The CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, the world's largest GT3 race, awaits Rutronik Racing – the Porsche team from Remchingen is aiming for a top result in this traditional race.

The absolute highlight of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS season awaits Rutronik Racing. The CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa will take place on the last weekend in June and is also part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge – the unofficial GT3 world championship. 75 GT3 cars are on the provisional entry list, including two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs from Rutronik Racing.

The team, which is one of the top international teams, is aiming for a top result in its fourth start at the traditional race in the Belgian Ardennes. Rutronik Racing is travelling to Belgium in good form: the Porsche team won the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup in Zandvoort and secured another podium finish at Brands Hatch, while the team also took second place in the Endurance Cup at Le Castellet. The team also won the Bronze Cup in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup race in Monza.

The team's top car will be driven by three official Porsche contract drivers. Local hero Alessio Picariello will be joined by two long-standing Rutronik Racing drivers, Sven Müller and Patric Niederhauser, in the car with start number #96.

Regular drivers Antares Au, Loek Hartog and Morris Schuring will be at the wheel of the Bronze Cup car. They will be supported by Martin Rump from Estonia. The 29-year-old Rump, who has enjoyed many successes in Asia during his career, will be competing for Rutronik Racing for the first time.

‘I am very excited to return to the Ardennes with the Porsche Rutronik No. 97! The prologue went extremely well for us, and after the recent successes, the mood is good – I am confident. I can hardly wait to finally get started!’ said Rump about his first start with the German Porsche team.

Rump already gained some initial experience with Rutronik Racing during the official prologue in May. Rutronik Racing used the two test days on the world-famous circuit to get the best possible feel for the track and find the optimum set-up for the two Porsche 911 GT3 R cars. The team also collected a lot of data, which it has analysed extensively over the past few weeks in order to improve further.

The race calendar in June poses a particular challenge for the Rutronik Racing drivers. One week before the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, Hartog, Müller, Niederhauser, Picariello and Schuring took part in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. Just one week before that, the 24 Hours of Le Mans took place in France, where Antares Au and Loek Hartog competed together. This makes young Dutch driver Loek Hartog one of the few drivers to compete in all three major endurance races in June. The 2025 edition of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, which is expected to attract more than 100,000 spectators, will start on 28 June at 4:30 p.m.

The four-part qualifying session, which will decide who makes it into the Superpole on Friday at 4:10 p.m., will take place on Thursday at 9:15 p.m. in the twilight of the Ardennes forests. The SRO will once again offer an official live stream on YouTube, which will be available in several languages, including German and English.

Klaus Graf, Team Principal Rutronik Racing: ‘The highlight of the year, the 24h Spa, is just around the corner. Rutronik Racing has achieved at least one podium finish in every race event in 2025 so far. Our declared goal is to continue this series in Spa. On the other hand, 24-hour races have their own rules and the main thing is to get through the distance without any mistakes. With a record starting field of 75 cars, the team and drivers face a monster task. The official test drives give us confidence that we will be fully competitive in the biggest race of the year, but the competition is brutally tough. Our goal is to start the practice sessions with optimally prepared cars.

We look forward to seeing lots of Rutronik Racing fans and guests cheering us on during the 24-hour race.‘

Alessio Picariello, driver of the Porsche 911 GT3 R #96: ’I'm really looking forward to my home race. The 24 Hours of Spa is the biggest GT race in the world, and I'll be competing in a Pro car for the first time. I am fortunate to be in a strong team and to be sharing the car with strong teammates. I believe in our package and our potential – I am really looking forward to it!‘

Morris Schuring, driver of the Porsche 911 GT3 R #97: ‘I'm really looking forward to the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps. The week before, I'll be competing in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, so it's going to be two intense weeks! I think Antares, Loek and Martin are great teammates who give us the chance to be successful in the class. Antares and Loek won together at Monza. Unfortunately, I wasn't in the car with them there, but I was still happy for them. I hope we can carry this momentum through to Spa. Together with Rutronik Racing, we've had a great preparation for the race and are all highly motivated to deliver our best performance at Spa.‘