The track of over 7 kilometers nestled in the Forests of the Ardennes hosts the most prestigious endurance race of the GT World Challenge Europe championship. 66 crews have entered: Audi, Ferrari and Mercedes fight for the titles, Valentino Rossi makes his debut on his Audi R8
Giulio Masperi
– Milan
It is the most anticipated race of the year in the GT World Challenge Europe championship, as well as the “queen” test of the Endurance Cup of the same continental series. The long weekend of the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps gets underway from Thursday 28 July 2022, with the first free practice sessions. 66 GT3 class cars entered the endurance race with a long history – the first edition dates back to 1924 – which takes place in Belgium, representing the most famous brands, including Ferrari and Lamborghini. At the wheel of the Audi R8 Lms number 46 Valentino Rossi, for the first time involved in the event hosted on the track of over 7 kilometers in the Ardennes Forest. The qualifying sessions and the race, starting at 4.45 pm on Saturday 30 July, are broadcast in live streaming on the “GT World” YouTube channel; the race also on the Sky Sport platform and streaming on Now. Among the side events, the single-brand Lamborghini Super Trofeo.
GT, 24 HOURS OF SPA 2022: MEMBERS
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The 74th edition of the 24 Hours of Spa sees 66 super sports cars registered representing nine brands: Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, Bmw, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes, Porsche. All the cars are fitted with Pirelli tires with the Dhf tire, specific for GT: the Milanese company brings 17,000 tires and 150 engineers to Belgium to follow the endurance race. The crews are divided between the Pro, Silver Cup, Gold Cup, Pro-Am Cup and Bronze Cup classes. On the 7,004 km long track, with 21 corners, which annually hosts the Formula 1 Grand Prix, an endurance race that sees the most prestigious GT3 class cars at the start. The main category, Pro, includes crews composed of a maximum of three pilots; the other classes can field four drivers for each car. Among the novelties of 2022 the Gold Cup category, which mixes a driver with a Bronze license, two Silver, and one with a Gold or Platinum license, the most prestigious – and reserved for the most experienced professionals. Definitely challenging due to the distance covered in the race, the weather conditions – which often reserve the rain over the course of the 24 Hours – and the heterogeneity of the members, between professional drivers and gentlemen drivers, the traditional Belgian race offers a rich script. of stimuli and results open until the last laps.
GT, 24 HOURS OF SPA 2022: THE FAVORITES
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The crews battling for the absolute titles and the Endurance Cup were observed special at the 24 Hours of Spa, in particular the Wrt team – which also brings Valentino’s Audi R8 to the track -, the Akkodis team with the Mercedes GTs, and the Iron Lynx team with the Ferrari 488s, so far protagonists of the championship as far as the Pro class is concerned. The overall victory in 2021 was signed by the Ferrari 488 of Alessandro Pier Guidi, Nicklas Nielsen and Come Ledogar, bringing a car from Maranello back to the top step after 17 years. Several crews that present themselves with the favors of the prediction in the main category. Among these, in the Mercedes number 88, Raffaele Marciello (author of the Superpole in 2021 and 2020) -Daniel Juncadella-Jules Gounon; on the Ferrari 488s of the Iron Lynx team two crews made up of official Maranello drivers, on car number 51 (Miguel Molina-Nicklas Nielsen-James Calado) and on 71 (Davide Rigon-Daniel Serra-Antonio Fuoco). In the Pro class also the Lamborghini Huracán number 6 (Orange1) driven by Jordan Pepper-Andrea Caldarelli-Marco Mapelli, and number 63 (Emil Frey) with Jack Aitken-Albert Costa-Mirko Bortolotti. Among the numerous Italians at the start, in Pro class, also Matteo Cairoli, with Klaus Bachler and Come Ledogar in the Porsche 911 number 54 (Dinamic). Among the curiosities to report, Mapelli on Lamborghini holds the lap record for the GT3, in 2 minutes 18 seconds 146 thousandths, recorded in 2020.
