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2026 CrowdStrike 24H of Spa | Warm-Up | Sturm puts Car Collection Porsche on top

Karishma Persad07 mins
Joel Sturm led Spa Warm-Up for Car Collection as light rain arrived, with Alex Aka second before Saturday's 24H Spa race start at 16:30.
Photo Credit: SRO | JEP
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Joel Sturm placed Car Collection Motorsport at the top of Warm-Up for the 2026 CrowdStrike 24H of Spa as the #8 Porsche led the final track session before Saturday’s race.

Sturm recorded a 2:18.445 during the opening minutes of the 30-minute systems check, beating Alex Aka’s #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi by 0.195 seconds. Fabian Schiller completed the overall top three for Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed.

Porsche therefore led the overall and Pro-Am classifications, while Audi topped Gold. Mercedes-AMG headed Pro and Silver, while Kessel Racing placed Ferrari at the front of the Bronze Cup.

Sturm establishes an early benchmark

Warm-Up began at 19:25 local time under hot conditions, with the air temperature at 34.2°C and the track measuring 41.9°C.

Sturm immediately placed the #8 Car Collection Motorsport Porsche at the front. The German completed a 2:18.445 on his second lap, less than five minutes after the green flag.

Although the session primarily allowed teams to complete final systems checks, Sturm produced a time only 0.214 seconds slower than Tom Fleming’s Night Practice benchmark.

Nobody displaced the Porsche during the remaining 25 minutes, giving Car Collection another strong result after Sturm had also led Pro-Am and placed seventh overall during Night Practice.

Aka takes second as Tresor Attempto leads Gold

Alex Aka emerged as Sturm’s closest challenger aboard the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi.

Aka completed a 2:18.640 on his fourth lap, finishing 0.195 seconds behind the overall benchmark. His effort also secured first place in the Gold Cup.

The result gave Tresor Attempto Racing a positive final session after the #99 Audi had qualified inside the original Superpole field. Aka also placed the entry comfortably ahead of the next Gold Cup contender.

Dennis Lind took second in class and 11th overall for Steller Motorsport. The Dane recorded a 2:19.338 in the #24 Corvette, while Adam Smalley placed the #4 Optimum Motorsport McLaren third in Gold and 26th overall with a 2:20.228.

Schiller leads Pro ahead of Engel

Fabian Schiller placed the #17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed entry third overall and at the head of the Pro classification.

Schiller produced a 2:18.914 and finished 0.469 seconds behind Sturm. Maro Engel followed only 0.013 seconds further back in the #48 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER car.

Consequently, Mercedes-AMG filled third and fourth overall while securing the first two positions among the Pro entries.

Daniel Harper completed the Pro top three aboard the #46 Team WRT BMW. His 2:19.462 placed the car 12th overall, just over one second behind the leading Porsche.

Green puts JMR inside the overall top five

Ben Green added another Pro-Am entry to the leading group by placing the #0 Johor Motorsports Racing JMR Corvette fifth overall.

Green completed a 2:18.960, finishing only 0.515 seconds behind Sturm and 0.033 seconds behind Engel.

The result put two Pro-Am cars inside the top five. However, Sturm held a 0.515-second class advantage over the JMR Corvette.

Miguel Molina completed the Pro-Am top three for AF Corse. The Spaniard recorded a 2:19.586 in the #70 Ferrari, securing 13th overall.

Marschall leads a closely matched Bronze Cup group

Dennis Marschall placed the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari at the front of the Bronze Cup and sixth overall.

Marschall recorded a 2:19.171, only 0.022 seconds faster than Alex Fontana’s #89 Lionspeed GP Porsche.

Mikaël Grenier followed another 0.036 seconds behind in the #12 GetSpeed Team Dubai Mercedes-AMG. The car returned to the circuit after missing Qualifying and Night Practice while the team completed a precautionary engine change.

Only 0.058 seconds separated the leading three Bronze Cup entries, while all three finished inside the overall top eight.

Gazeau places GetSpeed at the front of Silver

César Gazeau completed a strong session for GetSpeed by leading the Silver Cup in the #6 Team Bartone Bros Mercedes-AMG.

Gazeau matched Grenier’s 2:19.229 but finished ninth overall in the classification.

Oliver Söderström placed the #21 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin second in Silver and 21st overall with a 2:19.891.

Dante Rappange followed in third for Optimum Motorsport. His 2:20.128 placed the #5 McLaren 22nd overall, only 0.237 seconds behind Söderström.

Light rain arrives without disrupting the session

A sprinkling of rain reached Spa-Francorchamps during the session after another day of high temperatures in the Belgian Ardennes.

The official timing sheet recorded dry conditions at the start and wet conditions by the finish. Meanwhile, the air temperature fell from 34.2°C to 28.4°C.

However, the changing weather caused no incidents. Race control did not deploy a safety car or full-course yellow, allowing teams to complete their final checks without interruption.

