- Final Result: 2026 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa
The #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche of Ricardo Feller, Thomas Preining and Bastian Buus overcame a pitlane start to claim a remarkable victory at the 2026 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
An engine change on Thursday forced the crew to battle back from the tail of this year’s 69-car entry. The 911 GT3 R established itself as one of three Porsches fighting for a top six finish by Sunday morning before emerging as the most likely of Stuttgart’s contenders to beat the Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG and AF Corse’s pole-winning Ferrari.
In terms of pace, the latter appeared to have the edge. Its trio of Nicklas Nielsen, Tommaso Mosca and Alessio Rovera were the quickest in qualifying and race trim, but found themselves almost two laps down on Saturday evening following a puncture and penalties.
That gave the leading Mercedes-AMGs, Porsches, BMWs a chance to stake their claim. All four manufacturers led on merit at some point before a combination of DNFs, Full-Course Yellow periods, Safety Cars and a heavy rain shower in the early hours brought AF Corse back into the mix.
Mann-Filter’s Winward-run Mercedes-AMG was a model of consistency across the full 24 hours, with Maro Engel, Lucas Auer and Luca Stolz all fast and error-free. However, they couldn’t match the pace of either the recovering Ferrari or Lionspeed Porsche that announced itself as a serious threat on Sunday morning.
That 911 – as well as those run by Schumacher CLRT and Boutsen VDS – hovered around a top six also featuring Mann-Filter, both AF Corse 296s and the #46 Team WRT BMW. Pit stop cycles kept the order revolving but at this point it was Winward’s Mercedes-AMG that held a slender net advantage. That lasted until Preining used a perfectly executed undercut with 5.5 hours remaining to jump from third to first at Mann-Filter and CLRT’s expense.
The crew routinely established near-20-second leads before neutralisations threatened to offer their rivals a chance. None were forthcoming. Nielsen and Rovera took it in turns to pass the other leading Porsches but couldn’t crack Engel, Stolz or Auer who had just enough in hand to keep the Ferrari behind until the chequered flag.
As well as a runner-up finish, the #48 crew has also been rewarded with a significant points advantage in the GT World Challenge powered by AWS Endurance Cup. Engel, Stolz and Auer need just 11 points to be absolutely certain of the title and could seal the deal on home soil at the Nürburgring.
Fourth went to Schumacher CLRT’s 911 which engaged in an aggressive battle with Boutsen VDS’s Porsche. The damage sustained helped drop the car down to eighth at the finish, behind AF’s other Ferrari shared by Arthur Leclerc, Sean Gelael and Lilou Wadoux, WRT’s Dan Harper/Max Hesse/Valentino Rossi, and the Walkenhorst Aston Martin that somehow avoided retirement on lap one despite a brief airborne moment amidst a multi-car accident.
The Gold Cup went to the #998 ROWE Racing BMW of Jens Klingmann, Ugo de Wilde and 24 Hours rookie Tim Tramnitz. The #58 Garage 59 McLaren had been a clear leader during the opening hours – and was even in the fight for an overall podium – but suffered a number of setbacks that ended its charge on Sunday morning.
The BMW was always the best placed car to take advantage and was entirely unopposed during the second half of the race, securing a maiden class win for three-time overall winner ROWE. The #98 was the only Gold car not to hit problems, giving it a six-lap advantage over the #2 Boutsen VDS Porsche and the #5 Optimum Motorsport McLaren.
The Silver Cup produced a thrilling conclusion as the #45 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari beat the #30 Team WRT BMW to victory with its crew of David Perel, Dylan Medler, Rafael Duran and Alessandro Balzan. The lead changed during the closing phases when Perel – who drove the maximum time allowed – overtook the BMW of Amaury Cordeel.
The #30 crew can take solace from a major points haul at Spa which places them in a commanding championship position. The #52 AF Corse Ferrari completed the Silver podium.
Ferrari also won in the Bronze Cup where Dustin Blattner, Dennis Marschall, Ben Tuck and Mathys Jaubert shared the victorious Kessel Racing entry. Of note, this car finished 10th overall, the best non-Pro entry, and was the second victory in succession for both Blattner and Marschall.
Their nearest challenger for the majority of the race was the #991 Paradine Competition BMW, which remained in contention throughout and only finished one lap back. Lionspeed GP completed the podium with its Porsche.
Finally, the Pro-Am class went to JMR, which secured the first victory for Corvette since the American heavyweight triumphed overall in 2009. The Ibrahim brothers, Jeffri and Abu Bakar, were joined by their regular teammates Ben Green and Jordan Love in the winning machine. High Class (Porsche) and GetSpeed Team PCX (Mercedes-AMG) rounded out this class podium.
A record-breaking 132,000 spectators experienced the 2026 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, which began with Wednesday’s parade and continued with four days of activity on and off the Ardennes circuit. The GT World Challenge season continues with a Sprint Cup round at Misano on 17–19 July, while the next Endurance Cup event takes place at the Nürburgring on 28–30 August.
