An updated provisional entry list for the 2023 Spa 24 Hours has been released today, featuring complete driver line-ups for most of the 71 GT3 cars listed.
20 of the cars will battle for the overall win in the Pro category, with world-class drivers set to compete for the seven makes represented.
Defending winner Mercedes-AMG has four cars entered in the top class, with AMG GT3s entered by AKKODIS ASP, Team AlManar and GruppeM. The line-ups and paint schemes for Mercedes-AMG’s entire fleet was revealed last week.
Last year’s winner AKKODIS ASP brings a flagship #88 entry, which won the most recent Endurance Cup race at Circuit Paul Ricard with Raffaele Marciello, Jules Gounon and Timur Boguslavskiy. The sister #87 Mercedes-AMG Team AKKODIS ASP machine unites 2013 winner Maxi Götz with Lorenzo Ferrari and Thomas Drouet to form another competitive crew.
The #777 Mercedes-AMG Team AlManar entry, overseen by GetSpeed, sees Luca Stolz leading the driver line-up alongside experienced AMG racers Fabian Schiller and DTM ace Lucas Auer.
In addition to these full-season Endurance Cup entries, Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing adds a fourth Pro car. Maro Engel moves across from his regular berth in the #777 to join fellow factory drivers Mikaël Grenier and Dani Juncadella.
Meanwhile, BMW also has four M4 GT3s entered by ROWE Racing and Team WRT tasked with scoring the brand’s 25th overall Spa 24 win.
At ROWE, two-time winner Philipp Eng leads the #98 crew alongside fellow factory stalwarts Marco Wittmann and Nick Yelloly, while the young trio of Dan Harper, Max Hesse and Neil Verhagen will look to make their mark in the #998.
WRT’s headline trio is its #46 crew, featuring Moto GP icon Valentino Rossi back for a second attempt joined by Augusto Farfus and 2016 Spa 24 winner Maxime Martin. Rossi heads to Spa fresh from a Road to Le Mans victory earlier this month with the team.
The other line-up from WRT – the #32 – is strong too, with Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde and Charles Weerts named.
Another rival German brand with Pro cars is Porsche, which is looking to repeat its recent successes at the race in 2019 and 2020. Three 922-spec 911 GT3 Rs are on the list, from three teams.
Dinamic GT Huber Racing (which is also running Porsche in the Silver and Bronze classes) brings plenty of experience with Christian Engelhart, Ayhancan Güven and Sven Müller, while Rutronik Racing has youth on its side with Thomas Preining, Dennis Olsen and Laurin Heinrich. There’s also the addition of Manthey EMA, fielding a pair of winners in Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre alongside talented youngster Julien Andlauer.
The fourth German make represented in the top class is Audi and it’s six years since its last Spa 24 Hours win, scored by Saintéloc Junior Team in 2017.
The French team is part of the Audi contingent for the race and remains a strong contender, with its line-up of Chris Mies, Patric Niederhauser and Simon Gachet.
Belgian squad Comtoyou Racing is new to the event, but has drivers capable of victory, with 2017 winner Christopher Haase and local expert Fred Vervisch it has countless laps of experience at Spa-Francorchamps partnered with emerging talent Gilles Magnus.
Audi Sport Tresor Orange1 adds another leading contender with its line-up of Mattia Drudi, Ricardo Feller and Dennis Marschall, a notably young trio with an average age of just 24! An extra Audi joins the grid thanks to Scherer Sport PHX, which partners top international racers Nicki Thiim and Kelvin van der Linde with young TCR ace Luca Engstler.
At Ferrari, the 296 GT3 will look to build on its Nürburgring 24 Hours successes by winning in Belgium. The ‘Prancing Horse’ has a real chance to win the Nürburgring 24 Hours, Le Mans 24 Hours and Spa 24 Hours in the same year.
Its hopes rest with AF Corse, which has two cars entered. In the #51 machine, Robert Shwartzman will get his first taste of international 24-hour racing alongside a pair of Spa experts: Nicklas Nielsen won the event in 2021, while Alessio Rovera broke the GT3 lap record last year.
The #71 crew of Davide Rigon, Antonio Fuoco and Daniel Serra finished third last year and represent one of the most balanced line-ups on the grid.
Adding to the Italian flavour in Pro is Lamborghini, with its updated Huracán GT3 EVO2. It will hope to secure its first Spa 24 Hours victory this year with its pair of Pro class entries. The addition of 2021 winner Iron Lynx (set to run the 2024 LMDh programme for the brand) puts it in contention with its #63 line-up of Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper.
American squad K-PAX Racing also has a full complement of Squadra Corsa drivers: Marco Mapelli, Franck Perera and Sandy Mitchell have been signed to drive its #6 challenger.
McLaren completes the line-up of Pro manufacturers with its upgraded 720S Evo and a single entry from Garage 59. The young duo of Benji Goethe and Nicolai Kjaergaard are joined by factory man Marvin Kirchhöfer.
The remaining 51 GT3 cars set to take part have been entered across the Gold Cup, Silver Cup, Bronze Cup and Pro-Am categories.
The full 71-car provisional entry list can be found below…
This year’s Spa 24 Hours event is set to be held from June 29th to July 2nd.
Images courtesy of SRO
