The Spa 24 Hours almost enters it’s last four hours and the morning has been eventful so far. The #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche made an incredible charge from the pitlane to the lead. They switched positions with the #48 Mamba Mercedes and both are in contention to win.

During the first half of the race, the pole sitting Ferrari got a puncture and lost a lot of time, as it had to drive a whole lap to get back to the pits. The #58 McLaren saw opportunties, but decided to not push too hard and be nice to the car. At hour ten, it was the #64 Ford Mustang GT3 Evo finding its way to P1, but had to give up the fight for the win early morning.

The second half of the race therefore began in unusual fashion, with Kessel Racing’s #74 Ferrari temporarily classified as the overall leader thanks to the pit stop cycle. The #58 Garage 59 McLaren, one of the standout performers during the opening third of the race, saw its hopes fade after developing radiator issues. Like sister car #59, it dropped out of contention, with Louis Prette returning to the track nearly 30 laps behind the leaders.

Lionspeed GP sneaking from pit lane to front positions

Ferrari’s comeback was completed shortly afterwards as the #51 reclaimed the overall lead. The former race leader recovered from its earlier setback to move back to the front, ahead of the #48 Mercedes-AMG, while the #46 BMW slipped to third. Behind the leading trio, the #80 Porsche continued its remarkable charge from a pit lane start. It ran fourth ahead of the #50 Ferrari, the #7 Aston Martin and the #65 Ford Mustang, before making further progress by overtaking the #46 BMW for third. The Porsche then closed rapidly on the #48 Mercedes-AMG, continuing one of the standout recovery drives of the race.

Disaster then struck for the #7 Aston Martin. Nicki Thiim limped back to the pits with severe front-left suspension damage after losing the car at the top of Raidillon and hitting the barriers heavily. Although Thiim returned the car to the garage under its own power, the damage appeared terminal for its victory hopes, and the Dane climbed out as the team began lengthy repairs.

As the race entered its final third, the battle for the podium intensified. During the latest round of pit stops, the #80 Porsche jumped ahead of the #48 Mercedes-AMG to move into second place, setting its sights on the leading Ferrari. The Porsche’s recovery from a pit lane start had already been exceptional, but it was now firmly in the fight for victory.

Heartbreak for HRT again

The class battles were also heating up. The #998 BMW inherited the Gold Cup lead following the demise of the #58 McLaren, while the #65 Ford Mustang continued to head Silver Cup and remained an impressive overall contender. The #991 Paradine BMW held a comfortable advantage in Bronze Cup over the #74 Ferrari, and the #999 Mercedes-AMG maintained a narrow lead over the #0 Chevrolet in Pro-Am. With just five hours to go, the Paradine BMW did suffer a puncture and lost the lead.

The lead changed hands again when the #80 Porsche, driven by Thomas Preining, capitalised on traffic at the Bus Stop chicane to slip past the #51 Ferrari of Nicklas Nielsen. Earlier, the Ferrari had briefly fallen to third after making a pit stop that reset its maximum stint time, while the #48 Mercedes-AMG had gained track position during a Full Course Yellow before the Porsche leapfrogged it in the following pit sequence.

A brief Full Course Yellow interrupted the end of the 16th hour after the #64 Ford came to a halt at the Bus Stop. The Mustang had produced an impressive performance throughout the race but was ultimately retired. Another FCY followed when the #23 RJN McLaren stopped on the start-finish straight. Although the car managed to get going again, race control upgraded the neutralisation to a Safety Car period, allowing marshals to safely clear the incident.

Around 9:30h, disaster struck for the #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes. The crew needed to retire the car after losing power due to high oil temperatures. During the last pit stop, 2 Seas Motorsport carried out a quick inspection and sent the car back out in the hope that the issue had been resolved. The loss of power persisted, forcing the team to retire the car from the race. The streak of bad luck is not over yet for the team of the four-time Formula 1 world champion, after the DNF in the Nürburgring 24 Hours and during the GT World Challenge round in Monza.

Porsche chases Mercedes

Despite the interruptions, the racing remained intense. One of the standout battles saw Raffaele Marciello’s #98 BMW and Ayhancan Güven’s #22 Porsche run wheel-to-wheel for almost half a lap, repeatedly making light contact as neither driver yielded. Marciello held on to the position, but the fierce duel showed no signs of being over.

Attention also remained fixed on the Bronze Cup, where the #991 BMW and #74 Ferrari were separated by just half a minute while also running similar Bronze driver times, each needing to complete the mandatory four-hour minimum. The #12 Mercedes-AMG also remained firmly in contention, setting up a fascinating finish to the class battle.

Just before noon the #51 AF Corse Ferrari was on the charge, but an unlucky touch between Tomasso Mosca and Luca Stolz in the #48 Mercedes interupted the fight for the win. It left the #51 with damage and a puncture. The Italian squad hadn’t completed their technical stop yet either. During the pit stop, Mosca gave the wheel to Rovera again. Going into the last phase of the race, the #51 is currently running in P5.

With just five hours to go, the #91 Herberth Porsche also experience heartbreak. Huub van Eijndhoven told GT REPORT that they lost the power steering in turn 1, and that meant that their race was over after they fought through the night well.