Comtoyou Racing has won the 2024 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa for Aston Martin, ending a 76 year wait for victory and securing a place in history by triumphing at an unforgettable centenary event. In a dramatic final hour victory slipped away from the AF Corse Ferrari #51 due to drama in the pit lane.
The triumphant squad of Nicki Thiim, Marco Sørensen and Mattia Drudi flew the Belgian flag and post race Nicki Thiim said: “Finally! First off, I want to say sorry to those boys there [the #51 Ferrari drivers]. We have a long history with them, and I really feel for them, but for me it’s about time. I’ve finished P3 two times here and this year we reunited the Dane Train and added the Italian Stallion, and this is the result. I’m just happy and proud. It was a chaotic race, but we came through it and I’m so happy.”
The Aston Martin win is all the more remarkable by the fact that the winning Vantage AMR GT3 was making its debut at the biggest GT race in the world, while the Belgian Comtoyou squad did not begin working with the British brand until earlier this year.
Starting from 14th, the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin crew moved up the order during the opening phase and safely navigated a night of heavy rain showers that restricted green flag running during the hours of darkness.
By mid-morning, the leading contenders were the #998 ROWE Racing BMW, the #7 Aston Martin and the #51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari. As midday approached, they were separated by less than a second and running to a similar pit stop schedule. A little after 12:30 the BMW and the Aston Martin stopped at the same time, the ROWE machine just beating the Comtoyou car out. The BMW got slightly loose as the cars crested the hill to rejoin the circuit, perhaps costing it and the pursuing Aston Martin a fraction of time.
The Ferrari had stopped one lap earlier and was at full speed through Raidillon. Powering on to the Kemmel Straight, Alessandro Pier Guidi was able to blast past both the BMW and the Aston Martin before the cars had reached Les Combes. Just a few corners later, the #7 Vantage had also overhauled the BMW. Freshly installed at the wheel, Thiim wasted no time in making his presence felt by muscling past Max Hesse and into second spot.
Over the next few hours, the Ferrari built a 10-second gap at the head of the field and seemed on course for victory when it pulled in for its final stop with 50 minutes left. But in a moment of incredible misfortune for the Italian squad, it arrived at the pit entrance to find a stricken Lamborghini blocking its way.
As the moments slipped by, a likely victory slipped away. The Lamborghini was eventually removed and the Ferrari completed its stop, but the lost time would prove decisive. When the Aston Martin undertook its final service a few minutes later, it returned to the track at the head of the field. Drudi held an advantage of 25 seconds and did not put a foot wrong over the final 45-minutes. When the chequered flag fell, the celebrations could begin in the Comtoyou Racing garage.
There was more late drama to come. The #998 BMW had been on course for runner-up but was set to overrun the maximum stint length by approximately 15 seconds. Facing a penalty, the car ran through the pit lane on the final lap, dropping it to fifth in the final classification. The #51 Ferrari fought back to secure a runner-up finish, Pier Guidi delivering a blistering final stint on a day of bitter disappointment. The centenary edition will rightly be remembered for an Aston Martin victory, but it will also go down as a winning performance from the Ferrari.
The #32 Team WRT BMW completed the podium. While unable to fight for the win, the crew of Dries Vanthoor, Charles Weerts and Sheldon van der Linde were ultimately satisfied to have secured a top three result, particularly as they crossed the line in fourth. The #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin finished ahead but received a penalty for contact with the #51 Ferrari during the final hour and was classified in P4. The pole-sitting #163 Grasser Racing Lamborghini completed the top five, fighting back from early issues to earn the Italian brand its best-ever finish at the event. Marco Mapelli earned the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap (2m16.105s) in the process.
While there was late drama in the fight for the outright win, the class victories were relatively secure during the final phase of the race. Gold Cup honours went to the #777 AlManar Racing by GetSpeed crew of Al Faisal Al Zubair, Mikaël Grenier, Dominik Baumann and Philip Ellis. Fast throughout the event, they delivered a clean performance which was rewarded with seventh overall.
Al Faisal Al Zubair said: “It was a great race today. The weather definitely made it unpredictable and difficult to decide what was right, but at the end of it I think it made it even better for us. I am very happy with the job all my teammates did and I’m delighted to bring this win home.”
The podium also featured the #25 Saintéloc Racing Audi and the #77 HRT Mercedes-AMG.
