The No. 96 911 GT3 R fielded by Rutronik Racing narrowly missed out on victory at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Alessio Picariello, Patric Niederhauser and Sven Müller crossed the finish line just 8.7 seconds behind the victorious Lamborghini of the Grasser Racing Team. After winning the LMGT3 class at Le Mans and second place at the Nürburgring, a Porsche has also achieved a podium result in immediate succession at the third 24-hour race. In the Intercontinental GT Challenge, Picariello, Niederhauser and Müller were classified in first place, as was Porsche. As the second-best customer team, Wright Motorsport finished the endurance race in the Belgian Ardennes in 16th place at its European premiere. AV Racing by Car Collection Motorsport has won the Pro-Am class.

After the eventful start of the Belgian endurance classic the fight for victory on the 7.004-kilometre Grand Prix circuit came to a head in the last eight hours. One of the pre-decisive moments occurred around 12:30 p.m. While Alessio Picariello had turned into the pit lane for a routine stop in the No. 96 Porsche, a damaged car triggered a caution phase. This meant that when the mechanics from Rutronik Racing refueled the Belgian's 911 GT3 R, the field was only allowed to creep across the track at 80 km/h – a significant time gain for the race car, which Picariello shares with Germany's Sven Müller and Switzerland's Patric Niederhauser. Four hours before the end of the race, the trio was also in a good pit stop rhythm. The nine-eleven of the German Porsche customer team was back in the game.

With asphalt temperatures rising to over 50 degrees Celsius, a hot hundredths of a second duel broke out, which resulted in a duel between the number 63 Lamborghini and the Porsche. A good two hours before the chequered flag, the sports car of the Grasser Racing Team was able to pass the 911 GT3 R of Rutronik Racing and take the lead. 40 minutes before the end of the race, the Lamborghini made its last refueling stop. Although it went according to plan, it was enough: the vehicle returned to the track one second before Niederhause. With that, the decision was made. In the Intercontinental GT Challenge, which also includes the 24 Hours of Spa, Porsche and the Rutronik Racing driver trio each took first place.

Strong performance by Wright Motorsport at its European debut

As the second-best Porsche customer team, Wright Motorsport finished the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in 16th place. The US squad around Adam Adelson, Elliott Skeer and Thomas Sargent had tackled a race in Europe for the first time and delivered a flawless performance in this difficult overseas outing with 73 competing GT3 race cars on the track. As a reward, she finished fourth in the Gold Cup standings.

Lionspeed GP turned up the heat during the night. The 911 GT3 R driven by Gabriel Rindone from France, Germany's Patrick Kolb, Italy's Riccardo Pera and Switzerland's Ricardo Feller had started the race from 45th position in order to start a remarkable catch-up race in the dark. At times, it led the Porsche contract driver Feller up to 13th place and to the top of the Bronze Cup. However, a minor collision in combination with a spin in the first corner was followed by a penalty for the illegal turn into the endurance pit lane. This ultimately threw the quartet back to 21st place and fourth place in the Bronze Cup.

The victory in the Pro-Am classification was enjoyed by the Porsche customer team AV Racing by Car Collection Motorsport. Noam Abramczyk from France, Bo Yuan from China and the two Belgians Mathieu Detry and Fabian Duffieux had started in 61st place. A largely inconspicuous race led her to 31st position in the final result.

"What a final! After the many ups and downs, we saw an enormously exciting end here at Spa in the last four hours," concluded Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R. "Rutronik Racing literally fought for overall victory on the track. Second place makes us super proud of the team and the drivers. But I also want to highlight the first place in the Pro-Am classification for AV Racing by Car Collection Motorsport. After the third 24-hour race in immediate succession, I would like to thank our customer teams very much for the great cooperation. With the LMGT3 victory at Le Mans and second places here and at the Nürburgring, we can be impressive!"

Quotes after the race

Alessio Picariello (Porsche 911 GT3 R #96): "I'm standing here with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I'm happy, of course: Before the race, I would have taken this result with a kiss. After this hard fight, second place also breaks my heart a bit. We gave the maximum, more was not possible. The fact that we were able to ride so far up the field seems like a small miracle to me. The team and we drivers delivered a perfect performance. Next year we will strike back."

Adam Adelson (Porsche 911 GT3 R #120): "Many warned us in advance that this was the toughest 24-hour race in the world. Now I understand what they meant. This event presents you with incredible challenges mentally and physically. You can't afford to make the slightest mistake. I'm incredibly proud of the whole team, everyone did a fantastic job. Of course, we are a bit disappointed to have missed the podium in our class. But to finish fourth in the Gold Cup with two silver and one gold riders, someone has to imitate us first."

Ricardo Feller (Porsche 911 GT3 R #80): "After it didn't work out at the Nürburgring last weekend, I was finally able to complete my first 24-hour race with the Porsche 911. I sweated quite a bit and am now really exhausted. The last 24 hours have been tough. The 911 GT3 R felt great. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough for the podium – we deserved it."

Noam Abramczyk (Porsche 911 GT3 R #29): "To clinch my first GT3 race here at the Spa 24 Hours for the first time in my career – that's something very special for me! The race was really difficult. We had to struggle a bit with the strategy and also with the track limits, but in the end we won the Pro-Am class and that's all that matters for us."

Final result 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

1st (1st Pro) Bortolotti/Engstler/Pepper (ITA/DEU/ZAF), Lamborghini #63, 549 laps
2nd (2nd Pro) Müller/Niederhauser/Picariello (DEU/CHE/BEL), Rutronik Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #96, + 8.703 seconds
3rd (3rd Pro) Rovera/Abril/Pier Guidi (ITA/MCO/ITA), Ferrari #51, + 26.639 seconds
16th (4th GC) Adelson/Skeer/Sargent (USA/USA/AUS), Wright Motorsports, Porsche 911 GT3 R #120, -3 laps
21st (4th BC) Rindone/Kolb/Feller/Pera (FRA/DEU/CHE/ITA), Lionspeed GP, Porsche 911 GT3 R #80, -3 laps
25th (6th BC) Bohn/A. Renauer/R. Renauer/Jefferies (DEU/DEU/DEU/ZWE), Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, -5 laps
30th (6th SC) Rappange/Al Rifai/Pieris/Baud (NLD/ARE/LKA/FRA), Dinamic GT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #54, -7 laps
31st (1st PAM) Abramczyk/Detry/Duffieux/Yuan (FRA/BEL/BEL/CHN), AV Racing by Car Collection Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #29, -7 laps
45th (13th BC) Schuring/Au/Hartog/Rump (NLD/HKG/NLD/EST), Rutronik Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #97, - 26 laps

DNF Lietz/Malykhin/Preining (AUT/GBR/AUT), Pure Rxcing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #911, 136 laps
DNF Buus/Campbell/Jaminet (DNK/AUS/FRA), Dinamic GT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #18, 60 laps
DNF Bachler/Güven/Heinrich (AUT/TUR/DEU), Schumacher CLRT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #22, 27 laps

Pro = Pro class; PAM = Pro-Am Cup; GC = Gold Cup; SC = Silver Cup; BC = Bronze Cup All results at https://www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com/watch-live