24h Spa: Anniversary with strong Swiss drivers
LARGEST GT RACE This weekend, the 24 Hours of Spa will be held for the 70th time. In this decade, they have become the biggest GT3 race in the world. Several Swiss drivers and teams will start on Saturday with big ambitions. Following the example of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, first held in 1923, the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium launched [...]
Following the example of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, first held in 1923, the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium RACB launched its own marathon on July 19/20, 1924. The then 15 km circuit near Francorchamps was illuminated at night with around 200 acetylene gas lamps ...
Long reserved for touring cars, the 24 Hours of Spa on today's modern GP circuit with a length of 7 km developed into the most important GT endurance race in the 2000s. The classic race, which starts at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, has been the season highlight of the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup for years.
13 different manufacturer
The race is associated with high prestige value for the manufacturers of GT3 sports cars, not only because of the double points, but also because of its significance. Thus, 13 different brands with more or less large factory support are at the start.
For the first time in this racing series, Honda will be there with the new NSX GT3 and, as a premiere at this 24-hour race, the Emil Frey Lexus Racing Team with its two Lexus RC F GT3s. In addition, the Safenwil-based team is fielding its Jaguar for the last time in Spa.
Anything is possible for Emil Frey Racing
After the first podium (P3) at Silverstone by Ortelli/Palttala/Siedler, the other Lexus trio Costa/Klien/Seefried managed a sensational victory at the 1000 km Paul Ricard at Le Castellet (F) on June 2. Top places for the Emil Frey Jaguar with Fontana/Zaugg/Grenier in the Silver Cup for drivers without a gold or platinum rating added to the grandiose season balance so far.
Now, of course, the second-largest racing team from Switzerland after Sauber F1 is eagerly awaiting the climax in Belgium. Around 60 permanent and freelance employees from Safenwil are hoping for the next coup.
Anything is possible - but the team boss, who for the first time is not acting as a driver himself, remains realistic.
Lorenz Frey: "We prepared extremely well. In terms of speed and reliability, we haven't had any problems so far. But so much can happen in 24 hours ... We just hope that our performance is right there as well and that we finish well-placed among the renowned teams with all our cars."
Marc Surer was the first Swiss winner
In 1985, Marc Surer was the first Swiss overall winner in a BMW 635 CSi. He was followed in 2004 by Enzo Calderari and Lilian Bryner in a Ferrari 550 Maranello and in 2007 by Marcel Fässler and Jean-Denis Delétraz in a Phoenix Racing Corvette.
As runner-up in 2015 and third in 2016 with Audi, Nico Müller narrowly missed this major goal in recent times. At the anniversary edition, the driver from Berne and his DTM colleagues Robin Frjins and René Rast will form one of the strongest teams in terms of drivers in the field of almost 70 GT3 cars.
Marcel Fässler is also driving one of the four Audi R8 LMS cars fielded by the Belgian WRT team. However, as he told AutoSprintCH last week, he doesn't see any realistic chance of overall victory due to the constellation.
With the Land Motorsport team, which was already victorious at the Nürburgring in 2017, Jeffrey Schmidt may tackle his first 24-hour race at Spa. His partners are the fast brothers Shaun and Kelvin van der Linde from South Africa.
Jeffrey Schmidt: "I'm really excited to be on the grid at this legendary race. Especially with Land Motorsport, which I still know very well from last season and this year's 24 Hours of Daytona. In addition, this rollercoaster circuit is one of my favorite tracks - and I'm a big fan of endurance racing anyway."
R Motorsport also emulates Eggenberger
Finally, Philipp Frommenwiler from Kreuzlingen will also be in the field together with Nikolaj Rogivue, a native of Zurich and of Swedish descent, in the private Audi of Aust Motorsport.
Half a year after the triumph at the 24 Hours of Daytona, Rolf Ineichen Lamborghini Huracan of Grasser Motorsport also hopes for the first podium in Spa.
As a Swiss team without any drivers from its own country, R Motorsport is also one of the contenders for victory with two Aston Martin V12 Vantage cars. The team from St. Gallen proved that they can do it over the short distance with their success at Silverstone in May.
In 1989, Eggenberger Motorsport as a factory partner of Ford won this race with the legendary Sierra RS500 Cosworth as the only team from Switzerland so far. The time would be ripe for a worthy successor to the company from Lyss known today as Egmo...
All practice sessions, qualifying sessions and the complete race can be followed in the livestream on the Blancpain GT Series homepage. Eurosport 1 and 2 also report in phases.
