2025 Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa
The engines haven’t even fired up yet, but you can already feel Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps crackling with tension. Last year, biblical rain and a Ferris wheel of chaos turned the centenary CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa into a delirious 24-hour rollercoaster, and an Aston Martin came out of nowhere to snatch the biggest win since 1948. Now, one year on, the world’s GT racing circus is back in the Ardennes, and everyone in the paddock is braced for another round of endurance racing madness. In the grandstands, fans recall how the 2024 race devolved into a swampy dogfight and how the underdog Aston upset the giants. The air is thick with petrol fumes and payback. Especially if you’re Porsche or BMW – two manufacturers locked in a simmering feud that’s about to explode over 24 hours of hard racing.
Grudge match: Porsche vs. BMW in the Ardennes
Just one week ago in Germany’s “Green Hell”, Manthey EMA’s famed neon yellow Porsche, the ‘Grello’ 911 GT3 R, crossed the finish line first after a tense 24 hours, seemingly victorious. I was already scribbling celebratory notes when suddenly the timing screens blinked: a post-race 100-second penalty for Manthey’s ace Kevin Estre flipped the Nürburgring 24 Hours on its head. Estre had launched a hapless Aston Martin GT4 into a barrel roll while lapping it at dawn – a heart-stopping shunt that race control deemed worthy of a massive time penalty. In one stroke, ROWE Racing’s #98 BMW M4 GT3 was promoted from runner-up to winner, despite trailing by just 22 seconds on the road. Porsche’s protest was rejected within the final minutes, leaving their drivers fuming and BMW’s crew spraying champagne in disbelief. “Although we crossed the finish line first, we still lost because of the time penalty. That’s a very sad moment for this great race,” a dejected Estre said after losing the Nürburgring win. Sad and disappointed he may be, but you can bet Porsche’s whole camp is seething for revenge here at Spa.
If the Nordschleife showdown was any indication, the stage at Spa is set for an all-out grudge match between Stuttgart and Munich. Remember, BMW and Porsche have traded blows in endurance classics for decades. At Spa, BMW is the most successful marque in history with 25 overall wins, including a record-extending victory in 2023. Porsche, meanwhile, tasted Spa triumph in 2019 and 2020 but has been shut out since, watching Audi, Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW, and even Aston take turns at the top step. For a brand that dominated GT racing lore, those defeats sting. So Porsche arrives in Belgium with something to prove, aiming to remind everyone that the 911 GT3 R isn’t here to play second fiddle. “It was a great weekend for Porsche and Manthey (at the ’Ring), but it wasn’t enough in the end. I’m just sad… but that’s GT racing,” Estre shrugged. Translation: We’ll get you next time. Well, next time is now, the Spa 24 Hours, and the Porsche squads are sharpening their knives.
The big guns: BMW’s 11-car army vs. Porsche’s razor-edged quartet
Make no mistake, BMW is coming into Spa like a heavyweight looking to land a knockout punch. The Bavarians have marshalled an unprecedented 11 BMW M4 GT3 EVOs on the grid, five of them in the top Pro class hunting the outright win. It’s a factory onslaught disguised as a race entry. Team WRT and ROWE Racing – the same outfits that triumphed in Spa 2023 and Nürburgring 2025, respectively – spearhead this BMW armada with a stacked driver roster. They’ve practically drafted the who’s who of GT stars and even a few curveballs: three-time Spa winner Philipp Eng, Nürburgring hero Kelvin van der Linde, and young guns like Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor (both hungry after multiple Spa podiums) will each anchor a BMW. And for good measure, BMW has tossed two headline-grabbing celebrities into the mix, a MotoGP legend and an F1 veteran, just to spice things up.
Valentino Rossi, the nine-time grand prix motorcycle champion turned gentleman racer, is back for his fourth Spa attempt, this time in a BMW and dreaming of a fairytale victory in car #46. “I’m very happy to be back at the Spa 24 Hours,” Rossi said, grinning like a kid as he suited up with his new team. “It’s a fantastic race, very demanding and difficult, on a circuit that commands respect. The level of this race, with the best GT drivers and teams in the world, is incredible. I can’t wait to compete with my great teammates, Kevin (Magnussen) and René (Rast)”.
Next to Rossi in the garage is Kevin Magnussen, freshly escaped from ten seasons in Formula 1 and about to get a baptism of fire in 24-hour GT racing. Magnussen admitted he’ll lean on Rossi and Rast’s experience: “I have some GT experience… but Spa is something else. Valentino is a legend, and René is a true champion. It will be a pleasure to participate together”, he said, evidently a bit in awe of his co-drivers. And René Rast himself is no stranger to Spa glory – a two-time winner here, now returning with BMW after years as Audi’s top gun. With star power like this, BMW isn’t just aiming to win – they aim to win in style. “We are very proud to be competing in the biggest GT3 race in the world with such a strong line-up,” declared Andreas Roos, BMW’s motorsport boss. “We will have 11 BMW M4 GT3 EVOs at the start, including five in the Pro class to aim for the overall victory. It’s fantastic! We’ve never had so many GT3 cars at Spa… The fact that we can have Valentino Rossi, Kevin Magnussen and René Rast sharing a car should really excite the fans”. Consider us excited, Mr. Roos – and perhaps a bit terrified at the sheer firepower BMW is unleashing.
