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THREE AUSSIES ENTERED FOR 24 HOURS OF SPA

Three Aussies entered for 24 hours of Spa - Image: Porsche

By Timothy Neal

An entry list of 60 cars containing three Australian drivers has been revealed for this year’s 73rd iteration of the 24 Hours of Spa in Belgium.

Matt Campbell, Josh Burdon and Jordan Love provide the Aussie representation, driving for GPX Martini Racing, KCMG and SPS Automotive Performance respectively in the third round of the GT World Challenge Endurance Cup.

Campbell presents the best local chance, fresh off a win with co-drivers Earl Bamber and Frenchman Mathieu Jaminet in the Paul Ricard 1000km.

They took maximum points from the April race in their #23 Porsche 911 GT3 R, after failing to finish the first race at Monza in Italy.

Love and his team finished 18th overall at Monza but were not classified in France after several setbacks, he will be driving the #40 Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside Swiss drivers Yannick Mettler and Miklas Born.

This will be Burdon’s first race in the Endurance Cup for 2021, taking the helm of the #18 Porsche 911 GT3-R with Edoardo Liberati and Alex Imperatori.

All the household names of GT World Challenge Europe will be competing. Mercedes-AMG and reigning overall winner Porsche will dominate the grid with 13 entries apiece, whilst Audi, Lamborghini and Ferrari will all have a strong presence.

BMW will look to farewell its M6 GT3 with a record-extending 25th win, with the hopes of Britain resting upon Aston Martin, McLaren and Bentley.

The 24 Hour classic is the third round of the Endurance Cup and the opener of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

Audi, Mercedes-AMG, Lamborghini and Porsche are all locked in for the global series, pledging to nominate up to six entries per event to battle out the manufacturers’ championship.

There is a wide spread of entries in the list for this year. The Pro category leads the way again with 26 cars, whilst the Silver Cup is stronger than ever with a record 17 entries. Fourteen Pro-Am crews and three Am Cup competitors round out the list.

Back to its familiar summer timeslot, the event will run from July 27-August 1 much to the joy of fans who are free to attend after COVID prevented this last year.

The action will include a loaded Thursday of practice, pre-qualifying, night practice and qualifying.

From the final session the grid positions from 21-60 will be determined, before a Super Pole Shootout on Friday which decides the grid spots of the top 20 cars.

The main race itself will commence at 16:30 local time on July 31, concluding at the same time the next day.

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