RNW Staff

Gary Paffett will not be able to start at the third DTM weekend in Zolder as planned. The two-time DTM champion lives in Great Britain and thus in a “red” classified Corona risk country and cannot enter Belgium without a ten-day quarantine. For various reasons, however, this is not possible for Gary Paffett. The Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke Motorsport has asked the Belgian embassy for a special permit. However, there was no positive decision within the time limit necessary for the operational planning.

In a session twice interrupted by the red flag and heavily affected by traffic, the two Ferraris of Iron Lynx qualified for Friday evening’s Super Pole, which will decide the starting grid for the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

In qualifying for the Spa 24 Hours, two 911 GT3 R racers fielded by Porsche’s customer teams have made it into the Super Pole. The final hunt for the 20 best grid spots will be held on Friday between 7.50 am and 8.20 am (CEST). After multiple qualifying sessions, GPX Racing’s 500+PS entry emerged as the fastest nine-eleven. Earl Bamber (New Zealand) as well as works drivers Matt Campbell (Australia) and Mathieu Jaminet (France) set an average time of 2:19.259 minutes in their individual 15-minute segments, which put them in eighth place. Bamber turned the fastest lap of all 911 GT3 R in 2:18.878 minutes. The 24-hour classic on the 7.004-kilometre Grand Prix circuit in Belgium’s Ardennes region takes off on Saturday at 4.30 pm.

Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP will chase its second successive Super Pole at the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa tomorrow evening after it’s #88 crew topped qualifying, while all nine brands contesting this year’s race will be represented in the deciding shootout. 

The first free practice session kicked off the long week of the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the most eagerly awaited and important race of the Endurance Cup season of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS. Historically, this event is decisive for the title due to the double points awarded. Fifty-eight crews will start the race, divided into four classes – Pro, Silver Cup, Pro-Am and Am Cup – with seven of them driving the 488 GT3 Evo 2020.

The TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa got underway with a good first practice for Mercedes-AMG. In the 90-minute session, the teams with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 were able to run through their programme as planned in preparation for the season highlight. Four cars from Affalterbach ended up in the top ten. In the upcoming days, a total of 13 Mercedes-AMG GT3s will be competing for victory in the overall classification as well as for success in the classes. As a result, Mercedes-AMG has the largest car contingent of all the manufacturers. Next to the on-track activities, the performance and sports car brand is also attracting attention with a vehicle display at the occasion of the race: on display are the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG that won its class and finished second overall 50 years ago as well as a car representing the special edition “50 Years Legend of Spa” consisting of three GT3 cars.

Era Motorsport is returning to sprint racing next weekend, joining the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at

Porsche Carrera Cup GB, the fastest single marque GT racing championship in the UK, will shortly begin its search for the next talented young driver to take up the role of Porsche GB Junior – one of UK motorsport’s most coveted opportunities.

British-Korean driver Jack Aitken gets ready this week for the biggest motorsport adventure of his season so far: the legendary Spa 24 Hours.

Oregon Team is set for the fourth round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe that heads to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit this coming weekend. At one of the most historic track, the Italian squad aims high to prepare well the last part of the season.

Season six of the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli finally blasts into action this weekend (July 29-August 1) at the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa where 32 entries – more than half the field – contest the global GT3 series’ season opener.

With ten customer teams, twelve 911 GT3 R and a total of 40 racing drivers, seven of which are works drivers, Porsche is represented by an impressive line-up at the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race. Hardly any other manufacturer will have more racing cars on the grid of the endurance classic this coming weekend. The legendary event on the 7.004-kilometre “Ardennes rollercoaster” is considered one of the most important GT3 events in the world and counts towards two of this season’s championships: the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC). Porsche is aiming for a hat trick on the Belgian Grand Prix circuit. In 2019, works drivers Michael Christensen (Denmark), Kévin Estre (France) and Richard Lietz (Austria) claimed outright victory in the 911 GT3 R fielded by GPX Racing. Last year, another factory driver trio, Nick Tandy (Great Britain), Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium), won the highlight of the GT3 season, that time with the Rowe Racing squad.

Sights set on overall victory, whilst looking ahead to the future: BMW M Motorsport is focussing on two main sporting priorities at the highlight of this season’s FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe, the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (BEL). In the race, Walkenhorst Motorsport, armed with the BMW M6 GT3 and a host of BMW works drivers, will be out to claim the team’s second overall victory, having previously won in 2018. The new BMW M4 GT3 will complete a number of demo laps after Superpole on Friday. Not only will the car be presented, but also the hybrid steering wheel, developed in collaboration with FANATEC. The flood disaster in Germany and Belgium is another important topic. Among other things, the BMW Group is donating 1.5 million euros to support the rescue services in the disaster areas. As an expression of sympathy, the BMW race cars at Spa-Francorchamps will bear the message ‘We stand together’.

The Aston Martin Vantage GT3 will fight for honours in three classes of this weekend’s TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa, as the luxury sportscar brand and its partner team Garage 59 bid to record an outright victory in the famous Belgian endurance event for the first time.

With less than a week remaining before the world’s most competitive GT race gets underway, there is an important question to consider: who is the favourite for overall victory at this year’s TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa.

Audi Sport customer racing will be showcasing four one-off designs at the Spa 24 Hours from July 29 to August 1. The individual designs of the Audi R8 LMS pay homage to a major anniversary on the famous Ardennes circuit whose racing history began in 1921.

United Autosports are pleased to confirm that Guy Smith will join their Road to Le Mans team for the 2021 event, racing alongside Jim McGuire in the Ligier JS P320.

This weekend’s eagerly-anticipated 30th birthday edition of The Classic (30 July – 1 August) will be the biggest and best in the festival’s outstanding history with record grids, record classic car displays, record anniversary circuit parades and record ticket sales plus epic levels of very welcome entertainment for the whole family.

United Autosports are ready to head to Spa Francorchamps, for the fourth round of 2021 GT4 European Series. Next weekend’s races take the 2021 season over the halfway mark, with United Autosports lying second in the Silver Class Championship, only seven points behind the leaders. 

The second half of the GT4 European Series season gets underway at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend (28 – 31 July) when a 41-car grid will contest a pair of one-hour races at the legendary venue in the Belgian Ardennes.