Grasser Lamborghini claimed a hard-fought maiden win on the 2025 24 Hours of Spa, as Mirko Bortolotti, Luca Engstler, and Jordan Pepper took their Huracan GT3 to the highest step of the rostrum.
The race ran uninterrupted for the ultimate eight hours, with the final security automobile disappearing after 16 hour. As an alternative, the closing phases had been formed by three Full Course Yellow (FCY) intervals, two of which proved decisive within the battle for the win.
The pivotal second got here within the thirteenth FCY of the race, practically 18 and a half hours in, as each the #63 Grasser Lamborghini and Rowe Racing’s #98 BMW of Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn, Raffaele Marciello pitted. Whereas BMW’s tempo wasn’t sufficient to mount an actual problem, the Lamborghini emerged within the lead.
One other FCY shortly after the 20-hour mark handed the highest spot to the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche Sven Muller, Patric Niederhauser and Alessio Picariello with a fortunate pitstop beneath the warning interval to arrange a duel with Grasser’s Lambo for victory.
The Porsche held the lead for practically two hours till catastrophe struck: Muller suffered a puncture within the fearsome Blanchimont part. Happily, he saved the automobile beneath management and was in a position to limp to the pits – but it surely was simply sufficient for Grasser to regain the lead.
However Grasser’s remaining pitstop practically unraveled all of it, as Bortolotti misplaced treasured seconds as his Lamborghini struggled to fireside again up. Bortolotti misplaced six seconds in whole, and the margin over the chasing Porsche was all the way down to lower than one second.
#63 GRT – Grasser Racing Workforce Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2: Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper, Luca Engstler
Photograph by: Eric Le Galliot
However as soon as again on observe, Bortolotti managed the lead and saved Niederhauser firmly at bay to win by 8.703s.
Lamborghini turns into the twentieth totally different producer to win the Spa 24 Hours, whereas additionally it is the primary win of the occasion for all three drivers.
Third place went to #51 AF Corse’s Ferrari Alessio Rovera, Vincent Abril, and Alessandro Pier Guidi, due to a post-race time penalty in opposition to #98 Rowe BMW for exceeding observe limits. The Ferrari had overcome an early brake problem and even went a lap down earlier than staging a powerful comeback, aided by good FCY timing.
Simply behind was the sister #50 Ferrari #50 Antonio Fuoco, Eliseo Donno and Arthur Leclerc, which delivered a clear race however missed the decisive FCY luck.
Within the Gold Cup, the #58 McLaren of Adam Smalley, Frederik Schandorff, Dean MacDonald, Louis Prette Jr was on the right track for sophistication victory, till a late-race puncture struck with simply eight minutes remaining. That handed the category win to the #33 Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin Thierry Vermeulen, Chris Lulham, and Harry King, which additionally emerged because the best-placed Aston general after each Professional entries retired.
The race was marred by a terrifying high-speed accident: Laurin Heinrich, driving the #22 Schumacher-CLRT Porsche, plowed into the slowing #112 CSA McLaren with practically 200kph pace distinction. Miraculously, each drivers walked away unscathed.
Pictures Race – 24 Hours of Spa
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