The 2025 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa delivered speed, survival and heartbreak in equal measure. Across 24 hours, 549 laps and countless twists, the Belgian endurance classic once again demonstrated why it is regarded as one of the toughest and most prestigious GT3 races in the world.
In the end, it was Grasser Racing Team that wrote its name into the history books. Mirko Bortolotti, Luca Engstler and Jordan Pepper guided the #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 to victory, securing Lamborghini’s first overall triumph at Spa-Francorchamps.
Their winning margin after an entire day of racing was just eight seconds.
The result was the culmination of a patient and controlled performance from the Grasser crew. While several of the pre-race favourites fell victim to accidents, mechanical failures and the relentless demands of Spa, the #63 Lamborghini remained near the front and placed itself in the perfect position to strike during the decisive final hours.
A wide-open contest took shape at the 2025 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa
The build-up to the race suggested that no single manufacturer would be able to dominate the event.
Saintéloc Racing set the pace on the opening day of the official prologue with its #25 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II, before Haas RT put another Audi at the top of the order on day two. Behind them, the leading BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and Mercedes-AMG teams concentrated on a mixture of outright speed and long-run preparation.
When the official race weekend began, Boutsen VDS moved to the front. Mikael Grenier, Maximilian Götz and Maxime Martin led Free Practice in the #9 Mercedes-AMG, providing the Belgian team with an encouraging start on home soil.
Rutronik Racing kept Porsche close to the top, while Rowe Racing’s BMWs and the AF Corse Ferraris remained firmly in contention. With less than a second separating much of the leading group, there was little to distinguish the strongest entries.
Pre-qualifying produced another change at the front as Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn and Raffaele Marciello placed Rowe Racing’s #98 BMW at the top of the timesheets. Comtoyou Racing’s #7 Aston Martin also impressed, while GetSpeed, MANN-FILTER, Pure Rxcing and AF Corse all showed the pace required to challenge.
Qualifying then brought Garage 59 into the spotlight. Marvin Kirchhöfer, Benjamin Goethe and Joseph Loake took the #59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO into the Super Pole session, where Kirchhöfer delivered a landmark lap.
The German secured McLaren’s first Spa 24 Hours Super Pole, beating the #98 Rowe Racing BMW and the #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG. AF Corse’s #51 Ferrari qualified fourth, with Rutronik Racing’s #96 Porsche completing the top five. With five manufacturers represented inside the first five positions, the scene was set for an unpredictable contest.
McLaren leads a relentless opening phase
Kirchhöfer converted Garage 59’s historic pole position into the race lead when the field was released around Spa-Francorchamps.
The #59 McLaren immediately came under pressure from the two AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3s and Rowe Racing’s #98 BMW. Antonio Fuoco and Alessandro Pier Guidi remained close to the leader, while Farfus ensured BMW stayed within striking distance.
The opening stages were clean at the front, but the enormous 70-car field quickly created challenges in traffic. Drivers were forced to balance aggression with caution as they worked through slower class entries around the seven-kilometre circuit.
Despite the risks, the leading crews pushed from the beginning. The pace remained high, setting the tone for a race in which there would be little opportunity to recover from mistakes or delays.
The first major accident came when Laurin Heinrich lost control of the #22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche while navigating traffic through Raidillon. The car struck the barriers heavily before coming to rest on the circuit.
Heinrich escaped without injury, but the Porsche was destroyed. The accident ended the race for Heinrich, Ayhancan Güven and Klaus Bachler after only 26 laps, removing one of the leading Porsche entries from contention.
It was also an early reminder of how quickly Spa could punish even the smallest misjudgement.
Darkness brings crashes and attrition
Conditions became increasingly difficult as daylight disappeared and the race moved into the night.
The factory-supported #17 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG was one of the most significant retirements. Contact at Blanchimont caused extensive damage and ended the challenge of Luca Stolz, Jules Gounon and Fabian Schiller.
Comtoyou Racing also endured a difficult night. Sérgio Sette Câmara crashed the team’s #11 Pro-Am Aston Martin heavily at Pouhon, leaving the car unable to continue.
The #911 Pure Rxcing Porsche, considered one of the leading contenders before the race, was eliminated following an incident with Comtoyou Racing’s #21 Aston Martin at La Source. Both cars suffered terminal damage and retired from the event.
Dinamic GT’s #18 Porsche, shared by Matt Campbell, Bastian Buus and Mathieu Jaminet, was another early casualty. Its race ended after only 60 laps, while Comtoyou’s Pro Cup #7 Aston Martin was also eliminated before sunrise following contact in the second sector.
By the halfway point, several of the most highly rated entries had already disappeared from the classification. The attrition reduced the number of potential winners, but the competition at the front remained intense.
Lamborghini joins Porsche and Ferrari at the front
While others encountered trouble, Rutronik Racing steadily moved into victory contention.
Sven Müller produced a strong triple stint in the #96 Porsche, making progress through traffic and bringing the car into the podium positions. Patric Niederhauser continued that momentum, ensuring Rutronik remained close to the Grasser Lamborghini and the leading AF Corse Ferraris.
Ferrari also maintained a consistent presence near the front. The #51 car of Alessio Rovera, Vincent Abril and Alessandro Pier Guidi completed a clean run through the night, supported by the #50 sister entry of Arthur Leclerc, Antonio Fuoco and Eliseo Donno.
