Mercedes-AMG’s recent sportscar efforts have been enjoying historic success recently, with its Winward Racing customer team claiming the German marque’s first Nurburgring 24-hour win in ten years last month.
That victory came at a race which saw record attendance due to one Max Verstappen competing in another Winward machine, evidence that sportscar and GT3 racing is booming.
Now, AMG’s massively successful GT3 Evo, which made its debut in 2015, is competing in what looks like its final Spa 24 Hours, with that car’s successor announced in March.
A whole host of Mercedes GT stars are packed into its Verstappen Racing, Winward and GoFaster squads, including Dani Juncadella, Jules Gounon, Lucas Aue and Maro Engel all hungry to get am historic fifth Spa victory for the manufacturer.
The brand’s head of Customer Racing, Stefan Wendl, told DSC achieving that Silver Arrows win on the car’s swansong would certainly mean something, particularly at a significant track for its tuning house – consolidating the GT3 Evo’s legacy.
“This makes Spa quite special for us at AMG, as we had our first success ever with here in Spa,” he says.
“So that means everyone will be quite, quite happy if we come back on Monday with the trophy in-hand, even if the car is not red anymore.”
Founded in 1968, AMG first took Mercedes to glory with a class win at the 1971 Spa 24 Hours, using the machine Wendl is referring to.
Nicknamed the ‘Red Sow’ – i.e. pig – AMG’s take on the 300 SEL 6.8 was a bulky, bruising racer, capturing the imagination of fans and journalists alike with its debut triumph.
With the Spa 24 Hours as popular as ever with competitors though, Wendl knows the task at hand.
“You’re competing on the highest level in GT, 70 cars who are all good,” he says.
“You have no blue flags, especially not overnight, and partly the race will be reset by incidents, by Full-Course Yellows, with safety cars following, which you have to put into your strategy.
“On the other hand, especially under these ambient, hot conditions, the race is very demanding for the drivers. Whereas the Nurburgring is maybe a little bit more psychological due to the speed differences between fast and slow cars, and cornering without seeing the exit of the corner, Spa is really physically challenging.
“Both races have their own character, and both races are great to win. We won Spa last time in ‘22, it would be great to have a shot on it again.”
Can the GT3 Evo make history at Spa in 2026?
Images courtesy of SRO