Porsche, for its part, is taking a different tack: quality over quantity, surgical strikes over carpet-bombing. The Porsche 911 GT3 R will be represented by four Pro-class entries, a smaller battalion, but bristling with talent and factory support. If BMW’s approach is “throw everything including the kitchen sink,” Porsche’s approach is more assassin’s blade: pick the right teams and drivers and let the 911’s legendary consistency do the work. Dinamic GT, a squad that just grabbed a podium at the Nürburgring last weekend, leads Porsche’s charge after a “clean and consistent run” earned them third place there. Their young Danish ace Bastian Buus and Italian hotshoe Matteo Cairoli were part of that N24 podium and carry serious momentum into Spa’s week. Then there’s Rutronik Racing and Pure-Rxcing, two Porsche customer teams that have shown flashes of brilliance, Pure-Rxcing even led portions of last year’s Spa Bronze Cup fight. And adding a dash of celebrity, we have Schumacher Motorsport (entered as “Schumacher CLRT”), yes, that Schumacher – a team affiliated with ex-F1 racer Ralf Schumacher, running a Porsche 911 GT3 R in bright orange. Their driver lineup last year included rising stars like Ayhancan Güven and Laurin Heinrich, and we expect a similarly factory-blessed squad this time. While Porsche’s Spa effort is technically “customer racing”, don’t be fooled, Stuttgart always has a few works drivers hiding in those customer overalls. In fact, Porsche famously treats Spa as a customer event, preferring to bolster private teams rather than roll out a full factory squad. That means these four Porsche entries are out to prove a point: We might not have eleven cars, but our four are sharp enough to cut you down. With Manthey (Porsche’s flagship team) not entered at Spa, the torch is passed to these customer teams to defend Porsche's honour. They’ll be itching to avenge Manthey’s Nürburgring heartbreak, and there’s no better place to do it than beating BMW on Belgian soil.
75 cars, ten marques, one insane race
While Porsche-versus-BMW grabs the headlines, let’s not pretend they’re the only game in town. Spa’s record-breaking grid of 75 GT3 machines ensures chaos will have company. Ten manufacturers have thrown their hat into the ring this year, turning the Ardennes into a battleground of automotive egos and engineering. Reigning champion Aston Martin returns with Comtoyou Racing, the plucky Belgian outfit that conquered the 2024 race in their bright green Vantage GT3. The “Dane Train” of Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen, alongside Italian ace Mattia Drudi, is back for Aston, eager to prove last year was no fluke. They’ll even get back-up from an unlikely ally: Walkenhorst Motorsport, a team that historically ran BMWs (and won here in 2018), has switched allegiance to run a second Aston Martin this year. Nothing like a little intra-German defection to keep things spicy.
Ferrari came close to victory last year and is livid about missing out. The prancing horse has two factory-linked AF Corse 296 GT3s on the prowl, and among their pilots is young Arthur Leclerc, Charles’ brother,crowd-favourite making his Spa 24 debut. You can bet the Tifosi will be waving flags at Eau Rouge, dreaming of Ferrari’s first Spa win in a decade. Mercedes-AMG, meanwhile, brings four Pro entries, headlined by the formidable GetSpeed team and a crowd-favourite, the Mann-Filter “yellow lion” car from Winward Racing. A local Belgian squad, Boutsen VDS and even Japan’s animé-liveried Goodsmile Racing are fielding AMG GT3s, ensuring the three-pointed star has factory muscle and fan flair on its side.
Then we have the wild cards: Lamborghini is desperate to finally win this race after years of trying. They’re pinning hopes on the raging bulls of Grasser Racing and Vincenzo Sospiri Racing, with drivers like Franck Perera (who set a lap record in qualifying last year) armed to the teeth in their Huracán GT3 EVOs. McLaren hasn’t stood on a Spa podium in ages, but optimism is high after the Garage 59 team scored a surprise endurance podium at Monza earlier this season. Their lone 720S GT3 Evo could spring a surprise if rain or strategy plays into their hands. And let’s not forget we have a brand-new Ford Mustang GT3 roaring in with HRT, and the debut of the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, the Americans have arrived at this European party, one Ford and one Chevy ready to tussle with the established order. (One Corvette withdrew late, but at least one V8 rumble remains on the grid.) This means for an overall win, class victories,: from the all-pro squads to the Gold Cup, Silver Cup, Bronze Cup, and Pro-Am ranks, each manufacturer has multiple shots at glory across five classes. Even Audi, oddly absent from the Pro class for the first time in memory, still features strongly in Silver/Gold with teams like Tresor Attempto and Saintéloc Racing populating the mid-field. In total, 75 cars, 10 brands, and around 225 drivers will be fighting for an overall win, class victories, and bragging rights. It’s endurance racing’s version of a battle royale; good luck even keeping track of who’s leading at any given time.
