A legendary race
Two weeks before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the crew formed by Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen on Ferrari 499P number 50 achieved an extraordinary success, accompanied on the podium by Pier Guidi-Calado-Giovinazzi, who came third in number 51, the Maranello company returns to be the protagonist of another great endurance classic, the 76th 24 Hours of Spa, second act of the GT World Challenge Europe – Endurance Cup 2024.
The edition of Centenary of the Belgian marathon takes place on the weekend of June 30th and sees 67 GT3 class cars at the start, including seven Ferrari 296 GT3s entered by five teams in two different classes; there are six official drivers of the Prancing Horse protagonists on the 7,004 kilometers of the track which hosted a 24 Hours for the first time in 1924.
Pro Class. As many as 24 crews compete for overall victory in the category featuring exclusively professional drivers. In the Pro class, two 296 GT3s stand out, both entered by the AF Corse-Francorchamps Motors team. Ferrari number 51 relies on the crew made up of the officials Alessandro Pier Guidi, Davide Rigon and Alessio Rovera, with the first returning from third place in the Hypercar class on the Circuit de la Sarthe in mid-June, and the other two protagonists in the French test in the class LMGT3 and last weekend, with the 296 GT3, in the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, the third endurance race of the IMSA championship. The same team fields a second car with the registration number 71 and red livery with yellow details entrusted to Thomas Neubauer, in his first season as an official driver of the Prancing Horse, with Vincent Abril and David Vidales.
Bronze Class. The other five Ferrari 296 GT3s are all entered in the class which includes crews made up of professionals and gentlemen drivers. The Swiss team Kessel Racing fields the number 8 with Nicolò Rosi, Niccolò Schirò, David Fumanelli joined at Spa-Francorchamps by Daniele Di Amato, and the number 74 with John Hartshorne, Chandler Hull, Ben Tuck and Matt Bell. AF Corse entrusts the 296 GT3 number 52 to Louis and Jef Machiels who continue – for the second consecutive year – their experience in the GT WC Europe together with Andrea Bertolini, Development Driver of the Maranello company; completing the crew expected in Belgium is Tommaso Mosca. Furthermore, in the competitive class which sees a total of 24 cars at the start, there is the Ferrari number 93 of Sky Tempesta Racing driven by Christopher Froggatt, Jonathan Hui, Eddie Cheever; completing the crew for the historic Belgian race is Lilou Wadoux, official driver of the Maranello company, involved this year in the Japanese Super GT with the 296 GT3, and in the IMSA championship with an LMP2 class prototype, where Wadoux together with Nicklas Nielsen and Louis Perez Companc achieved success last weekend at Watkins Glen. Finally, on the 296 GT3 number 333 of Rinaldi Racing are Christian Hook, Felipe Fernandez Laser, David Perel and Fabrizio Crestani.
History. The name of Spa-Francorchamps is closely linked to endurance racing and in particular to the coat of arms of a competition second in history only to Le Mans. The first edition of the 24 Hours of Spa, on the circuit inaugurated in 1921, dates back to 1924, a year after the one held on the La Sarthe circuit. Overall, the Maranello company achieved four overall successes at the 24 Hours of Spa. The Prancing Horse’s first victory dates back to 1949 when the 166 MM of Luigi Chinetti and Jean Lucas won on the ups and downs of the track set in the Ardennes forest; in 1953 the second success came with the 375 MM driven by Giuseppe Farina and Mike Hawthorn. In the third millennium Ferrari climbed to the top step of the podium for the third time, in 2004, with the 550 GTS of the crew formed by Cappellari-Gollin-Bryner-Calderari. The last Ferrari victory at the 24 Hours – today reserved for GT3 class cars – dates back to 2021 when Pier Guidi and Nielsen, together with Côme Ledogar, celebrated the overall success with the 488 GT3 Evo 2020. The same car achieved three further victories class in 2019, 2021 and 2022, in the latter case with Bertolini, Rovera, L. Machiels and Stefano Costantini who climbed to the top step of the podium in Pro-Am. Finally, Bertolini’s roll of honor includes two absolute victories in the historic Belgian race obtained in 2006 and 2008; Furthermore, together with Louis Machiels, the driver born in 1973 achieved three class victories.
Championship. The first round of the GT WC Europe-Endurance Cup was held in April in France, home of the 3 Hours of Paul Ricard: Ferrari obtained a ninth and a 15th place in the Pro class, with crew numbers 51 and 71; Furthermore, the Le Castellet weekend ended with a first and a second place in the Bronze class respectively for the 296 GT3 numbers 8 (Kessel Racing) and 52 (AF Corse), with the other three cars in the top-11.
The program. After the traditional parade in the historic center of Spa, taking place on the afternoon of Wednesday 26th June, drivers and teams will meet on the track from Thursday 27th for free practice (from 11.20am to 12.50pm), Pre-Qualifying (4.30pm-5.30pm), and qualifying (8.35pm-9.56pm), followed by night tests (10.25pm-11.55pm). On Friday 28th the Superpole (3.45pm-4.15pm) will decide the starting grid for the 24 Hours, which will start at 4.30pm on Saturday 29th June (the times indicated are local).
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