Spa 24 Hours drama as leading Ferrari suffers tyre failure

The 2026 24 Hours of Spa have taken a dramatic turn. The AF Corse Ferrari, shared by Alessio Rovera, Tommaso Mosca and Nicklas Nielsen, has surrendered the race lead after dominating the opening stages. A tyre failure roughly four and a half hours into the race abruptly ended its stint at the front.

From the very start, the Ferrari looked untouchable. Even minor time penalties failed to threaten its advantage, while successive safety-car interventions repeatedly erased the gaps it had built. Around 30 minutes after the latest restart, disaster struck when the left-rear tyre suddenly deflated exiting the Bus Stop chicane. According to the official live stream, a tyre pressure warning was issued before.

It marks the second major setback for an AF Corse Ferrari in the Pro Cup. Earlier in the race, the sister Ferrari narrowly avoided losing the lead lap after Arthur Leclerc spun into the tyre barriers, damaging the rear of the car.

The Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo was later forced to continue back to the pits at reduced speed, but a safety-car period after three and a half hours prevented it from being lapped.

#17’s Miserable Weekend Comes to Early End

#17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO: Luca Stolz, Jules Gounon, Fabian Schiller

The first retirement in the Pro Cup has also been confirmed. The  GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Maxime Martin, Maximilian Götz and Luca Stolz saw its race come to an end, capping off a disastrous weekend that had already begun with all of its qualifying lap times being deleted.

Starting from 52nd on the grid, the Mercedes survived the opening-lap accident but was later involved in contact with the Grupo Prom Mercedes. The collision earned the GetSpeed entry a drive-through penalty that dropped it off the lead lap.

Its problems continued when a transponder malfunction required an unscheduled stop for repairs. During that visit to the pits, the car was involved in another incident, and after three and a half hours the team was forced to retire it with suspension damage at the front left.

“Due to a drive-through penalty, we were already a lap down when we had to pit again. At the pit entrance, Maxi (Götz) made contact with another car. This resulted in a puncture to the front left tyre, which caused further damage”, Maxime Martin said.
 
“So, unfortunately, we had to retire the car. It’s obviously quite disappointing. This isn’t how I imagined my 20th 24 Hours of Spa would go, but that’s motorsport sometimes. We’ll come back.”

The Grupo Prom Mercedes involved in the earlier collision has since retired as well. The same applies to the Attempto Audi of Alex Aka, which was eventually parked after suffering delayed damage from contact in an incident earlier in the race.

AF Corse’s Ferrari, which was indirectly caught up in the opening lap crash, has also officially joined the retirement list.

The GetSpeed Mercedes of Lucas Auer, Maro Engel and Fabian Schiller now leads the race after steadily working its way to the front. It is followed by the Garage 59 McLaren and the Rowe BMW. All 16 remaining Pro Cup entries are still on the lead lap.

Just before the start of the race, organisers also announced a significant Balance of Performance revision. Only the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo and Corvette Z06 GT3.R remained unchanged, while the following weight adjustments were made:

Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo: -5 kg
BMW M4 GT3 Evo: -10 kg
Ford Mustang GT3: -5 kg
Lamborghini Temerario GT3: -5 kg
McLaren 720S GT3 Evo: -10 kg
Mercedes-AMG GT3: -10 kg
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992): -15 kg 

Temperatures are slowly beginning to ease. The risk of storms remains as Sunday’s forecast calls for a high of around 28°C, offering some welcome relief after the extreme heat of the previous days.
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