The latest batch of entry list updates for the 2014 Spa 24 Hours has a particularly Antipodean feel to it.
Lowndes and Piccini To AF Corse
First up is the addition of none other than Craig Lowndes to the #52 Pro-Am AF Corse Ferrari, the three time V8 SUpercar Champion will be joined by fellow Pro Andrea Piccini as well as Steve Wyatt and Michele Rugolo.
Lowndes arrives at Spa with a win earlier this year at the Bathurst 12 Hours for Maranello Motorsports already added to his five wins on Mount Panorama in the Bathurst 1000. It will be his first time back at Spa since 1997 when he raced in the International F3000 championship. Piccoinoi meanwhile returns to the event he won back in 2012 aboard a Phoenix Audi.
Craig Lowndes: “I’ve driven at Spa before and it’s an incredible track. After our success at the Bathurst 12 Hour in February this year, I just knew we had to put something together. I’ve been wanting to do more GT racing in Europe for a number of years, so to finally have such a great event locked in for 2014 is very exciting. The combination of a Ferrari and the Spa circuit really is a dream come true.”
Liam Talbot Joins Kessel Effort
Off the back of a successful Nurburgring 24 Hour campaign with the Aston Martin Test Centre, Brisbane based driver Liam Talbot has joined the Kessel Racing campaign for Spa as the young Aussie continues to build towards his aim of competing at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
This weekend should have seen Talbot competing in a CN car in the Asian Le Mans Series but that deal fell through and the focus shifted to Spa.
Talbot will join Aston Martin Test Centre team mate Marcus Mahy in the Ferrari.
Liam Talbot: “This is another unbelievable opportunity for me as an amateur driver looking to forge a successful career in Motorsport. I’m excited for this opportunity in arguably the most significant GT3 race anywhere in the world
“It’s another big step in my endurance racing career that will bring me closer to my dream of driving at the Le Mans 24 hour
“I hope this will lead to other great opportunities for teams both in Australia and overseas needing a experienced amateur driver with proven results. I would love to race in Carrera Cup one day and a Le Mans series to prepare me for the 24 hours of Le Man. Bring on Spa 24 hours!!! ”
David Hardman (Team Director LTR): “With a change of direction in our year, it was important for us to capitalize on the momentum we’ve had so far this year and keep us on track to our goal of LeMans. The Spa 24HR provided a perfect opportunity for Liam to gain invaluable experience in one of the world’s premiere GT3 endurance events.
Black Falcon Finalise Three Car Line-Up
Team Black Falcon is gearing up for its largest assault on an endurance race so far this year with three Mercedes SLS GT3s on the entry for the Spa 24 Hours.
Two will compete in the Pro class, the first of which will be shared between the usual driver line-up that consists of Abdulaziz Turki AlFaisal, Andreas Simonen and Hubert Haupt.
The second Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 will have Yelmer Buurman, Adam Christodoulou and Mike Parisy behind the wheel. Although this isn’t Buurman and Christodoulou’s first race with Black Falcon, both having recently driven the SLS AMG GT3 in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, it is their first with the team in the Blancpain Endurance Series. Parisy has raced with Black Falcon before, finishing second overall at the Nürburgring round of the Blancpain Endurance Series in 2012.
The third car will compete in Pro-Am with current Aussie GT Championship points leader Richard Muscat joining Vladimir Lunkin and rookie Saud Turki AlFaisal who’s new to the team and to GT Racing.
Team ISR Racing Join The Grid
A new name to the Endurance racing world, Team I.S.R. Racing is expanding from its single seater base to mount a new GT programme too. The Prague based team has recently purchased an Audi R8 LMS ultra which will compete at Spa with Marc Basseng, Fabian Hamprecht and Filip Salaquarda.
Igor Salaquarda (I.S.R. Racing, Team Principal): “We are excited about extending the activity of our team to endurance racing and there could not have been a better car to do so than the Audi R8 LMS ultra.
“We know that the 24 Hours of Spa is not the easiest possible race to start with, but we do like challenges and this is going to be an interesting test bench for the whole team.
“We need to build up some experience and a complex race like the 24 hours will allow us to work out were we stand compared to the others. Working with quick drivers like Marc, Fabian and Filip that already run such kind of races will be very helpful, but we are aware that there are a lot of unknowns and our main goal will be to finish the race in the best possible position”.
