The CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa are now behind Rutronik Racing. 74 cars took part in the world's largest GT race, including two Porsche 911 GT3 R from the Remchingen-based team. The endurance classic is the highlight of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup season and also counts towards the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the unofficial GT3 world championship. The race turned into a battle against the heat, which posed a particular challenge for teams, drivers and equipment.

The three Porsche contracted drivers Sven Müller, Patric Niederhauser and Alessio Picariello started the race from 13th place on the grid. The team's strategy was for the three drivers to stay out of any incidents and make up places with a zero-error approach. This tactic paid off, as the Porsche with start number #96 made up one place after another and drove in the leading group of the high-calibre field.

Due to the strategy, the car was in the lead several times and was involved in an exciting battle for victory for hours, which reached its climax around 105 minutes before the end of the race when Sven Müller when Sven Müller suffered a tyre failure in the ultra-fast Blanchimont corner and the Lamborghini, which later went on to win, was able to slip through. Müller noticed the problem and immediately reduced speed, enabling him to keep the Porsche on the track. Prior to that, the cars had been battling through the traffic of 74 GT3 cars in the heat of Spa-Francorchamps, thrilling the spectators with a exciting duel. After the final pit stop, the Rutronik Racing Porsche closed in on the leader once again but was unable to mount a final attack. At the end of the race, the team missed out on its first overall victory in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa by 8.703 seconds. The team from Remchingen triumphed for Porsche in the Intercontinental GT Challenge classification. Alessio Picariello was also named the best Belgian driver in the field – a special achievement for the 31-year-old Porsche contracted driver!

Antares Au, Loek Hartog, Morris Schuring and Martin Rump lined up in the team's Bronze Cup car. The weekend got off to a difficult start for the team when Antares Au spun into the barrier at Blanchimont during Tuesday's Bronze test, leaving the mechanics with a lot of work to do, which they mastered with flying colours. In the early stages of the race, the crew of the blue and pink Porsche suffered another setback when a Lamborghini spun at the bus stop chicane and starting driver Au was unable to see the car due to the mass of vehicles and hit it head-on, causing severe damage to the Porsche. After a lengthy repair, the car returned to the track. The quartet was able to burn fast lap times into the asphalt and finally finished the race in 13th place in their class on Sunday afternoon. In the Independent Cup classification of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the drivers finished in second place.

After the endurance classic in the Ardennes, Sven Müller, Patric Niederhauser and Alessio Picariello are in third place in the overall standings of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup. The Porsche trio are just two points behind the leaders. Müller and Niederhauser are also in second place in the overall GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS standings.

The SRO racing series Endurance Cup will continue on the last weekend of August at the Nürburgring, where Rutronik Racing will celebrate its home race. The Sprint Cup, on the other hand, will resume in just three weeks' time, when it visits Misano on the Adriatic coast.

Klaus Graf, Team Principal Rutronik Racing: "Second place in the 24-hour race at Spa marks the end of an extremely successful weekend for me. The drivers, the team and everyone who worked on the car put in a flawless performance – I'm very proud of that! Of course, there's always a little tear in your eye when you come so close to a big win. After 24 hours, we were only a few seconds away from victory, and given that Sunday was pure racing without any long safety car phases, this is particularly impressive to me. For me, this was racing at the highest level! The fans were treated to something really special here. I think it's great that we were part of this event at this level. We spent an incredible amount of time, including during the race week, optimising the package. It wasn't easy here from the start and we worked harder than we thought we would at the beginning. But at the end of the day, it paid off. It was also important for me with the #97 that the customer decided to repair and continue. In the end, they also put in a good performance, improved and finished second in the IGTC Independent Cup. This shows that you can never give up in big races, and that's the spirit that has to emerge. I think we definitely showed that, and that's an important lesson for me."

Alessio Picariello, driver of the Porsche 911 GT3 R #96: “I’m standing here with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I’m obviously happy: before the race, I would have taken this result with both hands. But after such a tough battle, second place is a little heartbreaking. We gave it our all; we couldn’t have done any more. The fact that we were able to finish so far ahead feels like a minor miracle. The team and us drivers delivered a perfect performance. We’ll be back next year.”

Loek Hartog, driver of the Porsche 911 GT3 R #97: "We went into the race with a strong package and high hopes. An early incident, which was not Antares' fault, set us back 20 laps early in the race, but in the spirit of endurance, we kept going and finished the race cleanly. Our pace showed that we were genuine podium contenders, as we have been throughout the season. I am proud of the team's work and resilience, especially the incredible result achieved by the #96 crew. It was fantastic to work with everyone and I am grateful to be part of this team as we head into the next races of the GTWC Endurance Cup."