Since the launch of the Huracán GT3 back in 2015, the 24 Hours of Spa had evaded Lamborghini. Despite showing front-running pace on multiple occasions, its best finish was fifth, recorded last year.
Yesterday, though, that all changed, as the #63 GRT – Grasser Racing Team Huracán GT3 Evo2 of Mirko Bortolotti, Luca Engstler and Jordan Pepper gave the ‘Raging Bull’ its maiden victory at the race after a nailbiting final stint.
“I think Spa has been that race circled for Lamborghini, and one that I’ve wanted to win with them,” Pepper, who is well aware of the significance of this victory for the Italian marque, said post-race.
“I’ve had a great go at it since 2022 with them, we’ve had competitive cars every year that I’ve come here. So finally, to get that done, I’m just extremely proud to be on the car that got it done. Super happy.
“But I think the biggest thanks goes to the entire team, Lamborghini, and obviously my two co-drivers who, you know, it’s endurance racing, it’s a team sport, and without a great team, you’re not going to go anywhere.”
For the South African driver, whose personal best finish was also 2024’s P5, winning the Spa 24 was a full-circle moment.
“[Spa’s] a place that kick-started my career back in 2017, where I got an opportunity to come here for the first time as a 21-year-old. Well, actually, my 21st birthday was on the Sunday. It was a big dream, and nine years later, I’ve been through a lot here. Pretty much every year has gone against me.
“But in motorsport, I feel like you always have to, always put in 120% and if it’s meant to be, it’ll always be. Every year, I come back more motivated than ever. And yeah, I think what happened when we crossed the finish line was those emotions collected over nine years, letting out.
“I haven’t had the smoothest career in the world, while I never regretted any decision I’ve ever made, coming a long way from South Africa, sacrificing a lot with the family, who put everything into it for me to make it happen. It was special, having my dad here, my brother-in-law and my girlfriend here as well to enjoy it. I think that’s why the tears were flowing. Quite a lot. Still, probably going to take a long time to sink in.
“I’m glad to finally get that 24-hour curse off my tail, [I’ve] come so close in so many, sharing a box with Vince [Abril] before when we were teammates long time ago. I think hopefully my family can be happy. You know, they put so much into it. And, yeah, just proud to finally pay them back a little bit, you know, also the dream, it’s finally, finally come true.
“I’m just proud of how I’ve grown, how I’ve developed. I probably wasn’t ready back then, wasn’t the full package. But the way I feel like I’ve handled myself in this race with the maturity and the times when it was needed, when it was time to push, when it was time to go a little bit over the edge and take some track limits to gain some advantages. We touched on every aspect. Spa is now my first 24-hour win. And, you know, there are a couple of big ones out there that I’m still definitely after.
Now a victor with almost a decade of experience under his belt, Pepper was able to offer some thoughts on what makes the Spa 24 such a difficult event to master.
“It’s a track that doesn’t really ease up,” he added.
“There are no real points of rest. It’s very demanding physically, but I feel like each year is increasingly mentally demanding with the amount of traffic that you have to manage, which is what makes SRO races so special, especially Spa.
“So many GT3 cars with a BoP, that’s so equal in terms of top speed, so you can’t really have any advantage there, and cornering. It’s just down to the different levels of drivers managing that, fighting through the traffic day and night. I think everyone gets tired.
“Everyone’s pushing to their limits, and in a Pro class car, obviously, we’re the quickest ones out there, so trying to navigate through all of that without losing any time is extremely difficult. And I feel every year, every 24-hour race is becoming more of a sprint race. I think that’s what we’re seeing. It’s no longer man or beast. It’s more about just surviving and pushing to the max.
“I think also with the changes of the track here with the gravel, it makes one line when the gravel comes on track, so the margin for error is a lot higher. In the end, I think that’s what makes Spa so challenging. It’s just 75 GT 3 cars pushing to the absolute limit all the time for 24 hours, so little margin for error is what makes it so physically demanding.”
Engstler, meanwhile, has had a much shorter wait to climb onto the top step of the Spa 24 podium, with victory this year following up a third-place finish on his only other appearance back in 2023.
“Spa has been good to me,” he said. “I heard a lot of bad stories about Spa and how heartbreaking it is.”
Speaking of heartbreak, for Rutronik Racing’s Patric Niederhauser, who finished runner-up in the #96 Porsche 911 GT3.R (992), this is the second time he’s come up just short of winning the Spa 24. The combined margin of victories across 2020 and this year stands at under 15 seconds.
That second place from five years ago was still in my head sometimes,” the Swiss admitted.
“But today really feels different, to be honest. We came a long way, and we had a really, really tough weekend in general, so that second place does feel very different to me, compared to five years ago.
“We didn’t really have the outright pace to fight for the win today, but, all of us just did the perfect job, drivers, Team mechanics, engineers, from strategy, everything. So we maximised it. We were also a bit lucky at some point, you know, we risked on strategy, and it turned out right for us. We had a puncture. So in the end, of course, there’s always a reason why you didn’t win this big race. But I’m still very, very happy today.
The podium was completed by the #51 AF Corse-Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3. Despite another near-miss, Alessandro Pier Guidi was visually much happier than 12 months ago following a comeback drive from 65th overall after early delays.
“If you think about how we started the race, the podium is a good result for us,” he says.
“A bit of luck to come back. And then we had quite a good pace. The team did an amazing job in the pit stops. We were gaining something all the time. And then lap by lap, we were gaining, and then we arrived close to the top position.
“Then also our competitor had a bit of luck,” the Italian highlights, in reference to Full Course Yellows on Sunday morning, which were deployed at convenient moments for the #63 Lamborghini and #96 Porsche squads.
“But to be honest, it’s part of the game. Sometimes you are lucky, sometimes you are less lucky, but I cannot say that we have been unlucky this time, actually.
“We came here to try to win again after last year, to try to win, finally, this race that we lost in the last few minutes. But it is what it is. And we did the maximum. The team did an amazing job. The car was great. And I think we did almost the perfect race, and we are here on the podium.”
Images courtesy of SRO, Frozenspeed, Marcel Wulf & Ferrari