The Bronze Cup winner also finished among the overall top 10. This class went to the #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi, which took victory by a comfortable margin. After emerging from the night with a clear advantage thanks to its crew of Andrey Mukovoz, Dylan Pereira, Max Hofer and Aleksey Nesov, the Audi remained competitive all the way to the finish, taking 10th overall.
Andrey Mukovoz said: “I am so proud of this result. This is only my second CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa and the way the team and the car worked together was so important, especially when the Bronze grid is so competitive this year, with so many cars. We made it!”
This year’s Bronze Cup runner-up was the #52 AF Corse Ferrari, followed by the #72 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini.
GetSpeed earned a second winner’s trophy by taking the Silver Cup class with its #3 Mercedes-AMG, which delivered a similar performance to the sister AlManar Racing car. Driven by Yannick Mettler, James Kell, Anthony Bartone and Aaron Walker, it rose to the top of its classification during the morning and ran cleanly thereafter. There was late pressure from the #10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG, but when this car retired the #3 crew could begin to relax.
Yannick Mettler said: “There was a lot of up and down to this race and it was very chaotic, but we had really good pace in the wet and took our opportunities to get into the mix. Somehow, we stayed there and kept things consistent. Ultimately, I don’t think we were the quickest car over a lap, but we had the consistency and managed the conditions and that’s what put us out front. Nobody had a perfect race, but we kept our mistakes small and made no big ones. I’m really happy.”
The #3 Mercedes-AMG was followed home by the #55 Dinamic GT Porsche and the #57 Windward Racing Mercedes-AMG.
On a day when its Pro cars faced disappointment, Mercedes-AMG celebrated a hat-trick of class victories. The third came courtesy of the #4 CrowdStrike Racing by Riley entry, driven by George Kurtz, Ian James, Nicky Catsburg and Colin Braun.
George Kurtz said: “This result is so special. When you’re the title sponsor and you manage to win the centenary race, that’s just so special. As always, thanks have to go out to the entire team. The drivers, they had my back and did a fantastic job; Riley did a great job giving us a fantastic car and we managed to stay out of trouble. It was a bit of a war of attrition and the name of the game for us was to get through it and survive to see where we would wind up. I couldn’t be prouder of this team.”
The #4 Mercedes crew were locked in battle with Team RJN until the #100 McLaren suffered power issues during the early afternoon, ultimately slipping well behind the CrowdStrike by Riley crew and the #16 Uno Racing by Landgraf Mercedes-AMG. The Chinese team took runner-up, capping a fine comeback drive after being caught up in an early incident, with RJN in third.
With celebrations throughout race week, the centenary edition was a thrilling race and a fantastic way to mark 100 years of racing at the legendary Ardennes track.
Race results: of the 66 starters the high attrition race meant 21 cars were not classified
POS CAR # CLASS DRIVERS TEAM CAR BEST TIME LAPS GAP
1 7 Pro Cup Mattia Drudi,Nicki Thiim,Marco Sorensen Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO 2:16.752 478
2 51 Pro Cup Alessio Rovera, Davide Rigon, Alesandro Pier Guidi AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3 2:16.406 478 33.604
3 32 Pro Cup Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde, Charles Weerts Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 2:16.582 478 38.831
4 34 Pro Cup David Pittard, Ross Gunn, Henrique Chaves Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO 2:17.183 478 47.815
5 163 Pro Cup Franck Perera, Marco Mapelli, Jordan Pepper GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO 2 2:16.105 478 1:14.750
6 998 Pro Cup Augusto Farfus, Daniel Harper MaxHesse Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3 2:16.871 478 1:26.872
7 777 Gold Cup Al Faisal Al Zubair, Dominik Baumann, Philip Ellis, Mikael Grenier AlManar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:17.402 478 1:45.090
8 92 Pro Cup Mathieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell, Frederic Makowiecki SSR Herberth Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 2:17.037 478 1:45.904