GT, 24 HOURS OF SPA: VALENTINO ROSSI
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The 24 Hours of Spa represents the seventh round of the GT World Challenge Europe 2022, as well as the third of the five events included in the Endurance Cup (the continental series, made up of ten races overall, is divided equally between sprint and endurance tests). For Valentino Rossi, after the two days of collective tests at the end of June, this is the debut in competition on the difficult and evocative Belgian track. The nine-time world champion in MotoGP shares the seat of the Audi R8 Lms GT3 number 46 (team Wrt) with Frédéric Vervisch and Nico Müller. Not an easy challenge for Valentino, who competes in the Pro category, in which the 43-year-old from Pesaro will try to confirm the positive progression shown so far in the championship. In Misano, in the first weekend of July, Rossi and Vervisch finished the second heat with a good fifth place.
GT, 24 HOURS OF SPA: THE LAMBORGHINI STORE
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Among the side races at the 24 Hours of Spa there is also the fourth round of the single-make Lamborghini Super Trofeo (37 cars entered), which arrives in Belgium after the test staged in Misano Adriatico, where Loris Spinelli and Max Weering in the Huracán number 61 ( Bonaldi) have achieved their sixth consecutive success. Two tests are scheduled at Spa, Friday 29th and Saturday 30th July, both 30 minutes long. The crew, which is the favorite on the Ardennes circuit, will try to further consolidate their advantage in the standings in the appointment that represents the halfway point of the season. After Spa, the Sant’Agata Bolognese Bull Trophy will stop in Barcelona (30 September-2 October) and Portimao (3-4 November), before the Finals on this last Portuguese track on 5-6 November.
GT, 24 HOURS OF SPA: THE PROGRAM
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The race format of the 24 Hours of Spa includes four qualifying sessions, on Thursday, with each of the four drivers getting into their car and the final time taking into account the average of each survey (the Pro crews who choose to compete with three drivers skip Q1). The best 20 times give access to the Superpole on Friday, where only one driver for each car has the right to lap to find the best time. As for the race, each stint has a maximum duration of 65 minutes; each driver can compete for no more than 14 hours, and no more than three consecutive stints before stopping and being replaced for at least one hour. Below is the detailed program. Live streaming and TV cover the four qualifying sessions, the Superpole, and the race.
- Thursday 28 July, Free Practice 1, 10.50-12.20
- Thursday 28 July, pre-qualifying, 4.15-5.15pm
- Thursday 28 July, Qualifying 1, 20.40-20.55
- Thursday 28 July, Qualifying 2, 21.02-21.17
- Thursday 28 July, Qualifying 3, 21.24-21.39
- Thursday 28 July, Qualifying 4, 21.46-22.01
- Friday 29 July, Warm-Up, 18.20-18.50
- Friday 29 July, Superpole, 19-19.30
- Saturday 30 July, endurance race, from 4.45pm
GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE: THE RANKINGS
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After six races out of ten scheduled, the GT World Challenge Europe championship sees Wrt (Audi) in first place with 158.5 points, ahead of Akkodis Asp (Mercedes) at 157, and Tresor by Car Collection (Audi) at 75. As regards the Endurance Cup, which brings together the five long tests of the season, the Team classification sees Akkodis Asp (Mercedes) at 42 points, Wrt (Audi) at 41, Iron Lynx (Ferrari) at 40; Drivers’ classification: Daniel Serra-Davide Rigon-Antonio Fuoco (Ferrari) with 38 points, Raffaele Marciello-Jules Gounon-Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes) with 37 points, James Calado-Miguel Molina-Nicklas Nielsen (Ferrari) with 30 points.
GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE: THE CALENDAR
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- Hockenheim (Germany), Endurance Cup, 2-4 September
- Valencia (Spain), Sprint Cup, 16-18 September
- Barcelona (Spain), Endurance Cup, 30 September-2 October
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