Maxime Martin, Philipp Eng, and Alexander Sims won the 24 Hours of Spa in the #99 Rowe Racing M6 GT3. It was the first 24-hour enduro win for the M6 GT3. BMW had won the Spa 24 in 2015 as well, when a Marc VDS Z4 GT3 was driven to victory by Nicky Catsburg, Lucas Luhr, and Markus Palttala
The #99 car assumed the lead for the first time around the four-hour mark, after a long safety car period. It either led or ran among the front runners the rest of the way. Until well into the final hour of the race the M6’s closest competitor was the #8 Bentley GT3 driven by Andy Soucek, Maxime Soulet and Wolfgang Reip. The Bentley, which ran with the BMW most of the way, even with several drive-through penalties, fell back in the rainy final 30 minutes of the race. The car had pitted under green for a final tire change, while other leaders were able to pit under yellow. The #6 Audi R8 LMS driven by Christoper Mies, Frank Stippler and Markus Winkelhock was also a contender until one of the wet weather tires it was trying to preserve in drying conditions overheated, leading to damaged bodywork and a fire that took the car out of the race on Sunday morning.
Second place went to Felix Rosenqvist, Tristan Vautier and Renger van der Zande in a Mercedes AMG GT3. Laurens Vanthoor, Rene Rast and Nico Muller in an Audi R8 LMS finished third. The #8 Bentley finished fourth.
The #98 Rowe Racing M6 GT3 driven by Nick Catsburg, Stef Dusseldorp, and Dirk Werner was competitive, running in the top ten for extended periods, but it exited the race with a clutch problem with just 1 ½ hours remaining in the race.
Rowe Racing’s Alexander Sims said “Honestly, I still can't believe it. The last stint in particular was very emotional, and I tried to focus on ending the race safely. My team helped me a lot with that via radio, keeping me informed. The 24 Hours of Spa has been a very special race to me since the start of my career in motorsport, and I never expected to win it after just four years of GT racing. I think that everyone at ROWE Racing and BMW Motorsport did a fantastic job with the BMW M6 GT3. What an incredible start; the first season for the car and the first victory at the 24 Hours of Spa. My thanks go to Philipp and Maxime too. They were fantastic from start to finish."—Brian S. Morgan