9 96 Pro Cup Julien Andlauer, Sven Müller, Patric Niederhauser Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 2:17.183 477 15.868
10 66 Bronze Cup Andrey Mukovoz, Alexey Nesov, Dylan Pereira, Max Hofer Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II 2:17.406 477 31.941
11 159 Pro Cup Dean Macdonald, Benjamin Goethe, Tom Gamble Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO 2:16.918 477 1:01.347
12 99 Pro Cup Christopher Haase, Alex Aka, Ricardo Feller Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II 2:16.930 477 1:12.855
13 52 Bronze Cup Louis Machiels, Jef Machiels, Andrea Bertolini, Tommaso Mosca AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 2:16.368 477 1:55.233
14 72 Bronze Cup Gabriel Rindone, Mattia Michelotto, Patrick Kujala, Casper Stevenson Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO 2 2:17.848 477 2:04.039
15 25 Gold Cup Paul Evrard, Ugo De Wilde, Jim Pla, Gilles Magnus Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II 2:17.087 476 2.288
16 93 Bronze Cup Eddie Cheever, Jonathan Hui, Lilou Wadoux, Chris Froggatt SKY – Tempesta Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 2:17.003 476 7.743
17 77 Gold Cup Arjun Maini, Jusuf Owega, Michele Beretta Haupt Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:17.460 476 37.199
18 9 Pro Cup Ulysse De Pauw, Thomas Drouet, Maximilian Götz Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:16.994 476 58.731
19 64 Pro Cup Christopher Mies, Frederic Vervisch, Dennis Olsen Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 2:17.493 475 13.323
20 11 Bronze Cup Kobe Pauwels, John De Wilde, Dante Rappange, Job Van Uitert Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO 2:17.428 475 29.352
21 27 Bronze Cup Oliver Millroy, Mark Radcliffe, Fran Rueda, Rob Bell Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 EVO 2:17.634 475 57.787
22 80 Bronze Cup Antares Au, Alexander Fach, Martin Rump, Alessio Picariello Lionspeed X Herberth Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 2:17.878 475 1:11.090
23 5 Bronze Cup Sam Neary, Shaun Balfe, Ruben del Sarte, Ben Barnicoat Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 EVO 2:16.413 475 1:28.597
24 46 Pro Cup Raffaele Marciello, Maxime Martin, Valentino Rossi Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 2:16.976 475 2:10.115
25 3 Silver Cup Yannick Mettler, James Kell, Anthony Bartone, Aaron Walker GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:18.430 474 1:02.952
26 23 Pro Cup Jaxon Evans, Joel Eriksson, Thomas Preining Phantom Global Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 2:16.900 473 6.789
27 55 Silver Cup Jop Rappange, Axel Blom, Marius Nakken, Theo Nouet Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 2:18.312 473 53.285
28 57 Silver Cup Tanart Sathienthirakul, Daan Arrow, Colin Caresani Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:17.142 473 1:36.994
29 4 Pro-AM Cup George KurtzIan James, Nicky Catsburg, Colin Braun CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:19.240 472 5.397
30 88 Gold Cup Leonardo Moncini, Lorenzo Patrese, Lorenzo Ferrari, Glenn van Berlo Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II 2:16.753 472 2:12.361
31 90 Silver Cup Ezequiel Perez Companc, Alain Valente, Patrick Assenheimer, Karol Basz Madpanda Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:17.876 471 19.991
32 21 Silver Cup Charles Clark, Matisse Lismont, Xavier Maassen, Sam Dejonghe Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO 2:17.645 470 1:35.985
33 991 Bronze Cup Darren Leung, Pedro Ebrahim Carvalho, Toby Sowery, Connor de Phillippi Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 2:18.713 470 2:01.032
34 26 Silver Cup Alban Varutti, Gilles StadsbaderIvan Klymenko, Marcus Paverud Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II 2:18.160 462 1:19.998
35 78 Bronze Cup Till Bechtolsheimer, Antoine Doquin, Ricky Collard, Sandy Mitchell Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO 2 2:17.563 460 18.129
36 16 Pro-AM Cup David PunRioKevin TseIndy Dontje Uno Racing Team with Landgraf Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:18.417 457 26.960
37 19 Silver Cup Mateo Llarena, Hugo Cook, Baptiste Moulin, Haytham Qarajouli GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO 2 2:17.797 456 1:43.238
