M3 Touring 24H on display…
Following the car’s participation in Wednesday’s parade, the BMW M3 Touring 24H, sadly no longer sporting a roof box, is set to be on display outside of Team WRT’s hospitality for the rest of the weekend.
…As is new Porsche GT4
Also on display is the new Porsche 911 GT4 R, which was revealed yesterday morning.
Warm race forecast
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps has not been spared from Europe’s ongoing heatwave, with the race currently forecast to be the hottest in the event’s history. Accordingly, special measures have been taken, such as the avaiaibility of free water at several points around the circuit.
The highest temperature DSC has spotted displayed on the circuit’s tower is 44C, shortly after the conclusion of Superpole.
Rossi “happy” about Imola’s return
Amongst the headlines from today’s SRO Press Conference was the announcement that Imola will return to the Endurance Cup schedule next season.
The Emilia-Romagna venue will be a local race for Valentino Rossi, who heralds from the neighbouring Marche region, and started his first full-season of GT World Challenge Europe at Imola at the track’s most recent appearance of the schedule in 2022.
“I’m happy, because Imola is a fantastic track, and also because usually I’m quite fast, and the BMW is competitive there,” Rossi said.
“It will be interesting, because GT World Challenge has a lot of cars, and Imola is quite narrow, but it’s a good track for the GT3. I have to say that I also like Monza [which Imola has replaced].”
The other change to the 2027 calendar is the return of the Hungaroring, in Budapest, which will host the Sprint Cup finale.
“Budapest is a great idea,” Rossi, who has never been to the circuit before, commented. ‘Everybody says that is a great track for cars, so I’m very curious to be there.”
Appeal of Budapest helps Hungaroring earn Sprint Cup slot
SRO Motorsports Group CEO Stéphane Ratel has cited support package interest as one of the reasons for the Hungaroring being selected to host a GT World Challenge Europe round in 2027, taking on the “floater” spot on the calendar which ensures variation year-on-year.
“All the circuits, and our race organisation, is extremely expensive now, and we need support racing,” he explained.
“And the support races, if you tell them Budapest, we’re full, because many of the gentlemen drivers, go ‘weekend in Budapest, it’s beautiful, the city is beautiful, the hotels are beautiful,’ you visit, you take your partner, and everybody goes.”
The GT2 European Series and GT3 Revival series have been confirmed as support series so far.
Door left open for new cars to contest Bathurst 12 Hour
Traditionally, new cars have not been permitted to race at the Bathurst 12 Hour, due to the timing around finalising their homologation before the February event. Ratel, however, has suggested that this could change for 2027, for manufacturers who sign up for the full Intercontinental GT Challenge.
“We’re waiting to see who wants to come,” he said. “If there is a request of a manufacturer wanting to come in IGTC, not just for the event, because it’s too much trouble for us, but if they enter IGTC completely and they come with a new Evo or something, we need to change our process.”
Rovera hoping for change of Spa 24 fortune
After two consecutive near-misses, Alessio Rovera’s quest for a maiden 24 hours of Spa victory is off to a strong start in 2026, after he claimed pole position aboard the #51 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.
The Italian is well aware, however, that despite the impressive single-lap performance of his AF Corse machine, a lot can happen in a 24-hour race.
In 2024, a blocked pit lane in the final hour saw Rovera’s Ferrari drop behind the #007 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin, whilst last year the #51 entry had to recover from 65th place following early technical drama.
“We saw in ’24, anything can happen until the end,” he said.
“[Even] when you know the victory is in the pocket, something can happen, but hopefully this time we will be a bit luckier, because also last year we had a problem in the first part of the race and we had to recover one lap. To have a clean race is so much better, because you can also manage yourself physically, so hopefully we’ll be more lucky.”
Tsunami RT and Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn receive engine change penalties
The #79 Tsunami RT Porsche has joined the #9 Pure Rxcing and #80 Lionspeed GP 911 GT3 Rs (992.2) in being consigned to a pit lane start for an engine change before yesterday’s qualifying session.
The #56 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn Aston Martin, meanwhile, changed its engine, and as such has been handed a 150-second stop-and-go penalty, which will likely cost the Bronze Cup entry almost two laps.
Images courtesy of Frozenspeed, SRO/JEP and Andrew Hall
