The 24 Hours of Spa has adopted a new qualifying format for this year, moving on from the previous Superpole system it has utilised since 2012.
In recent editions, four 15-minute sessions have been run on Thursday evening, with each driver running in one of them, and the average lap time per car being used to establish which 20 entries will progress to Superpole, a two-lap shootout on Friday afternoon to determine pole position.
For 2026, however, the system has been revamped, with a new knockout format set to be implemented.
32 cars will now progress to Friday’s Superpole, and compete in an initial 10-minute session. The top 16 will then advance into a seven-minute session, where the field will be halved again, with the top eight participating in another seven-minute session.
The top four cars in this session will then each be given a single flying lap to determine the pole sitter.
Thursday qualifying has also been tweaked, to reduce the impact that traffic will play on the starting order.
In a move first made in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup last season, before being added to the Endurance Cup for this year, the field will be divided into multiple groups. Group 1 will be made up of Bronze and Pro-Am entries, before the Gold and Silver competitions run in Group 2, and the 18-car Pro field takes to the track in Group 3.
Each group will have a 10-minute session per driver, with average lap time still being used to establish which cars progress to Superpole, and set the grid for 33rd onwards.
The 2026 24 hours of Spa will be held on 25th to 28th June 2026.
Image courtesy of SRO/JEP