38 158 Bronze Cup Mark Sansom, Christopher Salkeld, James Baldwin, Nicolai Kjaergaard Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO 2:17.410 454 1:57.828
39 188 Bronze Cup Adam Smalley, Miguel Ramos, Louis Prette, Marvin Kirchhöfer Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO 2:17.418 451 44.629
40 10 Silver Cup Aurelien Panis, Cesar Gazeau, Roee Meyuhas, Sebastien Baud VDS Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:17.377 448 -1:03:15.887
41 100 Pro-AM Cup Alex Buncombe, Joshua Caygill, Chris Buncombe, Jann Mardenborough Team RJN McLaren 720S GT3 EVO 2:17.342 445 1:58.351
42 60 Gold Cup Frank Bird, Isa Al Khalifa, Martin Kodric, Lewis Williamson 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:18.131 430 2:04.805
43 8 Bronze Cup Nicolo Rosi, Niccolo Schiro, David Fumanelli, Daniele Di Amato Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 2:17.988 366 -4:18:28.302
44 35 Silver Cup Romain Leroux, Lorcan Hanafin, Maxime Robin Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO 2:18.401 363 -4:35:16.838
45 74 Bronze Cup John Hartshorne, Ben Tuck, Chandler Hull, Matthew Bell Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 2:17.344 347 -5:03:25.422
NC 333 Bronze Cup Christian Hook, Felipe Fernandez Laser, Fabrizio Crestani, David Perel Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 2:18.208 78 -20:21:14.127
NC 22 Pro Cup Ayhancan Güven, Laurin Heinrich, Dorian Boccolacci Schumacher CLRT Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 2:16.493 89 -19:47:31.931
NC 992 Pro Cup Kevin Estre, Patrick Pilet, Laurens Vanthoor HubAuto Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 2:18.026 88 -19:45:39.838
NC 12 Silver Cup Nicolas Baert, Sebastian Ögaard, Esteban Muth, Erwan Bastard Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO 2:18.155 79 -20:21:13.747
NC 911 Pro Cup Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm, Klaus Bachler Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 2:17.447 306 -7:20:16.905
NC 30 Bronze Cup Jens Klingmann, Ahmad Al Harthy, Sam de Haan, Calan Williams OQ by Oman Racing BMW M4 GT3 2:17.438 294 -7:57:26.668
NC 2 Pro Cup Luca Stolz, Jules Gounon, Fabian Schiller M-AMG Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:17.155 283 -8:19:12.389
NC 130 Pro Cup Frederik Vesti, Daniel Juncadella, Ralf Aron Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:17.494 276 -8:24:48.524
NC 28 Pro Cup Simon Gachet, Jan Heylen, Dennis Lind Haas RT Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II 2:17.709 273 -8:34:52.131
NC 71 Pro Cup David Vidales, Vincent Abril, Thomas Neubauer AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3 2:17.447 236 -10:26:22.078
NC 36 Bronze Cup Tim Creswick, Bijoy Garg, Mex Jansen, Ben Green Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO 2:18.208 231 -10:58:38.783
NC 48 Pro Cup Maro Engel, Daniel Morad, Lucas Auer Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:16.562 222 -11:32:12.752
NC 111 Gold Cup Arthur Rougier, Steven Palette, Romain Carton, Adam Eteki CSA Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II 2:17.556 174 -13:48:05.914
NC 91 Bronze Cup Ralf Bohn, Alfred Renauer, Morris Schuring, Robert Renauer Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 2:18.054 121 -17:59:08.608
NC 63 Pro Cup Andrea Caldarelli, Matteo Cairoli, Mirko Bortolotti Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO 2 2:16.758 120 -1:24:07.912
NC 888 Pro-AM Cup Prince Jefri Ibrahim, Jordan Love, Alexander Sims, Martin Konrad Triple Eight JMR Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2:18.087 114 -18:18:55.506
NC 61 Pro-AM Cup Adrian D’Silva, Kerong Li, Earl Bamber, Brendon Leitch EBM Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 2:18.612 76 -20:20:46.858
NC 54 Bronze Cup Philipp Sager, Guilherme Moura de Olivera, Christopher Zöchling, Marvin Dienst Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 2:18.382 74 -20:13:03.835
NC 38 Pro-AM Cup Olivier Bertels, Brad Schumacher, Armand Fumal, Julius Adomavicius Haas RT Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II 2:19.655 73 -20:28:31.880
NC 98 Pro Cup Philipp Eng, Nick Yelloly, Marco Wittmann Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3 2:17.611 71 -20:49:06.454
NC 97 Bronze Cup Dustin Blattner, Zacharie Richard Robichon, Dennis Marschall, Loek Hartog Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 2:19.221 18 -23:07:03.163 By Melissa Warren