The two AF Corse cars regularly exchanged positions while keeping pressure on their rivals.
Grasser Racing Team, meanwhile, was quietly building its challenge. Pepper, Engstler and Bortolotti kept the #63 Lamborghini inside the leading group without attracting the same attention as some of the early frontrunners.
Their approach combined strong pace with consistency and a largely trouble-free run. By sunrise, it was clear that Lamborghini had both the speed and the track position required to fight for the overall victory.
BMW remains in contention as problems hit the #46
BMW continued to feature prominently when daylight returned. The Team WRT cars remained in the leading battle, with Charles Weerts and Dries Vanthoor producing competitive lap times as the Belgian squad attempted to close on the front-runners.
Rowe Racing also remained a factor, although mechanical difficulties affected parts of BMW’s challenge. Gearbox problems cost one of its entries valuable time and reduced the manufacturer’s options during the second half of the race.
The #46 Team WRT BMW of Valentino Rossi, René Rast and Kevin Magnussen suffered repeated mechanical setbacks. The high-profile entry had shown the potential to challenge near the front, but its issues eventually removed it from the podium fight.
Although the car reached the chequered flag, it finished outside the top 10. Mercedes-AMG also struggled to remain in contention. The #48 MANN-FILTER entry of Maro Engel, Matteo Cairoli and Lucas Auer fought its way back towards the leading positions, but unscheduled brake work left the team with too much ground to recover.
Grasser takes control in the final hours
The decisive phase arrived during the final six hours. Rutronik’s #96 Porsche and AF Corse’s #51 Ferrari continued to apply pressure, but Grasser executed its strategy when it mattered most. A shorter final fuel run placed Bortolotti at the front for the closing stint, giving the Lamborghini driver a small but crucial advantage.
Rutronik kept the pressure on throughout the final two hours, with the gap falling below 10 seconds. Bortolotti could not afford a mistake as he worked through traffic and negotiated Spa’s most demanding sections for the final time. The Italian remained composed. His pace through Eau Rouge, Raidillon and the Bus Stop ensured the Lamborghini retained control, despite the Porsche staying close enough to punish any error.
After 24 hours and 549 laps, Bortolotti crossed the line to secure victory by only eight seconds. It was Lamborghini’s first overall win at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa and a defining achievement for Grasser Racing Team in 2025. Bortolotti, Engstler and Pepper had combined speed, consistency and intelligent race management to survive one of the event’s most demanding editions.
Rutronik Racing finished second with its #96 Porsche, while AF Corse completed the podium with the #51 Ferrari. The #50 sister car took fourth, ahead of Rowe Racing’s #98 BMW. Garage 59 completed the top six. Although the pole-sitting McLaren could not convert its early lead into victory, Kirchhöfer, Goethe and Loake completed a strong race after making history during Super Pole.
Class victories complete a memorable edition
The battles outside the overall classification provided further drama at the 2025 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
Verstappen.com Racing secured the Gold Cup victory with Thierry Vermeulen, Chris Lulham and Harry King. The trio also finished ninth overall, underlining the strength of their performance against the Pro Cup field. CSA Racing took second in the category, while Garage 59 completed the Gold Cup podium with its #58 McLaren.
Walkenhorst Motorsport claimed Silver Cup honours with Romain Leroux, Oliver Söderström and Mateo Villagomez. Their Aston Martin survived a demanding race-long contest against the BMW entries from Team WRT and Century Motorsport. Kessel Racing prevailed in the Bronze Cup with the #74 Ferrari of Andrew Gilbert Blattner, Zacharie Robichon, Mikkel Mac and Dennis Marschall, overcoming a sustained challenge from Winward Racing’s Mercedes-AMG.
In Pro-Am, AV Racing by Car Collection Motorsport took victory with its Porsche after defeating the Beechdean AMR Aston Martin in another closely fought class battle.
Lamborghini joins Spa’s winners
The 2025 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa will be remembered as the race in which Lamborghini finally joined the event’s list of overall-winning manufacturers. Years of near-misses were brought to an end by a controlled performance from Grasser Racing Team. Rather than dominating every phase, the #63 crew remained within reach, avoided the incidents that eliminated so many rivals and took control at precisely the right moment.
It was also a race that demonstrated the depth of modern GT3 competition. Lamborghini, Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, McLaren and Mercedes-AMG all featured prominently, with the order changing repeatedly as darkness, traffic, strategy and reliability shaped the result. For Bortolotti, the victory represented one of the defining moments of his GT career. Engstler and Pepper also delivered under immense pressure, helping Lamborghini achieve a result that had previously remained out of reach.
One year later, Lamborghini returns to Spa as the defending winner and begins a new chapter with the Temerario GT3. Repeating the achievement will be far from straightforward, but the manufacturer will arrive knowing that it has already conquered one of endurance racing’s greatest challenges.
In 2025, after 24 hours of relentless competition, Lamborghini finally joined the immortals of Spa.
Now, in 2026, 69 teams will seek to add their names to the history books.
See the full entry list for 2026 and the weekend schedule.
Watch the race live here and follow along with Pit Debrief‘s live blog