Sixty-four cars started the session, and officials classified 62. The #71 Selected Car Racing Ferrari and #79 Tsunami RT Porsche did not record classified laps.

Meanwhile, Team Motopark, Haas RT, Rinaldi Racing, HRT Ford Racing and Rutronik Racing did not start Warm-Up.

2026 CrowdStrike 24H of Spa Warm-Up: Top three by class

Pro

  1. #17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed – Maxime Martin / Maximilian Götz / Fabian Schiller: 2:18.914, P3 overall
  2. #48 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER – Lucas Auer / Luca Stolz / Maro Engel: 2:18.927, P4 overall
  3. #46 Team WRT BMW – Valentino Rossi / Daniel Harper / Max Hesse: 2:19.462, P12 overall

Gold

  1. #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi – Dylan Pereira / Andrea Frassineti / Alex Aka: 2:18.640, P2 overall
  2. #24 Steller Motorsport Corvette – Martin Pedersen / Laurin Ried / Antoine Doquin / Dennis Lind: 2:19.338, P11 overall
  3. #4 Optimum Motorsport McLaren – Adam Smalley / Freddie Tomlinson / Harry George / Ruben Del Sarte: 2:20.228, P26 overall

Silver

  1. #6 GetSpeed Team Bartone Bros Mercedes-AMG – Anthony Bartone / Aurélien Panis / César Gazeau / Karol Basz: 2:19.229, P9 overall
  2. #21 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin – Sébastien Baud / Arthur Dorison / Kobe Pauwels / Oliver Söderström: 2:19.891, P21 overall
  3. #5 Optimum Motorsport McLaren – Salman Owega / Dante Rappange / Guilherme Oliveira / Mikey Porter: 2:20.128, P22 overall

Bronze

  1. #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari – Dustin Blattner / Ben Tuck / Mathys Jaubert / Dennis Marschall: 2:19.171, P6 overall
  2. #89 Lionspeed GP Porsche – Alex Fontana / Bashar Mardini / Axcil Jefferies / Patrick Kolb: 2:19.193, P7 overall
  3. #12 GetSpeed Team Dubai Mercedes-AMG – Gabriel Rindone / Jarrod Waberski / Tom Kalender / Mikaël Grenier: 2:19.229, P8 overall

Pro-Am

  1. #8 Car Collection Motorsport Porsche – Nicolò Rosi / Reinhold Krahn / Niccolò Schirò / Joel Sturm: 2:18.445, P1 overall
  2. #0 Johor Motorsports Racing JMR Corvette – H.H. Prince Jefri Ibrahim / Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim / Jordan Love / Ben Green: 2:18.960, P5 overall
  3. #70 AF Corse Ferrari – Custodio Toledo / Peter Dempsey / Matthieu Vaxivière / Miguel Molina: 2:19.586, P13 overall

The provisional classification placed Mercedes-AMG at the head of Pro and Silver. Audi led Gold, Ferrari topped Bronze and Porsche controlled Pro-Am.

2026 CrowdStrike 24H of Spa Warm-Up: Overall top 10

  1. #8 Car Collection Motorsport Porsche – Nicolò Rosi / Reinhold Krahn / Niccolò Schirò / Joel Sturm: 2:18.445
  2. #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi – Dylan Pereira / Andrea Frassineti / Alex Aka: 2:18.640, +0.195
  3. #17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed – Maxime Martin / Maximilian Götz / Fabian Schiller: 2:18.914, +0.469
  4. #48 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER – Lucas Auer / Luca Stolz / Maro Engel: 2:18.927, +0.482
  5. #0 Johor Motorsports Racing JMR Corvette – H.H. Prince Jefri Ibrahim / Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim / Jordan Love / Ben Green: 2:18.960, +0.515
  6. #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari – Dustin Blattner / Ben Tuck / Mathys Jaubert / Dennis Marschall: 2:19.171, +0.726
  7. #89 Lionspeed GP Porsche – Alex Fontana / Bashar Mardini / Axcil Jefferies / Patrick Kolb: 2:19.193, +0.748
  8. #12 GetSpeed Team Dubai Mercedes-AMG – Gabriel Rindone / Jarrod Waberski / Tom Kalender / Mikaël Grenier: 2:19.229, +0.784
  9. #6 GetSpeed Team Bartone Bros Mercedes-AMG – Anthony Bartone / Aurélien Panis / César Gazeau / Karol Basz: 2:19.229, +0.784
  10. #87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG – Marvin Dienst / Gabriele Piana / Rinat Salikhov / Daan Arrow: 2:19.310, +0.865

Full results

The 78th CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa comes next

Warm-Up completed the final circuit activity before the 78th CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

The 69-car field will begin the race at 16:30 local time on Saturday. Alessio Rovera, Tommaso Mosca and Nicklas Nielsen will start from pole aboard the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, while the teams face a full day and night of competition at Spa-Francorchamps.

Full entry list
Weekend schedule

Watch the race live here and follow along with Pit Debrief‘s live blog

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