The 75th CrowdStrike 24 Hours is in the books. The latest running of the Belgian endurance classic delivered an exciting race that ebbed and flowed until late on Sunday morning, when ROWE Racing seized control with its BMW.
The event's most successful brand went on to capture another win in the Ardennes, leading a top-four that also included Mercedes-AMG, Audi and Porsche. As the dust begins to settle on the weekend, we've assembled 24 key statistics from a memorable 75th edition.
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BMW now has 25 overall wins at Spa, extending its record at the event. The Bavarian brand has four wins during the GT era: 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2023. The first came with its Z4 model, followed by two wins for the M6 and now a maiden triumph for the M4.
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German squad ROWE Racing has tied Vitaphone Racing with three wins during the GT era. Sunday's victory was its second with BMW, while it also triumphed with Porsche in 2020.
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Philipp Eng earned his third overall win on Sunday afternoon. As such, the Austrian tied Eric van de Poele and Michael Bartels as the most successful driver of the GT era. Eng is one of only 11 drivers in the long history of the race to secure three or more outright wins.
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The 2023 race was won from 26th on the grid. Only once in the GT era had a car triumphed from lower: Phoenix Racing won from 29th in 2012 with its Audi. The average starting spot for the winning car at the previous 10 editions was ninth. This year's runner-up – the #88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG – also started outside the top-20.
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Driving the #17 Scherer Sport PHX Audi, both Nicki Thiim and Kelvin van der Linde scored their third overall podiums on Sunday, though neither has won at Spa. Only two drivers have scored more GT podiums without taking victory: Christopher Mies and Stéphane Lémeret, both of whom have four.
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After a challenging maiden outing in 2022, Valentino Rossi enjoyed a much better race in 2023 to finish sixth overall in the #46 BMW. The Team WRT driver was able to match the pace of considerably more experienced GT competitors during the night.
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Ferrari missed out on the overall top-10 for the first time since 2020. The Italian marque's new 296 GT3 managed a best overall finish of 11th, while its best class result was sixth in the Bronze Cup with the older 488 model.
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Five different brands won the five classes at this year's race. BMW triumphed overall, McLaren in the Gold Cup, Lamborghini in the Silver Cup, Porsche in the Bronze Cup and Mercedes-AMG in Pro-Am.
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Audi won the Coup du Roi for the best performing manufacturer despite not taking any class wins. The Ingolstadt marque finished as runner-up in the Silver Cup and was third overall, in the Gold Cup and in Pro-Am.
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British squad Optimum Motorsport won the Gold Cup with a British car (McLaren) and four British drivers. The team also scored the best result for a McLaren and was the best non-Pro car at the finish in P10 overall.
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Optimum's win gave McLaren its first-ever class victory at Spa. The British marque, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, becomes the ninth manufacturer to pick up a class win since GT3 rules were introduced in 2011.
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Grasser Racing gave Lamborghini its third Silver Cup win, more than any other brand in the class. The Austrian squad was also the best overall finisher for the Italian marque; indeed, it was the only Huracán to see the chequered flag on Sunday afternoon.
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The 2023 edition represented Grasser Racing's seventh attempt at the 24 Hours, all of which have been in collaboration with Lamborghini. Its previous best finish in the Ardennes was fifth in the Silver class in 2019.
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Huber Motorsport emerged on top in Super Pole thanks to Italian driver Matteo Cairoli, then secured a late class win with its #20 Porsche. The Stuttgart marque had the numbers in its favour, with seven of the Bronze field using the new 992-based racer.
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The #75 Sun Energy1 Mercedes-AMG won Pro-Am from a pit lane start, but it is not the first team to do so. Oman Racing by TF Sport achieved the very same thing in 2019 with an Aston Martin.
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Of the 18 drivers to win a class on Sunday, four did so in their first attempt at the 24 Hours: Tom Gamble (Gold), Tim Heinemann (Bronze), Chaz Mostert (Pro-Am) and Adam Osieka (Pro-Am). Two were late call-ups: Heinemann was not added to the #20 Huber Motorsport Porsche crew until mid-week, while Osieka joined the #75 Sun Energy1 Mercedes-AMG line-up on Saturday.
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Huber Motorsport's scored a rare overall pole for car from outside the Pro class thanks to Porsche factory ace Matteo Cairoli. This was the first such instance since Pro-Am squad Beechdean AMR secured top spot in 2013 with Stefan Mucke driving an Aston Martin.
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Remarkably, the same team also set the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap, a 2m17.087s. What's more, it was not Cairoli but the inexperienced Tim Heinemann who posted the time on Sunday morning. This establishes a new GT3 era lap record for the event.
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Pro was the only category in which the winning car did not post the fastest time, with Julien Andlauer (#92 Manthey EMA Porsche) taking this distinction thanks to a 2m17.191s. Dean MacDonald was fastest in the Gold Cup, Glenn Van Berlo in Silver, Heinemann in Bronze and overall, and Chaz Mostert in Pro-Am.
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This year's race ran for 537 laps, one more than was completed in 2022. The record for the GT era was set at 589 in 2006. It featured 11 full-course yellow periods and nine safety cars, down from last year's totals of 12 and 15 respectively.
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Technically, the 2023 edition will go down in history as a rain-affected race. Heavy downpours before the start meant that the track was wet, though most of the front-runners left the grid on slick Pirelli tyres. It remained completely dry for the remainder of the 24 Hours, very nearly making it two dry races in a row.
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Eight remains the magic number for cars finishing on the lead lap as the record was matched but not broken this year. Eight cars also finished on the lead lap in 2020 and 2022.
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Of the 70 cars that started this year's race, 49 were classified, giving a finishing rate of 70 percent. This is an increase on 2022, when 65 percent of the field was classified. A record 76 percent of the field finished at the 2018 edition, which was also won by BMW.
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The 2023 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa drew an increased attendance of 83,677. Indeed, from Wednesday's parade through to Saturday's music concert and the race itself, this year's event felt busier than ever. Those present witnessed the 75th edition of the Belgian endurance classic, which first ran in 1924. As such, next year will see the great race mark its centenary on 27–30 June.
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