Two weeks after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where Fuoco, Molina, and Nielsen achieved an extraordinary win in the Ferrari 499P number 50, accompanied on the podium by Pier Guidi, Calado, and Giovinazzi, who came third in the number 51, the Maranello manufacturer will compete in another great endurance classic, the 76th 24 Hours of Spa, the second round of the 2024 GT World Challenge Europe – Endurance Cup.
The centenary edition of the Belgian “marathon” runs over the weekend of 30 June and features 67 GT3 class cars, including seven Ferrari 296 GT3s entered by five teams in two different classes. Six Prancing Horse official drivers will compete on the 7.004-kilometre track that first hosted a 24 Hours race in 1924.
Pro Class. Some 24 crews will compete for overall victory in the professional drivers-only category. Two 296 GT3s of AF Corse-Francorchamps Motors are registered for the Pro class. Alessandro Pier Guidi, Davide Rigon, and Alessio Rovera will crew Ferrari number 51. Pier Guidi finished third in the Hypercar class at the Circuit de la Sarthe, while Rigon and Rovera competed in mid-June in the French LMGT3 class and last weekend in the 296 GT3 in the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, the third round of the IMSA endurance championship.
The number 71 car, with a red livery and yellow details, lines up for the same team. Its drivers are Thomas Neubauer, who is in his first season as a Prancing Horse official driver, Vincent Abril, and David Vidales.
Bronze Class. The other five Ferrari 296 GT3s will all race in the professional and gentlemen drivers class. The Swiss Kessel Racing team will field number 8, with Nicolò Rosi, Niccolò Schirò, and David Fumanelli joined at Spa-Francorchamps by Daniele Di Amato, and number 74, with John Hartshorne, Chandler Hull, Ben Tuck, and Matt Bel.
AF Corse entrusts the 296 GT3 number 52 to Louis and Jef Machiels, who are competing in the GT WC Europe for the second consecutive year alongside Ferrari Development Driver Andrea Bertolini. Tommaso Mosca completes the crew expected in Belgium.
The competitive class, featuring 24 cars, includes the number 93 Ferrari of Sky Tempesta Racing, crewed by Christopher Froggatt, Jonathan Hui, and Eddie Cheever. Maranello’s official driver, Lilou Wadoux, completes the crew for the historic Belgian race. The Frenchwoman is competing in this year’s Japanese Super GT with the 296 GT3 and IMSA championship with an LMP2 class prototype. Last weekend, she won the LMP2 class with Nicklas Nielsen and Louis Perez Companc at Watkins Glen.
Finally, Christian Hook, Felipe Fernandez Laser, David Perel, and Fabrizio Crestani are in Rinaldi Racing’s 296 GT3, number 333.
History. Spa-Francorchamps is closely associated with endurance racing, particularly with the prestige of a race second only to Le Mans in terms of historical significance. The first edition of the 24 Hours of Spa, on the circuit that opened in 1921, took place in 1924, one year after the inaugural La Sarthe “marathon”.
In total, the Maranello manufacturer has picked up four overall victories in the 24 Hours of Spa.
The first Prancing Horse success was in 1949 when Luigi Chinetti and Jean Lucas won in the 166 MM on the undulating Ardennes forest track. The second win came in 1953 with the 375 MM driven by Giuseppe Farina and Mike Hawthorn. In the 21st century, Ferrari climbed the top step of the podium for the third time in 2004, with the 550 GTS crewed by Cappellari-Gollin-Bryner-Calderari. Ferrari’s last triumph at the 24 Hours – now restricted to GT3 class cars – was in 2021, when Pier Guidi and Nielsen, alongside Côme Ledogar, celebrated overall victory with the 488 GT3 Evo 2020.
The same car notched up three more class wins in 2019, 2021 and 2022, the latter when Bertolini, Rovera, L. Machiels and Stefano Costantini climbed the top step of the podium in the Pro-Am.
Andrea Bertolini’s roll of honour also includes overall wins in the historic Belgian race in 2006 and 2008. The fifty-year-old driver scored three class victories alongside Louis Machiels.
Championship. Round one of the GT WC Europe – Endurance Cup took place in April in France, with the 3 Hours of Paul Ricard: Ferrari came 9th and 15th in the Pro class at the Paul Ricard event with cars number 51 and 71. The Le Castellet weekend also saw first and second places in the Bronze class for the 296 GT3 number 8 (Kessel Racing) and 52 (AF Corse), with the other three cars finishing in the top 11.
The programme. Following the traditional parade in the historic centre of Spa on Wednesday 26 June, drivers and teams will meet on the track from Thursday 27 June, for Free Practice (11:20 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.), Pre-Qualifying (4:30 to 5:30 p.m.), and Qualifying (8:35 to 9:56 p.m.), followed by Night Practice (10:22 to 11:55 p.m.). The Superpole (3:45 to 4:15 p.m.) on Friday 28 June will determine the starting grid for the 24 Hours race, which starts at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday 29 June (local times).