+40 1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
1 in 3 wins at Spa 24 Hours goes to BMW
Marco Wittman, Philipp Eng and Nicholas Yelloly drove their Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3 to victory in last weekend’s Spa 24 Hours. Thus, they handed BMW a 25th overall victory in the Belgian classic.
Just as Porsche is king at the Le Mans 24 Hours with 19 victories, BMW is the undisputed ruler of the Spa 24 Hours. The Bavarian brand has just scored its 25th overall victory at the Belgian endurance classic. With that, BMW not just leads the list, but also absolutely dominates all other brands. On what is a rare feat, Porsche is ‘the next best thing’ at the Spa 24 Hours, with eight victories to its credit.
Ups and downs
The Spa 24 Hours have had an early history with some ups and downs in the beginning. The first 24-hour race was organised in 1924, just three years after the track opened. During the war years (1939 – 1945) the race – taking place on the German border – was suspended. Spa was one of the first organisers to come back after the war, taking the 24-hour format back up in 1948, one year ahead of Le Mans. But it only lasted until 1949, and between 1950 and 1963, just one 24-hour race was organised.
As of 1964, the Spa 24 Hours has been on the agenda uninterrupted. The only anomaly in recent history was the 1993 race that was cut short at 7 AM on Sunday after the announcement of the death of the Belgian king Baudouin.
One in three is a BMW win
2023 included, there have been 76 editions of the Spa 24 Hours, which is one in three races. If you look at the post-1963 period, when BMW started getting serious, we are even looking at an even more impressive statistic. Here, BMW scores a victory rate of 42%. BMW was the dominant player in the touring car era at Spa, but has also successfully turned itself around in the GT3 era, winning with the Z4, the M6 and now with the M4.
The closest finish ever at the Spa 24 Hours – 0.48 seconds – involved two BMW M3s in 1992, with Steve Soper and Eric van de Poele involved in a last-lap battle for the lead. You can read all about that in issue 5. The E30 M3 model is BMW’s most successful car at Spa, with four victories to its credit.
The list of honour:
1965 Pascal Ickx/Gérard Langlois (BMW 1800)
1966 Jacky Ickx/Hubert Hahne (BMW 2000 Ti)
1970 Helmut Kelleners/Günther Huber (BMW 2800 CS)
1973 Toine Hezemans/Dieter Quester (BMW 3.0 CSL)
1974 Jean Xhenceval/Alain Peltier/Pierre Dieudonné (BMW 3.0 CSi)
1975 Jean Xhenceval/Pierre Dieudonné (BMW 3.0 CSi)
1976 Jean-Marie Detrin/Nino Demuth/Charles ‘Chavan’ Van Stolles (BMW 3.0 CSL)
1977 Eddy Joosen/Jean-Claude Andruet (BMW 530i)
1982 Hans Heyer/Armin Hahne/Eddy Joosen (BMW 528i)
1983 Armin Hahne/Hans Heyer/Thierry Tassin (BMW 635 CSi)
1985 Roberto Ravaglio/Gerhard Berger/Marc Surer (BMW 635 CSi)
1986 Dieter Quester/Thierry Tassin/Altfrid Heger (BMW 635 CSi)
1987 Didier Theys/Jean-Michel Martin/Eric van de Poele (BMW M3)
1988 Roberto Ravaglia/Altfrid Heger/Dieter Quester (BMW M3)
1990 Johnny Cecotto/Fabien Giroix/Markus Oestreich (BMW M3)
1992 Steve Soper/Christian Danner/Jean-Michel Martin (BMW M3)
1994 Roberto Ravaglia/Thierry Tassin/Alexander Burgstaller (BMW 318is)
1995 Joachim Winkelhock/Steve Soper/Peter Kox (BMW 320i)
1996 Jörg Müller/Thierry Tassin/ Alexander Burgstaller (BMW 320i)
1997 Didier de Radigues/Marc Duez/Eric Hélary (BMW 320i)
1998 Eric van de Poele/Marc Duez/Alain Cudini (BMW 318i)
2015 Nick Catsburg/Lucas Luhr/Markus Palttala (BMW Z4 GT3)
2016 Maxime Martin/Philipp Eng/Alexander Sims (BMW M6 GT3)
2018 Tom Blomqvist/Philipp Eng/Christian Krognes (BMW M6 GT3)
2023 Philipp Eng/Marco Wittman/Nick Yelloly (BMW M4 GT3)
