On the same weekend that BMW teams were competing in the six-hour race at Watkins Glen, other BMW teams and drivers were competing in the Spa 24 Hour race in Belgium. BMW had eight M4 GT3 EVO entries and 12 works drivers competing in the race, which featured 46 total GT3 entries among five classes. BMW has 25 overall victories at Spa but hasn’t won since 2023. Overall victory was elusive again this year, but BMWs won the Gold Cup class and were on the podium in two other classes.
Any 24-hour race is tough, but Spa was especially challenging this year due to the extreme heat that reached into the mid-90’s on race day. The BMWs were a bit off the pace in practice and qualifying. Augusto Farfus was the fastest BMW in the first practice session in 13th, and Kelvin van der Linde was the fastest in the second session but was down in 23rd. The fastest BMW in qualifying was the #32 BMW M Team WRT entry of van der Linde, Charles Weerts and Jordan Pepper in 18th, but they were only 0.6 off the pole time of the #51 Ferrari that was on pole.
Jens Klingmann (left), Tim Tramnitz (center), and Ugo de Wilde celebrate their Gold Cup win.
As in any 24-hour race, there was attrition, which took out a few of the BMWs. The #98 ROWE Racing M4 GT3 EVO of Augusto Farfus, Jake Dennis and Raffaele Marciello had two tire punctures that dropped them out of contention and eventually to a ninth-place finish. The #32 WRT entry of van der Linde, Weerts and Pepper was damaged early on in an accident and later had a mechanical issue that forced them to retire the car. The #992 Paradine Competition BMW of Christian Hahn, Josh Rowledge, Jop Rappange, and Ian Aguilera was taken out in an accident early in the race, and the #42 Century Motorsport car also retired.
Through the race, the #998 ROWE Racing M4 GT3 EVO was in control of the Gold Cup class with drivers Jens Klinmann, Tim Tramnitz and Ugo de Wilde. The trio climbed as high as eighth overall and ultimately finished first in class and 11th overall. “I’m incredibly happy – it feels fantastic,” said Tramnitz. “Given where we started (fifth in class and 22nd overall), we certainly didn’t expect to win, especially not by such a large margin. But everyone did an amazing job. We got through the race very cleanly, had a great set-up, and the car worked beautifully. It felt excellent throughout the race and remained very consistent during the night.”
The #30 WRT BMW finished second in the Silver Cup class.
BMWs also finished on the podium in the Silver and Bronze Classes. In Silver, the #30 WRT car of Ignacio Montenegro, Matisse Lismont, Amaury Cordeel and Mathieu Detry finished second behind the winning #45 Ferrari. “I am very satisfied with the result,” said Lismont. “Of course, the class victory was also possible, but considering we started from 14th place, we can be very happy with our performance. We had no penalties, no accidents, and no pit stops due to damage to the car. The strategy was also spot on. I am very happy with the work of the team and the mechanics, and my teammates also did a great job.”
The #991 Paradine Competition M4 GT3 EVO finished second in the Bronze Cup class.
In Bronze Cup, the #991 Paradine Competition M4 GT3 EVO of James Kellett, Darren Leung, David Pittard and Leyton Fourie finished second in class behind the winning #74 Ferrari. In the top Pro class, the best-finishing BMW was the #46 WRT BMW of Dan Harper, Max Hesse and Valentino Rossi, which finished sixth in class and overall, with the overall victory going to the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche.
The #46 BMW of Valentino Rossi, Dan Harper and Max Hesse was the top Pro class BMW in sixth.
The Spa 24 Hour was round three of the Intercontinental GT Challenge series that’s sanctioned by the SRO. The next round is the Suzuka 1000KM race in Japan on September 11th-13th, followed by the Indianapolis 8 Hour here in the US on October 8th-10th.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy SRO, Gruppe C Photography]
