24 Hours of Spa 2021 Coverage

woodcote · 27th-Jul-21, 07:02 PM

This year's 24 Hours of Spa takes place this weekend and all the important info - plus live coverage - is on the official website: https://www.totalenergies24hours.com/

As part of the GT World Challenge Europe series, the 58-car entry list features all the best GT3 teams and drivers from Europe and a few more from further afield.

The schedule started today with a test session for the Bronze-graded drivers - Rob Collard was driving the RAM Racing AMG GT3 (above). The four classes are all based on driver classifications - Pro, Silver Cup, Pro-Am and Am Cup. All you need to know about the event is here: https://www.totalenergies24hours.com/new...urs-of-spa

The weekend's action begins properly on Thursday with qualifying and night practice. Friday sees the super-pole knock-out at 7:50pm local time - and the race starts at 4:30 on Saturday afternoon. Live coverage will be on the website, The GT World YouTube Channel and on Facebook.

Here's a preview...

I'll be cheering on the RAM Racing quartet of Ricky and Rob Collard, Sam De Haan and Fabian Schiller. They are posting news and pics on the RAM Racing Facebook page.

964rh · 28th-Jul-21, 12:56 PM

I'll be watching this over the weekend.

Fantastic circuit that I had the pleasure to drive back in my track day days.

Here's my old car in the 'just' built F1 pits

woodcote · 29th-Jul-21, 07:19 AM

Oh my... that's a very special track day car! Where else did you give it a spin?

Over at Spa, things are starting to look busy. Yesterday was all about getting those all-important press shots done - individual manufacturers, teams and the entire field...

Plus this new video was posted with an explanation of the race...

Keep an eye out for some live coverage today - qualifying is scheduled for 8.50pm local time, followed by night practice.

964rh · 29th-Jul-21, 08:00 AM

Drove it at some UK tracks - Donington, Oulton, Knockhill, Brands, Silverstone GP, Snetterton plus a few hill climbs and sprint circuits

Had a few laps at the Nurburgring too, didn't enjoy it that much tbh, far too many corners to learn in a short space of time to get the most out of it.

I was supposed to go to Monza the same year I did Spa, but I got flashed for speeding in Belgium on the way back to the Chunnel and was advised NOT to take it back into Europe for a while!!!

It was an amazing car but very expensive when I got into track days, hence the reason I sold it (although with the prices how they are now, in hindsight I should've kept it!!

Looking forward to a weekend of Spa racing Thumbup

dvd3500 · 29th-Jul-21, 08:17 AM

A "local" will be racing... Marvin Dienst ... hope he does well..

woodcote · 30th-Jul-21, 07:51 AM

It was an eventful qualifying session last night, with the top-twenty 'Super Pole' shoot-out scheduled for 7.50 this evening. You can catch up on all the news from qualifying here: https://www.totalenergies24hours.com/new...eam_news=0

And there's also this very useful spotters guide to keep handy over the weekend...

The direct link to the pdf is: https://www.gt-world-challenge-europe.co...h_2021.pdf

woodcote · 31st-Jul-21, 08:07 AM

The race starts at 4.30pm local time, the live coverage begins at 3.45. There's loads of ways to watch the action - the official website, YouTube, Facebook etc - plus live timing, onboard cameras and a new 'Race Vision' which track and displays the data from each car that's normally only available to the teams.

After yesterday's Super Pole session (report here), these are the top qualifiers in each class - with four different makes represented...

Should be an exciting race.

woodcote · 31st-Jul-21, 01:54 PM

Here's the YouTube live feed for the start of the race...

BAracer · 1st-Aug-21, 07:09 AM

Am popping in and out of the live stream.

Difficult to follow the night time action, but the in car pictures show off all the driver tech involved.

Daytime let's you see the liveries and just how sorted the GT3 cars are.

I've not really noticed Audi 8s doing as well in the slot world as they do in the real world. Presumably not everything translates across.

woodcote · 1st-Aug-21, 11:14 AM

Balance of Performance... it's the cornerstone of GT racing and ensures all manufacturers will be competitive. We could have something similar in the slot world, but something as thorough as in real GT racing would be controversial.

Enjoying the race - it been an exciting fight for the win and all the classes. Excellent coverage too. I didn't miss much between 1 and 5.30am. It's also been the perfect chance to start working on future WHO/digital plans (usually started during Le Mans) and to have a good look at RCS02.