Human drama amid the endurance frenzy
What makes Spa truly special, and utterly bonkers, isn’t just the numbers or the cars. It’s the people and the unpredictable, human moments that give a 24-hour race its soul. And that’s what we live for. Spend a night in the Ardennes forest and you’ll see what I mean: the campfires glow, the beer flows, and even at 3 am, fans cheer on every battered car that limps by in the darkness. This race has a way of making heroes and villains overnight. One minute you’re a nobody, the next minute you’re a legend for pulling off a triple stint in the rain on slick tyres. One minute, you’re leading comfortably; the next, you’re being punted off by a backmarker, in a collision that is so absurd that it sounds made-up. Yes, that actually happened at the Nürburgring last week: a humble Dacia, the slowest car in the field, adored by fans, got tangled with an Aston Martin in the early morning, causing a huge wreck and an outpouring of tears (and perhaps dark laughter) on the pit wall. If Spa’s anything like the Nürburgring 24 (and it is, in its own uniquely manic way), we’re guaranteed some WTF moments. Maybe not a Dacia this time (there are none here), but with 75 GT3s ranging from factory missiles to gentleman-driver entries, there will be traffic jams and close calls aplenty. “I always say that the Spa 24 Hours is the most intense 24-hour race in the world. It’s more intense than Le Mans, more intense than anywhere,” says Nicky Catsburg, a man who’s won Spa, Nürburgring and Le Mans in the past year. Coming from a guy nicknamed “Mr. Franken Nürburgring” by some fans, that’s saying something. Spa’s intensity stems from the relentless pace; there’s no room in your schedule to relax. It’s sprint racing for 24 hours; blink and you’ll miss three lead changes and a pit-stop bungle.
Speaking of pit-stop bungles, the crews are just as much the stars here. Who can forget last weekend’s pit lane power blackout at the ’Ring, a total electrical failure that shut down fuel pumps and red-flagged the race for over two hours? I was on my third coffee of the night when the entire pit lane went dark and all hell broke loose. Mechanics were scrambling in the dark, strategists tearing their hair out, and drivers left sitting in their cars, wondering if the apocalypse had come. Spa’s pit lane hopefully paid its electricity bill, but endurance racing has a twisted sense of humour: anything can happen, and usually does. We could see sudden downpours (it’s Spa; it will rain at some point, mark my words), late-night fog, or even the local wildlife appearing on the track. And let’s not discount the elephant in the room: Balance of Performance. SRO’s BoP gods will have their hands full trying to keep this many different cars on a relatively equal playing field. If one brand runs away early, expect mid-race weight or boost adjustments, controversy in the making. Drivers will gripe about it on the radio, team bosses will lobby in the paddock, and we journalists will eagerly fan those flames. It’s all part of the theatre.
Amidst the insanity, the drivers must keep their cool and their personality. Some do it with zen focus, others with gallows humour. We’ll have radio scanners eavesdropping on exhausted triple-stint drivers cursing slower traffic in five languages. We’ll witness garage meltdowns when a car that led for 18 hours suddenly dies at hour 23. And we’ll see tears of joy and frustration on Sunday at 4 pm when the flag drops. This race is an emotional meat-grinder, and that’s exactly why we love it. As one team manager told me with a wry smile, “That’s why I guess they don’t call it winning, they call it racing”, you can do everything right and still get sucker-punched by fate.
The calm before 24 hours of storm
It’s Thursday and the medieval town of Spa is buzzing: GT3 cars rumble down public roads for the traditional parade, fans throng around drivers for selfies and autographs, and a few mechanics try not to look too nervous sipping on their beers at the café (they know what’s coming). There’s an electric feeling of calm before the storm. Come Saturday, 4 pm, the tricolore flag will wave, and 75 snarling beasts will scream into La Source hairpin, jockeying for position before the plunge down Eau Rouge. If you’re lucky enough to be trackside, you’ll hear an intoxicating cacophony – the deep growl of AMG V8s, the high-pitched wail of flat-six Porsches, the turbo whoosh of Ferrari V6s and Audi/Lambo V10s. It’s a symphony of speed and a fist-fight on wheels.
Who’s going to come out on top Sunday afternoon? Your guess is as good as mine, and anyone who claims they can predict a 24-hour race is selling snake oil. BMW vs. Porsche is the storyline on everyone’s lips, a proper heavyweight duel. Maybe it ends in a dead heat, maybe they both go down in flames and clear the way for another Aston Martin fairytale or a Ferrari revenge win. All I know is I’ll be there, trackside at dawn, probably cold, definitely overtired, with a notebook in one hand and a cup of strong coffee in the other, grinning like an idiot as cars thunder past into the mist. This isn’t just endurance racing, it’s endurance theatre. And at Spa, the script always gets flipped.
So buckle up, folks. The 2025 Spa 24 Hours is about to kick off, and it promises to be pure, unfiltered motorsport insanity. As the saying (should) go: In Spa, to finish first, first you must survive, and maybe bring an umbrella and a sense of humour while you’re at it. Let the madness begin.
