CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa
THE BIGGEST GT RACE IN THE WORLD
The legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps hosts the world's biggest GT race every year with more than 70 entries. The 24-hour classic on the Belgian Ardennes rollercoaster celebrated its premiere more than 100 years ago and is part of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the Intercontinental GT Challenge. The traditionally large field is made up entirely of GT3 cars.
Historically, the 24 Hours of Spa represents a special milestone for Mercedes-AMG: in 1971, Hans Heyer and Clemens Schickentanz achieved a class victory and second place overall with the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG. It was the first of countless successes for the racing cars from Affalterbach.
CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa 2025
The CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa is regarded as the toughest GT3 race in the world – an iconic endurance classic that also took its toll on our Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing teams this year (June 26 to 29). Despite strong performances in qualifying, several leading laps and a good performance in the race, they were unable to realize their ambitions of victory.
The race got off to a promising start: with grid positions two (#17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed), three (#9 Boutsen VDS) and five (#48 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER), three of our PRO cars were among the front-runners well into the night. However, the #9 Mercedes-AMG GT3 then had to retire from the race due to a damaged radiator caused by debris on the track. During the night, the long leading Mercedes-AMG GT3 #17 also fell victim to a collision with a lapped car. A series of unfavourable full-course yellow phases ultimately meant that the #48 with Lucas Auer (AUT), Matteo Cairoli (ITA) and Maro Engel (GER) could not finish higher than 10th overall.
In the class rankings of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, our customer teams celebrated two podium finishes, each preceded by an impressive comeback. The #81 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Winward Racing had to skip qualifying due to an accident in pre-qualifying. With the repaired car, Daan Arrow (NED), Marvin Dienst (GER), Gabriele Piana (ITA) and Rinat Salikhov (FIA) then worked their way up a total of 57 positions in the race from the back of the grid to 17th place overall and second place in the BRONZE Cup. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 #4 accomplished a similar masterpiece: The car entered by CrowdStrike by SPS started from the pit lane and had to take two drive-through penalties in the first third of the race. Despite this, Colin Braun (USA), Nick Catsburg (NED), Ian James (GBR) and George Kurtz (USA) finished third in their class and celebrated another class podium after the PRO-AM victory in 2024.
Further information about the Belgian endurance classic
2024
Three class victories to win Coupe Du Roi
At the 24 Hours of Spa in 2024, we are awarded with the prestigious 'Coupe Du Roi' for the best manufacturer in the competition for the second time after 2022. The historic three class wins by the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the Gold, Silver and Pro-Am classifications are fundamental to this success. The ten Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Teams clinch a total of six class podiums, including a one-two in the Pro-Am category, in a race characterised by heavy rain.
2022
Historic 1-2 for the Mercedes-AMG GT3
The 74th edition of the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa ends with the first overall victory for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the demanding endurance race. Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella, Raffaele Marciello and the Mercedes-AMG Team AKKODIS ASP cross the finish line of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in first place after 536 laps. Second place for Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed completes the historic double success. For the first time, we are honoured as the best manufacturer with the ‘Coupe Du Roi’.
2013
First victory completes the “Grand Slam”
In the 65th running of the event in 2013, we achieve a significant milestone: with the 100th victory of a SLS AMG GT3, we celebrate our first win at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Following earlier GT3 wins in Dubai and Bathurst, as well as at the Nürburgring, the triumph in the Belgian Ardennes marks our fourth major endurance victory of the season. Maximilian Buhk, Maximilian Götz and Bernd Schneider of HTP Motorsport complete what is known as the “Grand Slam” in GT3 endurance racing.
