second car.

The Motorbase-run Oman Racing team is the sole Aston Martin in the class, but Silverstone 300 winners Ahmed al-Harthy and Michael Caine will look to spring a surprise after finishing on the podium in British GT two weeks ago. They will be joined by touring car racer Stephen Jelley.

Pro-Am

Many of the fiercest battles in this year’s race will come from the Pro-Am category, as three factory-supported Aston Martins do battle with a cluster of strong lineups from Ferrari, Nissan and BMW.

ROAL Motorsport took victory at Monza and splashed to a
 third place finish at Silverstone. (Credit: Brecht Decancq)

The Maranello’s hopes will be pinned on all-Italian trio Andrea Rizzoli, Stefano Gai and Francesco Castelacci, who currently lead the Pro-Am standings for the Scuderia Villorba Corse team courtesy of two second places at Imola and Paul Ricard.  They enjoy a slim five point advantage over ROAL Motorsport pair Stefano Comandini and Eugenio Amos, who are joined at Spa by Michela Cerruti and Stefano Colombo.

Fellow BMW outfit TDS Racing took maximum points last time out as Nick Catsburg and Henry Hassid finished a remarkable sixth overall. Their lineup is bolstered by the addition of Pierre Thiriet and Jens Klingman, with Olivier Pla, Nicolas Armindo, Benjamin Lariche and Eric Clement set to pilot the other car, while Ecurie Ecosse call on the services of British ace Alexander Sims, although much will depend on whether Oliver Bryant, Andrew Smith and Alasdair McGraig can keep the Z4 in contention.

Of AF Corse's four-car entry in Pro-Am, the formidable Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron combination which took victory at the Red Bull Ring last weekend looks the pick of the bunch with Alex Mortimer alongside, while Marco Cioci and Andrea Bertolini - the undisputed one lap king of the ELMS - may struggle to remain in contention with bronze-rated Belgian pair Louis Machiels and Niek Hommerson in the team.  

Lowndes fended off Buhk in a dramatic finish to the Bathurst 12 Hour. (Credit: Craig Lowndes)

But of course, all eyes will be firmly fixed on V8 Supercar legend Craig Lowndes as the 39 year-old returns to Spa for the first time since his lone season in Formula 3000 in 1997. The three-time series champion and five-times winner of the Bathurst 1000 has enjoyed great success in his recent forays into sportscars and took a memorable win for Maranello Motorsport in the Bathurst 12 Hour earlier this year despite relentless pressure from Buhk. And in Andrea Piccini, Michele Rugolo and Steve Wyatt, Lowndes has a team around him capable of making his return a memorable one.

Australia also has another entry to cheer in Pro-Am, with Roger Lago’s Lamborghini LP600 also making the trip from down under. Alongside owner-driver Lagos, Lowndes’ V8 Supercar enduro partner Steven Richards, a three times Bathurst 1000 winner in his own right, Steve Owen and David Russell complete a strong lineup.

Among the Aston Martin ranks, British GT champions Beechdean Motorsport welcome back Stefan Mucke, who qualified the car on pole last year. The German joins Jonny Adam, whose extensive knowledge of the Vantage has helped team owner Andrew Howard progress no end, while 22 year-old Daniel Lloyd will be making his 24 hour debut on only his second outing in the Aston Martin.

Stefan Mucke took outright pole last season in the Beechdean
Aston Martin. Will he do the same again? (Credit: Eric Fabre)

Mucke's regular WEC team-mate Darren Turner joins up with MP Motorsport, whose regular trio Richard Abra, Mark Poole and Joe Osborne will look to add to their Silverstone podium to keep up the Pro-Am championship hunt, while sister AMR outfit Leonard Motorsport welcome Pedro Lamy and double Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Michael Meadows alongside Paul Wilson and Stuart Leonard.

Don’t rule out the RJN GT Academy Nissans either. Wolfgang Reip helped Sir Chris Hoy to a debut podium at Spa in British GT two weeks ago and joins the burgeoning lineup of Alex Buncombe, Nick McMillen and Florian Strauss who lie third in the standings. Fresh from a fourth place finish alongside Luciano Bacheta in the ELMS last weekend, Mark Shulzhitskiy – who excelled in the Oak Ligier on his prototype debut at Le Mans of all places – is joined by Katsumasa Chiyo, Masataka Yanagida and Miguel Faisca in a second entry.

Of the rest, former GP2 champion Giorgio Pantano moves to join Fredric Vervsich, Karim Ojjeh and Olivier Grotz in a Boutsen Ginion McLaren, PGF-Kinfaun agreed a late deal to run their British GT rivals Paul White and Tom Onslow-Cole alongside team regulars John Gaw and Phil Dryburgh, and demon qualifier Franck Perera – who took outright pole at Silverstone – will attempt to show the manufacturers what they’re missing in the Pro GT by Almeras Porsche with Marco Bonanomi, Eric Dermont and Lucas Lasserre alongside.