Race preview round-up
DSC has spoken to a wide spread of factory drivers going for overall victory in the 2025 edition of the Spa 24 Hours over the past two days. Catch up on any you’ve missed here:
We’re also keeping an eye on Steller Motorsport‘s debut 24-hour race, running the Chevrolet Corvette GT3 in the Silver Cup class.
And as always, don’t forget to bookmark DSC’s resource guide for following the race.
Starting drivers
The list of starting drivers has now been published, with Marvin Kirchhöfer nominated to start the pole-sitting #59 Garage 59 McLaren. He’ll be joined on the front row by Jules Gounon aboard the #17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed entry.
Drivers to keep an eye on in the opening stint include Aston Martin factory driver Ross Gunn, who will start the Pro-Am #100 Beechdean AMR Vantage AMR GT3 Evo from 62nd overall.
Attempto Audi heads warm-up
Alex Aka was fastest in Friday evening’s 30-minute Warm-Up session for the race, setting a 2:17.832 early on aboard the Silver Cup-entered #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi.
Maximilian Paul was second in the #333 Paul Motorsport Lamborghini, 0.076s behind Aka, and quickest in the Gold Cup. Mathieu Jaminet, best of the Pro runners in the #18 Dinamic GT Porsche, was third overall.
Fourth went to Mirko Bortolotti in the #63 GRT Lamborghini, ahead of the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Philip Ellis. The fastest Bronze entry, the #97 Rutronik Racing Porsche of Loek Hartog, completed the top six. Quickest in Pro-Am, in 17th overall, was Miguel Molina in the #71 AF Corse Ferrari.
The session featured one notable incident, as the Bronze Cup-pole sitting #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi pulled off before Turn 9 in the closing minutes. Additionally, three cars did not participate in Warm-Up: the #28 Haas RT Audi; #92 Herberth Motorsport Porsche and #98 Rowe Racing BMW.
Arjun Maini on the Haupt Ford Mustang effort
The back-to-back-to-back 24-hour races have been a significant talking point so far this weekend, and for Haupt Racing Team, last weekend’s Nürburgring 24 has offered a great confidence boost. It recorded its strongest endurance performance to date running the new Ford Mustang GT3, which the team started racing at the beginning of 2025.
This weekend, the team has a two-car effort. The #64 (above) of Thomas Drouet, Arjun Maini and Jann Mardenborough will compete for overall victory in Pro, whilst the #65 of Finn Wiebelhaus, Romain Andriolo, David Schumacher and Salman Owega will fight for Silver Cup honours.
“It’s cool to have these big endurance races back-to-back,” said Maini, who is entering his fourth consecutive Spa 24 with HRT this weekend.
“I know it’s quite demanding, but it’s great to be here. We had a great performance for the Ford Mustang GT3 at the Nürburgring, with the #65 car finishing P1 in class and P4 overall, also the other car was performing really well until an unfortunate stoppage.
“We’re excited to see how the race goes. I think this weekend we’ve been making steps already, and pretty confident in going in the right direction for the race.”
HRT Ford Performance has a notably young squad, with its Silver Cup #65 Mustang GT3 having an average age of just 20. For Maini, who made the transition to sportscar racing aged 21 in 2019, the discipline is an ideal place for young drivers to learn.
“The cool thing about the type of thing we do, you end up learning so much,” the Indian told DSC, citing his own experience alongside Bruno Senna in the European Le Mans Series. “This type of racing provides that for young people coming through. The chance to learn from someone very experienced who’s not trying to beat you, and in fact trying to help you.”
HRT has engaged in an expansive programme with the Mustang this season, racing in four different championships. Maini is behind the wheel for three of these , something he only sees as beneficial.
“It’s cool, because we can take our learnings from the other series and bring it together. Each time we learn something new. At the start of this year we decided trying to learn as much as we can, even if one step goes in the wrong direction. As long as we’re learning, in the end that’s going to help us for the future, and so far I think we’ve done that pretty well. We’ve seen the results, in DTM we’ve already had a top 10 finish, which is much more than we expected in that kind of a championship.”
Engine change for Kessel Racing
The Bronze Cup-entered #8 Kessel Racing Ferrari has had a pre-race engine change, after an anomaly occurred during Thursday’s Night Practice. Since the change took place after Qualifying, the car of Nicolò Rosi, Niccolò Schiro, David Fumanelli and Daniel Di Amata has been given a 150-second stop-go penalty to be served during the race.
Watch live
The 2025 24 Hours of Spa will be streamed on YouTube in no fewer than six languages: English, Italian, German, French, Dutch and Portuguese. The English-language version is available here.
Images: SRO/JEP, Marcel Wulf and Frozenspeed
